House Hunting

Surprisingly, shockingly, we put our condo on the market and it sold in less than a month.  OMG!!
First off, I never expected to get an offer.   Secondly, I never expected an offer we could live with.   We're selling it for less than I bought it for....however....it's more than we owe on it.   We won't make a killing on it, but it's sold and that in itself is a miracle.

Now for the hard part, which is finding a house.   A house that we can afford.   Now THAT would be a miracle!

I have three basic criteria.   I need a kitchen/living room/dining area big enough to have more than 3 or 4 guests over at a time.  I need ample storage for all Hubby's "things".   And I need a yard to hang out and BBQ in where no one will steal our grill and lawn chairs.

Is that too much to ask?  Perhaps it is.

I've scoured the online listings.   Anything that is decent and in our price range is part of a "short sale"  which our real estate agent informed  us could take 3-6 months.  The person buying our condo wants to close on June 23.   So a short sale probably won't work for us.

We really don't want to purchase a condo/condex/townhouse because I refuse to get stuck paying condo fees.  Plus the yard would not be private.  And you don't know who you would be living with.  Even the little house situated in the 55+ community had a fee, which added to the mortgage and taxes, would put it out of our price range.

So.........we continue to look and hopefully find something soon.  If you know of a place under 150K in the Salem/Windham/Pelham/Hampstead area.....let me know.

People are Scum

I recently entered into the world of EBay to help my Dad out with selling a few items he had in his house.

One item was a Royal Doulton figurine of a dog holding a bird.   Pretty ugly in my estimation, but some people collect these things, so we put it up on EBay.

Luckily, somebody liked it enough to pay $81 for it.   The person is from Florida - I live in NH - so she paid me through Paypal and the very next day my Dad mailed the item to Florida.   Case closed, right?

Wrong.  This weekend, a full month after the item was mailed, I got a note through Ebay from the buyer saying she never received the item.

Luckily, Dad had insured it, and was able to go to the post office and they could track the exact time and date the item was delivered to the woman's house.

I sent the woman a note back saying we had the receipt, we could prove it was delivered, and that now it was her responsibility to find out what happened to it.  It was a good try, on her part, to get her money AND the item.  

Hopefully, it's checkmate with the insurance receipt.

I let my Dad know, and I told him I bet we never hear from this woman again.   We'll see.

A Little Levity

When Hubby and I got married, I was determined not to try to do anything to change him.  I love him just the way he is. 

His style of dress has always been......different.  He's one of those unusual people who really doesn't care how he looks.  And I respect that.  He's a grown man.  If he wants to dress like the *old* hippie that he is, that's his perogative.

But there are some occasions when he needs a guiding hand.   Enter.....the wife.

Yesterday was one of those days.   It was his mother's wake.   So first thing in the morning, I asked him to lay out the clothes he was going to wear so I could inspect them.   Of course, he gave me flak.  "Yes, mother," he says.   

So I lectured him.  "Listen, you're married now, and how you dress reflects on me.   People are either going to say, 'oh look, he looks great...he must be married', or they're going to say, 'what the hell? I thought he was married?'

With a certain amount of 'attitude' Hubby pulled out several pairs of pants, shirts and jackets.  And then he pulled a crumpled tie out of a drawer.   "The tie is okay," I said, " but it needs to be ironed."    Hubby didn't really care, but I did, so I pulled out the ironing board to iron the shirt and the tie.

Unfortunately, I misjudged the heat of the iron................

I immediately grabbed the tie to my chest and started laughing.   Hubby looked at me quizzically, and I blurted out, "That wasn't your favorite tie, was it?"    When he saw what I had done, he started laughing too.

And there we were, two lunatics laughing like nuts in the our kitchen on the morning of his mother's wake.

He then proceeded to thank me for taking such good care of him, commenting upon how lucky he was to have a wife who dressed him so nice and made him look so good.   I just laughed harder.

Pandas or Soccer Balls?

Someone sent some photos to my co-worker of Baby Pandas being rescued after the earthquake in China in 2008.   We scrolled down and commented how cute the pandas were.

When we got to this photo, I seriously thought that my co-worker's friend had accidentally sent photos of a soccer team all holding soccer balls.

Was I crazy?

We Lost a Lovely Lady

Today we lost a woman I feel privileged to have known.   My hubby's Mom passed away this morning.   I was the newcomer in the Vennard Family clan, but his Mom made me feel welcome from the very first day.

She was so pleased that her son had found "such a nice girl". 

One of her last outings was to come to our wedding.

Her whole family was there and that's one of the things she loved the most. 

Her dearest wish was to have a calm, peaceful ending to her life, with her children gathered around her.   And thanks to the tenacity of her children and the wonderful services of hospice, that's exactly what she got.

Up until just a few weeks before she died, she was the same happy, fun-loving, laughing, singing, wise-cracking woman she'd always been.   She squeezed a lot of fun and love into her 85 years, and she should be proud of the family she left behind.   She raised them with so much love, and it shows.

We'll miss her terribly, but we're all so happy that she's found a peaceful and relaxing place.  

I loved you, Ma, and it's  a privilege to be part of the family you created.

Wendy and Allan's Wedding Shower

Some of the magnificent munchies

The centerpieces from hell.  The heat of the candle actually melted the ribbon until it fell off.  Then if you bumped it, the cold water sloshed against the hot glass and cracked it.  Next time, a friggin' flower in a bud vase or a votive candle is all I'm going to do.

Pretty as a picture

Wendy and Allan open gifts.

Lots of friends came.

Noah helped opening the gifts.

He loved the new vacuum.

Plenty of guests.

Wendy, her sister Tracy, her sister Melissa, Noah peeking from behind, and Allan trying to hide.

Wendy's mother Madeline, Melissa, Wendy, Tracy and Wendy's brother Kenny.

Noah provided the entertainment.

Montreal Football

Not sure if this one's her....but I think that might be her leg.

Biodome

Montreal Architecture

Some of Montreal's interesting and beautiful architecture.

Family Photos

Last Thanksgiving, my Dad brought out old slides that he had of our family when we were kids.   We had a wonderful time viewing them.  Dad decided to have them made into a DVD and gave us each a copy.  

And I thought I'd share some of them with you.

My Dad, Mom and my older brother Steve @1959.   Love Mom's glasses.

My Mom and Dad with my sister Chris on the occasion of her First Communion.  Check out Dad's buzz cut with the white swatch of hair.

My two Grandmothers.....Memere Frechette and Memere Bergeron with my younger brother John.

This is me, my brother Steve, my sister Chris and my brother John @1969.   Can you tell that my Mom cut my sister's and my bangs?

The cool, "Brady bunch-style" group one Easter, early 1970's.   Don't know what's going on with the "Hitler" hairstyle on my baby brother.   I, of course, am very cool with my Marsha Brady look.

Cute little me with my babydoll.   Guess it was inevitable that I'd go into Child Care, although I never fed a real baby that way.

Wow!  Mom and her kids......aren't we a happy group?

Me and a few of my cousins on the occasion of my brother Steve's  First Confirmation.   Believe me, he never looked that holy again in his whole life.   Gotta love my look....I'm standing right beside Steve.