Sink Sunk!!!

Paul was able to sink our kitchen sink one evening last week!!! Isn't it spectacular??? I've posted some pics along our Phase I kitchen face lift. We are still waiting for the tin for the back splash and the sink front to come in and the cabinet hardware to be made... and then we'll poly the floor and Phase I will be mostly completed!! It's come a L O N G way from the starting line! We're thrilled (I am, more so than Paul, for obvious reasons!) with the outcome!! And we will, of course, continue to update with pics as things progress.

It's a 2 golf ball day here on the weather scene, which means it's going to be mild with no precipitation and in the 50's. The sky is that brilliant blue and the wind is still ~ for the most part. The cats are out on the screen porch watching the birds and air flow. We're enjoying our heat wave immensely!!! There is a rumor of snow flurries later in the week or weekend, but tomorrow is a 3 golf ball day ... so we're going to live in the moment around here!!!! I'm hoping March isn't going to roll in like a lion, but with the 70 to 100 mph winds we've been having around here, it looks like the Lion is going to roar. Actually, I guess if spring wants to roar in like a lion, as long as it actually gets here, who cares!?! I keep thinking winter isn't over yet because it hasn't been as intense as I've been promised it would be by the locals. But, if it is over, so be it! I'm glad to move forward ... but in doing so, I must thank everyone who has sent us warm thoughts and especially thanks to my brother who actually sent us a propane heater!!! Thanks, Wayne! You're the best! The heater takes care of the whole front of the house and it really makes a difference for us when we're watching t.v. and trying to enjoying a "normal" evening!

We spent another fun weekend this past weekend going from thrift store to book store and back again! We had a lovely time and enjoyed ourselves way more than we probably had a right to! But since we felt compelled to get out and about, we just enjoyed it! I guess sometimes you just have to go with the flow and relax a little ... even if you have a VERY long list of things to be done! We saw some interesting scenery ... it looks like a completely different planet around here without the ice and snow on the ground. I'm very anxious to experience the beauty of everything blooming and coming alive. It's been ages since we've seen a proper spring ... we're delirious with that prospect!

We received a letter yesterday from Kaley and Kristy Suero, who are 2 of our students from Orlando. Thank you, girls, for making our day!!! It was so delightful to hear from y'all. I smiled the rest of the day. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Teaching here is fun, but it is different. I miss taking class with my lady friends more than I can even put into words. I try to avoid thinking about it because it creates a vast sadness in my heart that I cannot even grasp. As my friend Valerie reminded me last Friday when she was telling me about the weather in Orlando, "you chose to leave" ... and although she is exact in that statement, it doesn't mean I don't miss my friends and students with whole bits of my heart! And so, I try to remain in the moment and not think about Thursday at noon when I would be in class, tapping my little heart out and smiling from my soul because it is my true passion.

On the other hand, I'm truly enjoying learning the real estate stuff, and since this is their "slow" season around here, it's giving me an opportunity to grasp it before it's too busy for me to learn. It's certainly a wonderful thing, learning something new! I may end up back in school after all ... we'll see. Paul seems to be plenty busy at work. This weekend is the big trade show for their industry and the owner of the company will be heading to FL to attend N.O.M.A. That leaves Paul here to mind the shop, which I think he'd rather do than go to the show ... so, all's well!

As March is rolling in (that means we've been here 5 months - so hard to believe!) we are just planning to continue on with the house ... and as soon as the weather indicates that green light, we'll hit the hiking trails with great gobs of gusto!!! I can't wait to get out there and wander around! I've noticed Paul reading lots of canoeing stuff lately, so that'll be on the agenda too, I'm sure! Now, the fun part of the adventure will begin ... and just in time to avoid cabin fever.

Welp, until next time, y'all stay healthy, happy and wise!!!! Paul & Cheri

Happy President's Day!!

This past weekend brought us a snowbound couple of days to catch up on our reading and resting! AAHHHH!!! I know most of you will never believe this, but I actually stayed in jogging pants and sweatshirts all day yesterday ... under the electric blanket (which is on the bed!) and read an entire book! At the day's end, Paul congratulated me for not "freaking out" and spending an entire day of doing NOTHING in the house! Guess I was tired! Watching the snow fall in BIG slow and lazy flakes, and then quick little frantic flakes, and then back to the BIG flakes again is a bit mesmerizing! Every time we looked out the window it was STILL SNOWING! You just don't get views like that in Orlando! It was a glorious weekend and the rest and relaxation was so very welcomed by us both! I'm sure Paul thinks I must've been sick ... after all, he brought home the granite to re-do the kitchen sink and counters that I've been waiting for since October, and I told him to wait until this week. I'm sure he thinks I was replaced by an alien just for that alone! But I'm back to myself and hoping that the sink gets sunk tonight! I'm so excited about the prospect of being able to actually reach the sink without lifting my shoulders up to accommodate the counter top!!! It's really the small things in life, isn't it!?!?! And we're beginning to talk about hanging things on the walls now too ... and I've unpacked a few boxes of crystal and china ... so, little by little, we're making this our home.

