Hotdog!

 It was odd celebrating Halloween without Robby, but I refused to let my missing him deter from making it a special day for Timmy. From a special Chick Fil-A breakfast to homemade cookies for his Halloween party, I tried to infuse his day with little surprises. His bedroom was filled with giggles and shrieks throughout the afternoon as he celebrated Halloween with his classmates. 

I made "Monster Mash" for dinner while Timmy artfully carved his pumpkin. After watching the minutes tick down until 6 pm, it was finally go time. Timmy pulled on his costume and he and Scott headed out to trick-or-treat. (Unlike his brother, Timmy asked his dad to take him out of costume this year.)

For our first Halloween in this house, Scott and Robby dressed as hotdogs. Last night, for our final trick-or-treat on our little road, Timmy dressed as a hotdog. 

I like when things come full circle.

Happy Halloween

 Happy Halloween!

The holiday feels strange this is the first year for so many reasons, among them preparing to move and Robby going to college. I realized this morning that this has been the first Halloween since becoming a mom that I haven't had to tackle a costume for Robby. Thankfully Timmy is still a huge fan of trick-or-treating and has been planning the route for months. I'll unveil his costume tomorrow morning, but it is safe to say that he has stuck with his food theme.

Have a great holiday!

Pressure

 It seems that my new schedule now includes nightly trips to West Virginia to find a new home. I am trying to take the entire experience in stride. As soon as we discover our new home the constant trips will stop and I can concentrate on packing. Until then, the back-and-forth treks are necessary so we can discover the perfect new home for our family.

Thankfully, we selling our current home was considerably easier than we anticipated. On a lark we invited realtors in so that we could start to sort through the to-do tasks before listing. To our delight, we were offered as-is contracts.  As soon as we sign (which we plan to do on Halloween), the countdown starts. We will have 60 days to clear out the house and move.

 Talk about pressure!

Packing

 I spent the weekend packing (and purging) around the house. I started in my closet and, once finished, moved into the basement. I've been delaying conquering the basement because of the sheer quantity of 'stuff,' but it has turned into an easier project than I anticipated. Because I am not emotionally attached to the items in the basement, I found it easier generate a healthy donation pile.

I have been so productive with packing that I have now run out of boxes. I ordered more to be delivered later this week. I'm hoping that I estimated correctly and that this will be our final box delivery. In the meantime, I'm just going to continue to sort items into piles. I don't want to lose the packing momentum. 

While I have been busy packing and organizing for the move, Scott has been focusing on finding our new home. We have signed with a realtor and have packed schedule of walk throughs scheduled for tomorrow. Fingers crossed we have better luck this time!

Mountain Valleys

 Our house hunting expedition was not fruitful but we were successful in accurately identifying features that we don't like. Trying to remain optimistic, I keep reminding Scott (and myself) that we learned a lot and made progress towards our dream home simply by discovering where we do not want to live and what we do not want to have to manage in a house and yard. We were hoping to fall in love with one of the homes we saw yesterday but were instead left feeling deflated and worried. What if we never find a house as much as we have loved this one?

As it turns out, neither Scott nor I like 'mountain living.' We aren't fond of dirt roads that are relied upon by residents who live up the mountain.  Driving up the gravel and dirt roads, Scott and I couldn't help but focus upon how we would feel doing this drive several times a day. Not only would it be miserable, but our cars are not equipped to live up a mountain. We would need new 4-wheel drive vehicles, which would add to our expenses.

We are not mountain people, we are mountain valley people. We are now seeking a home that looks out at the mountains, not down upon them. Hopefully narrowing down this huge difference will help us find our home.

Wish us luck this weekend!

House Hunting

 This morning Scott and I are heading out the door on our house hunting adventure. I'm excited because we have never really been house hunting together. We have lived in our current home for nearly 20 years and it was only the second we toured. This time we have 6 houses scheduled throughout the area today, so we will be busy and productive. Our goal is to narrow the field to two or three so that the boys can go and tour the options this weekend.  

Scott has spent hours scouring house listings within our preferred areas. While we are open to different lay-outs and concepts, we are staying firm on a few details. For one, I'm asking for all of the main living features to be on a single level. While I'm okay with a loft/rec room being upstairs or downstairs, I want to eliminate as many stairs as possible. I'm only going to get older in this house, and I want it to be able to accommodate us as we age.  

I also really want an office- a proper space with a door that actually closes. Scott wants a yard with a view but with minimal trees within the center of the yard. He is fine with trees on the perimeter or clustered together, but would prefer that large trees not be planted randomly around the house and in the yard. We have sustained too much damage to fallen limbs over the years and are not keen to worry through any more wind storms. 

I'm excited about our house hunting adventure. I have a new notebook and we hope to be able to record our thoughts as we drive between homes. Wish us luck, this is starting to feel very real!

Flippers

Timmy had a school vacation yesterday, allowing him to spend the afternoon outside in the gorgeous weather. I decided to make the most of the opportunity. (Timmy being idle and the weather being warm) by hooking up the pressure washer. It took him about 45 seconds to get the hang of the wand and to control the spray. As predicted, he loved the job. He spent 3 happy hours drawing pictures into before completely obliterating the dirt from our concrete stairs.

Our steps look fantastic, which is fortunate because today we have the first two realtors coming to evaluate our home. These realtors come from various "we buy your home in any condition" flipping companies. While I don't think we will end up going this route, we wanted to be fully educated about our options. It has been a long time since we have purchased and sold a home, and we are discovering that so much has changed.

Wish us luck!