It's All About Timing - But Not My Own...

Timing.  That seems to be the word of the year for me.  I know I said it was Transformation in a previous post, and that is true...but now I am dealing with the Timing part of Transformation.

This past month, we put our house up for sale, very quickly.  3 days in we got an offer, a very good offer. Which is a huge blessing, considering I have 5 kids living here, and that proves to be a bit difficult with staging, and organizing the kids for the various walk-throughs.  The offer is not final yet.  We have to wait until Friday, and this is where I have my hardest time, the waiting game.

My mind fills with doubts and worries.  I want to start packing and getting ready to move, but I know that the fact is, that first offers don't always go through.

We have already found a place that I would love to rent.  I decided that instead of rushing into purchasing a home that I will regret buying, we would find a house to rent instead.  I am not the handiest of people and I have struggled with keeping this place up myself.  I don't have a huge budget to hire people to do all the maintenance, so renting just makes sense.

We put our application in yesterday for this house.  It is in a nice location, it has 3 bedrooms and a large rec room, which we would use as a 4th bedroom.  So, it would fit us all.  I can see us in there.  The furniture, I know exactly how I would set it up, it is close to schools and bus routes and even my work.  It is convenient for childcare and close to friends.

But again, my mind fills with doubts and worries.  What if my credit is so bad that I can't qualify for this place?  What if I am getting my hopes up and in the end, our house won't sell and we will lose this rental. What if our house sale does go through and this rental doesn't become an option for us...

It is hard.  It is really hard to put those worry thoughts to the back of my mind and let the positive thoughts come to the front.  I have been so crushed in a lot of areas recently and I have learned to not have expectations of people.  It is hard to remember that God is in control and He knows what is best for me.

God's timing is always perfect...I know that.  And this time round, it just seems that this has all fallen in place for us.  The closing date of our (almost final) sale, the rent date for this new place, the money in place, our house cleaned out and we are just about ready to move...it all seems so perfect, and yet I feel bad saying "God is orchestrating this" and then worrying whether it will all happen or not.

I really need people to stand in agreement with us.  I need to fill my mind with scriptures that will replace the worry.  I need to just breathe and know that as I am living right, as I am following Him, that because I know He wants the best for me, His child, that He will provide everything we need and it will be at the perfect time. And I need to remember that His perfect time is not always my perfect time.  But it is perfect nonetheless.

So, if any of my readers are the praying type.  If you are the type who send out positive "vibes" or whatever it is that you believe.  I would appreciate any and all of that right now, since I seem to be struggling through this process.  I'm asking for those who can, to stand in the gap in prayer, and that God will provide exactly what we need...in His Timing.

Procrastination is my Middle Name...

I have too much stuff.  I have always been a collector.  I am not the most motivated person.  I really, I mean REALLY dislike cleaning.  I enjoy cooking but keep getting stuck on the same meals that I don't feel like cooking...

My house is cluttered, and I really don't like that.  I feel like all that happens in our house is cleaning, and I want to do so much more with the kids and enjoy these times while they are home.

So, one of my goals for this year is household organization.  I really need to organize my house better and get rid of some unneeded items.  I always have these wonderful ideas and ideals but I procrastinate so much that I never get close to finishing them...

I work in a group home and I really like the system that they have there.  They have a communication binder where all the chores for the day are listed.  Each week, on each day they have the same chores, so once in the routine, you just know that on Sunday you put out the garbage and on Friday you wash the bedding etc...I want to do that at our house.  I really crave that organization and non-chaotic environment.  So...I am going to set some goals, I want to get there this year.  I want to have my house in the condition that I feel better about. 

The steps I am going to take to get there are:

• Start one task at a time and complete it before starting the next task
• Get rid of things on weekly basis - we seem to have a lot of things coming in and nothing going out
• Enjoy the small accomplishments, reward ourselves for organizing an area
• Set up a calendar of regular jobs to be done each day/week/month
• Set up a laundry schedule, 1 person each day and linens/towels on weekends
• Start a menu plan and shopping list again

This is my start...Any suggestions or advice for a procrastinator like myself?

...and the tree came tumbling down!!

I am so glad we had our tree out front taken down last week. Not only did we get an amazing deal, but my husband is such a hard worker that we got to enjoy the perks of his job and the mess was cleaned up by the next day!! We had a few neighbours come and haul away the firewood pieces and all that was left was the brush...

We had a massive storm come through yesterday, with winds and hail and lots and lots of rain. I am sure the tree would have come down into Mr. H's room. So glad we dealt with it quickly!!

The kids loved playing in the jungle...and losing their shoes amongst the branches!!

Now I have a naked yard...I will have to take an after pic of it:-) Am looking forward to planting a bylaw acceptable, really tall, wildflower garden next year!! Just because I love my neighbours!

Timing...

So, I have good news. Our house finally SOLD!! It was so exciting yesterday to see the sold sign go up on our lawn and the sold sign should be on the lawn of our new house today too!!

It is a relief to have this over with and to be able to relax a bit again.

It is an amazing story, I think...