Today in the High Country the weather is not anything like it was yesterday! Although Paul's departure this morning took about 20 minutes to exit the driveway. The ground was just frozen! So he ended up loading tree trunks (wood from our trees, remember that?) into the truck bed and letting out some of the air from his back tires and finally got out of the driveway. Smooth sailing after that!!!! Too bad he had to leave so early, when I left for town I had no problem at all. But school was cancelled today, so some of the county must still be frozen. The sun has been ablaze since sunrise today and it actually was in the 40's here!

H E A T W A V E !!!! We're looking at some 50's potentially by week's end!!! I know spring is not in the air because my bones hurt like crazy, but the locals are out buying spring clothes now. I guess when you live in this all your life, spring is something you try to push along. Paul & I have been reading books of local lore ~ and if anything they've indicated is true, you can't even plant flowers until after Memorial Day! In Atlanta it was EASTER, in Orlando, well ... whenever you want! Although I understand Orlando had a little cool spell and everyone is renewed and happy! I always loved the 3 weeks of winter we had there. I went outside today for a little while and watched some of the ice cycles fall off of the house and crash to the ground like daggers. I don't remember that in Orlando. When we go from Elk Park to Banner Elk we go across a mountain. The scenery is scrumptious and I keep meaning to take my camera so I can share it with you all. The water that is coming down the mountain is frozen in motion on the sides of the rocks. The stream that is on the side of the road is frozen, the rocks are covered in ice and snow. It is breathtaking to see and so simply peaceful to listen to the stillness of the earth. It's one of my greatest pleasures here.

Speaking of pics, the ones above are, of course, the guest room. The lighting in there is so very difficult to get pictures with. I'll try again in the dark and see if it works better without the light coming into the room. Maybe I can actually get the flash to work ... but anyway ... we are very tickled with what we've accomplished to date upstairs. And our first guests didn't fall through the floor or get into a flood or anything other than be comfortable, albeit a bit chilly without the space heater. The wall turned out to be gorgeous. It's going to take several weeks of consistent cleaning and polishing that wood since it was covered with paper and paste for so long. But in a few weeks, it's going to have a patina that will really highlight its natural beauty. A friend of mine is redoing her condo and is going to donate her current bathroom vanity to us! So that lovely camp vanity that is in the bathroom now will have to go ... takes away some of the character, but I think we'll live without it. I know the boys would love it, but the adult guests might prefer a more updated version, so we're grateful to have the donation! We've put the word out to everyone we know that we take unwanted furniture! It's a fun treasure chest around here!

We went to our friend's surprise birthday party Saturday night (Barry, the realtor who sold us this house - and Caroline, his wife who I work for now) and we got about 1/3 of the way up Beech Mountain when Paul announced we were losing traction. I was so proud when he stopped, turned around, went down to the bottom and called for a shuttle to the top!! It was a fun time at the party, plenty of great food and wine, and even better company! There were people there that we felt very lucky to meet. Beech Mountain is one of the ski resort areas around here, and although there are about 1700 home/condo owners, there are only about 300 year round residents. It's a great area for people who want to live on top of a mountain in a community like that one. It's also a GREAT place to rent for ski season, and for hiking season. This past 3 day weekend (today included, I guess) is apparently the last big ski weekend for the tourists up here, so things will be wrapping up until warmer weather now. I guess that's why Mother Nature gave us such a fabulous weekend of snow, so the economy here and the skiers could all get their money's worth! We were trying to go out and eat Friday night w/ Jon and Melissa, but the reservations are only made for parties of 8 or more ... and waiting for a couple of hours in a bar of drink and smoke wasn't on my list of "want tos" ... so Jon made us a delicious steak dinner with all the fixins of a fine chef, and we stayed in and ate, drank and played Scattergories, which was SO FUN! Thanks, kids, for humoring us old folks for a little while!

So, this week is President's Day, Shrove Tuesday (for which Paul insists I must make pancakes) and the start of lent ... along with Ms. Kelly's birthday on Saturday!!! Happy Birthday, Kel! Wish I could be there to sing to you ... but maybe we can recapture the celebration spirit when I do get there ......... or you get here! You'll have your very own "suite" this time! In the news today, they rescued 3 hikers (thank GOD) from a horrendous snow storm in Oregon, I think ... and Brittney Spears shaved her head. Hmmm .... Hope everyone is well and happy and we hope to hear from you all soon! Paul & Cheri

updating ...

Well, Jon (my son) and his girlfriend Melissa arrived Monday night! Melissa said she prayed for snow, and of course, her prayers were answered! It's been snowing, and it's C O L D enough to be a deep freeze! She and Jon were throwing snow balls at each other yesterday morning by 8 AM. My goodness, it must be nice to be young! I was freezing just thinking about doing that! It hasn't been much above freezing in days now! We're looking forward to next week when we're hearing about maybe 40 degrees! Yippee! A heat wave!

