Changes Are Coming!!!

 So.

We have been busy.

We bought a house.

(Well, not YET, it closes on 10/27)

It's a tiny little house in the little town

of Hill City which is just 10 miles or so

from the ranch.

We have a storage building in Hill City

where Kyle is storing his tractor and

all his tools, etc.

It's tiny.

2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and a 1 car garage.

The roof is in good shape.

It's a little ROUGH inside.

But once we tear out the carpet and give it

a coat of interior paint, it will be just

fine for this winter while we are 

building our houses.

And then we will finish cleaning it up and sell it.

It has a wood burning fireplace.

But oh, my goodness, the CARPET!

The house was built in 1956,

so I imagine (hope) there is hardwood under there.

And if there isn't, we'll go to Home Depot in Hays and buy

some new carpet and have them install it for us...)

It needs some work!

It's a little ugly, but the cabinets are all in good shape.

(Looks like it needs a new hinge on one...)

The fake brick will be an easy fix. Might just

paint it and make it look like subway tile! 

Hahahahahaha.

But it has a brand new fenced in backyard

where we can keep the dogs,

so its really all we need.

We can't decide if that's a chicken coop or just junk.

It was purchased by a man who started

working on it and then was killed in a car accident.

And it looks like he started on the OUTSIDE.

But hadn't done much inside.

Anyhow.

We are moving forward!

By the way, it cost less than a new car.

(Wish we had seen it LAST week while

Kyle was literally 2 blocks away, putting his

stuff in the storage unit.)

RAIN!

 Kyle was working outside on the

yard - getting everything ship shape

so we can put the house on the market.

I was at work.

I got a text.

I laughed for about 15 minutes.

Whew!

 Sorry for vanishing like that!

But it was a whirlwind weekend.

I rented a car on Friday morning and left town

about 10:30.

Ugh, South Florida traffic.

You can hardly see it, but this rental had a "heads up" display.

Right under the other car you can see my little

floating screen that shows my speed and even if a

turn is coming up! It was nifty!

Had to go to a town call Margate to pick up

the keys and information from the regular

instructor.

And then head on down the road to the

school in Miami.

It took from 10:30 until 3:30!!! (The GPS said

it should be a 2 hour and 20 minute drive,

but the detour into Margate took FOREVER!)

Got all set up and familiarized myself with the school.

(Not a wonderful part of town...)

Then off to my hotel.

Across the street from the big fancy horse race track.

(Which I can NOT remember the name of right now...)

Anyhow.

MUCH nicer part of town.

But seriously. 

NO RESTAURANTS!!!!!

Anyhow.

I was on the phone with Kyle while he was

driving across the country and I decided to

walk the 2 blocks to Target and get some salad

for me to take as lunches.

But there were NO crosswalks and I wasn't about

to try crossing 8 lanes of traffic without one.

So I walked back to my hotel, DROVE to Target,

got some salad, some candy for my class,

and a bag of honey coated almonds as snack for me.

Then back to my hotel.

And I walked to the Steak 'n Shake in the parking lot

for a sandwich and a shake.

And then BED!

Saturday I was at the school about 7:15 to make sure

I got the best parking spot (near the door) and

got everything up and running before the students

arrived for the day.

They were ALL Haitian.

Most spoke with a very very strong island accent.

Beautiful to listen to, but really hard to understand.

It was a HARD day of teaching.

When it was all done I drove back to my hotel,

walked to Steak n' Shake for a different sandwich

and a different shake, then upstairs to eat and SLEEP.

Sunday was a repeat of Saturday, except since it was

the final day, I also had to give them their final exam.

I had 17 students to test.

8 passed.

2 were close.

The rest CRASHED and BURNED.

It wasn't pretty.

(30's and 40's...)

I was finally finished with students about 9:20.

Packed everything up and headed back to the hotel.

And, you guessed it, Steak 'n Shake for 

another different sandwich and shake.

And then BED!!!

(Boy was I ready!)

My alarm went off at 4:00.

I wanted to get OUT of South Florida BEFORE

the rest of the crazy drivers woke up and got 

on the highway.

