Rain and Branson

Happy Birthday to Grandma Marion today!! And Emily (of the CT Foxes) will have her first birthday on Wednesday! And we congratulate Savannah and Adam on the birth of their first, daughter Denali, this past Friday!!

Let’s see what happened this past week. It rained. We weeded the garden. It rained. We mowed the lawn. It rained. I collected more firewood previously cut and stacked it. It rained. We got the microwave installed in the downstairs kitchen and ordered the countertop. It is a race to see if it will arrive in time for me to get it installed before Rebecca and family come to visit in June.

We made an offer on the duplex next to the house we own in Midway and plan to close mid-June. Currently it has one electric meter, one water heater and all the water to both units use the same pipes. The electrician said it would not take much to split the electrical into two meters (the seller gets to pay for that) and the plumber will be able to install another water heater and route the water pipes accordingly without costing too much (we get to pay for this). We will see if it is really that easy. We also noted another house for sale not far from these two and looked at it as well. The current owner has his own house and only uses this one to store a lot of machinery. He does wood working and has some nice tools. He also builds street rods and has a lot of machining tools. I think it would be easier to move a houseful of furniture than all the stuff he has stored there! I got the privilege of crawling around in the attic on a warm day. Not fun; especially since the clearance is about two feet up there, and at one point I literally had to crawl through one space. There is a heat unit with ducting in the attic; but we don’t think it has been used in years since the return air has a 1987 newspaper blocking it. But the price is right and we are doing the numbers routine to see if it is practical to add to our collection. We have the plumber and heat/air guys coming to inspect this week.

Friday we headed off to Branson. The company we have a time share with (opps, that is not the correct term, they are now called: ‘Vacations to Go’) invited us for two nights, three days free plus a gift card to hear an update on our program. I hate these sales pitches, but figured it was worth it. We spent several hours at Silver Dollar City with our friends the Pfeifers on Friday; we had two free tickets and they had never been. He had open heart surgery earlier this month but that didn’t slow him down at all. We had a good time. This was Silver Dollar City’s blue grass and BBQ festival and we heard some excellent banjo and fiddle playing; the BBQ was finger linkin’ too. It was a slow relaxing day for us. Sandy and I basically relaxed on Saturday until our presentation.

We met our sales rep at 2 pm and it started off slow, so I am thinking, it appears we don’t fit the norm for his pitch so this shouldn’t take long. Wrong. Only a deception. He brought in the big guns who talked so fast that she left me at first base even though she was sliding into home plate. There may be no pressure, but they sure go out of their way to tell you that the numbers of “week’s owners” are decreasing and pretty soon we won’t be able to afford the maintenance fees and we owe it to our children to convert to points (for an exorbitant fee of course). Plus we get more flexibility. And if we don’t buy today, it will cost us thousands more in the future. We declined. Then they send over the rep that will sign us out, but first she needs to tell us about how we can lock in today’s price for up to a year by spending money today (which we get back when we use the package they sell us). And she looks puppy dog disappointed when we say thanks, but we aren’t interested. Two hours and 45 minutes later, we finally make good our escape. And I told Sandy that next time she gets to go by herself; but then that may not be a safe thing to do: she just might convert our week to points! We both found it interesting that we were told this time that we only get one chance to hear their sales presentation and take advantage of their reduced price; yet we had a similar sales pitch a year ago which they had documented. So, do they tend to bend the rules when they are hungry or what. At any rate, we figure they won’t be asking us for another sales pitch for while.

It was fitting that today for the third hour of church we met in a combined meeting with the Relief Society and Priesthood; the lesson was taken from Elder Hales conference talk about living providently and not spending money we don’t have. Both of us agreed we made the correct decision yesterday. I enjoy attending the Branson wards; they have such musical talent here with several performing families. We headed home after church to catch up on emails and phone calls. It is good to be home again…and we don’t plan on going anywhere until 17 June.

The chickens are growing and enjoy eating the bugs in the yard. The garden continues to grow; we have enjoyed eating snap peas (they are over six feet tall) and lettuce. And we have managed to keep the weeds under control; wonder how long that will last.