We put the house on the market on August 20th. Yes, it has been that long. We had an offer within 3 weeks and it ended up falling through, because the guy couldn't get his financing in order. I found this to be really devastating. I couldn't understand why it would happen this way, where we got our hopes up and they were crushed. We spoke positively about the sale and were really excited to see everything falling into place before the stated date on our offer.

This past Friday we had a couple walk through and they seemed to like the place. They wanted to come back during the day on Saturday, but our agent couldn't be here for that...so I said that I would stay and let them in. They came on Saturday and seemed to really like it a lot. We got a phone call Saturday evening that there was an offer and what did we think of it. We decided to try to get a bit more for the place and they were ok with that. They signed the offer and so did we. There was a home inspection set up for Monday, and that went well...nothing surprised them there. Their financing came into place on Wednesday and it was a done deal by Wednesday night.

It was such a relief. After we got home from the final paper signing, our agent called us and asked if we wanted to hear something funny...I was a bit concerned by that comment, but said...go ahead.

Our agent had talked with the agent from our new place. There was a condition in our offer, on the other lady's part, that if another offer came in before our conditions were met, that we would have 48 hours to meet our condition or we would lose the place. Apparently, at 5pm yesterday, there was a new offer on the table and the lady was going to have to accept it. Her house was on the market for 2 months before we bought it, then 2 more months after the accepted offer. No other offers had come in at all, until yesterday. If we had not had this sale by the Friday, we would have lost the house and this all would have been a waste...

The lady who was selling our house was so excited to hear that we finally sold, she wanted a young family to buy her place and move into the area and was just so happy to hear that we did it!

This was definitely a GOD THING!! That house was meant to be ours!! Just when you look at the flow of events...

* I find this house by fluke on the mls page on Friday
* I email the agent to find out about an open house and there is one on Sunday
* We have plans to be in Toronto on Sunday, so make an appt to see it on Monday night
* We are able to make it home on time to get to the end of the open house and we fall in love with it on the first walk through
* We go back Monday night with our agent and some friends for a second opinion and talk about putting in an offer
* Wednesday night we put in our offer and she accepts, we just have to sell our house and have an electrical inspection and get financing
* Financing and inspection are done by Monday and those conditions are waived...now we just have to sell our house. We have 3 weeks or so...
* We have our house ready to show and stage within 3 days and it is on the market
* We have an offer in the second week of the listing but it falls through
* We have to ask for an extension of our offer and it is extended, there is still the clause of another offer coming in, then we have 48 hours to complete our condition
* It is on the market for another 4-5 weeks and we finally get another offer, we signed on Saturday...conditional on a home inspection and financing
* Home inspection on Monday, financed by Wednesday, final papers signed Wednesday night
* Found out that there was another offer on the table as of 5pm we would have had 48 hours to complete a sale or lose the house...

But...things happen for a reason, and I think that I have learned a lot from living in a staged house. I have never been much of a housekeeper...we like to live in our house. Not that it is 'dirty' but it could get cluttered quite easily, and I would be embarassed if some people would have come over at times. I learned that routines are not that hard to start and keep up, we have lived like this now for 2 months and it is second nature to just clean up as we go and keep things tidy to begin with. Such an easy concept, but it took this experience for me to realize that...

That is all for now. I am sure to write more later, but now the fun begins...finish packing and cleaning out the garbage, getting things organized for the move and having a baby!! Soon, hopefully!!

The selling of a house...

I really am understanding why, when we move again, we are going to live there until we die. I am being 100% serious!!

I am constantly perplexed by the idea that we are putting so much effort and money into this house, just to move out...in the new house we will be doing fresh paint there too...so, it really never does end.

We have had almost 20 walk-throughs since having it up on the market 1 and a half weeks ago. Those 20 people, did not come through all at once, which means that the only night we have been 'allowed' to stay home was the holiday Monday.

There are still so many little things that need doing, but when you are not home, it is hard to get them done.

We are preparing for an open house on Sunday and want this to be the last weekend for all this unrest...we want an acceptable offer and quick!! So, we have looked around and are figuring out all the little things that need to be done. Our list looks like this:

*Paint porch (which we did at almost midnight last night, realized the colour was not close enough to being the same, so I finished the railing today.)
*Lay the runner on the outside stairs
*Paint basement hall (it was not in our painting contract...next time I will read it a little closer - I did this last night too)
*Change all the lights to 100watts...brighter is better
*Change the shower curtain liner...our really needed to go...
*Buy 2 more glass door knobs for the other 2 doors we missed
*Find the circle light fixture attachment for our 2 dimmer lights...
*Clean the basement stairs more thoroughly...no more gum allowed in our house anymore!
*Scrape and paint the whatchamacallit thing that hangs over our side door...it is just a decorative thing
*Scrape and paint the side door and frame
*Clean and sweep out the backyard and driveway
*Magic Eraser the marker that I noticed in the bathroom...yup...no more markers or writing utensils in reach of my children
*Get the last 2 boxes out in the garage, and off my living room floor
*Paint the hallway stairs and lay the runner

That is all I can remember right now...I know for a fact that there is way more to do...

Now, remember, this is all on top of my kids starting school for the first time ever, making that adjustment, leaving the house each night for walk-throughs...and yet, we still have to have all this done by Sunday afternoon...

