we have a house!

Just a quick report to say we have a house. It's 4 br 2.5 bath, big yard. We didn't get the pool we wanted, but it's in a community with a pool and tennis courts and a lake we can fish at. Looks like good sidewalks/bike paths so we can step out of the house and run/walk. The schools are reportedly good. Today we get a refrigerator delivered. We had to buy one. But that's okay, we can take it with us when we move and our next move may be for retirement. It's one of those fridges that are french door on top and freezer drawer on bottom.

Also today we make the phone calls for gas, electric, water, etc. We are also going to try to schedule getting our storage goods delivered. If they can do it by Wednesday, then that's what we'll do. Otherwise we'll get it delivered next week. We have this hotel room until Wednesday and then we go pick up the boys and drive to NC to visit the other grandma. If they can't deliver this week, then we leave here early. I miss my boys!

My mom kept my boys and the other 3 grandkids all last week and it nearly killed her. The other grandkids are 3, 5 and 8. The little ones ran her ragged and drove her crazy not eating at meals but wanting snacks all day long and constantly changing their minds. Me and Gary tried to model for her how to be firm and not cave, but she was so worried that they'd starve and she would take it personally. Plus the older girl had a sassy mouth. That did not go over well. She would argue with mom, and mom is not one to back down from an argument. Not a screaming kind of argument, but a disagreement "I'm always right" kind of argument. Personally, I was more concerned about the tone my niece took rather than what she was saying. But mom gets drawn in by the words and the tone of voice puts her on the defensive. I don't think she could see that. Now, how to convey that to mom without getting the lecture. Well, I'll probably get the lecture which I'll have to grin and bear, just so I can get my observation in there. Mom has got to learn to deal with this better or she's not going to have a good relationship with these kids. My mom usually loves to hug and kiss and giggle with her grandkids, but apparantly she does better on a one on one basis. And I can relate to that. I think it was just overwhelming - plus she doesn't do good delegating. She likes to be in charge, so she put all that responsibility on her shoulders and it stressed her too much. She said she lost 7 pounds!

Right now Gary is on the horn getting the utilities set up. Then we make a call to the landlord. The downstairs airconditioning wasn't working, plus two plugs in the kitchen weren't working and we can't find the key to the gas fireplace. So, as you can see, it's just some details that have to be worked out.

The other thing we will eventually have to work out is the room situation. The boys say they want separate bedrooms, but I want to be convinced before we put in furniture and paint. Yes, paint. We've been given the okay to paint! Yahoo! This house is already painted with good colors, but one room is white. Jake wants orange, and Ryan wants yellow. Hah! I'm thinking I can put Jake in the green room and paint the white room yellow for Ryan. I'm not keen on painting any room orange. He can get orange bedding. I'm so glad for colors. I really hate renters white/off white/yellowy.