And Now It's New Years!

 We have been busy!

We replaced the hideous light fixture in both the bathrooms.

And put a white wood frame around the

large, construction grade mirrors.

Should have done THAT a million years ago!

Hard at work...

Ok, maybe not ALL of us were hard at work...

Today Rod was going to replace the door into the tack room.

But Kyle needs to do some work on his Cat before

he starts a couple of big jobs on Tuesday.

So Rod is helping him out with that.

Of course we took some time out to head to the beach

and see the beautiful full moon reflecting off the ocean.

We also got to enjoy the first of TWO night launches!

This one was the Falcon Heavy and included

a boost-back to the Cape.

(Which means instead of the boosters landing on

a barge out in the ocean, they landed back at the

same place they took off from! Amazing technology!)

With the night launches you can really see them

coming back down to land. It's spectacular!

The 2nd launch wasn't until 11:00 and Rod needed

to get to bed so he could work early the next morning.

Kyle and I watched it from the back patio.

It was a regular Falcon 9 (Starlink) so not as big,

but always beautiful.

It was a perfect night for it!

I was hoping to have 2nd Christmas today,

but just heard from Jim that Sabrina is still

really sick with the flu.

So I guess we will just cook up the dinner 

tomorrow for New Years Eve and maybe

drop their gifts off at their house on the way

home from church tomorrow.

I REALLY want to get the tree taken down.

It was already losing needles when we bought it

a month ago and now it's just a big mess.

Every time you even gently bump it

a gazillion needles fall off.

It's still pretty and smells AMAZING,

but it's time for it to go.

Merry Christmas!

 And a Happy Boxing Day!

Jim and Sabrina are still sick.

Kyle is working at the potato farm.

Rod and I are working on the house.

We still have gifts under the tree...

hoping to have 2nd Christmas this weekend.

(Rod has to go back to work Thursday.)

We have enjoyed a quiet Christmas this year.

I'm usually anxious to de-decorate by this time.

(And I "kind of" am... the tree is losing

needles like they are going out of style...)

But I'm really kind of liking it this year.

I'll probably be ready by the weekend though.

Still enjoying listening to Christmas music.

And having the lights on the tree.

And cookies.

Always cookies.

Merry Christmas Eve!

 It's a pretty, Christmas Eve day today.

The sun is trying to peak through

the light clouds.

(They are predicting 2-5" of snow today

and tomorrow in WaKeeney!)

We had a lovely Christmas service at church

today. A couple of speakers and the ward

choir, Primary and Young Women all

did special musical numbers.

It was really nice.

Unfortunately, Jim and Sabrina just both

received a diagnosis of Flu-B.

So they are down for the count.

No Santa on the firetruck or

gingerbread houses for them.

Poor guys!!!

We will still go to Indialantic though.

It's our last time.

We can't skip it.

Next year we will be making new traditions.

But for now, we will hold tight to

our tried and true.

Twins?

 Beau came with a LOT of stuff.

One was a frenchie pillow.

(Most of the stuff we got rid of...)

I didn't realize he was sticking out his tongue

when I snapped the picture...

LOL.

He loves sitting under the tree on his

Christmas blanket with his basket of toys.

But I'm going to wrap gifts today and put them

under there, so he might have to find a new spot.

This is working for him right now...

Painting

 Rod is on Christmas vacation this week

and most of next week.

And true to form, he is NOT taking a break.

Instead he has been painting all the

trim in the house.

And today he painted the kitchen.

Which involved pulling out the A/C filter thingie.

And pulling all the furniture away

from the walls.

Taping, laying down cardboard, and 

painting and painting and painting.

It has been a HUGE job.

And I'm so glad he is doing it!!!

The kitchen is a wreck.

But the walls look GREAT!

And soon we will be able to put everything back

where it goes. (We already put the fridge back

so we could pull out the stove...)

Whew!

It's going to look so nice in there though.

It was a flat, icky white.

Now it's a fresh, clean, semi-gloss white.

And I love it.

(And him!)

One step closer to being able to sell!

Cows (Not Ours)

 In the midst of all the house fixing,

and Christmas prepping,

and house buying...

there has been other stuff as well.