Did I mention that I have just about 5 weeks left of this pregnancy????? and I am measuring 3 weeks early, and I have to start taking extra vitamin c and e so my water doesn't break early?????

WHAT WAS I THINKING????

Whatever possesses them???

So, you all know that we are in the process of trying to sell our house. I have never been much of a housekeeper, but have gained some OCD tendencies during this process. Someone could walk through the house in the next 5 minutes and it would look like no one lives here!!

Yesterday, for lunch, I made chicken strips and noodles. I can't eat tomato sauce right now, cause the heartburn just kills me afterwards, so I mixed the noodles with cream of mushroom soup and shredded cheese. It was DELICIOUS and I will be making it again.

I gave both Pooky and Cutie Pie a bowl of noodles to start with and was going to give them the chicken after they were done the noodles, since I didn't want to dirty too many plates.

Pooky was eating hers up real good until Cutie Pie says 'I don't like mushrooms'. Um, this child has eaten mushrooms forever and has never complained. But now, both the girls decided that they didn't want the noodles.

Pooky has figured that when she doesn't like something she just scrapes it into the garbage and it is gone...problem solved...we are dealing with that now...

Here is the conversation that transpired at lunch then keep reading for the ultimate shocker!!

CP - I am done my noodles mom, Pooky is throwing hers in the garbage
Me - Did you throw yours in the garbage too?
CP - Oh, no, I ate mine
Me - (I wasn't born yesterday) Look me in the eye and tell me that you ate your noodles
CP - (looking guiltily in my eyes) I ate mine
Me - If I go into the kitchen and look in the garbage, will I see more then I gave to Pooky?
CP - No, you won't, I ate mine

So, I go and check the garbage, and there are a total of 8 or 9 noodles in the garbage, which is all Pooky had left, when she realized she wouldn't like them.

So, I guessed that Cutie Pie had actually eaten her noodles...THEN...

I was walking through the house to make sure it was clean and ready for the next onslaught of strangers to walk through and guess what I found???

NOODLES...

Yup, in the pantry, hiding behind my hubby's beer case, in the corner.

What possesses children to do things like this?

Oh yeah, and on the way out of the house, I noticed a half eaten apple in a shoe in the hallway and when we got home, I saw a chicken strip under the tv table...

So much for myt OCD housecleaning...

Stress

So, that is what I am feeling right now. I am stressing out. At times I am fine, and I know that everything is going to work out, and then there are these other times, like today, where I am just bawling at the drop of a pin...

Grrr...maybe moving and selling a house while in the last 7 weeks of pregnancy are not the best things to be doing. This is also a hard time pregnancy wise, cause it is when our 3'rd child died. I was 32 weeks along, and that is what I am now. Usually we go away and 'hide'...well, not really hide, just go away and we don't think about anything else. But, we can't so that this time. Pete has a job and we are in this process of selling and buying a house.

I think the combination of it all is really affecting me and I just need to 'hide' somewhere...

Oh well, we have some painters coming in this afternoon to give us a quote on painting the house top to bottom. We have been told that if it is professionally painted we will get a HUGE chunk back on what we spend...so, that is what I have spent the morning doing.

Now, finding painters who are available immediately and can have the job done by the end of the weekend at the latest, is not the easiest thing to find. So, that is why I have been in tears today...silly? Yup...but, yeah, I am emotional...

I am worried that the house will not sell and I really believe that the other house is meant for us. We found out yesterday that the next door neighbour is a friend that I have known for many years...made it seem even more that the house is meant for us. I just don't want to be disappointed...

We have been doing everything possible to make the house look better...a light fixture here, an extra screw to hold a drawer on properly there...anything that will help. We have also been out of the house for the last 3 nights because people have been walking through.

There have been 7 so far, 1 on Sunday, 2 on Monday and 4 last night. We haven't had a nice sit down dinner since Sunday and I am tired of fast food...I need to figure out what I can make that can transport elsewhere...we spent the night at the park with Pooky last night, and she just had a blast. I am not sure where we will head tonight or tomorrow if there are more showings, maybe we will just head to my parents house for a bit...

Oh well, there's my day...

To Blog or Not To Blog...

That IS the question...

The only thing I feel like blogging about right now is the whole house situation...

You see, I don't want to start talking (blogging) excessively, about the new house...cause the offer is conditional. So far we have met our financing condition, we have the electrical inspection tomorrow, so that one will be met...but we have to sell our house.

So, on one hand, I am getting excited, but I also don't want the disappointment of telling people and then having to say that it didn't work out.

Oh well, we are believing that this is our house...it has just all fallen together so perfectly.

You see, on Saturday I saw the listing. We went to the open house on Sunday, we walked through again on Monday, we put a conditional offer in on Wednesday and it was accepted (at much lower then the asking price). We spent the last 4 days clearing out the house...boxing everything up and storing it in the garage and it was ready to list and show as of last night.

Before it even hit any agents, or was totally hammered out, we had someone walk through already.

This is just moving so fast. I really am excited. The house just feels like it is ours already. We are hashing out who will get what room and where the baby is going to be born. What colours are we going to paint, when can we get a fence up...how on earth do you take care of a pool...

