Christmas time in the Country

Today we just got our Christmas tree. Any tree just $30 .... and they cut it down and load it for you! What a deal!! The ones we used to get in Dobbs Ferry were twice that or more and not nearly as fresh. It's up now in our great big huge kitchen and we'll decorate it tomorrow. It's so beautiful up here in the country in every season but it's truly magic at Christmas time. Big vast expanses of land, animals, mountain views.

We've had a few dustings of snow which make it feel more like Christmas but the time has just flown! This fall has been a crazy travel extravaganza and I'm so glad to be back to a semi-normal schedule. Our trip out to see David's family for Thanksgiving was the best part of the insanity. we got to spend some real quality time with Donna, Kenny, Glenn, Jason, Kristen and Delaney ... worth the time and energy to get all the way out there :-)

So Delaney has a web page too! http://babypages.com/babyroberts

That little girl has been through so much in her short three years - major surgery to close her cleft palates happened just a few months ago but it doesn't stop her. She's an inspiration to all of us!

More later....we're off to the second neighborhood Christmas party of the night.....

Moving Day!!

OMG. It's finally here. Moving day is Thursday October 11th. The new floors look great in the rental house and we've up to our eyeballs in boxes over here. We're far from done but it feels great to actually be moving this adventure along. We called to get the phone and direct TV and insurance switched over and the guys are here right this moment to plan out the shrub, tree and plant removal/relocation so the excavator can come do his thing. Thanks to my trusty melatonin, I am sleeping through the night and all the stresses I wrote of in past blogs seem a thing of the past! We made lists back then of all the things that were keeping me up at night and yesterday were able to check off the very last things and throw out the lists!! What a great feeling. I need to stop procrastinating the rest of the packing so I'll be going now....more later after we're in the new place.

Renovation Update

Well, we're still not moved into the rental house but things are ever creeping along. We've all but settled on the contractor (need to work with the architect to bring the costs down a bit before it's a go), we have the loan money to get started, and the rental house is almost ready for prime time. Wonderful ServiceMaster swooped in and cleaned out the place - two dumpsters full of carpets, furniture and sheet rock later it is now mold free and no cat smell. Our chosen contractor for our house has been over to the rental and is sizing the floor job now. With any luck, we'll be in sometime this month! of course, we have a little packing to still do --- like most of it. Friends and neighbors are helping with boxes but the lack of a deadline to be out has us feeling under-motivated to pack them. We're hoping to kick it up a notch by the end of the month........more updates to come.