The Last 2 years

So it has been a long time since I entered a page to this blog.  Which means it's about time.  So much has happened in the last few years and the last few months.
After my mother died my friend and I started renovations on my mother's house.  We removed all the kitchen cabinets, sink etc - all but the fridge.  We put in new floors in 2 rooms and cleaned and resurfaced the wood floors - ourselves.  It took almost 2 years, and when it was finished I moved in with my cats (a month before hurricane Irene hit New England which is another story).  Then we started work
on my house.  We stripped down most of the inside.  I'm good at that, but when
it came to refinishing the inside, Larry of course did about 90% of it with me as
the carpenter's helper.  It was long, tedious and grueling work.  When it was finished we put it on the market to sell.  That took another year or so with price reductions because the housing and real estate market dried up.  Last Friday
we closed - partially until the home equity loan is paid from the proceeds of the
sale.  But at this point the buyers are committed and can't back out.  From that
money I'll being paying Larry for his work - he never asked for money, but I
wouldn't be an honest person if I never gave him a cent for all he did.  So
that will take a large clump, but it has to be done.  If I had sold it "as is" I
wouldn't have made any money on it.  So I'm relieved, and accepting the
lower amount.

 There are still some repairs that could be done to this house (my mother's)
esp. to 3 of the windows.   But that is another issue.

I am glad that this is about over.  The electric and water have been changed to
the buyers and we have a few papers to still be signed and then I'm getting my check.

Progress Report

Well I have finally put my house on the market and a few people have looked at it.  But the housing market is usually slow at this time of year.  In the spring things should be better.

L will be going to visit my daughter and family in a week or so.  He likes to take the kids to the
strawberry festival - which I have never seen.  The kids don't know so of course they will be wildly
happy and excited when they see him.  Sadly only one of them will be able to go because the other two have had behavioral episodes and are grounded.  I'm glad they don't read this blog because they might
recognize themselves.

It has been a long 3 years for me working on 2 houses, packing up one house, moving and unpacking, finding lost items, keeping up with bills, my checkbook,  kitties, visits to my daughter and even
grocery shopping is a pain (maybe it was, but now I notice it more) and it has been bitterly
cold and then it gets warmer. Then there were months and months of shoulder pain, major surgery, recovery and I'm still having a lot of pain in the shoulder.   We've also had some serious snow, and heavy rains, and then a little sunshine or a spring- like day. Thats New England - if you don't like the weather wait a day and you'll get something else.  But nobody promises it will get better.  We had a massive snow storm with hurricane-like winds.  It even had a name, in fact 2 names. In CT it  is called Storm Charlotte  and elsewhere it's called Nemo. It dumped tons of snow everywhere.  The roads were impassable, roofs were caving on some structures, the snow plow got stuck on my street and 2 more vehicles came to help get him free the first one had also become stuck.  I think they said we had almost 34 inches of snow over 2 days.

I have never liked snow even when I was child.  I do enjoy watching it fall and build up a bit,  but being
out in it is not something I'd willingly choose, and driving in it is still dangerous, and shoveling just hurts too
much.

Home now

Well I've been home for almost a week.  I miss my daughter and grandchildren, but it is good to be home. My kitties are glad to see me.  Giuseppe had terrible matted fur from not being brushed, but it wasn't Ian's fault.  Mr. G as I sometimes call him is timid and wary of strangers and wouldn't even let Ian pet him.  Maybe next time he'll remember him and be a little more friendly.  Gail says she'll stop in and give him a comb or 2, but I think I'll get him shaved on his belly and sides before I leave.  Prevention might be better than treatment.
I'm getting caught with some cleaning and fur removal.  Long-haired cats are high maintenance.  I only want short hair cats after this. 

The flight home was ok.  I did get a lot of reading done, and as always I love the take-off and landing.  I love flying, not so much waiting in airports and getting up at 4 am. 

Miss Chloe has been somewhat distant, but in the last 3 or 4 days she was more friendly, relaxed and purring.  I'm still having computer problems - freezing and lost passwords.  I do need to get a new computer, but I also need to wait until I have some income. 

I have just signed up for Medicare - which will start in April, my pension will start in June.  So things are looking up and actually going as planned. That last part doesn't happen very often.

We had a pinch of snow the other night which was pretty and then went away.  That's the only kind of snow I like.

I still have more unpacking and finding places for everything.  There doesn't  seem to be enough places.  Goodwill has become my partner in simplifying my life.    Next entry I'll try to be more interesting.