This is where my mind is and where it has been for the last little while, so that is why I will be scarce around blogland. I need to be ready to walk out of the house at any given moment for people to walk through...

Plus, we have to have the kids ready for school next week too!! Talk about crazy people...that is us for sure!

Where oh where...have I gone too???

When I find me, I will let you all know!!

No, really. Life has been a bit crazy around here. This past weekend, I headed to Toronto to visit some old friends (through Facebook). My old youth pastor is moving onto another church and another position and they had a send off type service for him.

It was great to see everyone again. Now, I was not the model church youth...I hung out with the 'other' crowd and spent most of my time elsewhere then the actual building...When I first got in touch with him, I had sent an email apologizing for how I had behaved during my time there. Now that I am a parent...I understand a bit more about kids and their behaviour and how it can affect others...

Anyhow, that was a fun Sunday, I am happy that we took the time to do that. A neat trip down memory lane;-) And I think I turned out relatively ok...

The day before, on Saturday, I had woken up and was looking through the MLS listings for our area. I just wanted to check what the price was of a house that was for sale, that had a pool...I was just curious to know the price. That one, in particular was way too much money for us...270,000, so I was just going to go off the site and back onto Facebook!!

Then I saw it, an affordable price, enough bedrooms and other rooms, an inground pool, in our general area (where we would like to stay) and it was staring at me in the face...I was getting excited and sent an email off to the agent to find out when there was going to be an open house and found out there was one planned for Sunday.

We rushed home after the service in Toronto and hit the open house. From the moment we walked in, we loved it. It is open concept style. You walk into a little hall (big enough for maybe 2 people) and then to the right is the open kitchen (big enough for our table and chairs) and to the left is the living room, with a window to the porch. On the back wall of the living room is the enclosed dining room, which we would turn into a bedroom. If you walk straight past the kitchen and living room, you are in the main hallway and to the right is the bathroom, which is tastefully decorated...50's style, the clawfoot tub and everything! There is a cupboard outside the bathroom for storage. Keep going past the bathroom and you are in the back hall. There are sliders leading to the deck and down the deck is the pool and enough yard, that we could fence in front of the pool and the little kids would be safe. There is a garden around the side of the house as well...

The upstairs has 3 large sized bedrooms...bigger then the ones we have here. All the bedrooms are attached in some way, whether it is a crawlspace type door or a regular door. There is an attic that has the pull down, where the ladder comes out...the rooms don't have traditional cupboards, but little walk in spaces, that would make due...very unique!

The basement is one long rec room. It is finished and there is a huge storage area with a cold cellar and a laundry area, behind a closet at the end of the rec room. The is also a nice bathroom with a new shower and everything.

I love the house!! Across the street from the house is a playground and tennis courts, a small ball field. It is also a nice, quiet street off of all the main roads.

We spent the day at the banks yesterday hashing out financing...now we just have to wait. If the bank won't qualify us, a broker has already told us that she probably wouldn't have a problem financing, if we had 20% down...so now, we are flying through our house and getting rid of so much more crap!! I am so happy that we have been slowly going through already, cause it is not too huge of a job. But, we may be able to have our house on the market by Saturday.

Pete keeps telling me to stay grounded...don't get my hopes up, cause he doesn't want to deal with emotional Ruth! But, this just feels right. Moreso then anything else we have ever looked into...I will keep you updated, but that is why I am not here much!!

Boots and shoes and sandals...oh my!!!

We are a family of 6. I am a self admitted pack rat. Yup, I keep all those things that you never know, you just may need them...you know?

Well, my mom and sometimes my sister and even my dad one day, have been over here helping me clean out the clutter. We started upstairs with the girls bedrooms and my sons room downstairs and organizing the laundry. We have been doing laundry non-stop for 1 week and a half now, and it is still not caught up. In the process I have given away 5 bags of clothes and am working on another one.

The next area we worked on was the living room, dining room, kitchen and front hallway. They weren't so hard to do...though the kitchen took us 2 days to do. I have a porch full of "stuff" for our garage sale next weekend. Who knows if we will make any money, but it is out of my house and that is all that matters...then it is going to the church garage sale to see if anything sells to bring in some money for the youth and kids there, then I believe it is all going into a truck and being taken away!!

Today we worked on the back hallway and pantry. That was nuts. I have way, way too much junk to deal with, but my mom came in and plowed through it all. All that is left to do back there are the cupboards and most of it is just junk or tools...so that shouldn't be too bad.

Part of the back hall and pantry was shoes and boots...an overwhelming amount...see picture below...

This is now what we have, plus a few extras in the kids rooms to grow into...this was all done with the help of Cutie Pie, her friend and Mr. Hockey.

I am so happy that my family is able to help me out...I really did need the encouragement. When I look at messes I honestly get really overwhelmed and this anxiety sets in...I don't know where to start, so I just ignore it...I am dealing with this and we have been keeping our place clean now since we have started to work in here. I am enjoying having my house nice like this, so I know if people pop over, I can invite them in...

Recovering...ugh...

Yesterday I woke up sooooo sick. It sucked, cause I was watching my sisters kids too. My big kids looked after all the little ones while I rested on the couch and ran to the bathroom..yuck. I was really upset on Wednesday about the mortgage thing amongst other things that were going on in the house, and I binged on junk food.

