Have you been wondering what happened to us?
Well many things; it's been two years after all!!
Poor health (chronic daily headaches/migraines) has kept me from doing much besides work, eat and sleep. Thankfully, life keeps going on. I still have migraines daily but many days are pretty good ones now. I went part-time at work to see if it would help; it didn't, but I sure enjoyed not having to work as much! Then our Idaho home flooded and needed some attention, so I retired last June. They actually had a hard time finding a replacement. I was scheduled to retire in April, it ended to be mid June. So I went back to ID to oversee repairs. Then, hold not your pants, Kent actually retired September 30, 2013! That pretty much sums up the past two years, except we caught some salmon... I was pretty happy to have caught mine!
And then, trying to log back in has been even more of a headache! The mobile phone listed to my blog account was my company phone, which has been turned in so I no longer have access to it. Plus, we do not get cell phone service at our house... I'm still trying to learn how to update my info and password. Somehow I got in so I could write and decided two years ago was a very long time between blog postings.
Today will be a very busy day as we are having new carpet installed tomorrow and Wednesday. We need to move furniture so carpet can be installed, plus KT and her family are coming tonight to help us unpack as our Anchorage belongings are arriving on Thursday.
The flood, caused by frozen and popped-by-pressure pipes (18), wreaked havoc and damage to our basement (walls, ceilings, bathroom and belongings), main floor (ceilings, walls and floors in the kitchen and dining room as well as laundry, half-bath and side door hallway), and our master bathroom shower upstairs. It was extensive damage. Fortunately our insurance (Allstate) is paying for repairs. Unfortunately, our replacement policy was only to replace building and not contents. This means that so far, $33,000 of belongings were damaged due to water and mold yet we only are receiving on third of that. Sad that beautiful antiques were damaged beyond repair and yet no thought is given to them being antiques, just old furniture that depreciated to pennies on the dollar...
As our hardwood kitchen floor needed to be replaced, which meant that the rest of the adjoining floors would need to be sanded down and refinished so it would all look the same, meant that we got to do some remodeling in the kitchen and put in hardwood floor in the dining room. I know have a beautiful, almost finished kitchen and a wood floor in the dining room. My kitchen went from "U" shaped to an "L" shaped kitchen and we added an island with another sink and oven! So much more cooking space...and flat space to clutter up.
Interesting that moving the "U" to an "L" meant we only lost one cupboard and the bar space. The cupboard was the one under the bar so it was dead (but useable storage) space. It won't be missed however. The island has a smaller bar space, but you can still pull up a stool and visit or help.
One day, I'll post before and after pictures. But not today.
The carpeting had to be replaced due to cats, not flood damage. We thought a good carpeting cleaning would take care of the carpet until we were financially ready/recouped from the kitchen redo to do it but no. The steam cleaning took out the stains but brought up the smells something fierce! No airing, spot cleaning, candle burning, vinegar spraying got rid of it. One friend suggested using a spray that they use for their apartment rentals, but by then carpet had been ordered. Kent chose style and pattern while I chose color and padding. We liked Hart Flooring but another company had softer, silkier feel carpeting that we liked better. It turned out Hart could order the same carpet so I got the texture and installers I wanted. This is the first carpet I've ever chosen in our 35 years of marriage. What a fun experience. And even better, they were able to get the carpet in less than a week and will install it before our shipment arrives from AK. YES!!! (Less furniture and boxes to move this way.)
So it is a busy day. The start to a busy week. Lots of "gets" (get to see some grandsons, get to see our daughter, Katie and her husband, superb chef Brian; get new carpeting; get electrician here as he just called, to put in vent and island electrical; get my "Anchorage things" so all of my "things" will be under one roof). Lots of firsts. Lots if business. Lots to do.
So we've wandered back "home" to live in the house we bought back in September 2001. We'll be combining 3 households (abroad, ID, and Kent's parents') for the first time. And in case you're wondering, no, I don't know when our yard sale will be.
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