It was pretty smooth sailing. A little spitting of rain,

but the traffic was pretty light and I made good time.

Got home at 6:40 and slept on the couch until I

had to return my car at 9:00.

Then I cleaned out all the size 6 and size 8

(cuz let's be honest, those days are GONE)

from my closet and then Kyle and I took them to

a drop off and then to Sam's for groceries.

Then home to meet a guy who wanted to buy some

of our extra pasture gates, and then we went to the

beach for some well earned beach time!!!

And then, of course, I had to come home and teach my evening zoom.

Boy, am I ready to hit my bed again!

Sure glad my boy is home though!!!

So amazing he was able to build that whole house in

just a week.

It's a HOUSE!

 Wow.

Who knew you could build a house

in less than a week?

He's getting the coated plywood on the roof.

He had a minor setback... got some sawdust in 

his eye because it is SUPER windy...

and then it scratched his eye which

was SUPER painful.

Ended up just laying in his truck

with his eyes closed for 3 or 4 hours.

That was late afternoon.

His eye got feeling better and as it got dark

the wind dropped, so he climbed up there

and worked for a bit by the light

of his truck and the telehandler.

Didn't work for very long though.

It started to sprinkle.

Anyhow.

His eye is fine now and he got back

to work after a good night's sleep.

He got the wood on and also closed up

the gable ends with some leftover plywood.

Loving the high ceiling in his bedroom!

Just imagine laying in bed,

looking out that giant window!

He won't ever get any work done!

About 5:00 they came and collected the telehandler.

He sure enjoyed working with that machine.

It really made everything easier.

He hasn't sent me any pictures from today.

He was busy finishing the roof

and boarding up all the windows and doors.

He is at the storage unit right now,

dropping off the tractor and all the tools he

is going to leave there.

Then back to the house to sleep

and he'll hop in the truck and head home in the morning.

He should be home Friday night

or Saturday morning,

depending on how long he drives each day.

Unfortunately, I got tapped to sub in Miami

this weekend, so I won't be home until Monday.

But I'm looking forward to seeing him and

watching the drone footage he took!

Still Roofing

 Yesterday Kyle finished cutting all the

rafters for one side of the roof.

This morning he got those all installed.

This afternoon he was going to get the other side cut and installed.

And then put up the plywood.

He bought some special roofing plywood that has a 

silver reflective coating on it.

The silver stuff you see in the pile...

He brought it with him from Florida.

He is NEARLY DONE!!!

Oh, and by the way, it's COLD in Kansas at night!

(At least for a Florida man!)

Roof

 Kyle is moving forward with the roof.

This telehandler is a life saver!

And this young man is amazing.

Getting the first whatever-you-call-them's up.

Moving forward as the day ends.

He simply amazes me with all that he is capable of doing.

2nd Storey

 Kyle is BANGIN'!!!!

Check out that telehandler!

It's not even half extended.

What a moose - Kyle LOVES this machine!

(Also notice the nifty stairs... cut-off ends of the pilings.

He'll make "real" stairs later...)

Check out that window!!!

(And his brand new ladder...)

This will be in his bedroom.

What a view to wake up to each morning.

The top of the stairs with a window in the landing.

Oh my goodness, it's a HOUSE!!!!

He was TIRED when the day was over.

So he sat in his house and watched

a movie on his phone,

ate some dinner and went to SLEEP.

Amazing job Bud.

Sleeping "In Doors"

 Kyle has been sleeping in his truck.

There are COYOTES.

And he forgot his gun (again).

Houston, we have a HOUSE!

Granted, there are no windows and doors,

but there is a floor, and a roof (well, the 2nd

floor, but it works as a roof)

and it FEELS like a house.

He even has (part) stairs!

He'll get the 2nd set up as well as the 2nd floor

all done Saturday and probably also start

on the roof.

And check out his view!

He will have a balcony off his 2nd floor bedroom.

And this is what he will get to see.

Terrible picture - his phone was acting up...

but it's a HOUSE!

And he is a happy man.

I Can't Help It

 I don't know about you,

but I am finding this very exciting!

He sent me a picture.

We have a WALL!!!!!

(And a hole for a front door and 2 windows.)