I have been doing SparkPeople for just over 2 weeks now and have been very careful about what has gone in my mouth, so when I ate 4 cheese slices and 3 pieces of bologna and a cup of root beer...my system was not used to that anymore and I think that is why I was so sick yesterday. I am never going to do that to myself again.

Hubby and I talked about the mortgage and what we would like to do, I think our best course of action is to stay put. We know what we want and we need to be patient and believe that it will be provided to us, in the right timing. We are going to work, little by little on fixing up the house (I have set a goal to finish the bathroom by next Saturday, Feb. 3) and get ourselves out of debt. Then we want to start some kind of high interest savings, not sure yet what kind, and work on saving enough money that with the sale of our house and our savings, we have a 25% down payment for the house that we really want. It means we are going to have to smarten up even more with our money, stick closer to the budget and decide whether some things are worth doing or not. If we have 25%, Shash said that we won't need to deal with CMHC which is even better.

In the money area this year, we have been doing awesome already. We now have jars on our fridge, one is for tithes and offering, one is for spending and one is for groceries. We no longer pay for stuff with our bank card (except gas for the van), and once the jar is empty that is it, until the next pay. So, the other night, when I didn't feel like cooking, I told hubby that we had coupons for subs and why don't we just have that for supper instead. He looked at how much money was in the jar and said that he didn't want to spend that money on subs. So, we cooked supper instead...but last night, I was so sick and couldn't cook anything, so he went out and bought pizza for supper. I didn't get to eat any of it...that was the first time in 2.5 weeks that we have eaten out. So, we have been working hard on the money thing.

At work yesterday hubby was rewarded for no accidents and no unexcused absences with a $75 gift certificate to a new chinese restaurant in town. He was so excited, because he wanted to check out this place but heard it was fairly expensive, so now we get to go, and it costs nothing!!

Anyhow, I am going to try to eat some breakfast. Gonna run.

Just a Scripture

Isaiah 40:29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.


I am still quite upset about the mortgage thing. You would think that they would look over the last 8 years that we have been there an take all that into consideration. Oh well...

There are many different avenues we could go down right now. A mortgage broker, a second mortgage, another bank, financing at a new house...we need to talk with some people who know more about this then us.

Maybe we are just supposed to wait a bit longer. Maybe God didn't want us settling for a house that we would not be happy in after a few years. Maybe we are just not giving Him enough credit to know that He could provide the bigger place that we want. Who knows?

It seems silly to be upset about this, but I really am. There is more involved at this end, that I am choosing not to share here, and this is like the straw and the camel thing. I am just tired.

Anyhow, I am gonna run. Mr. Hockey was sick all night long and he is just coming upstairs now, so I am going to see how he holds down some food. I have found, now that we are eating better, that if we stray to the unhealthy stuff it really affects our body, in more ways then I want to share!!

Oh, yeah, and I weighed in yesterday for the biggest loser challenge I am in and I have lost 3 more pounds. I am slowly getting to my first goal, which is under 200lbs. My clothes are falling off of me already and I will need to get some new stuff soon...YAY!!

Oh the weather outside is...mighty nice!!

Here is what the kids did today, this is a pic of my crew (minus Pooky and Cutie Pie) and Q, Shash's son, who slept over last night, and Cheryl's 2 older ones.

We knew that eventually Pete, working at Waste Management, would come in handy at home...all the recycling bins that we have now were used to build this. It is almost finished in this pic, they just finished off the wall.

We also went to the bank today, to talk about our mortgage. It really hit me that we are actually

moving. I have spent the last 3 or so years looking at houses on MLS, but that didn't mean we were moving. I go to all kinds of open houses, but that doesn't mean we are moving. We have been cleaning out the house and decluttering, but that also doesn't mean we are moving. Sitting in the bankers office, and telling him all the info that he needed to know, getting a credit check done, shaking his hand as we leave and having him walk us to the door, and even hold it open, meant we are getting ready to move.

My heart started to beat really fast with this realization and I felt like I wanted to cry. I don't know why...fear jumped into my thoughts, that we won't qualify for enough, we are not going to be able to move at all, we are going to fail at this venture...I don't know where it came from, it just jumped there.

Even now, as I type this, my heart is racing...It means a big change. We were just getting comfortable here. It means figuring out our budget again, it means getting things packed up, for real, it means having higher mortgage payments. The thoughts just keep getting in there saying that this may not be the right time, we are going to make some kind of mistake, we should stay where we are...and I am left here, worrying, and trying to stop that and finding scriptures to stand on...

Will finish this later, gotta run to the store to get some food for the week and for Sunday school tomorrow...Netherlands!!

A funny...

Princess, singing a song that our singing Christmas tree sings, which Pooky won't let us put away, because she has to play the song 20 million times a day...(but thank goodness the batteries are running out:-)

Rockin around the Christmas tree
Have a happy holiday,
Everyone's gonna take care of me
in a new old fashioned sleigh

Hehe, we love her so much, and she knows she is loved here!!

We have been working so hard around our house. It is really overwhelming, how much work has to be done to get a house ready to sell. I guess it may be better if the kids weren't homeschooled...

