Comedy of Errors....Continuing Saga....

Excitement and hope lingers on. The installation of the French Doors at the back of the house was supposed to put the finishing touches on our new house!

It took 6 weeks for the special order to arrive. The old sliding doors looked like this.....

The removal process seems to take about a half hour.....

That's the French Doors sitting there....ready to be installed. Then the discovery was made..... the man at Home Depot didn't order everything we needed.....specifically, the mull bars were missing. The company that fillled the order  didn't catch the mistake and it wasn't until the old door were out, that our contractors discovered they couldn't put in the new doors! It was the Labor Day weekend and the company was closed.....so our house has looked like this for the past week.........

A comedy of errors and we are not finding it amusing. When these contractors are finished with this project, it will be the last one they will do for us.....of course, they are not taking the blame....it is the door company and the ordering...but if they had checked before they removed they removed the other doors we wouldn't have had to live in a security risk, ugly construction site eye sore.

The mull bars are finally in. The contractor was supposed to be here 2 hours ago to install them.....Patience is a virtue....and mine is wearing thin. In a few years, I will forget the name of this contractor and all the hassles we have had....but I will always have my Xanga entry to remind me..........just in case I want to hire them for another job.

REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE

Somehow the house is rebelling against us. Do the cells in the house realize that we are new blood? Are they testing our loyalties?  Is it trial by fire?

Opps, I shouldn't of mentioned the word fire....we have had a lot go wrong so far, but not fires!

We have had leaking roofs...yes, it continues. Rain storms almost daily in this tropical land and the drip through the light (no less) persists. The roofer returned today and retarred the shingles. We'll see with the next rain.

The plumbing in the sink has backed up......dishes piled up as we called in our contractor, only to have someone come the next day...and then after working on it for a half hour, he said he had to go get another part and never returned! Geesh! Dishes pile up more, we are forced to go out to eat! Phoned real plumbers the next day and the job is now complete.....crossing our fingers on this one.

A couple of the new windows we put in do not work too well, so we called the guy who put them in.....he said he would come on Sunday.....another no show!

Florida is filled with clowns...okay, I'm being polite. Florida is filled with fools.

Does it sound like I am complaining? Do you think the house has ears?

There are more unfortunate little scenarios, which I will not mention. I am just wondering is this all just dumb luck? or is this house really rebelling?

Great to have Xanga back.

We are moved into our new place and have had the usual trauma's of moving. Like how did the roof not leak for the previous owners in 17 years and then within the first week of inhabiting the place....water pours through one of the light fixtures.....

We still have more boxes to unpack and are wondering where in the world to put all of the stuff. Stuff is everywhere!!!!

Our little boy is loving his new outside freedom. We don't let him roam outdoors, but the very large screened in pool room gives him  more freedom than an apartment porch. He is very intrigued with the pool. Yesterday, while chasing a baby iguana he actually jumped in and managed to get out quickly.....looking like a wet ratty thing when he got out. He was looking bewildered and forlorn, immediately after the initial shock he started the grooming licks. I think he is one very happy kitty. He is still known as the Boy of many names, and is mostly called 'my sweet boy. He comes to the command " come on" or "where's my sweet boy?" He is still also called 'romeo' and 'noodle', and sometimes 'bruiser'.

Daniel is here visiting from Bristol and has been a huge help in all the moving mess that we are presently engaged in. We are totally enjoying his company. Thank god they grow up.....and can become mensches. We went golfing the other day and I introduced him as my stepson. We both got a good laugh out of that.

Sporadic rambling seems to be the non theme of the day.

Thanks to John and the rest of the Xanga crew for getting us back up and running.

One thing about this tropical weather is that there is a lot of it. This sounds like a foolish statement, but it is true experience. When the sun shines it is an intense heat. When it rains, it just doesn't drizzle and with gray clouds covering the sky.....for days. When it rains here, it comes down in buckets, then goes away.

You can see a storm moving across the sky. It is dramatic. You can see the sun and blue skies in the east and turn 180 degrees and you see this monster front, dark and dangerous looking!

And the sunsets are fantastic at times. It is not the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean, but awe inspiring in its own right.

