Counting Down Till the Move...

Sunday, June 6th, baby Joel made his appearance at 6:56pm. He weighed in at 9 lbs. 9 oz. and is 22 inches long. His full name is Joel Richard Tyler Roper. He will go by Joel. To say we are over the moon happy would be an understatement. So happy he is here.

Monday, June 7th, we filled the day nicely. I had a dentist appointment in Georgetown. My car was loaded with Goodwill donations. I first dropped dish liquid off to the missionaries. Then to the nursing home I sped to leave a treat for Papa and fill that birdfeeder. Dropped donations at the Goodwill store. Then Dr. Hollen pronounced my teeth in good shape. Over to the Gibert's. They are also moving. They purchased moving boxes and had some left over to give away. I picked up some for our move and caught up with Nancy a bit. 

Wendell, our realtor, sent a welcome text. Our radon inspection was good and the termite inspection showed no termites. Yeah!! The buyers didn't want to bother with an appraisal. They are willing to pay full asking price and can do this without any bank help. So, we all signed to take that part out of the contract. 

I called Andrea at the bank to see how the paperwork for our closing was going. Left a message. 

Claude and I worked in the big storage area in the basement. We took down two more storage shelves from that area for Claude to dismantle. Then I finished scanning a Ziploc bag of old pictures I found. 

We put a plastic cover over the dining room table and moved all the liquid cleaners and things we have to move to that area. The plan is to combine some of the bottles. I had four bathrooms and each had their own set of cleaning supplies. 

I also collected all the doilies and scarves off the tops of things through out home. I am trying to get like things together for packing purposes. 

We did receive updated pictures of Joel because, well, you know, they change so much in a day!! He really looks like a bruiser of a baby boy to me!

We took the white chair to the Marx family this day. Bailey was so happy to find it in their home when she came home. And, as an added bonus, the throw that I kept over it in our home that she loved to curl up in was folded and in the chair waiting for her. Bailey is coming to grips with the fact she has only had Christmas in this home in Sadieville. All 14 years of her life she has only known Christmas here. When she learned we were giving away this chair, she wanted it in her room. Andie and Michael talked about it. They agreed she could have it. Bailey was surprised and much comforted to find the chair there for her and the throw. She told Andie, "Now all I need is Gramma right next to me." Melts my Gramma heart I tell you. Melts it big time. 

We took our bathroom furniture to the Marx family last week. It was put in their basement on Saturday. The basement is affectionately called "Hayden's Man Cave". Andie sent these pictures on Saturday after they placed the furniture in their basement. There were three items. A hall tree, a low storage cabinet they have put the television on and a dirty clothes hamper Hayden will use as an end table. 

Tuesday, June 8th, was the day to spend my afternoon taking Papa for a car ride. What would be the best way to fill the morning hours. I opted to get some phone calls made. I called each utility to find out the timing to get them on our name. I also checked with AT&T about Internet and DirecTV. Felt good to have an understanding of what I need to do with that portion of the move. Claude worked on home owner's insurance so that is ready when we have closing. 

After dropping off one more load of things at Goodwill, I picked up Papa for his ride. Gray skies were rolling in and I was a bit concerned. I had chosen roads that would be better if caught in the rain. The rain wasn't supposed to arrive until 3pm and we could be done by that time. Alas, that was not how the drive went. We left the nursing home and headed south on Hwy 25 to catch Ironworks Pike. As I approached that intersection, I could see lots of emergency equipment and lots of flashing lights. I found a turnaround and we headed the other direction. I kept my intended route for the afternoon in my hand and would jumble it up in an effort to avoid rain. The rain quickly caught up with us. At times it was light but a lot of the time it was heavy. Papa was really enjoying it. He stays in his bed a lot and is totally unaware of what the weather is outside. For him, being out with rain falling all around was pure delight. He was experiencing things and really enjoying it. For me, it was a big concern. Driving in a driving rain is just not fun for anyone. We made it though and it let up a bit in time for me to get Papa back into the nursing home without getting him wet. He was a happy man.

Before I took him back to the nursing home, I drove him to our new home. I talked to him about the inside and showed him how you could see the church from our front yard. Then I told him I wanted him to pay close attention to how far I would be from the nursing home as I drove him back. He was happy I would be closer to where he was. Don't know how long he will remember all of this but seeing it as we talked may help a bit.