I have learned a huge lesson about myself. I am a hoarder...I am working on it, but we have been here for 8 years and our front lawn has been full every week since after Christmas. I am a recovering hoarder...

I have decided that I do this because of fear. Lack of things, when I need them, not being able to say no thank you to people...but that all stems back to fear. After seeing what we have been sorting through and what has gone in the garbage, it has really opened my eyes. I have thought and rethought about what we want in our next house, and you know it has changed. I wanted lots of room at first, but if I have more room, before I learn to live in a smaller space, it is just going to become more rooms to fill...(thanks Lisa for making me think about that!)

So, I am a recovering hoarder...this is my issue at this point.

There are still other things going on around here. I have started that Sparkpeople program. If anyone signs up, feel free to use my user id as a reference...ruthie75, I will earn points...just some extra encouragement. Since I have started doing this, I have already lost at least 10lbs. I am waiting until Tuesday to weigh in again, but I am pretty sure that I have lost more then that. I am thinking that a lot of my loss has to do with giving up pop, not totally, but I used to have 4 root beers a day. It was what kept me going, or so I thought. I am down to about 3 a week, give or take a few. I am really enjoying the benefits of the healthier lifestyle. We go out every morning for a walk now with the kids and the dog, and we have gone out a few nights this week with the whole family. I have WAY more energy and just feel a lot better about myself. I am also back to aquafit, 2 times a week, at a local pool. It is so much fun, but the Thursday teacher is really tough. I hurt so bad this morning.

I have also rethought living out of town. As much as I would love to, I would miss out on certain things here. Like aquafit with my mom and certain groups that we go to. It is nice to start over, but I don't know if I am totally ready for that. We have seen some very nice houses, in our price range, in town, that could work for us. One is a 3 bedroom, 20 year old house, in a nice area, with an unfinished basement (extra bedrooms) and a HUGE lot...196 feet deep. It is what we have been looking for, but didn't think we could find in town. We meet with the bank tomorrow and then I would like to talk to our agent about looking at that house. It could be the one;-)

I am gonna run now, gotta get ready for ladies group and get some of our yummy, healthy, homemade cookies packed up to bring with me.

Tell me what you want, what you really, really want!!

So, Shash encouraged me to write down what we want and need in a house.

Need - 4 decent sized bedrooms, enough room to have people over, garage, nice yard, something affordable:

Ok, let me take a break here and talk about affordability. I was and have been quite challenged today. It started at church, a friend there got up and spoke about what our responses are to different situations in our life, and encouraged us to get rid of the 'stinkin thinkin' (I hope he doesn't mind me sharing this...). Well, I guess that is what we have had. I have, anyways.

I have always thought that I will get whatever I can afford, and that is that. I haven't been one to think outside the box, but I am changing. I have always looked at houses, I love looking, but it has never seemed to be the right time to move. It is now, we are all in agreement on that. But, with this decision, I stopped looking at any houses over 160,000. I stopped dreaming, wishing, and thinking that there was no way we could ever have a house like that.

However, I did start to think about how we could get that house, that 350,000 house in the country, with a huge amount of property, that sold 2 months ago. I was thinking along the lines of buying a house now, that is going to become an investment. We will get something out of it in the end, in 5 years, when I am hoping that 'my house' is for sale again.

So, we looked into condos, duplexes, inlaw suites...etc...I am just not comfortable with the idea of having neighbours so close. We aren't the quietest people in the world, for those of you who didn't know that, or couldn't believe that!!

We started to look farther out of the city, farther from hubby's work. We wouldn't have much of a relationship though, we would be giving that part of our life up. Hubby would be gone up to 16 hours a day. Not fun. So, we decided that closer to town is better. We have always talked about "L Town", about 45 minutes away from where we live now, and 30 minutes to hubbys work.

I think, and I may be wrong, that it would be great investment for us to buy in this little town. I have researched it a great deal and they have all the amenities of big city living (just about) but it still has that small town feel. We only know one person who lived there (not sure if he still does) but this town is growing. There is alot of development going on here. It is being built up with new houses and subdivisions. I had the thought that it is going to become like the 'Barrie of Toronto', like a bedroom community. People will live in 'L Town' and travel to the city to work. In 5 years, when MY house is up for sale, then we will be able to sell the one we move to for more money and we will have a bigger down payment to be able to afford the one we want.

Maybe I am just dreaming...who knows...but there is a house that we have had our eyes on, in 'L Town' that is still for sale. It is priced in the 150,000's which means that we can continue our plan and budget the way that we have wanted to.

This takes us to our wants: We want to be able to travel, we want a hot tub or pool, we want to have a savings account (that we really keep money in), we want to not live week to week, we want to be able to give more to people and help people out when needed...

It sounds like a dream, but with a more affordable house, like the one we are watching in 'L Town', it would only up our mortgage around 100 a month, which is much more feasible and still allows us to live better (cause our debt (not a whole lot) will be paid (with income tax) and we are never going to have a credit card again...). We would cancel 2 of our memberships and kids programs would be to a minimal...that all equals out to more money for living...which is what we want.

Ok, I have gone on long enough...I am just rambling, but thinking it through at the same time...anyhow, there is my second post for today.

