It's been over a month since I've written anything, but in my defense, I have been, well, very lazy. It's the first summer in seven years where I haven't had a summer class and, quite frankly, I've been putzing around doing house chores, yard work, car stuff, and, well, starting to build a house. We closed on a lot on May 15th and will be moving to Belgium (Wisconsin, not the country). A small town of about 2200 people in northern Ozaukee county. About 1000 more people than Random Lake, so that will be a bit different. We can see Lake Michigan from out lot as we're only about 2 miles away. Now we have to find a builder.
We've met with one already and rough-sketched out a house. We are waiting for prices now. We will be meeting with another in the next week or so and will repeat the same process. They all have their own plans and we'll have to customize what we want to one of their plans. I think we are going to meet with four builders just to make sure we are within price ranges and are consistent in what we want to do. Everyone we talk to tells us horror stories about building, but I'm kind of looking forward to seeing all the choices and how a house is built. I'm lucky in that I will be passing by on my way home (Scott, too) and will get to stop several times a week to see how things are progressing. I plan on taking lots of pictures and will be doing some of the finish work like painting. We are hoping to be in the house by next year.
What I'm not looking forward to is moving. OMG. We have a lot of stuff, and I'm terrible at packing, sorting, and boxing. It was a nightmare moving from our apartment in Grafton to the house in Random 22 years ago, and we have a crap-load more stuff now. What I am thinking of doing is getting a container from one of those moving container companies and just loading that thing up and having them move the container. We'll hire movers for the big and heavy stuff, but our breakable and highly collectable stuff we'll move ourselves. Oyo. We plan on selling our current house when it is empty because it is small and looks crowded when it has stuff in it. And, then I can do a complete clean so that potential buyers will be impressed with that, too. I know when we were looking for houses, the ones that were spotless were more attractive to us than the ones that needed some help. I know it is a psychological thing, but it made a difference.
I saw my first "back-to-school" sign yesterday. My heart jumped for a split second until I realized, "it's not for me!" I also got official word last week that UWM has given me the final clearance for my degree. It's official and my diploma will be mailed in a few weeks. That is good news, indeed. I'm really enjoying not having to do homework in the summer and am slowly getting back to doing the things I used to do every summer. Both cars are washed and waxed, I'm starting to get the deadwood out of the hedges and lilacs, I'm weeding my gardens, and things are looking a bit less shabby. This weekend I'm tackling the snack bar and dining room table. Oh, the projects we make for ourselves...
Happy 4th of July everyone! Party safe, and beware of home made fireworks....