Wendell called as I drove home. I told him Claude and I would call him back when I got home. We did. Wendell had tried to get dates for our closing. Our buyers are aiming to close on June 28th. They may actually do it virtually from their home in New Mexico. Wendell thinks we can close around then as well. 

Claude and I talked and decided we should trek to Michigan over the upcoming weekend with all the items we have to take there. Chief of which is the cedar chest that was Bonnie's which Claude refinished for Nissa. Claude did a masterful job with this one. We will load it in the back of my car and fill it with the items we are taking to the rest of the family. That will clear out all the Michigan things except for some boxes we will store for Jacob in our shed. It would be a very quick trip. 

I started reading Lord of the Rings in the evening. Curled up in my bed and read a lot of the introductory portion. This is the 50th anniversary edition and there are several preliminary things to read about the history of the book. Fascinating stuff. Looking forward to reading this tome!!

This was Tuesday's Joel picture. He is really intently looking toward the camera. Such a manly little face. No question looking at him that he is a little boy.

Wednesday, June 9th, would be my mother's birthday. A nice thing to remember.

Started our day with a talk with Wendell. He had great news. It seems the home inspection report for our home was reviewed by the buyers. They are not asking for anything to be repaired. Nothing!! This is practically unheard of. That is a huge burden off our shoulders. Whew!! Hallelujah!!

We determined we would aim for a moving date of June 29th. We would aim to close on June 28th. There may be tweaking to do with this as we get nearer the date, but we were happy to have definite dates to work toward.

I spent my morning making a hotel reservation for our Michigan run, calling to get the covenants for the HOA in Ward Hall Estates, getting an appointment to get my brakes check at Dan Cummins, scheduling the packers and the movers.

Claude and I drove to LaGrange with the two brown chairs. Bailey and Hayden were home. We stopped at KFC and picked up lunch for all of us. After unloading the chairs, Michael took his lunch break (he works from home) and we all enjoyed a brief visit over chicken tenders. It was fun to see the kids and catch up. 

As we left Eagle Bend, Claude paused so I could take a picture of the front of the new home being built in Eagle Bend. It is coming right along.

We would hurry back home and work on packing and cleaning. I would do the laundry. We are very busy people right now.

This day, Katelyn would bring Joel home from the hospital. This would be the first chance his two older sisters get to see him. Katelyn took a video clip of the girls reaction to Joel. You could hear Raelyn say, "He is a big baby, isn't he?" Yep. He is a big baby.

After work, Nissa and Todd, the happy grandparents, were able to come and play with Joel. When he was in the hospital, they couldn't visit him because of Covid-19 restrictions. Clearly, Nissa was very happy to meet this new grandson.

Thursday, June 10th, has been a very full day of hard work. We have loaded the car for our trip to Michigan. We were able to get all the things Jake requested of his belongings we have stored for him. He will still have things stored in our shed at the new home. We packed some more boxes. Cleaned out some items that we won't need. Lots of toting and lifting and gathering like items for the packers. We are both extremely tired. But we can see progress and the rooms are showing that they are pared down. 

We paused once for a front porch break but it is just too hot and sticky outside. So we took that break in the living room. Then tonight, Claude made us a lovely dinner with lemon check, mashed potatoes and gravy and steamed broccoli. Then we drove to Exit 129 and got us a Frosty for dessert. That Frosty tasted soooooo good. It was well earned and much deserved.

Katelyn posted more pictures of Emelia with her baby brother. She is enamored. There was a little video clip and she is stroking his hair and saying, "Hi Baby." as she gently stroked his head. At one point someone was being noisier than she felt they should be and she put her little pointer finger across her lips and went, "Sh!" So fun to see she loves this little guy so much.

Later Katelyn posted this picture of Drew feeding Joel with Emelia and Raelyn watching. I think this is a great Father's Day picture!

It must be pretty obvious that Joel is the center of the world right now.

I plan to finish this Blog entry. Then prepared a treat bag for Papa for tomorrow and a bag to fill the birdfeeder. Then I may just curl up and look over the Internet for curtains I might like in my new home. 

The move is getting closer. Dates for things are getting firmer. Now, if we can just stay on top of it we'll have a good move. Very exciting to start a new chapter in a new home.