Last Wednesday Kyle and I took a

run up to Ocala with 3 of the

neighbor's cows to drop them

off at the butcher.

Brock bought himself a really nice

big stock trailer.

It's a gooseneck trailer.

And none of his trucks have a gooseneck hitch.

So every time he needs to move cows he has

to hire Kyle to do it for him.

Kyle was happy for the $,

but reminded him that he will need to

either install a hitch or buy a truck

or better yet, trade the trailer for a

bumper pull one.

This one is REALLY nice, but also

much bigger than he actually needs.

It's pretty rare he moves more than

3-5 cows at a time.

Although when he bought the trailer,

he also bought 20-ish calves and he

needed this one AND our bumper pull

stock trailer to get them all and move

them from where they were to a new

pasture he leases up there.

If that situation arises again he would

just have to make a couple of trips.

But the two places are within an hour of

each other so not a big deal.

Anyhow.

It was a fun day together.

And, as always, he masterfully backed

the trailer into a skinny little

loading chute.

One try.

Guess all that work with his trailer has 

paid off - although he was always good at it.

(He says it is because he used to pull a little

tiny trailer behind the 4-wheeler. The shorter

the trailer, the more squirrelly they are,

so it was good training for him.)

Today he is down at the potato farm.

They are trying to get the fields ready to plant

next week. But we got about 5" of rain

over the weekend down there, so it's 

pretty much under water.

The farmer is from Idaho and doesn't understand

Florida farming yet.

Kyle tries to help him understand, but then

he just shrugs and does whatever the guy

tells him to do.

So today he is making rows.

In standing water.

Ha.

Meanwhile Jim has a couple of pressure washing

jobs today and tomorrow so Kyle is on his own

down there.

Rod is painting.

He got the front foyer and all the trim around

the bedroom and bathroom doors and down

the hall done yesterday.

Today I think he is doing the inside of

Kyle's door trim, maybe Kyle's bathroom,

and maybe our bathroom?

That just leaves the kitchen.

We aren't painting our bedroom or the living room.

And Kyle already painted the zoom room

and his bedroom.

I'm shopping for homeowners insurance.

And braving Walmart here in a bit.

Wish me luck!

We OWN a NEW HOUSE!

 We just closed on our new house!!!!!

I'm so excited!!!!

Of course, with it being winter, the tree is now naked.

It was a journey.

One that I suspect is not over...

but there have been so many little

hiccups followed by major blessings

all along the way.

Thanks Mom and Dad!!!

We couldn't have done it right now

without you guys!

And, of course, there were the 

little "God Winks".

Like...

we left the washer and dryer in storage.

So when we got home we had to buy

a new set.

We bought the exact same ones we had before.

We liked them.

And they were cheap.

But when we got them home and installed,

the dryer door hinges were on the right side

instead of the left.

It's kind of a pain in the neck.

I have to reach over the door to get stuff

from the washer into the dryer.

And over the door to hang them as I

take them out.

And then I was looking at the pictures of the

new house's laundry area and

dreaming, planning, and trying to envision

what it was going to look like once we

moved in. And I realized the dryer

setup requires the door hinges to be

on the right!!!

Such little things.

But powerful.

Anyhow.

We got the electricity, gas, water and trash

all transferred over to our names.

And just waiting to talk to a 2nd insurance

agent to get homeowner's insurance.

Now we just have to wait until spring.

620 N. 4th Street

Welcome to the family!

A Little Rain

 They were predicting MAJOR rain and flooding

over the weekend.

It did rain.

Quite a bit.

But we didn't get any flooding from it.

Some people did... Brock, next door has

a nice little pond in his front pasture

that the local ducks are enjoying.

And, unfortunately, the 10 acre parcel that

Kyle was supposed to start mulching today

also got quite a bit.

But we are high and dry.

Meanwhile, we had our ward Christmas party

on Saturday evening.

We had lots of fun.

It started with a "social hour".

And then dinner at 6.

Then they sent the little kids and any parents

who wanted to go with them,

to the Primary room for some activities

and a visit from Santa.

Meanwhile the rest of us old folks stayed

in the cultural hall for a rousing game

of musical chairs.

