Jibber Jabber and LIFE Goes On

Too many irons in the fire sort of speak with recovering from a house fire, squeezing into cottage, documenting damaged items, cleaning out a fully stacked garage, shopping for replacement furniture.  We're doing our best to get all that needs done finished.  WRAPPING IT UP.

Knowing to take time to just REST, sit, sip coffee, THINK WHAT MUST BE DONE, pray, get outside instead of being inside so much, relax.  BEING BALANCED requires being.

WE MADE AN EVENING OUT shopping for coffee pods.  grins.  Settled for Dunkin' Donut Coffee.  Decided to live a little by using our Keurig instead of coffee perculator while we gain our ground during recovering from home fire.  Having a quick cup of coffee without going through filling the coffee perculator and waiting is what we are doing for the time being.  LATER we may return to perking.  It's economical to perk.  Easier on the budget, but we decided we needed some pampering as we recover.  It's our medicine.

Still looking at furniture.  Huge decision to make concerning what type of sofa to get...a regular size or love seat size.  Still out to lunch on this one.  I know I want two comfortable matching chairs and a sofa.  Now to find the style and sizes.  REJOICE.  THIS SHOULD BE FUN.

Wardrobe downsized.  Adding to it as we go.  This is ongoing and should be enjoyable.  I hope to do some sewing after I get a new sewing machine.  I'd like to sew a quilt, some women's blouses and maybe matching shorts.  I may try to stitch a blue jean skirt as the one I had melted in the fire.  MELTED.  

The shoes that were saved that the cleaning company took have come back with curled labels inside the shoes.  Sigh.  I have to sniff them to see if they stink, try them on and go from there.  I have replaced two pairs of SHOES as I needed black pumps for my Dad's funeral service back in December.  I have also purchased black clogs.  With the weather warming up it's sandal time.  Inside I go barefooted, but not in public.

THIS WEEK, I'll continue clearing out the garage.  I found storage boxes needing wiped before placed in auto to transfer.  They'll go to our cottage cellar and placed on monster racks that HUBBY already took apart, transported to cellar and reassembled.  

A little here and a little there, we are making headway with completely relocating to the cottage.  I'm praying that God will bless me with more energy as I have so little.  Once again my thyroid meds were tweaked as I was on too high a dose having heart palps.  Very uncomfortable.  Feeling better after reducing dose.  Better.

I AM EXTREMELY HAPPY!!! I AM EXTREMELY HAPPY that it's April!  

We took a load of goodies to Topeka's Goodwill, ate supper at SAMs,  treated with a White Chocolate Mocha from Starbucks then slowly returned HOME by route of a scenic drive.

Gorgeous scenery to see as the sun was setting.  Misty and colorful sky.  Scenery looked like we were elsewhere in the world as the part of Kansas I grew up in is not as scenic as the Flint Hills.  No camera.  Mistake to not bring camera when we are out and about.  If I could just sit and absorb the surroundings in the country I WOULD.

BREATH TAKING.  I cannot describe the beauty of the sun setting on the misty horizon of the Flint Hills.

MARCH has passed.  Tis raining and flowers blooming.  After working on the garage this past week-end, we made huge progress, but have a long ways to go in order to say she's completely cleaned out.  The backyard has items that need removed as well.

LAST WEEK, we walked through the rock house and said good-bye.  This is a ritual I have done when selling a house and leaving it for the last time.  I SAY GOOD-BYE HOUSE.    

We are able to say we no longer live at the corner of 4th Street and ILLINOIS.  The property belongs to another.  LAST FRIDAY we sold the shelled house to another.  Sold.  It is soaking in, but very slowly.  We sold our house that we loved so much.  

Husband and I went out to dinner at HARRY's as this is our favorite of favorites Restaurant to celebrate at.  

HARRY's

It was a very tamed celebration as we ate the best and sat for an hour and a half before we took a evening drive.  We keep telling each other that we sold the house.  We sold the house.  

House sold to another.

http://harrysmanhattan.com/

We will focus on our cottage and make it comfortable for two older people who want to retire and go at a different pace doing other things.  

I have mixed feelings as I loved our rock house and did a lot of living in this location.  Saddened, but relieved at the same time.  We will not have to rebuild or tear down the house.  She remains in this community waiting to be rebuilt by the hands of another.

For three months we waited to hear back from the Insurance company as they were figuring dollar amounts on the damage etc.

  I knew in my heart that I did not want to rebuild. 

To rebuild her would cost us twice as much as we received from the insurance company.  OUCH.  We are thinking with logical reasoning verses with the heart.  Not easy, but doable.



 I knew that I didn't have it in me to go through this as we have been working on the house close to ten years already.  I knew that we are too old to get another house loan that would take years to pay off if ever.  I know we need to retire.  

It is bitter sweet to say we sold the house.  

Bitter sweet.

The rock house has been emptied.
She's ready for her next phase to happen.  
We have moved into a tiny cottage that we affectionately named RETIREMENT COTTAGE.  
This is where we are living to recover from our house fire that damaged or destroyed everything in the house including the interior that we worked on for nearly ten years.  
It was devastating.

LIFE GOES ON AS I AM THE MAID.  I continue to launder the things that were returned to us.  Most of it has a strong chemical smell, so I have to wash items to see if the smell comes out.  A few pieces still smell of smoke and this doesn't wash out.  BYEBYE THESE GO TO THE TRASH after I write the item description and number down with a picture for insurance purposes.  I WILL REJOICE when this task is completed.  It's going to take a full year to document each item that I can and deal with insurance.

BLESSED to not get injured or killed from fire.  BLESSED.  We are piecing together our belongings that were taken for clean-up or repairs.  Pitching so much that was seriously damaged.  With time and healing, I believe it will be a different time of LIFE to enjoy and explore what God has for us as a couple in their 60s.

MONDAY is here.  APRIL will bring celebrations as our daughter turns 37, celebrates first year wedding anniversary, Mom turns 85 and Father-in-law turns 87.  SPRING will cause flowers to bloom and we will be closer to being settled into our cottage.  Kitchen designs are drawn and I will find ways to make our closet work for us for clothing, shoes and bedding.  In many ways I feel like a newlywed. 

THIS SPRING has to be a NEW BEGINNING in a NEW CHAPTER OF LIFE.  Has to be.

Pacing myself.  Taking time.  When I begin working on it, I am challenged with fatigue and emotional issues.  Taken by surprise that dealing with this destruction emotional strings are attached that get in the way of functioning.

I smiled when a storage tub was opened filled with EASTER DECORATIONS.  They are not damaged and I can use them in my new HOME.  Actually genuinely HAPPY that there are still nice things to decorate with.  HAPPY ABOUT THAT.

So thankful.

The two large metal racks on wheels in the dining room are nearly empty.  Took two weeks to empty.  SO HAPPY that this part is finished.  When the weather warms up, I have boxes to go through of items that were non-restorable.  More documenting and picture taking.  A deep sigh of relief will take place as this is concluded.

AS FOR FIXING UP RETIREMENT COTTAGE.....I continue to go back and forth on carpeting or laying hard wood floor.  It would work better for us if we laid wood flooring in one room at a time as to allow furniture to be moved out of one room at a time, laying floor then returning furniture onto a wood floor.  I thought I could always get nice area rugs to cover the brunt of the floors after the new floor were laid.  hum.

Get hard wood flooring, lay it and then get nice area rugs to use.  It is a big decision for me to know what to do.  Sigh.

'JUST DO IT'  comes to mind.  

Just do it,

d