A Change of Heart

I have taken my house off the market.  It was a rather expensive lesson in jumping in with both feet before I really thought everything through, but now I have finally made up my mind.  This house is way too big for one person, but it was way too big for two of us!  But it was our dream house and I still love it.  It means I have a lot to take care of, but it also means there is no rush.  The major things I will have to hire some one to do like replacing the furnaces, or staining the outside of the house when it needs it.  I already have a friend's son mow the yard most of the time, but even I can do that whenever Connor is busy.  My neighbors and friends keep the mowers and other equipment working for me, or tell me who to call.  My next door neighbor plows my drive in the winter -- although I also can work the snow blower. 

I've let my flower beds go to weed for years now, but this year I actually feel like working in them again, so slowly but surely I'll whip them back into shape; a little redesigning of them has already begun.

I'm still an hour and a half away from my daughter and grandkids, but all my friends and my church is down here and I'd miss them if I moved.  I'll just be making trips up to Wisconsin to see the boys play baseball and just to spend quality time with my daughter and her family.  Otherwise, I'd be driving down here to see my friends and church - so it's basically a trade off.  Steph made me do a pros and cons list while I was waffling about selling or staying and it came out about even :-)!  I hated having the house ready to show at any moment and having to put the family pictures away, etc.  And the housing market is not back yet, so it would probably be a long time before it actually sold.  So that is my thinking on the subject!

And I decided that there are a lot of things that I can actually do myself and a few things I want to try, so I'm jumping in with both feet.  First up -- Bill always had a Weber kettle charcoal grill -- he never wanted a gas grill.  I sold the kettle at the auction because I did not want to mess with it.  So, I went out and bought myself a small gas grill.  And, drum roll please, I put it all together myself, and even went to FS to have the tank filled (I always feel like a dumb female when I have to do things like that!).  Best gift to myself was a power screwdriver that I bought when I bought the grill!  Love it!

I took the left shelf back off when I hooked up the gas -- it was just always in the way.  Fired that puppy up and grilled a pork chop the first day and had my son-in-law grill burgers on it for Mother's Day!  It works great and all the screws are tight thanks to the power screwdriver!

Gratitudes:  I finally feel like I made the right decision after two years of waffling.

Today was the first anniversary of Steve's death.  We all seem to have made it through today by keeping busy. 

 I can still hear his voice on the phone, so I'm thankful for that; and I still think about him every day -- I doubt that will change anytime soon either.  He was an amazing man whose life was cut way too short.