Simple Pleasures, Simply Put . . .

Sand
WaterFloaty Things
CrittersFishingCheering fans
BallgamesBirdsBlankiesBreakfastTea PartiesYummy treats!BathsBooks

Simply Wonderful!

What I know is not much

But, I DO know . . .

• Hale is not plagued with indecision. He likes. He does not like. There is no middle ground.
• Hale likes animals and babies and birds.
• He likes his DSI game and is subject to lengthy explanations of the games, characters, strategies, etc.
• He is an avid and very good reader of some books.
• I know that one of Hale’s love languages is gifts.
• That he is concerned about healthy eating and reads labels and gives great exposés on foods but loves candy.

• I can guess pretty accurately that he will not want his picture taken which explains why I have many pictures of the back of his cute head.

• He loves chess which unfortunately I do not know how to play.
• Hale loves his siblings and his mom very much and misses them when separated.
• Hale knows a lot of facts and some are accurate but some are not quite. For example . . . “There are 8 million people in Chicago, Grandma!” I didn’t know so I checked later, out of curiosity, and I think it is closer to 3 million but 3 million or 8 million? They are both big numbers—too big for us to comprehend.
• Mostly, I do know that it is always delightful to have one-on-one time with Hale
• and Hale always remembers to say, “Thank you.”

But I don’t know. . .

• If he will want a Grandma Day. (He did! Yay!)
• What to feed him. (Lemonade, chips, Sprite Zero, Arby’s chicken strips, popcorn and “leftover” pizza for breakfast.)
• What he will enjoy doing.

Here is what I learned . . .

• He is very tired of swim lessons and is happy to have a reason to miss (which could perhaps explain his enthusiasm for a Grandma Day).
• He is not ever going up in the Sears/Willis Tower because he has vertigo and does not like heights.
• Hale liked Chicago’s Peter Pan, performed in a theater in the round with a 360 screen. I will repeat that because it is so much fun to say . . . Hale liked it!

• He does not like Chicago and is not interested in seeing any more of it.
• He can ride an adult bike and there is no need to borrow a smaller one.

• He prefers sleeping on the floor. (I did offer three different beds, really I did.)

• He shares my enthusiasm for bird watching out our breakfast window.

• Among his favorites are black-capped chickadees and cardinals. He also enjoyed watching the goldfinches and an appearance of a hummingbird. However, his absolute favorite kind of bird is an owl which of course we did not see but we did visit a store on our bike ride called, The Barn Owl.

• At the store we both enjoyed interacting with Joe the talking bird

Hale took home an owl souvenir to remember our day.

We both went home happy.

They keep going and going and going

Jackson & Lilly came off the plane
Where they had traveled all by themselves
Full of enthusiasm
Ready for action

I quickly realized that I needed to pay attention
or I would miss the action!

They move quickly

And accomplish much!

Going farther

And faster

Higher

And higher

Over

And over

Each day was a new adventure for Grandma.

Perhaps nutrition suffered
But occasional refueling is necessary.

I loved their teamwork.

And their concentration.

Lilly's hair suffered.

There was dramatic improvement a few days later
when Mom arrived.

Jackson and Lilly define enthusiasm

And good humor

Afterwards I was a little tired.

Missing two Energizers that bring such joy.

I LOVE them

And their visits.

A Seller's Saga

Unfortunately, my blog only works on Firefox--not on Internet Explorer and I cannot figure it out . . . Maybe later, I will understand.

For some time now, I have felt like I was in two drifting boats--a foot in each boat.

A very long time ago, I wrote about building a new house. I was/am embarrassed with our decision to build a house before we sold our current home. For that reason, I have been unable to approach the subject on my blog.

However, God is merciful and gives us grace though we do not deserve it. We are thankful. We have lots of reasons to rejoice.

• Our new house is built.

• We are mostly moved into our new house.

• Our new home has been properly initiated with visiting grandchildren.

• We have a buyer for our old house.

• It seems as if things are moving towards an August 31 closing date.

There have been many ups and downs along the way. Life has so much drama. There is a story to everything--every person--every event. Maybe that is why some of us blog.

First there is the price of the home. Oh my, we thought it was certainly worth more but succumbed to our realtor's suggested price and then after it did not sell, we came down in price and down, and down and down.

Looking back, it doesn't seem so significant but showing after showing would raise our hopes and dash our hopes. In college, on my dorm floor, we used to express similar feelings by belting out: "Why do you build me up, buttercup baby just to let me down . . . and then worst of all . . . you never call baby when you say you will!

"They love the house . . . but have a house to sell."
"They love the house . . . but it is too big."
"They like the house but it did not 'Wow' them.
"They are going to write an offer!" Only to find out days later that they wrote a contract on another home.
"Many are moving to your area because of Navistar." Except no one from Navistar ever looked at our home.
"They love your hot tub."
"The hot tub was a real problem for the husband."
"Your house is great but the yard is too small."
"They are coming for a second showing."
"They are coming for a third showing and they want to move as soon as possible."

And then eons later after I had almost given up hope, there was an offer . . . and our realtor said, "I never get an offer better than 93% of list price so this is a great offer.

We reluctantly agreed because wife (that would be me) was desperate and signed a contract.

But then the bank appraisal came in $15,000 less than the offer so we would have to lower our price by $15,000 so our buyers could get a mortgage.

But then, there were more loopholes, some contingencies and we balked again.

Then a miracle happened! On the same weekend, we received two offers--a seller's delight--a bidding war!

But both offered lower prices for our home than we hoped. We took the better offer.

But then the buyer of our buyer's home could not get a mortgage and so our buyers would not be able to buy our home.

There were inspection issues. Like most people, we loved our home, and took care of problems and repairs as we became aware of them. We thought, "What could an inspector possibly find wrong with our house?" What were we thinking!

And so we are agreeing to credits and repairs on items that we lived with for fifteen years totally unaware of these terrible conditions.

BUT today we got good news. The buyer of our buyer has been approved for a mortgage. We have reached an agreement on inspection issues. It seems as if everything is progressing well.

We are rejoicing--guardedly. It is never done until the check clears the bank.

Meanwhile, I am posed and ready to jump in one boat with BOTH feet.

Oh, quit worrying husband of mine! I am speaking figuratively.

It's All Pretend Anyway

Still in my purging mode,

I smiled when I ran across this photo.

Hmmm . . .

One of us was the Duchess Gloriana,
leader of Grand Fenwick.

One of us was a Page.

Okay, so one was chosen because of her queenly traits.

And the other because she had good legs.

PS

Here is one more for you, Rebecca.
What a special time this was for me . . .
Trio singing with you and Carol

We were blessed.