And then a scavenger hunt.

And rock, paper, scissors.

All for fun prizes.

(Mostly food items and gift certificates

for Wendys...)

We were all done, cleaned up and gone by

about 8:15.

It was POURING rain, but we still had 

a really good turn-out. they had to put

up 2 or 3 more tables.

It was all put on by the Exec Secty and his wife.

(Volunteered!)

Anyhow.

It was a fun evening.

And the Sacrament Meeting full of music

turned out really well.

Some spoke at length about their song

of choice, some didn't (me), and

some even picked non-Christmas hymns.

It turned out really well.

And then we had our friends the Galbraiths

over for dinner.

We have been to their house for dinner

several times. She was the one who gave

us all the kitchen stuff to borrow.

He's the EQ Pres so we got to work closely

and got to know each other and our families

pretty well.

It was a nice evening.

I tried a new recipe. Yeah, I know, you shouldn't

do that... and it's not one I'll likely repeat.

But it was ok.

The company made up for it.

Today we have a guy coming to replace the

door going into the laundry room that Beau

destroyed when we first got him.

(He didn't WANT to be locked in the

laundry room while I wasn't home...)

And also to fix the pocket door going into

the master bathroom.

It was broken when we bought the house,

and I just hung a blackout curtain on a 

rod over the opening.

Quieter and darker.

But decided we should probably fix it before

we try to sell the house.

And then at 10:30 we have our final 

virtual walk-thru the new house with

our realtor.

I'm going to try to record it.

Or at least take some screen shots of the

various rooms since I can't remember 

the little details like how many outlets in 

the rooms and which rooms need ceiling

fans and new light fixtures.

That sort of thing.

Anyhow.

Hope you have a lovely Monday!

Christmas Music

 We've had our tree up for awhile.

But today it was overcast and windy.

It "felt" like it was cold.

(But checking the thermometer it was

in the 70's all day... lol.)

But with the Christmas music blaring

while I cleaned the house,

it FELT like Christmas today.

So I'm going with it!

We have Rod's office party tomorrow night

and then the ward party on Saturday night.

And Sunday is "Christmas Music" during

Sacrament meeting. The Bishop asked

4 people (so far) to come up, share

their favorite Christmas hymn, a bit about

what it means to them,

and then the ward will sing it.

I'm #4.

So hit me up with which is YOUR favorite

and why.

I like them all. 

Mostly.

(Not a big fan of Away in a Manger...)

My FAVORITE Christmas music is

the Halleluiah Chorus from Handel's Mosiah.

But I'm thinking we won't tackle that one...

grin.

New Project for Kyle

 Kyle has been working at the potato farm

with Jim for the last couple of weeks.

(Since we got back into town...)

They were repairing all the equipment

and getting it ready for another season.

Then they prepped the fields.

And now they are putting seed potatoes

in the ground.

Meanwhile, in his spare time, he has

been building coffee tables and end

tables out of reclaimed wood.

He really enjoys wood working.

He bought a new planer. 

So he didn't have to do it by hand anymore.

And also a new jointer so it all lines up right.

I really like them!

Always keeping busy!

West Palm

 I'm teaching a live class this weekend at my new site.

I'm back in West Palm Beach,

but at a different location and with a 

different team.

The facility is much nicer.

The people are NOT.

The other group was so friendly and welcoming.

This group.... not so much.

But since we are mostly here on the weekend,

it doesn't matter all that much.

I hung my #1 instructor banner on the glass door

since there is a steady stream of people 

walking by to the offices at the other

end of the hall. It's distracting to my students.

It's nice that it has the double TVs.

But boy do I miss the old days when we

had a big ol' white board to write on.

Anyhow.

Today is day 2.

I only have 8 students.

A couple of them are from Haiti and don't

speak a lot of English, but we are 

managing...

Have a lovely Saturday!

Packed!

 Rod was working on the trucks.

He has been ordering lots of parts

with which to work on the trucks.

So there are LOTS of boxes around.

Which is handy, because we are going

to need to pack. AGAIN.

Meanwhile...

Beau is all packed and ready to go.

Santa!

