Bittersweet

Things move fast around here!  It's been quite the whirlwind.  For awhile, there didn't seem to be much happening.  Then, all the sudden, it was time to buckle up... the roller coaster ride was about to start!  The end of the school year always brings its own excitement and this year did not disappoint. My Bubba graduated (Praise Baby Jesus!)  There have been moments of doubt I would see the day, but it actually happened!  So proud of my boy!!  So, we have a little celebrating to do this summer over that tremendous accomplishment.  In other news, I had to move classrooms AGAIN so there was lots of packing to be done.  The school year ended last Friday and I walked out of there exhausted, but with a song in my heart.  It's DONE... done and dusted, packed and moved, Hasta La Vista until the Fall! 

All that and now I can focus on this...
My house has SOLD and I am in the process of buying another one.  The tentative closing date for both properties is August 15th.  I am overwhelmed with the "adulting" involved: phone calls, inspections, decisions, and packing.  ESPECIALLY the packing.  It's just crazy.  I *know* I have a lot of stuff, but wowzer, you really don't KNOW how much you have until you have to physically touch every item you own.  I just keep talking myself off the ledge.  I have PLENTY of time to do all of this yet, I just feel swamped.  I thought I was over "it", but apparently the process of saying good-bye to this house is dredging up more than I could have anticipated.  I have invested so much of myself into this place.  While I am proud of what I have done, it makes me sad.  The stuff ("our" stuff) that is here to be packed, the feelings of loss of what I thought we had, and the memories that go with it all are still tough to take.  That being said, I'm trying hard not to wallow; it's time.  This last little bit shuts the door on a huge piece of my life.  My kids are grown (although not quite independent yet), this house needs a new start with new life in it, and I need to look forward to new beginnings.  I can be strong for just a while longer.  I got this!

I'm Still Here

Hey!  It's been a long time!  It's been so long that I'm not sure where to start... So, let's just go with life in a nutshell.  It's good!  The last ten months (YIKES, TEN MONTHS!) have been a whirlwind of activity.  The good news is... the house is DONE and on the market to be sold.  So many projects, so much time and effort.  I wish I had had the effort to create a diary of all the work as it was being completed!  I'm going to try to do a recap.  I'll start with the outside...

Once I had joked about my yard being like an episode of Sandford and Son; unfortunately, I wasn't kidding.  It only took 3 hours to fill the 20 yard dumpster.  The amount of junk hanging around was UNBELIEVABLE!  It was such a relief to have all that stuff GONE!

Obviously, this is the shed.  All newly touched up (it had been painted the summer before, but the trim was never finished).  Later on in the cleanup process I found the shutters.  Those have since been painted and put back on where they belong (sorry... no current picture of that!)

These are the areas along my driveway.  Sadly neglected and in desperate need of sprucing up.  A friend of mine and I spent a very hot, long day planning out how to use some of the extra pavers and edging blocks that were just hanging around.

Finished area for trash bins

This is the other side of the driveway... Completely overgrown (left pic).  

All tidy and neat when finished (right pic).  It doesn't even look like the same space!

All mulched and planted!

Now...of course things need to be freshened up after the winter... it's not acting like spring around here yet, so I'm going to wait until the weather warms up (or NOT, if someone comes along and buys this place before Mother Nature gets her act together!)

So that's a little sample of what's been going on around here.  I'm hoping to share more... but no promises!  Until next time....