Last projects

I finally finished my two projects that will probably my last until I get all settled. Here they are: The table can be broken down into two pieces for travel. I did the parrot to follow my theme of It's 5 o'clock Somewhere.

I started the flamingo several months ago to post in my front window when I am parked. I have put off completing it for quite awhile but I knew I had to finish it before I tore down my crafts room. I probably should have used a lighter grout on the flamingo but I had the black mixed for the table above and didn't want to mix another round. Black is so messy to work with.

The craft room is just about torn down. Theda is coming this weekend and will take most of it over there. The tools for stained glass is so expensive so I wanted it to stay with me so I could put my hands on it when I was in the mood again.

Things are really looking up for the move. I had a couple come by today who bought my dresser (thank to Becky) and they carried it off. Don't have but a few more things to sell.

I pick Taylor up from the airport tomorrow. She will be w/me for the week and it couldn't happen at a better time. I sure will be able to use her help.

I just got off Skype with my family who are together in East TN for Easter. It was just like I was there except when they started bringing their desserts over and eating in front of the webcam. Shame on them, boy it sure looked good. Just reminded me of what I am missing.

Later...

So Much Happening-My Heads Spinning

Quick update, I do have a signed contract on my condo for a cash sell. Appraisal and inspections are to happen on Friday. I am scheduled to be out by April 21, whew! I'll be moving in with my DF, Cindy. She is only about a mile from me and she is not there most of the week so it should work out well and I can save some money that I thought I would make on my house. What a win-win!

I have decided to work until at least September and maybe October. I still want to live my dream in the Keys in Jan/Feb, 2010 and to do that I really need to run a full paycheck out until Jan 1 which will have me working until October and then take the next three months on leave. Sounds like a plan.

I had wanted to stay in Bluewater RV Resort but with a whopping $4000 mo, that won't happen. I may work my way down and be there for April/May when I can enjoy snorkeling & playing in the water. I hear it is still too cold to do that sort of thing in Jan/Feb. Like I've said all along, plans are in jello.

My BFF, Debbie, is basking in the sun in Hawaii! Good for her. While she is gone I have been keeping her poodle, Duchess. OMG, it is so funny to watch Duchess and Sedona together. See they are both only dogs and are both getting used to having all the attention. That's not the case when they are together. We kiddingly named Duchess, "the black stalker" because she is constantly following Sedona around. Sedona tries to ignore her but the first night, I didn't get any sleep. See, Duchess is used to sleeping at the foot of the bed under the cover. Sedona is used to sleeping at the top of the bed (around my shoulders) and out of the cover. Sedona would grunt and then there would be a grunt from Duchess, back and forth all night. Sedona didn't like sharing "our" bed with another dog. Gee, wonder who would be alpha dog in this situation? Anyway it has been very time consuming to entertain 2 dogs. No more thoughts of getting a friend for Sedona, nope, nada! Duchess leaves tonight so everything should get back to normal.

Real Estate Status

Just a quick post to say I'm still negotiating. Here goes Counter #3 and we are sooooo close. I'll know after 5 tomorrow if they have accepted this counter. Gosh, could this really be happening. We began so very far apart and now we are narrowing the gap. Been wandering around the house and putting things in the car to take to Somewhere just in case I have to move quickly. April 21 will come quickly so I'll have to get on the stick.

I'm trying not to get my hopes up but it sure would be removing that big hurdle toward hitting the road. If this happens, it will probably September before I get out of dodge. I figure it will take that long to make me feel good about extra $$ in my pocket for the road.

Updates as I get them.

Later...

Real Estate Update

Showed my condo for the first time on Monday, 3/30/09 and by Wednesday, 4/1/09, had a contract. Now, don't get too excited. They low balled me. I sent my counter in today and they have until 5:00 pm tomorrow, Friday, to let me know. It would be great because it is a cash sell but they offered me about 18,000 below what I was asking. I don't think so. One would have thought is was an April's fool joke if I had not seen the contract. Keep your fingers crossed.

State government is implementing a smoking penalty next year on health insurance. If you smoke, you will pay a $50 per month increase on your health premium. I have been dabbling in smoking again after being quit for 6 years, well actually, I'm probably full blown smoking. But I'm gonna quit again and this time for good. Keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer for me. It's tough. Yes, I could kick myself every day for picking up that first one thinking I could just smoke one. NOT!

I'll brief you on the status of the contract for the house. It would be too cool for her to accept it but, if not, there will be another.

Later...

Pot Pie Find

This is certainly blog worthy so go ahead a laugh if you must. I went to the grocery store yesterday and really wanted something quick to fix. My nephew, Roy, had been getting chicken pot pies which I would not eat because they had green peas in them. Yuck!! I would always pick the peas out and that takes way to long.

Well, Marie Callender has chicken pot pies with NO green peas, instead there is one with green beans, one with broccoli and one with nothing green at all in it. I bought five, yes, you read correctly FIVE! I had one last night and it was so good. Crust is just right even when cooked in the microwave. Thank you Marie Callender.