 Is it my imagination?

Or does this Santa look EXACTLY

like the light up Santa we hung at the front

door for MANY MANY years?

I was walking by and had to stop and do a double take!

Meanwhile... we are staying busy.

It's been chilly this week.

But today Kyle and I managed to go to the beach.

It was a bit cloudy when we first got there,

so we did a 2 mile walk to keep the blood flowing.

And then when we got back and sat down

the sun came out and it was beautiful.

I've been sitting in my zoom room, teaching.

There's a rocket tonight in about an hour,

so I'll probably stay up for that.

HOUSE UPDATE: The current owner's insurance company

agreed that the roof was hail damage (from 2017) and 

they are paying to replace the roof! Not until the spring,

hard to roof in the winter... but they will put money in

escrow with the title company and when the roof is done

the title company will pay them.

Weeeeeee!!! New Roof!

That's exciting!

So Much Free Time!

 Ok, not really....

but Sunday I was released as RS President.

And it FEELS like I have so much

extra time each day!

However, at the same time as they released

me, I volunteered to start the Ward Bulletin

back up again. We stopped doing it during

Covid and then when we created our new

ward, we just never started it up.

We are finding a large majority of the people

are NOT reading their email, accessing either

FaceBook OR the church calendar on the website,

so there are lots of things happening in the ward

that they aren't hearing about.

(Since we have been directed to limit the

announcements during Sacrament Meeting.)

So.....

I have been researching online for the various

options for ward bulletin layouts.

We want to do the full page folded in half version.

The front cover, this week, is going to be a line

drawing of our temple in Orlando.

Then when you open it, on the left side will be

the outline for the meeting.

On the right side will be announcements,

as well as important phone numbers,

(missionaries, RS & EQ Pres and Ward Exec Secty...)

Then on the back page I am going to title

it Bishop Doodles and I'm going to put some

sort of activity. Either another picture to color,

or a dot-to-dot, or word search, something like that.

The Bishop asked if he could color up on the stand?

Which is why we are calling it Bishop Doodles.

This week is Fast & Testimony meeting,

so it will be easy. They gave me access to the

web page where they have the music and talks

for the next quarter already assigned.

The plan is that I will get it up and running,

so there is sort of a plug and play template

and then when we move it will be easy for

somebody to take over.

Also, I volunteered to play the piano for RS.

However, I'm not going to be there on the

weekends that I teach down in West Palm.

But that's ok, we have another sister who can

take a turn. She sometimes plays the organ

in Sac Mtg - she will just have to hot foot it

from the chapel to the RS room.

Anyhow.

 
It has been a little chilly here so I have been enjoying

hot chocolate and a book a whole lot more lately.

It's kind of nice.

(NEW HOUSE UPDATE... We passed the home and termite inspections

on Friday with flying colors... everything looks to be on target for

a December 15 close! Weeeeeeee!)

Happy Birthday

 Happy Birthday to ME!

Hahahahahahaha.

We had a really nice Thanksgiving yesterday.

Jim and Sabrina came over.

She made REAL stuffing!

Just like we used to make waaaaay back in the day.

It was DELICIOUS!

She also made a homemade pumpkin pie.

I don't care for pie.

But I had a bite of Rod's and I can see what

all the fuss is about.

It was yummy.

But I didn't have a piece.

We watched a couple of Hallmark Christmas movies.

And then we all fell into a turkey coma.

This morning, we got on a FaceTime call

(first time) with our realtor and the

inspector. They did a walk-through at the new

house and we got to see it in great detail.

Looks like the roof might need to be repaired.

But first we are going to have the current owner

talk with her insurance company.

The inspector said it wasn't terrible... probably

last for several more years.

Both the crawlspace and the attic were in

excellent shape. The crawlspace was really

clean and didn't even have any cobwebs!

He was impressed.

It was COLD there today, so they were 

running the furnace and it was nice

and toasty inside.

They DID fire up the A/C though just

to check and it worked great as well.

All-in-all it was a really good inspection.

We will want to paint it both inside and out.

A fresh coat of paint is always a good idea.

And we will tear up the carpet (we were happy to

see it wasn't glued down...) and put in some

nice wood laminate flooring in the whole house.