A few thoughts today

We went and looked at a few houses today. One of them I was really excited to go see, because it was just minutes to hubbys work, and still a decent driving distance to church and family. It sounded, in the description that it could work as a 4 bedroom house. I still really liked it, but it was only a 3 bedroom house. The property was awesome, it had a massive yard, with a fire pit, a hot tub, a club house type building and it backs the local ball field and has a huge parking lot right next to it. There is a craport that could easily hold 2 cars and a long driveway, so it is not right on the road. If it were bigger inside, I may be sold on it, but we would have to put all the girls in the same room and they are growing, so they would soon grow out of it.

Now we are in the part of this adventure, looking at what we really want. Do we have that settle mentality, or do we trust God that what we want, and at exactly the time we need it will come up...boy, you should have been at church this morning...I get it!!

I think we should keep looking. As much as I liked the yard, I think they are asking too much for it, and want to keep an eye on it to see what it finally sells at.

On another note, I started an online weight/healthy lifestyle program. If you want to check it out, go to SparkPeople. It is so cool and I am very much an online person, so it suits me fine. I am on day 3 and feel great, though I am having to get used to eating so much. I really underate before. But this program works it all out for you, you fill in your meal plan online and they work out the calories, you tell them what exercise you did and for how long and they work out how many calories were burned. It is so easy. I also am joining in on a challenge, it is the biggest loser, winter edition, online!! I can't wait to see how that works out. If I keep it up I should be at my desired weight by December 8, 2007. Yay!!

It's not as bad as it looks...

I am so tired today. Our phone rang around 430 this morning adn hubby missed the call. There was a message asking for a large double double and not to forget the coffee. He thought maybe it was someone from work. He went back to bed. The phone rang again and he missed it again, around 5am. Then it rang again around 545. He finally answered the phone and it was his friend, who has moved to Australia, calling for hubby's brothers phone number. He had to just share with hubby though that he was wearing shorts and flip flops right now!! He also asked hubby if we would ever consider moving to Australia...hubby said he wasn't sure, that is when I rolled over and answered loudly "In a HEARTBEAT"!! I can dream, right?

Anyway, we had an electrician come in, just to give us a quote. We had called a bunch of people and this guy was the first who could come.

He came in, looked at the light fixture where the water came through and fiddled a bit with the wires, then went to the fuse box and fiddled a bit there, and we have light again. When we took the light down, to clean up the water, hubby put the cap back on, but didn't know to keep the wires seperate. Every time hubby tried a new fuse, it would short again. So, the electrician just seperated them and it was fine. We learned a huge lesson here!

It only cost us $75, which isn't so bad. I was expecting a whole lot more. I asked him what it would cost, approximately to replace our knob and tube and he quoted 7000-10,000. Yeah, we will just knock that price off the selling price of the house. Not going to replace it. I showed him the bathroom outlet and asked about that...apparently the way it is set up is illegal!! I didn't know that!! The people who lived here before us did the wiring themselves, I am guessing. They wanted an outlet in the bathroom, so they put in an outlet box and ran a power cord through the wall into our bedroom. If we want power in the bathroom, we ahve to plug the cord into our bedroom. He said it would cost around $250 to put a new outlet in the bathroom, but his advice is to just cut the cord and cover the hole in the bathroom...which is what we will do!!

I am relieved. I was really thinking that it would cost us a fortune. This guy was nice and we would definately use him again. So, my day is off to a great start!! Today we are finishing up the living room, cleaning under the couch and chair, and organizing the kids bookshelf.

Oh yeah, and I guess my snowflakes look like t's falling in certain browsers...now that we have some real snow, I think I will take them out...I am cold enough!!
Have a great day everyone!!

Cleaning...ugh...

Cleaning IS detrimental to my health...whoever thinks it is fun, is nuts!!

It must be allergies. My eyes are burning, my nose is stuffed - but too empty to blow. I am sneezing like I have never sneezed in my life. Ahhh...all this dust that I never bothered with before is now getting back at me!!

Anyhow, we finally went through all the clothes in the laundry room. To give you a mental picture (cause my camera is in the van, which is at hubby's work), we started at 10am. We brought up all the clothes from the laundry room. It covered the entire living room floor, twice! It is now almost 3:30pm and we finally finished sorting, garbage and giveaway.

We have 3 bags to give away and 1 bag of garbage. This is our first sort. We still have to wash the keeps (which is still way too many) and sort them out too. I have such a hard time controlling the amount of clothes in here.

I am also thinking of cancelling our Y membership. I enjoy the kids swimming there and the program that Cutie Pie goes to, but it is such a stressful night for us all. We have to rely on my mother to get us there (or bus, with all the kids, in the blizzard weather we are having today), then we are there from 5:30 until 8pm. It really makes it a long night, cause I am juggling Pooky, who won't stay in her room at all, and then picking Cutie Pie up at 6:30 running to the change room to get me and Pooky ready for our swimming class at 6:30, Cutie Pie waits until 7pm, on the side of the deck for her class to start. Mr. Hockey and Princess swim from 6-645.
It is exhausting and I think I am done with it. Our membership expires in April and I don't think we will qualify for the cheap membership again. So, I am thinking that it just isn't that important. If any of the kids show an interest in lessons, then we will sign that specific child up. It can't be that bad...right?