Paul and I worked around most of the clock this past weekend and the weekend previously to make sure the guest bedroom and bathroom were worthy of company. Paul built a closet in the guest bedroom, hung a door on the guest bathroom, hung multitudes of shelves and wall decor, cut wood for the bed slats, and scrapped a ton of wall paper from the tongue and groove walls! It was a very productive few days for us ... and I must say, we're plumb tuckered out! So it's nice to have company for an excuse to not do construction labor for a little bit!!! Jon is a chef by trade ... so it has been a tasty treat to have him around here! Tuesday night when I got home from teaching, a gorgeous salmon dinner had been prepared AND the BED was in our BEDROOM!!!!! All kinds of very wonderful things are happening !! Who knew!!!! I don't have a pic of the guest room to post yet ... there are guests in it! But next time ...

On the real life front, our middle grandson, Cade turned 5 years old on Feb. 9th! The time flies by so quickly! Happy Birthday, CADE!!!! Trusting all of you had a wonderful Valentine's Day! And finally CONGRATULATIONS TO THE DANCERS AT THE DANCERS POINTE!!!! And of course, congratulations to the teachers and staff for giving the kids such great instruction and love. I understand the competition went very well and everyone did an excellent job! Mr. Paul and I knew you would all be great! The above pic gives you an idea of the dancer's willingness to do whatever it takes to make the dance great! Congrats to all!

Until next time .... stay warm! Paul & Cheri

Remission!

Whilst roaming about the house this morning, concerning myself with the silly petty things in life, I received my morning phone call from my beautiful daughter. This is the blessing she bestowed upon us today:

After meeting with her "flock" of doctors yesterday, Jennifer has been declared in remission. She has been cancer free approaching 14 months now! What a beautiful word the "R" word is. It is a very sacred and special word in our lives and the lives of countless others. We have longed to hear it declared for ages. To everyone who has prayed and sent good, healthy thoughts to Jennifer and our family, we thank you with all our hearts. May God bless you all as deeply and lovingly as we have been blessed! With great gobs of gratitude and a special lightness in my heart today, I wish you all a wonderful day! Cheri

The Bedrooms!

Here are some before and after pics of our newest concentration areas ... the bedrooms! The upstairs "guest suite" used to have some blue plastic on it, under which was some funky cardboard backed wallpaper ... upon which there was found to be copious amounts of wallpaper glue! So, these pics are what the wall looked like after removal of all that, what the wall looked like prior to removal and (the bottom of this page for some reason) the big wall showing what it looks like during the process of removing the paste! It is similar to taking 50 million price stickers off of picture frame glass! It takes forever! Thankfully, Paul got into the act on Sunday and knocked out half of the big wall in less than the time it took me to do the small wall! But hopefully, it'll get finished quickly! We worked in that room most of Sunday, painting, scraping, cleaning, scrubbing and vacuuming the ceiling beams and fans. It was very rewarding, as you can see that kind of stuff right away! Now for the assembly of the bedroom! The fun stuff for this weekend!

Our bedroom floor is a before and after. (again, for some reason the pictures posted at the bottom of the page?) Paul got all the edges sanded this past weekend! Isn't it gorgeous? And unbelievably the same floor! We need to poly it next and it'll be finished! I've been trying to match paint to that lovely wallpaper for a week! I think I've finally found what is going to work the best - so hopefully by this evening's retirement hour, it'll be finished! Paul's putting drywall in the closet that is the most "scary" and then we'll probably be ready to make the move in to the bedroom, even though there are more things to do (like the ceiling)! I'm looking very forward to being in a bedroom again, although it'll be weird at first not to be in the open part of the house!

On the life front, the temp went down to around zero last night. That was not taking the wind chill into consideration! It was 6 below zero on Beach Mtn. last night, where my realtor boss, Caroline lives! Also, no wind chill taken into count there. We're supposed to be getting some very major wind tonight - about 65 mph. I went to the grocery store last night after teaching and it was bitter cold (mostly on the face) ... I can't imagine what it'll be like in the wind --- but I'm fixin' to find out because I work until 8pm this evening! BRRRRRRRRRR. I'm supposed to hear from the HVAC guy today about his recommendation to heat this big ole house. Can't wait for that report! The other two fellas came in around 10 grand! $$$ Yikes! We're not in Orlando any more, that's for sure!

I took a trip to the city on Saturday (Johnson City, TN), it was so nice to get out and about! Came back with treasures for my grandson's 5th birthday (CADE) on Feb. 9th; a slew of hoolahoops for my little one's classes; some fresh catnip for the boys; and some paint for the bedroom (not the right color, but paint nevertheless). It was great to take the trip (and got to go with a girlfriend, Beth!) - the drive alone is breath taking, but with the frozen mountains ~ all the white landscape ~ it looks like a totally different place. Still GORGEOUS!!! We are so lucky. :-)

Well, it's off to the paint store! Do hope all of you are happy and healthy. Good luck to The Dancer's Pointe competitors this weekend! Mr. Paul and I will be sending you all lots of good thoughts, good luck wishes and we REALLY miss being there with y'all!!! We know ALL y'all will be THE BEST!!!!! xoxox

Along with Cade's birthday on the 9th, Valentine's Day is coming up. Hope all of you have happy hearts to celebrate with! Until next time, Paul & Cheri