And then some fun new light fixtures in

all the rooms, a coat of paint on the kitchen

cabinets and new pulls and we will be in business!

(The fridge and stove are both builder grade,

but they look fairly new and work well...

all we need for this little house.)

And, as we were going through, I still

get a really happy feeling.

Anyhow,

That's all the news that's fit to print.

And now I need to go make dinner.

(Rod spent the afternoon replacing the

garberator only to find out it wasn't the problem...

the outlet it was plugged into was bad.

So he put in a new outlet AND I got a new

garberabor out of the deal.)

What's New?

 Well..... when you last heard, we were back in Florida.

(Spoiler alert - we still are...)

But I had talked to some of you about a NEW little

house in a different (better) little town.

I don't know if you are familiar with the story of

Sister Nelson - when she and President Nelson were

first engaged and she was tasked with finding them a house.

She and her friend, Sheri Dew, were out house hunting.

They found a nice one.

When they left, they said a prayer asking for this house

OR SOMETHING BETTER!

I don't remember if I heard Sheri or Sis Nelson tell

the story, but whichever, it really impressed me.

So... I have spent much of the ensuing time praying

a similar prayer.

But I just keep coming back to this little house.

Yes, it is yellow.

So was our Malabar house when we first bought it,

Pretty faded out though, it will need to be painted.

It has a cute little front porch, not very wide,

but big enough for a couple of chairs to sit out

and enjoy the morning / evening sun.

The window you see looking out on the driveway 

is the kitchen sink window.

The pictures on Zillow are terrible.

This is the back door that leads directly into the kitchen.

On the back wall are the washer/dryer hook-ups.

You can see the corner of the stove and behind that

is a closet that holds the hot water heater and furnace.

There is room under the window for a little cafe table and chairs.

There is no picture of the rest of the kitchen, but since the house

was built in 1951, I'm sure you can imagine what it looks like.

The fridge is opposite the stove.

White painted uppers and lowers with some drawers.

A kitchen sink and window that overlook the driveway

(and neighbor's backyard...). 

This is the front door into the living room with a coat closet behind 

the door and a little built-in in the "dining room". 

Cute little stained glass hanging lamp over the table area.

(Needs new carpet... but other than worn, it's not gross...)

There is a nice big window on the front wall.

This house has lots of windows, lots of light.

They all have nice mini-blinds that come with the house.

Only one bathroom, but with just the 3 of us and none of us working

at a "real" job, the only time it will be a "crunch" is Sunday morning.

And it's CLEAN.

And doesn't have a purple painted toilet.

(Ugh, that other house really was the WORST!!!)

This is just one of the 3 bedrooms.

They are all fairly small.

Definitely not enough room for the California King waterbed.

(It was staying in Florida anyway...)

The house is only 888 square feet. 

So you can imagine the size of the bedrooms.

One for us, one for Kyle, and a Zoom Room.

I was sitting on this little back step when I called Mom.

The house sits on 1/2 acre. It's long and skinny.

The yard will need new dog-proof fence.

The little detached garage looks like someone was using it as a "man cave".

The walls are covered in a paneling and there are about 10 electric outlets.

Plenty of room in there for the dogs, the freezer, and the freeze dryer.

The yard goes all the way to the bushes - and then there is a good

old fashioned back alley between this property and the next.

It has some nice larger trees.

Plenty of room for a dog-run.

And room for Kyle to park his machines until he gets a 

shop built at the ranch.

Anyhow.

We thought about it.

We prayed about it.

We thought about it some more.

And then we put in an offer.

And they accepted it!

We have an inspection scheduled for Friday morning.

Our realtor, Tammy, will be there and has offered

to FaceTime us as they go through the inspection.

So... fingers crossed they don't find anything negative.

We have a tentative closing date of December 15!!!

(But we are still staying here until spring)

Anyhow.

That's the latest!

Fingers crossed.

Every time I think about it or tell anybody about it,

I just get the feeling that we NEED to live there.

If you want to check out the neighborhood, there

is a good street view on Zillow.

620 N 4th St, Wakeeney, KS 67672