Another Tomorrow

Tomorrow is move in day. The new house has been a beehive of activity. At times having 4 different groups of workmen there. I guess it is human nature to criticize, because they all seem to criticize each others work. And, they all do some pretty shotty things at times. We are trying to stay on top of all the phases. Some mistakes have gotten by us, but mostly and mainly we are mightily pleased.

Here are a couple of pictures of the tile work happening in the living room/dining room area.

The new dry wall is nice, but when are they going to finish?

We're thinking arches would be nice in the door openings. The arches will have to wait until the cash flow changes a bit.

The terra cotta tiles with cobalt blue accents is adding a nice warmth to the room, without darkening the room. Ahh, it is going to all work out!

Yesterday morning I was sitting on the porch in my old house. The sky to the east of me was gray, the sky to the west of me was gray and there was sunshine in the middle. Hence this great rainbow.

Now just under the rainbow is location of my new house....okay I am exaggerating a tad.....the new house is probably north of the rainbow by a mile.....but it makes a better story to say that it is right over it.

We have been going to the new house daily and swimming there and walking around. We have been doing our research and our buying while the painters are in there. The painters are scraping off the old wallpaper and putting drywall down where they cannot remove the textured stuff. So far, we have purchased a barbeque (first purchase), soon followed by all new windows and doors (homedepot). Now we just have to find someone to put the new hardware in! The old owner came by to give us last minute instructions on some of the items in the house and saw the painters doing their wallpaper removal stuff. Yeesh, the old guy was on the verge of tears and horror! He loved the house so much and l guess loved his decorating style a lot too. But a room in pink and white stripped wallpaper with blue trim is just not what we want! Anyway, he got so emotionally upset he had to leave!!! We really like this guy, but I don't think we'll have him over again. I think he needs to move on. We will have to get all the pool maintence instructions from the pool company.

We took over our new mango trees and bought a small palm. The tropical garden is already starting to take shape.

While there yesterday we experienced all the bird....a duck with her chicks and the resident iguanas.

There is a big rubber tree overhanging the lake and they also hang out there....can you spot the young iguana in the picture?

chocolate ice cream tasting

The experiment was a simple one. One scoop of each of these different brands of chocolate ice cream was put into separate bowls. Only I knew which bowl contained which ice cream brand. Miranda was the tester. She did not hesitate, and dug her spoon into each one. (Each bowl had its own spoon for quality assurance purposes.) Guaranteed to have no cross over. It was a quick decision on her part. I was impressed. She did not linger over and taste and retaste each one. No way! She knew what she was after....chocolaty taste (she prefers semi-sweet) and  smooth creamy texture.

The winner was............Haagen-Dazs! The runner up was Godiva. Godiva had more chocolate flavor, but the smoothness and creaminess was lacking.

An outstanding outcome of this experiment was that Miranda accurately guessed each brand of ice cream! She used all of her senses, in that she was not blind folded. Not one brand or taste fooled this woman! I swear, I mixed them up good and she was not privy to the goings on in preparation.

This was an independent study and in no way were the participants reimbursed by any interested or vested party.

Though this experiment is copyrighted you may feel free to quote from the results.

48 Hours!!!!

Too excited. Sweet anticipation. Before the move. All seems to be perfect. Anticipation always is perfect.

Hard to think of anything else but the house. A new place to live, a new neighborhood. At this time, it has no flaws. It is perfect. No drippy faucets or difficult refrigerators.....just fantasy perfection. Funny what anticipation does to the perception. Funny that hoping and wishing is so idllyic.

Closing is in 48 hours. Close the deal, pay the money, get the keys! The house isn't perfect. It will have enough room for us.  It is what we can afford. Now that is a novel idea for America!!! Live within your means. People have been appalled that we are not buying something that will require a mortgage. "With the interest rates today, it is like free money" they say. Ha! Nobody gives you money for free. Any percentage rate increases the amount you pay! Even without a mortgage payment, the monthly $$ are plenty.....

We have already bought a nice Weber Barbeque for placing in the Florida room and for great meals. Moving day is a little more than a week away. The painters will do their job first. I think we will camp out in the house the first night of possession.

Yeehaw!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pour the champagne..............it's time for celebration