More Work - More Pictures!

Subs worked, even on Saturday! With every day, we get closer to moving in, and I am ready! Two weeks from today we will be living there!!!

Backyard Visitors

This doe and 4 babies (still with spots) were in the next-door neighbor's back yard when I went out to empty the trash. They barely moved when they saw me snapping pictures!

August 24th Update

Things are shaping up nicely. I should have more photos tonight or tomorrow. The wood floors and carpet are in, and much of the tile work is finished. We're coming down to the wire!!!

These "Dog Days of Summer" are heaven on earth to our cats! They love to spend countless hours on the back porch, where it must be at least 150 degrees!!! Notice Mabel is on her "purse" -- it's leather, and she loves it. Thanks, Grandma!

We also started work on the driveway. They are supposed to start pouring concrete next Monday!!!

Mid-August Update

There really isn't much news, but I hadn't posted in so long, so I thought I would update things. The house is continuing to take shape, but not as fast as we had originally thought, so we have postponed the moving van until September 7th. That's just one extra week. I have not taken any photos lately but will try to do that next week. Almost all of the walls have been painted and the tile men are working to get the bathrooms finished and do the kitchen backsplash. Then we can get flooring.

The driveway men are supposed to start working next week, so that should change the outside appearance dramatically.

Greg and I celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary on August 16th... we went to the new house and ate pizza in our "living room!"

Moving at Warp Speed!

Okay, so now things are really cookin'! We are well on our way toward the August 30th move-in date. Today the "hearth" over the stove was rocked in the kitchen, and the yard was graded and made ready for a driveway. Painting continues, along with tile work, electrical wiring, plumbing, and more! It's looking more and more like a HOME!

Haven't Posted Lately...

... and I apologize. It seems like all the work that has taken place has been "undercover," so to speak, as painters move from room to room spraying - and covering things in plastic for protection. I should have new pics this week, as the tile is probably 2/3 done in the bathrooms, and the kitchen cabinets and counters are close... should have backsplash tile and rock there soon.

The painters have just about finished the trim and will start painting walls this week, I think... hardwood flooring should come the following week. We've been busy with all sorts of things, including selling our furniture. We are pretty much down to 2 wingback chairs and office chairs for sitting, and both dining tables are gone. I will probably drag out the old card table and chairs, just to have a place to sit and eat some cereal. My office furniture sold and will be picked up on Sunday, so I'm using a kitchen counter as "command central" for my laptop! My mom said, "whatever you do, please don't sell your beds!" Don't worry, Mom... that's where we draw the line!

To say the cats are confused would be putting it mildly. All of their favorite places to sleep (i.e. the couches) are GONE!!! It's pretty pathetic. But they will like their new place -- and new furniture. Something new to "fur up!"

We've penciled in our moving company for August 30th and hope to move on or around that date... maybe a few days earlier or later. It all depends on how fast these folks get finished!

Let's Build a Kitchen!

All of the kitchen cabinets are in... the counter tops have been measured and ordered, and we are well on our way to having a finished kitchen. The framing is in place for the rock "hearth" over the stove, and that could happen any day!





The tile work is underway, and the master bath shower and water closet are almost complete. It looks like we are still on track for a September 1st finish -- we HOPE!!!

Family Photos

Greg's mom took this picture of us on July 4th in Burlington, Iowa. We were standing near a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River.

The other pictures are of our cat, Mabel. She found my leather walking shoes tonight, and it's a new pair for her... she LOVES leather! Greg said he'd seen Lucy rubbing on the shoes earlier in the evening. They will spend a lot of time giving the shoes their "signature" scents! Isn't Mabel a beautiful cat?! (Okay, so I'm her mother, but this is my unbiased opinion!)

It's Time for Cabinets!

The cabinets have started arriving, and most, if not all of them are installed. They look great, and the painters are poised and ready to start spraying the paint/stain! The "yellow room" is the laundry and the other photos are of kitchen cabinets waiting to be installed. Is that a lot of drawers or what?!

The Sale is Complete!

It's official! We signed the papers this afternoon, and Stephen and Melissa Choate are now the owners of the property at 2403 Elmwood Drive! We are renters for the next few weeks!

The Timberline house is progressing... all cabinets are set except for the kitchen, and hopefully those are on the way! The painters are making everything beautiful, and there are people everywhere doing all the little things that have to be done to get everything finished. We are in all-out "git-r-done" mode and hope to be moving in a few weeks!

Back from Iowa

We're baaaaaack!!! After 5 days and 1400 miles, we are back from our whirlwind trip to eastern Iowa to visit Greg's relatives. Greg and I left Heber Springs with his mother, Elaine, on Tuesday, July 3 and drove to St. Louis, where we saw Greg's nephew, John, and his wife, Leslie, and their cat JJ... and we had lunch with them after touring their condo. Traffic wasn't bad, so we headed on for Burlington, Iowa, arriving about 7:30 p.m. We were tired, but glad to have all the drive behind us for a day or so. We listened to a wonderful book on CD... A Good Dog... about a border collie named Orson. It was funny and sad and altogether entertaining.



Wednesday, July 4, was my 50th birthday! We took a short spin around Burlington before heading to visit Greg's great-aunt Vivian. She took us on a tour of Burlington, and we had lunch at a restaurant on the Mississippi River ... Big Muddy. It was an old restored warehouse of some sort. We spent the rest of the day visiting with Aunt Vivian at her house. After a carry-in supper of KFC, Greg and I went to see Evan Almighty. It was funny, and we enjoyed it. I'm not sure it's as good as Bruce Almighty, but it was good, just the same.


Thursday was Aunt Vivian's 98th birthday, and her nieces/nephews threw her a potluck lunch party (the main purpose of our trip to Iowa). There were 23 people crammed into her little 1950's house for this lunch, and everyone seemed to have a good time. Aunt Vivian has lived in this same house since 1966! We probably came the farthest for the party, except for a great-nephew who had come from Las Vegas! There were relatives there from as far away as Illinois and Minnesota, and as near as a few blocks over in Burlington! Aunt Vivian had a wonderful time. She was given a "memory box" -- a wooden box that contained memories all of her family and friends had written down for her and secretly mailed to the cousin who compiled them in the box. She LOVED her box of memories!


Friday, we took Greg's mother and his Aunt Lova to Cedar Rapids to see another sister, Erma. She is in a nursing home, but her children brought her home for the day to her old home place, and we visited them there. Two of Erma's children, Randy and Janet were there, along with Janet's children Annette, Scott, and Tab, and Tab's wife and children. We visited several hours with all of these cousins and Aunt Erma, then we drove to Aunt Lova's house in Galesburg, Illinois. We were all so tired, and it didn't take us long to get into bed!

Saturday morning, we hit the road at 6:50, and we arrived back in Heber Springs around 4:30 p.m. It was a long day of driving, but the weather was good... we never drove through any rain the whole trip... and we were all glad to be home!

Special Visit

We got a visit this morning from Greg's niece, Cindy, and her two children, Caitlyn (7) and Chase (3). They are live wires and so much fun. Chase's new phrase is "that's not fair!" He folds his hands across his chest and sticks out his lower lip and frowns... but it doesn't last long and then he is laughing and giggling again. They are especially impressed with our cats, and they had fun watching a mother cardinal who is nesting in our back yard and a couple of rabbits. Chase enjoyed sitting with Uncle Greg and playing with a miniature cowboy hat that was on a table. They both gave us a mini-piano concert, also!