Adventures of Paul and Cheri: Generosity, Gratitude & Grace

Part One

Ok, this is a story so follow along .... on the far right above are Caroline (in the green sweater) and Barry (in the darker green). Barry was the realtor who found our perfect Green Acres humble abode for us. Caroline is his wife. Together they are now a Carolina Mountain Home Real Estate Company. And they are our friends, as you can see by the picture above.

Well, Caroline called on Friday and said some of their other client/friends were getting new appliances in their mountain home and would we be interested in a new cook stove! Hallelujah! And HECK YES! Caroline, the perfect Southern Belle says, "it's white, would that be ok?" It could be purple polka dots with green stripes and it'd be GREAT!! Well as you can see, it is the most gorgeous cook stove I've ever seen and it's in our kitchen!

Look at this beautiful thing! OMG! It's in OUR KITCHEN!

Ceramic stove top! With a clock that works, and a timer! It cleans itself and the oven has a light with a window you can see through. AND ... it is LEVEL! Holy moly! I don't have to keep turning the casseroles and cakes around so they'll cook right ... and my eggs get finished all at the same time! It is REMARKABLE! I am SOOOO excited. Can you tell?
So ... while we're getting ready to go pick up the stove Barry calls and says, hey, Alvin says you can have the refrigerator too if you want it. IF WE WANT IT!?!? Barry has a VERY STRONG Brooklyn, New York accent. It's great .... anyway I told him Paul & I would be there and they could talk about it when they got to the house ..... so here is the outcome of that discussion!

It is HUGE! They are both energy Star whirlpool appliances!
It's a lot bigger than what we had and completely fills up the corner and then some.
The grandsons will have a great time with the dispensers. So will Paul ;-)

Isn't it just incredible?!?!
What really boggles our minds and makes me tear up every time I think about it is the complete generosity of these people. Caroline & Barry for thinking of us, knowing that we've nickel ed and dimed our way through what we've managed to do, restoring this Grande Dame we live in and remembering us with total joy. And Barry just volunteered his back and truck to help us get it all accomplished, while Caroline and I caught up with the gossip and girlie stuff. And Alvin & Karen for being SO generous to GIVE AWAY these appliances to perfect strangers just because they've had an opportunity to upgrade and want to give back. My heart freaks out every time I try to wrap my mind around this! What a wonderful world! What wonderful people and wonderful things happen in life!!! And how do you ever get someone to realize just HOW GRATEFUL you are for such a random act of kindness!!!!

Part Two

Enter Mark, who is Beth's best friend for the past gazillion years. Fellow gypsy and all that. He and Paul can talk for hours (literally) and they never run out of things to say or interests to share. Kind of nice, really .... we're not the norm around here ...

And our friend Beth with her sweet little girl, Foxxy. Just so happens that Beth's stove only has 2 burners that work. And it's kind of ancient ... more so than what we have now replaced! SO, Mark and Beth came over and picked up the cook stove we were getting rid of and today Paul took the refrigerator that we have now replaced over to her house! YEAH ... so the circle now has continued on .... and to finish it off, Beth's old(est) appliances were taken to a local fella in Roan Mountain who collects the bits and pieces for scrap and lives off of the proceeds. Paul was very clever thinking of him to take the stuff to .....
SO now that there are lots of sore backs and cleaned out refrigerators and stoves in this place, we are all reveling in our newly gifted appliances, and Beth and I seem to be equally ecstatic about the new toys and the hopes for plenty of meals to come!
OH, and Beth & Mark had us up to Beth's for dinner Saturday night after moving all of that stuff and it was delightful!!!! Thanks, you guys! It was good to see Mark, as he was visiting from out of town. Not a local, unfortunately. Hopefully, he'll be back again soon.

Part Three

Then it was Sunday, and I found Mother Nature's beauty right outside the door.

It was beautiful! And FINALLY warm enough to begin grouting some of the projects I've had on hold since NOVEMBER! Whoo Hoo! art work! I'm in heaven .... HOG HEAVEN once again.

TALK ABOUT A GREAT WEEKEND! While I was grouting, Paul actually had some work with Mike at the shop working on 18 wheelers (rigs?) keeping them road worthy. He was a tired, grungy man when he arrived home. And we finished up the evening watching t.v. and being ever so grateful for being in this life .... together ... on our adventure.