Checking In

Hello from the boonies! I am typing this from the local Starbucks. Local is a little misleading since the closest bit of civilization is no less than 10 miles away. But that's okay. I LOVE my house.

Everyday we find some cool or unique feature to the house. It needs work in the color scheme department and we have to wall off a doorway they put in between bedrooms, but I could not have asked for a better built house. It is magnificent. It's the kind of house Greg would have built for me.

We learned later that the house was built by a husband and wife team of structural engineers and they spared no expense on amenities. But it's the details that wowed me. As you enter, you step into a room with its very own sun bay. Not just any old sunroom, but a fully tiled and plumbed indoor garden area, complete with a drain.

Everywhere you look there are 10 foot ceilings with more light switches than a power plant. The back patio takes the entire length of the 4000 sq foot house and is completely screened. And the bathroom is jaw-dropping, with vaulted ceilings, a ball and claw tub, and a walk in shower lined with glass blocks. It is so big it has dual shower heads and controls for him and her.

But the room that gets everyone to gasp is the kitchen. It has the most amazing appliances I have ever seen. Whoever designed this house had to have been a chef. Me, who is as culinary challenged as they come adore being in the kitchen. --I never thought I'd say that.

Lest I sound like a complete brag, there is a downside to this house… It needs new paint. Badly.

It looks as if the last owners were trying to freshen up the house with a new color scheme, but it does not work at all. I am going to have to go in and repaint nearly every room. I'm not complaining. It's a terrific house and I'm looking forward to decorating.

My other mini dilemma centers on the scorpions. I've no problem with fire ants, bees, wasps, poisonous spiders and snakes, ferocious mosquitoes and even flying roaches---but Lord help me, I have a real dread of scorpions. The first one was dead, but yesterday Tank found a second one taking a stroll through my bedroom. He's in a jar right now, thinking about where he went wrong.

I will be out of internet range for at least another week. I don't know if anyone is still reading me since I dropped off the face of the Earth--but I'm still here.

It has been a nerve-racking and painful three months, but when I walk outside and see all those stars---I know it was worth it. I am finally home.


Addendum: I've been banned from buying any more paper books. After moving nearly 40 boxes of books, I understand completely. Our backs may never recover.