I have a hard time with these decisions. We were always in lessons and gymnastics and sports and piano and...I could go on forever. I feel really stressed about it all and think that 1 or 2 things each is more than enough. They don't all need to be doing the same things, but because we homeschool, I almost feel obligated to put my kids in all kinds of activities, you know, socialize! No, really, it is something that I really struggle with and have been thinking about a lot more lately.

Mr. Hockey is in Ball Hockey, Awana, Piano, swimming (for the time being) and homeschool group. Princess is in soccer in the spring, Awana, piano, swimming (for now) and homeschool group. Cutie Pie is in swimming, Awana, homeschool group and swimming (for now). Pooky, well, she is too little but we did enjoy swimming together. This is too much? How do others handle this stuff in their family? I don't want my kids to miss out on opportunities that they could have had if they had been doing something or other, but I don't want to overschedule our lives that we miss out on being a family.

New Years = New thoughts and new beginnings

Monday, Monday, la, la, la, la, la, la

Well, it is the beginning of the new year. I know it started last week, but I count today as the official day. Everything starts back again and the kids need to start school work again.

We are starting our new year fresh...we have been cleaning and cleaning and reorganizing and getting new furniture and getting rid of old furniture. I think in order to list our house and be comfortable with showings and such, we need to take a few months to prepare. So far we have around 10 bags of garbage going out of the house. That is crazy. We haven't even touched the clothes yet:-O

We have gotten rid of our old table and replaced it with a new to us table that was on freecycle. We have moved out our wall unit and replaced it with just a tv stand. We cleaned off my desk and replaced it with a smaller one. We moved the piano to the wall in the between the dining room window and the tv stand. We are going to be moving the kids bookcase to the other corner of the dining room and getting a 4 drawer file cabinet to organize my papers and the kids stuff. I am also debating about getting rid of our white armchair. It is way too bulky, but I am not sure if the living room will look right with just the couch...Then the living room and dining room will be ready for paint!

We are all feeling better here now, but now I am congested...it feels like allergies or something. I am tired and feel like I could sleep for another 3 hours!! Cutie Pie has been having issues sleeping. She has been having nightmares, I am not 100% sure why. On Saturday night she didn't go to sleep until 11pm and woke up Pooky in the process. Then Pooky was up until 2am. Yes, you read right, 2am. I was surprised that we made it to church the next day!!

Anyhow, I am gonna start calling electricians now. They are probably working by now. Have a great day everyone!!

What Next??

Uh, huh...

So, I forgot about not turning on the dining room light. I am not feeling well, whatever the kids had has made it's way to the top, meanig both hubby and I are sick...yuck:( In my moment of sickness, I lost my memory.

Yup, I went to turn on the light and every single, other light on the main floor went out. Hubby checked the fuse and that was not the problem. He headed up to bed early, cause he has to work tomorrow, even though he is sick...we need the money...he went to set the alarm clock and take a guess...yup, no power is coming into the outlets on the right side of the house.

So, tomorrow, while I am sick and not feeling well, and while trying to declutter, which I have a good start on, I will also be phoning electricians to get a free estimate on fixing our little problem. I am worried that it is all knob and tube wiring and we will need to replace it all. I hope that if we do, it will bring up the value of the house somewhat, then it will be worth it, right?

We have decided where we are moving to. It is a little town just 45 minutes away from where we are now. Hubby and I have been talking about moving here for quite a while, going on 5 years now. We decided that now is the right time. Before, it was me not having a license that was holding us back, now that I have started the process, it is more feasible. I have researched the town, which is not so small anymore, and there are great community programs, AWANA, places for Mr. Hockey to get a job in a few more years.

It is building up even more right now, and I think it may become a 'bedroom' town to where we live now. Which could mean that when and if we want to sell later on, people will be interested. We are both very excited to be moving there, and the kids are excited too. So far, we have cleaned out and reorganized the front hallway. It doesn't sound like much, but it is just about done. Only 2 more pegs needed for the coat rack and it can be crossed off the list.

My mom said that she would sort through the 2 big boxes I had under my desk and clean them out. She is good at that stuff and sometimes it is easier to let someone else decide what should be kept or not. I haven't gone into those boxes for months, so the stuff can't be that important, right? I have already gotten rid of quite a few things, between freecycle and the garbage. My desk is almost cleared off, then I am getting a smaller, more 'minimal' looking desk. It will fit better for showing the house, I think. I am also getting rid of my file cabinet and getting a 4 drawer one. That way I can clear off the bookcase and keep the kids school work and curriculum in 2 of the drawers and my stuff in the other 2. I am also moving our wall unit to my mothers house and just getting some kind of a television stand, that is small and 'minimal' for it instead.

Our rooms are fairly small, so I want them to look big, and I think it means getting smaller furniture, am I right? Who knows, oh well. I will be parting with my not-so-white couches and finding something smaller, that fits better.

I am so excited now about this, sorry for rambling...I guess you will hear lots of what is going on over here in the next few weeks/months!!

Gonna run and take some medicine and lay down...feeling drowsy again.