UNfunny story about the windows.

While he was in Home Depot Wed night

to pick up the wood and was waiting for

them to figure out how to load it on a forklift

and carry it out to his waiting trailer

(15 very long 16' posts - VERY heavy)

he wandered around the store and went to

check on the windows.

Horrors!

They are a DIFFERENT SIZE!

After a little research, the size he planned for

is EXCLUSIVE TO FLORIDA!

What???????

So he will be buying them here and carting

them out on his next trip when he comes to get

his Cat and other stuff.

Oops.

Live and learn.

About 2 hours later and we have THREE walls!!!

Looks like he is getting ready to install the stairs!

First Floor

 Hahahahahaha.

I wanted to type "First Floor - Lingerie"

But I wasn't sure you would get it.

(I'm OLD)

(And I wasn't sure I could spell it...)

Anyhow.

I'm teaching in Tampa.

But Kyle is checking in now and again...

He is cruising right along.

Getting the floor put up on the pilings

he stuck in the ground yesterday.

Laying bets he will have all 4 walls up by 

the end of the day today!

I'll keep you posted!

Getting Started

 Kyle got his "telehandler" delivered Wed. morning.

They gave him a free upgrade to a larger machine.

He'd be able to build a 4-storey house if he wanted!

He got it all unloaded and staged for building the house.

Those are the trees along the road.

It's mid-September, so the field isn't as green

as Google thinks it is. (hahahaha)

(that's actually from when it was planted in milo, 

also known as sorghum, broomcorn, guinea corn,

durra or great millet...)

He went into Hill City and got his tractor

from the storage building.

Then he got the house section all prepped.

Next he went into Hays and got all the 

wood and concrete for the pilings.

This morning he got the pilings set.

I had to drive to Tampa, so I haven't

spoken to him since.

But I'll update again when I do.

Meanwhile,

they "upgraded" me again at the car rental place.

Fancy Shmancy.

It's a convertible, but I won't be lowering the roof.

It has a tiny trunk.

But it's kind of fun to drive.

Traveling

 Wow.

I forget sometimes that when I text or I

write in my journal,

I STILL need to do a blog.

I feel like I've already "told the story"...

So.

He got all loaded up.

It's a BIG pile!

Then they built some wood sides for the flatbed

on the truck so he could load up MORE stuff.

There's lots of stuff.

The inside of the truck is pretty full as well.

I made him up 24 freeze-dried meals to eat.

So that's 12 days of food.

Plus, of course, he's not going to the moon.

There ARE stores there.

He will need to go into Hays for wood, etc.

so he'll be able to pick up groceries

He has a really large Yetti cooler,

so he can get things that need to stay cold.

And he took a butane one-burner stove and a

cast iron pan, so he can cook stuff besides what

he brought with him.

(24 meals, but not a TON of variety and 

NO fresh veggies - so he'll need to get some...)

He left around 7:30 Monday morning.

Drove and drove and drove and drove.

Found a rest area to pull into about 11, and 

it had a 2-hour limit! WHAT?

So he got back on the road and went to the

next truck stop, but didn't get there until 1:00.

Got up again this morning about 7:30 and got

back on the road again.

He's getting closer.

Hayes is our "big city".

And then the ranch is an hour from there.

But at least I can get them both on the

same screen now!

Probably about 2 more hours.

He must have stopped for fuel and

a bite to eat.

They are delivering his equipment tomorrow

morning at 9:00. He will

use it to unload the trailer and then to build

the house. He has it for a week.

They called him today and gave him a

free upgrade to a larger machine, so that's 

excellent news!

The one he ordered was plenty,

but boys and their toys.

Bigger is always better!

Thank you to everybody for keeping him in

your prayers. 

It has been a good, uneventful, safe trip

(so far, don't want to jinx the last 100 miles...)

I'll keep you posted as he send me pictures!

Hurricane Lee is a DOOZY!!!

 The hurricane centers and all the storm chasers

are LOSING. THEIR. MINDS. over this

Hurricane Lee.

Granted, it is breaking records all over the place.

It went from a tropical storm to a Cat 5

in 24 hours.

