Not Cool

If you get an email from me, you will get my automatic sign off that says something like, "I write, come visit if you'd like."
(As I just typed it out, I think I will change it to, "I write, come read.")
But today and yesterday, I deleted my little auto link off a few emails.
I'm embarrassed I haven't written anything of substance for a very long time.
I'm shy to share the feelings I've had over the last couple of years or so as the people associated with said feelings have feelings of their own.
I'm shy to share the lessons I've learned through experiences with them and on my own.
I haven't wanted many visitors around.
There haven't been many visitors around.
That needs to change.
The sign off needs to change.
I need to change.

School gets out for me this Thursday.
I will see you after then.

What I learned in the last 10 minutes

Posting this more for me than for you.
I'm 5 minutes 49 seconds into this podcast & already I've had quite a few moments of
insight and clarity that I've been missing regarding personal revelation.

Apparently for years.
It's looking that that's my 2014 theme.

Here's the link to what I was listening to and what I will be listening to again tomorrow when it's my quiet time:
conversation by Julie Beck on Mormon Messages

I'm off to read D & C 11.
(Click here for an explanation of 'D&C.')

Today's lesson will change my life!

We've had my car since 2003. 

This afternoon, mr. b found a button that releases the glass upper part of the back hatch. 

The one that we thought only opened with the key fob. 

That would've been nice to know about a million frustrating trips back to get my keys so we could get in the hatch open ago. 

Eleven years. 

My life will never be the same. 

Plan

After many incarnations, our 'final plan' is in the works.  And no- the one pictured is not it.

After so many years of thinking about what a forever (or 40 year) home would be for us, we had a surprisingly difficult time deciding what we wanted. You know the pictures we tear from magazines. The samples we put in a file somewhere. They just didn't work for us anymore, so we started from scratch.

We had five or six meetings with our home planner & after the fourth one I thought we would be in the planning stage forever. We couldn't really find a plan we liked online for him to work from. We couldn't even draw what we wanted. We just knew what rooms we wanted and kind of where in the lay out we wanted them, but couldn't seem to make it work.

We finally found an online floor plan that had the rooms where we liked, but it was a french country style with a lot of set backs on the front and back of the house. We do not want a french country style house with a lot of set backs. We've had enough set backs. We don't need any on our house.

So we worked with the designer and were finally able to get the footprint squared (or rectangled to be literal) up but were left with a renegade bedroom 'wing' that was causing all kind of design problems.
Like a few weeks of problems and some just make a decision problems and the square footage is really too much problems and could we please get moving on this - it's giving me a worry tummy ache - problems.

Until a very wise woman who is working with us mentioned in passing, 'Why don't you move one of the bedrooms over to the other side of the house?'

And that thought sat in the back of my mind and popped out a couple of days later.

And boom.

Problems fixed. Plan designed. Few tweaks made. Final drawings now in process so we can get this baby out to builder to see how much it will all cost.

The solutions came in passing. She didn't even remember saying it. But it made all the difference.
I wonder how many solutions we come by like that? I bet more than we know.
I wonder if that's part of the plan?

Fail to Sell

Treading life.
Not a recommended way to live.
Because things happen to say-
Hey, it's not working for you.
See - you failed.

Like we already didn't know.
Head smack.

These came about a year ago. We chose a realtor who didn't really market our home. Just put it on the list and that was about it.
Put the house on the market in November.
Dumb.
Bad timing.
We knew better, but oh well- people were moving to OKC- chance to sell! Let's move on it.

Wrong.

Failed to sell.

Found a new realtor.
Big suggestions.
Marathon house prepping days.
Back on Market in March.
Offer in April (I think).
Weirdness ensued.

If I ever go through that again,
No will be my new answer.
No, it's not convenient for you to show the house 14 times (exaggerated a bit) in a week to all your people and then after a dozen inspections threaten to pull out of the deal a week before close because you just realized something wasn't the way you wanted.

Old pushy realtors shouldn't bully young new realtors.
It's just wrong.

But, after the fail, came the sale.
Glad to be over this stage & letting go of the negative feelings that went along with those few weeks.

But, the USPS didn't forward our mail like they were supposed to.
Gave new owners email address & was a regular visitor to our old home for "pick up."
And all the church boxes that were sent to old address were quite a joy to  pick up - especially the entire 2014 curriculum. Joy. Just glad it wasn't storming that day or we'd have some soggy spiritual lessons this year.

And then sometime before Christmas, we got and email from our realtor the 2nd and calls from friends asking if we'd been by the house lately.
And then I went.
And there was a great big monstrous for sale sign in the front yard.

So that bring us to now.
A new month in a new year.
And that house has a new set of new owners.

Our buyers put it on the market in November last year.
They closed with their buyer in January.
They didn't fail to sell.

So now I think I will take a bunch on "please forward to..." labels over to the new, new people living there and finally let go.

_____________________________________________________

Feeling angsty tonight.
Went through all that with a smile on my face, but for some reason, it's really bugging me now. Maybe getting it out will help heal.
That and moving on with our new project!
That makes me happy.

My favorite joke

As told to me by a cute ESL boy last Thursday:

"I have a joke for you."
"Ok, tell me"
"I want to tell you a joke."
"Please, I'd love to hear it."
"OK. Why six scared seven. Hehehehehe."
"Oh, I love this joke!!! It's my favorite! -Because seven, eight, nine! Hahahahaha."
"You get it? Seven, ate (making food towards mouth gestures), eight - the number, nine. Six, Seven, Nine, Eight. You get it?"
"Yes and that is my favorite joke in the whole world and I'm glad you get it."
"It's so funny."
"Yes, yes it is."

I think I'm going to through a few of these out to him:
1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The garden was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his post in the desert.
7) Santa is ready to present the present.
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

The sentences came from The Heteronym Page.
Have a nice day.

Click to learn more about the story of Christmas.