My, how time flies...

when you're having fun!  17 years ago yesterday, I was blessed to marry my special person, my Marine.  I was warmly taken into his family, they became family to me.

Like most (any?) life-commitment, it has not always been smooth or easy.   There have been rough patches,  job changes, kids,  a doctor who uttered the immortal phrase , "Oops, I must've cut the wrong thing! ", surgeries and scares  along our shared path.

But we have been blessed.  Blessed in more ways than I can give voice to here.  Our kids are healthy.  We can afford to share our home with dogs we love.   DH has a good job.  We are finally getting our chance to live a more rural lifestyle, something we have both sought since before that day,  17 years ago.

This whole moving process is coming to a head at last.  We should be on the market a week from Monday.  The process has seen us spending several nights a week apart, as DH can't afford the time to commute 170+miles each day.  While neither of us particularly enjoy being parted, it's just something we have to put up with for a little while longer.

I just know how lucky and blessed I am to have DH as my husband.  I shall be forever content, with him in my life, however long my life may be.

Sad update to Tornado post

While everything here at the casa is fine, with no damage from the storms, not everyone was so lucky.

Sadly, the number of dead and injured in the North Texas tornado outbreak Saturday night, continues to rise.  There were 23 injured that I have read, and 11 killed, most of them in their cars at I-30 and the PBG tollway.  Hundreds of houses in Ennis, Garland and Rowlett were damaged or destroyed.  Pets have been lost or killed also.

Please keep those affected, and the first responders too, in your thoughts and prayers.  If you feel so inspired, donate to the Red Cross, or Salvation Army.  Donate blood to your local blood bank--it won't be used here, but I guarantee someone in YOUR area needs blood NOW.  Donate to your local animal rescue organization--they help reunite lost pets after storms like this, with their owners.

And whatever your feelings on the company Chik-Fil-A, please understand that here in NTX, they were responding Saturday night along side the Salvation Army, helping by providing free food to the first responders and folks displaced by the storms.   I haven't heard of another company doing that yet, let alone RIGHT after the storms moved past.

December Tornados?

Yep. Another evening spent standing in the storm shelter.  Several tornados in and around the Metromess, and our county.  Damage south of Dallas around Ennis.  No reports of injuries yet, thankfully. 

And so it begins

The crew arrived at 8am to begin the excavations.  An hour later, they were chest deep in the holes under my house!  Every hole is dug by hand.  There are 18 holes to be dug.  They will be finished digging by tonight, with most of the piers set, in order to do the lift.

The crew has already begun to dig.

Thru my beveled glass door looking at them jackhammering a hole in my porch.

Chest deep in a hole under my house.

Placing the concrete piers.

Looking down at the placed piers.  Ready to place the jack.

In truth, they have already finished the front of the house!  This crew is very efficient.  The lift is done already on the front of the house, the holes backfilled, and ready for new concrete caps in the places they had to jackhammer concrete out.

Tomorrow, they will be back to lift the rear of the house and finish everything up, including remortaring any brick cracks and the concrete work.  They'll even re-lay the pavers on our patio that had to be removed.

I will say when they placed the piers, and lifted the front, our poor house made some very strange noises!  It creaked and thumped, and vibrated a little.  I'm glad the dogs were at TIRR for the duration of this repair.  The noises and all the workmen would have disturbed them greatly.

Sometimes you're the chicken, sometimes you're the axe.

Yes, I'm afraid this year the holidays (Christmas and New Years) will be a blur.  Our foundation work got moved up to start tomorrow.  Yay!  It makes for a heck of an expensive birthday present...  Which means the Christmas tree has to come down the day after Christmas...so that next Monday, the paint crew (of 8 guys) can show up to paint the inside of the house.  I'm told this will take approximately 3 days.  After they get done, we get to demo out the rest of the laminate flooring, and our bedroom carpet, so that Jan 4th, the flooring crew arrives to do the new flooring throughout the house.

In addition to that, I have to transport the dogs to (and from) the Ranch where they will stay during the times the work crews will be here (for the dogs sanity and the workers safety).  That's a 3hr round trip each time.

Then we will need dirt and sod for the back yard, and then it is time to list!  So I need to schedule a photo session with our realtor, and get the house listed.  Oh, and lest I forget, we have our anniversary during this whole time too.

All this on top of the normal stuff we do here daily, like conquering Mount Laundry, and trying to keep things clean...And I almost forgot--the dishwasher repair guy is coming back out today to see if he can sort out why my nearly brand new $800 dishwasher doesn't like to wash my dishes!

So if you see me running around like a chicken with my head cut off, now you know why!