This week I noted the emotions that run through the things you do in a week.
Sunday, May 16th, was embarrassing!
We thought we had a dinner appointment with friends. My eMails indicate this was true. I agreed we would provide dessert. I baked a lemon pudding cake on Saturday to take to dinner on Sunday. We had a 4pm Family History Coordinating Committee meeting via Zoom. Claude got us through that and we were on the road to Georgetown.
When we arrived at the Manwaring home, clearly they were surprised to see us. You see, Ali thought she was communicating the next Sunday. I thought when she said 'next' in the eMails she was talking about this last Sunday. It worked out fine. The Manwaring's had just finished eating. They made a plate for Claude and me. Then we discussed how our respective families were doing. And we enjoyed the lemon cake. Turns out lemon is a favorite flavoring of the Manwaring family.
The purpose for the meeting was really to tour Brad and Ali's home. Claude and I anticipate a move in our future. When the pandemic started in 2020 and things shut down, Brad and Ali just moved into their new home. They wanted to take a trip to Africa. We put all our Africa pictures on a thumb drive and dropped them off with a little photo album I did for them to view. Brad suggested we come into their new home then to see it. We declined due to all the restrictions. The reason Brad and Ali's home is so attractive is the size and the location and the fact you are in an HOA (Home Owners Association) and all the exterior yardwork and home maintenance is covered with your Home Owner's Fees. Claude and I want to look at all the possibilities for moving. We thought we should check out how Brad and Ali were feeling after living in their condo for a year. They have previously always had a single family home. Now their condo is the center unit of a three unit building. They have a master bedroom on the first floor and two other bedrooms upstairs. We walked through the entire home with Ali and Brad telling us what they liked and how they have pared down the things they own to make a smaller home work for them. It was excellent to see it in person and to talk with people who have now experienced this for a year. We also walked to look into homes under construction and then drove their neighborhood to see how it all lays out. It was an excellent evening and the Manwaring's helped us really see and understand the change for them.
I gave Ali the four coasters I had crocheted to say thank you for their help.
Monday, May 17th, was thrilling!
We had new life on our front door. The robins made a nest in the top of the front door wreath. They laid four pretty little blue eggs. This day, the first baby robin hatched. What an ugly little spud! But, it was thrilling to find new life on our front door.
We would go to Georgetown and drop off a treat bag for Papa and I would fill his birdfeeder. He gave me a big grin through the window, we waved and blew kisses. Always good when this happens. Claude dropped me off at Dr. Fine's office for my podiatrist appointment. We have done all we can for my poor feet. Dr. Fine cheerfully released me to my own devices with a charge to call him if I need anything at all. Claude ran errands while I had my doctor's appointment. Then we walked at Moss Park. The geese are all out now but we saw a kind I don't ever remember seeing. At first I thought it was a Canada goose. The coloring on the feathers was off for that. Still don't know what kind it was but they were pretty. And they were friendly. Clearly they were used to people feeding them for they followed us until they were sure we were not going to feed them.
When we entered Eagle Bend, they had added framing to the new home construction. It is fun to see what they do each time.
Tuesday, May 18th, was sobering!
I walked on the treadmill in the morning. My knees were killing me when I finished. I am not sure what is happening with these knees but they are giving me fits.
In the afternoon I took Papa for his weekly car ride. This time we drove in a northerly direction. We took Hwy 229 through Stamping Ground and on north to Owenton. Then we turned on Hwy 22 and used it and Hwy 36 to go east to Williamstown. At Williamstown we picked up Hwy 25 south. Hwy 25 took us through Sadieville and on to Georgetown. The nursing home is on the corner of Hwy 25 and Pocahontas Trail. Papa enjoyed the ride.
I have notice a couple of things. On this ride and the one last week, I handed him a snack bag with a few hard candies in it. I usually do this about 30 minutes into the drive. Usually he eats one and then later on may have one more. This ride and the one the week before he ate until the had eaten all of the hard candies. Not an issue. Just very out of character for Papa. The other thing really concerned me. As we were driving south on Hwy 25, Papa started to talk a bit. He has been unusually quiet the past two weeks. I have attributed this to his inability to hear. Unless I really yell, he is not understanding the words I say. I felt like it was just easier for him to enjoy being out and resigning himself to less conversation. So, he had been very quiet all this two hours of driving. Then, when he tried to talk, it was like he had a mouthful of something. The words rolled around and it was hard to understand him. Frankly, I wondered if he had a mini-stroke and it was affecting his speech. Getting old yourself and helping your aging father is very sobering.
Wednesday, May 19th, was exhausting!
Claude and I were home all day long. I started the laundry. I cleaned all four bathrooms in our home. Claude and I cleaned out some more in the guest bedroom closet and a few of the cabinets in our home. Lightening the load is what it feels like. At the end of the day, we had a trunk load of things in the back of the Jeep for Claude to take to Goodwill the next day.
Thursday, May 20th, was also exhausting and a little sad!
Claude had a dentist appointment and errands to run in Georgetown. I had a day to myself at home. I got the ironing done. Then I set to cleaning out my side of our bedroom closet. I was able to have four bags of clothes to give to Goodwill. Yes!! Claude had a good dentist visit. Was able to get his hearing aids sent for maintenance. The right one is not holding a charge.