Saga of the Traveling Fox's

Monday we looked at properties. Tom and I have been analyzing our rentals to see the rate of return we are getting, both cash flow and return on investment. Now our goal is to improve that rate of return. It’s been a little stretch because often we’ve gone with our feelings. “I like that house.” Now we need to go with the numbers. “Do we really like the house that will return $27 a month, or would we rather do the duplex that could return $230/month?” Hmmm. We’ve been looking into the duplex. Interestingly, it’s right next to our Midway house.

Wednesday we cleaned house. Miranda, Dan and some of their friends planned to come and stay while we were up in Nauvoo, and the downstairs had not been fully dusted since the remodel project. It needed serious dusting. I also needed to clean up my drapery project still spread across the suite. We packed and left early Thursday morning to drive to Nauvoo for Cyrus and Kendra’s wedding. We stayed at Camp Nauvoo, run by the Community of Christ. It was basic, functional, and just fine for our needs. We went through a temple session, drove around Nauvoo, and spent time with Sue, Steve and their family. It was very enjoyable. Kendra looked lovely in Nana's veil.

The wedding was pleasant and the photographer very good with a zillion people and kids. Here are all the nieces and nephews. Here's the whole Fox group.

We didn’t do any of the historic Nauvoo things, but we did spend an hour looking at a 10 unit apartment building there. A lot of things would have to fall into place to make that acquisition happen, but each look is a good learning experience.

Miranda ended up getting sick, and so they didn’t come to visit. Sigh. Alas, we’d planned on them for chicken feed and care (and we now have a clean house). Our friend Beth stepped into the breach and cared. And our neighbor Barbara noticed we were gone and also stepped in. (we’d tried to call her, but no luck.) So the chickens were fine. The garden got watered, and we had a safe drive back home.

Today we had our interview with the stake president for our mission. So the papers should go in … he said in a few weeks. I guess with a November leave date, he didn’t feel a sense of urgency.

We have rain again today. It’s lovely, green, and warm outside. The trees and plants love it! Alas, the weeds do, too.

Great Grandkids

On Sunday May 14th I drove to Mississippi to visit grandchildren while Andy and Kera worked/played in Florida. I enjoyed the grandchildren. They were glad to see me and accepted me for the week—even little Emma and Matthew. They all did homework, worked and played well together and we had fun. Nathan had soccer tryouts Monday and Tuesday and the second day we all went. The kids had fun climbing on the bleachers and playing with some kids from school. We stayed until Emma decided she, too needed to be climbing the bleachers. Then we headed home and Sharon Cochran kindly brought Nathan home.I was able to do raindrop technique on all the children (except Emma) and on Sharon, so that was fun, and I called a few Realtors about being able to get rid of mold and mildew, even toxic mold, with Thieves cleaner. But other than that, I didn’t do much with Young Living. I did have a chance to listen to some videos and training tapes I brought. Friday we went to the water park and playground. It was a little interesting watching 5 children there. I was imagining little water fountains sprouting up. No, these were junior fire hoses pouring out. They created small pools that Emma wandered around in. Occasionally someone would divert a stream of water almost knocking her off her feet. I’d hold out my hands. She’d come toward me, when she got close, she’d make a U turn and go back to the water. Katie and Aaron had a great time on other play equipment. Then nature added her idea of a water park and we all got drenched and headed home. I’d planned to go out to dinner and we braved the rain again to go to the buffet at Pizza Inn. The kids were good… if you don’t count the macaroni and cheese Emma dumped or the glass of water and ice she and Matthew spilled. I left a good tip. Aaron enjoyed his trips to the buffet.Andy and Kera returned Saturday afternoon and I drove home on Sunday after church.

Changed House

We've been working on the Midway house for about a year now. Ditching last May. Painting in fall. And now the roof. Here are some transition photos for your pleasure. Here is the house before we started.

Here we were in the priming and patinting process.Almost finished. I don't know where a finished painting photo is. The shingles ripped off.And TADA! the new roof is on! Might look a little better without the truck in the walkway.

A Week Alone

It was a rather uneventful week, especially since Sandy was not here to liven things up. We did have several days of rain and at least two nights of magnificent thunder storms with continuous lightening shows (the kind that wakes you up at 1 am and leaves you in awe – and wide awake).