Of course it's still WAAAAAAAAAY too early

to know where its headed.

Most forecasters are predicting it will make a swing

to the north, skirt Virginia Beach and then do

a pretty direct (and likely devastating) hit 

to Nova Scotia.

Regardless, we will get some big waves

and a lot of beach erosion.

Which isn't good news for places like

Daytona that still hasn't replaced the sand and

sea walls from the last couple of storms.

There are homes that are in serious danger

of being washed away.

(Hello... don't build your house upon the sand?????

Every Primary kid knows THAT!)

Anyhow.

I'll keep you updated.

I'm off to Tampa next weekend.

But by then we will know what's happening.

And I'll keep you posted throughout the week.

(Not like EVERY forecaster on EVERY news

channel isn't already harping on it...)

But you can trust me to take away the hype.

Be prepared.

Not scared.

Meanwhile, we are staying healthy, happy,

and busy as usual.

Rod did his last day of "light duty" at work,

so it will be back to normal for him next week.

He'll be glad to be back to doing his 

regular job and not trying to look busy

with log books and computer stuff.

Have a great weekend!!!

Beautiful Beach Skies

 We went to the beach and enjoyed a

beautiful evening yesterday.

(And again this afternoon...)

The sky was GORGEOUS!

High, wispy clouds.

The ocean was really rolling!

And there was NOBODY there.

(Eventually there were some surfers,

but for the most part we were alone...)

We went for a walk and encountered

a couple of BIG jellies.

That's Kyle's big ol' size 9.5 foot.

This one had pretty pink "innards".

They aren't as pretty (or deadly) as 

Man 'O Wars.

But still fascinating.

We did the Bishop's Storehouse this morning.

Very busy - there were several people missing.

And then the Employment Specialist that shares

the building invited us all over for chicken

salad sandwiches, watermelon and chips.

That was fun.

And then we drove home, changed, headed to the beach,

and then back home so I could teach.

And now?

BED!

Happy Labor Day!

 We had a nice day!

Started with a run to Tractor Supply to get

a bag of chicken feed.

Then to Home Depot to look at windows

and doors.

(They only have Home Depot in Hays,

there is no Lowes! TRAVESTY!)

But we found some stuff we like.

Then to Publix (grocery store) for some

cut up watermelon and some chips and

then to a friend's house for a last-minute lunch.

It was fun!

It's the EQ Pres and his wife Beth,

(we are becoming good friends)

and my 1st counselor Val (who is married

to Travis, the 1st C in the Stake Pres, but

also Beth's brother....)

and the Bishop and his wife.

All really fun people.

It was a nice lunch - the kids played in the pool.

The men (and children) sat at a table in the

family room, and the women (and Ethan

who is leaving on Wed to go back to BYU Idaho

and wanted to spend time with his Mom)

sat in the dining room.

We talked and talked and talked and talked.

And then we moved to the family room

to be with everybody else and we

talked and talked and talked and talked.

It was fun.

But I was TIRED.

Home to try to nap (but it didn't work...)

and then into the zoom room to teach.

I was surprised to have 12 students!

Possible choices for sink, stove and floor.....

We'll see.

New Topper

 With the potential of a hurricane

we decided it was time to get the

topper on the new F250.

Rod called in some favors from his 

brother, his sons and a co-worker

and the bunch of them got it all installed.

(He is still not allowed to lift anything for

another week...)

It looks great!

Makes the truck look HUGE!

(But it kind of is... it has a full 4-door

cab and also a long bed.)

It will be good for putting the dog crates

in for the move and then going

forward when we need to go into the

"big city" to do our monthly grocery haul.

And, of course, it helps that it was FREE!

Good find Rod!

*Bonus - it freed up a little bit of the patio!

Wheeeeeeeee!

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

 I've been thinking about my Dad

all day long and wondering how

his birthday is going.

He got to have lunch with family

and then dinner with other family

and then a party tomorrow!

Darn this 3-hour difference!

Every time I had a moment to call,

it wasn't a good time for them.

And vice-versa.

But he has been in my thoughts all day long.

He is so loved by all of us!

I hope he had a wonderful day!

I LOVE YOU DAD!