I went to take pictures of our little baby robins after taking Papa's letter to the mailbox. I think we have lost one of the babies. I could only find two babies and one egg in the nest. I stand on a step stool and hold my camera over them to take the pictures. They lift their heads and those heads look disproportionally large for their bodies. Their heads just flop around. We still have one egg to hatch. What I read is they will take about two weeks in the nest before they are ready to fly. The stage while they are in the nest till ready to fly is called fledgling. It is fascinating to watch them grow.
We did our Georgetown run. A walk in Moss Park was first. My knee was killing me by the time we got back to the Jeep. We stopped at the nursing home and I left a treat for Papa and filled his birdfeeder. I was limping the entire walk around to the back to fill that birdfeeder. Papa was reading a letter I mailed to him. He was happy. I got back in the Jeep and Claude and I did a couple of other errands. I sat in the car the entire time. When we got back to Sadieville, I slid out of the Jeep and my left knee couldn't hardly hold any weight on it. Sharp paint. I held onto the cars to get myself and my things out the Jeep and into the house. Not good.
My check of our baby robins revealed only two robins in the nest. All eggs hatched and cleared out. Not sure what happened to our third baby. I could not see it in the nest on Thursday. Now we seem to clearly only have two babies left. They are so cute. When I open the door, they think someone is coming to feed them. Their heads flop around like a bobble-head doll. Then their beaks open wide waiting for food.
The caveat in today's world is the market. With the pandemic last year and people not going into homes and building slowing to a crawl, things are just weird out there. It is truly a sellers market right now. It is the time to sell as there are not many homes on the market. The difficulty for us in selling is not the home itself. It is the distance we are from the city and people wanting a home in the country. That, in itself, decreases our buying pool. Wendell, explained that, with the cost of building materials skyrocketing, builders have slowed to almost a halt building new homes. They want a secure buyer committed before they begin the build. So, the market is whacky, but we could get a good price for our home. Our preference would be to sell our home, buy a new home and move from one directly to another. Reality in today's market is we probably should sell and rent until we find the right home. We are going to stay in this area. So, off we go on another grand unnerving adventure. We are both confident we are moving in the right direction.
Saturday, May 22, 2021, was exhausting!
We did some clearing out steps for our home. We invited friends over to take some of the items Claude has in the workshop in our basement. They took a car load of things. We took a trunk load of things to Goodwill on Thursday and Friday. Our garbage can went out full on Wednesday and it is nearly full again. I finished cleaning out the legal size file drawer full of Papa's genealogy research paperwork. Now I am emptying and sharing my two recipe boxes with my family. In between, I have taken up and thrown out things. So much to do so we don't take items we don't need. We'll get there and every item we clear out makes our home feel lighter.
My knee was painful again. I started my day with a Meloxicam my doctor gave me to take when I plan to crochet for the arthritic pain in my right hand. It is helping a bit. That is a good thing. Too much to do to be hampered with a bum knee. Claude did say my knee was definitely a wake-up call about the need to move.
Sunday, May 23, 2021, was mind-boggling!
Saturday night I went to bed do tired. Then I laid there wide away for two hours! Ugh! I finally got up and hobbled to the living room. I went into the pantry and took all the magnets off the fridge. Then I went to the living room and picked up a magazine I wanted to read. I took that to the guest bedroom and read for another hour. Then I tried to rest again. I did get some sleep but not enough.
This morning we had the Sunday session of Stake Conference. We watched it via Zoom. It was a good meeting. One of my favorite quotes was "Hope is an abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promises to you. It is manifest in confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance. It is believing and expecting that something will occur."
After the meeting, we drove to Georgetown to meet our realtor. He set up a meeting with Haddix who built the home that Brad and Ali live in. The object was to see floor plans, find out what they are building, find out cost and time need to build, etc. We found some floor plans we thought we might like. They are just not building until they are really sure they have a buyer because of building costs for them. They will quote a price but not until you commit to a home and what upgrades you would want. Then they have the right to increase the price as building costs skyrocket. This is just awful. But we were shown what they are doing in Brad and Ali's neighborhood and a few homes in Frankfort, Kentucky. This is not far away and Claude and I would be happy living in Frankfort. The cost of the home there is less. However, none of them have HOA's that do the yards. They are new homes so plants and landscaping would need to be put in. Claude has suggested and I agreed, that, if there is no HOA to do yardwork, we hire it done for the same effect as having an HOA. Wendell also had two homes in Georgetown that are single-family homes that were having open houses. We went to each of these homes. The second one Claude and I both felt very good about. The owner is also a realtor and is selling the home. He was original owner and has lived there since 2010. We left our realtor after visiting this house with an agreement to meet with him Monday and talk about writing an offer on this second home. Then Claude and I drove to Frankfort and walked through two of the homes being built. Things could move very fast or someone else could out bid us and we still need to find a home. This is going to be an emotional roller coaster. We can handle it!
We came home and did a conference all with our children. Not sure how they all feel about the choice. Think they are happy for us making a decision.
So our week has been full of emotions. Good ones, happy ones, ones that make you restless, an entire range of emotions. But, even with all that, it has been a good week.
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