Later...

Back in touch

Hello, I'm back on cyberspace. I just haven't been interested in posting to my blog lately. I apologize to my regular readers but I'm sure you understand.

I had gall badder surgery and while recuperating I went down to Theda's and stayed about a week. It was a good place to be but there is no cell service which made my Verizon broadband not operational. I sure didn't like being out of touch. She has dial up at home and it really was slow. Guess that's my first opportunity to use the broadband outside of the Nashville area. Verizon and I have had many conversations. Let's hope it gets better.

I had another open house last weekend and once again, NO LOOKERS. Yep, that's zero. Since the condo has been on the market it has not been shown once. It's hard to not be discouraged and wonder if I am ever going to be able to get the heck out of dodge. I'll keep the faith though.

Roy, my nephew, is gone. He went back to Etowah. Nashville CSX ran out of work over here for him so he went back home to hold several jobs there. I miss him already and so does Sedona. I didn't even get to have his welcome back to Nashville party. Oh well, he will probably be back if work in the yard picks back up.

Thursday night was a great night. I met some fellow RVers for dinner. I had been following Gary and Vicki's adventures as they full time. They are a couple from the Nashville area and I had read about them in an article featuring them in The Tennessean. He posted on his blog, We're Wingin' It, they were coming to Nashville to visit family until their workkamping job in Hariman, TN. I email and we set up a time to have dinner and let them share their knowledge and experiences with me and my other RVing friend, Margie.

It was good to listen and be able to ask questions about full-time rving. It seems they have been full time since 2005 so they have been through several seasons and have learned what works well for them and what doesn't. Vicki is a cooker. She cooks a lot while they are out and it was good to hear that can be done. Of course, it makes a difference when a couple is going out and when a single person will be doing it all. I was so pumped when I left dinner at Longhorns. However, it made me a little sad that I'm gonna have to wait longer to get out on the road. Let's see, I think I need more patience! WHAT!

It was good to have an evening with Gary, Vicki and Margie. RV people are good.

That's a brief update on what has been going on with me for the last couple of weeks. I'll try to do better in my postings.

Later...

Salsa Dancing and more

Roy and I decided to go to some free Salsa dancing lessons last night. It was so much fun! Of course, this morning, I could barely get out of bed. Hips are a little sore but I just enjoyed it so much. They are offered in a little bar down the street called Elysian Inn. It is under new management and they are trying to offer different things to get people to come in. This worked out very good because it was from 7-9 which doesn't make for a late work night. We will definitely go again. There were two other Latin dances we learned. The basic steps on all of the dances are not difficult, it's all the turning that adds to the sauciness of it.

Have you seen the Comcast commercials? I LOVE them. They are bright, catchy and very well done. The Arby's non-burger is gross. I really don't like it when the guy picks up the burger and runs it through his hair! Yuck!

Realtors came by the other day for a walk through. There were about twelve of them. Roy sat out and gave me a blow-by-blow on the phone. He counted and timed them. It was funny to hear him do a announcers job on the kind of car they were driving, how many were in each car, how long they stayed, etc. We will see if they have any prospects. No lookers yet.

I'll be out of commission for a few days. Gonna have gall bladder surgery tomorrow but from what I hear, it's no big deal. Won't be dancing next week.

Open House Report

This will be a short post. I'm not in a good mood so I'm here to let you all know that I had my first open house. ZERO people showed up. Yep, ZERO. Not even the nosey neighbors showed up. Of course it was the first beautiful weekend in a long cold winter so guess folks were not interested in going home shopping today.

Good show on HGTV tonight at 7. RV2009, I'll watch that and that will get me in a better mood.

Later...

Somewhere a day early

I was going to Somewhere on Sunday to stay while the open house was happening but had to run to Joelton today to see my nephew and decided to go on up to Clarksville. I had a lot of stuff in the back of my car to find a place for everything. Roy went with me to see his brother and visit with his nephews, my great nephews. They had come to Nashville for a church thing with the youth. It was good to see them.

All systems worked well on Somewhere. Turned the Genny on and ran the AC for a while to put a load on her and she worked like a gem. My storage is quickly dwindling but I think I'll have enough space for everything once I go live. I am going to have to reevaluate what dishes I am going to take. Based on my yard sale and the things I had planned on keeping, I won't have room for all the dishes. Do I really need all that? I really won't know until I get out there. What will I cook? How much will I cook? Those will be the questions I'll have to answer at some point. Certainly not now.

Sunday is Open House at my condo so I'll have to leave for a few hours. I'm thinking maybe bingo. That will kill a few hours.

The weather has finally turned out terrific today. Should be like 77. Started out a little chilly with the clouds and the wind. Now it's beautiful.

Multiple Listing Service

It has happened, my condo is now in the MLS number 1061335 and can be seen on Realtracs. Gosh it's a reality. Now we will see. Mixed feelings are flooding my psyche right now! Hope things go well. Thanks to all of you have expressed interest.

Later...