After Church last Sunday, Sandy drove to Vicksburg to spend the week caring for the five Foxes there, so I was on my own. On Monday I finished nailing the last of the shingles on the house I had worked on the previous week. I came home to mow the yard on one of the few days it didn’t rain this week. The rest of the week I spent at one of the White’s rental houses. While the tenant was going to have someone clean it, that didn’t happen. Of course the tenant’s deposit will pay for my cleaning labors. I also needed to install a new tub surround in one of the baths. I accomplished this around tutoring, teaching, and preparing an Institute lesson for Wednesday night.

Thursday evening was the annual GED graduation conducted at the local college; this is always a well organized event with the college president in attendance. They had 95 students pass their GED in the past year and about 20 came for the recognition ceremony. Of that 95, six were those I taught at the treatment facility; I felt good about that percentage. This past week one more client qualified to take the test in two weeks; that means he passed the practice tests with good enough scores. I have another young lady I have been working with for three months that is close.

While I had high hopes of clearing more limbs this week, it didn’t happen. Saturday when I had planned to do so, it was raining. Good excuse to work on the downstairs kitchen that still needed a lot of little stuff done. So I spent a good part of the day cutting baseboard, making a small cupboard at the end of the cabinets (somehow this area was overlooked when sizing the cabinets which left a six inch hole to the side of the cabinets), trimming out another area that had suffered collateral damage due to the improvements, and more. Only a couple more hours and it will be finished. Except for the counter top. And the sink. And the new faucet. And a stove…

I was pleased to notice that last year’s ground squirrel survived the winter. He keeps to himself off to the side flower bed and occasionally dines on the strawberries. Evidently, unlike Susan’s ground squirrel, ours is a more welcomed guest. The chickens are still growing; still too early for eggs.

Sandy should be home tonight. We drive to Nauvoo on Thursday for Cyrus and Kendra’s sealing on Friday and will drive home again on Saturday; no limb clean up for me this week.

Happt Mother's Day-- May 10, 2009

Greetings to all you mothers. Happy Birthday to my young bride (Wednesday) and to Isabelle (#7) on Friday, and a happy 4th anniversary to Andy and Kera (Wednesday).

Last year about this time, Sandy and I spent a day at one of your rental houses trying to resolve some drainage issues, to include adding a French drain on one side of the house. This past week we returned to the same house to reshingle it. This experience once again reminded me why I don’t do this particular job very often. In order to get the job done in a reasonable timeframe, I didn’t tutor at all and shifted my GED teaching to the days when the weather called for rain (and it did a lot of that). The tenant agreed to help me, so on Monday we tore off the two layers of shingle off the back side before he had to go to lunch. The dumpster did not arrive until we were almost finished, so we ended up moving the old shingles more than I had planned to. The shingles arrived, via a boom truck after we were finished with the back side, which was good timing. I do like the boom; made off-loading the shingles so easy. I was able to get the tar paper securely nailed before heading home.

I returned on Tuesday to install the shingles on the back. Did I mention this is a two story house on the back side? We had the missionaries and a young lady with daughter coming for dinner, so I had to leave by 4:30. But, I was able to get the backside completed, which was good since it rained that night.

And where was Sandy during all of this fun? She had previously volunteered to assist with the ‘Black Stallion’ reading program. Some of the local elementary schools participate in a reading program that encourages the students to read; as a reward/incentive, the children are bused to a local horse farm and view different aspects of horse ownership. Sandy was at the vet station; but they also had feeding, grooming, and other stations. The children could also pet the horses. Fun for the children who also receive a book to take home. Sandy helped on both Monday and Tuesday.

Wednesday it rained, so I taught my GED class. I also needed the break. Roof work is no picnic and my body needed that day of rest. Thursday I was back on the job and the tenant was able to help tear off the front shingles in the morning before again going to work. Sandy arrived shortly after I did and stayed until the evening. I was having so much fun, that I stayed until 8 pm. It was a l o n g day. The front has a hip roof over the porch and that section took more time. Working with Sandy, we were able to get about two thirds of the front reshingled; it goes faster with two. Sandy was real trouper and was a BIG help. Did I mention how much I love nail guns? If not, let me tell you, they are great for shingles. And, I didn’t have to worry about hitting my finger with a hammer. It rained again that night and the next morning. Anticipating the rain, I taught my class Friday morning and then headed back to the roof in the afternoon. I ran out of shingles about the time I needed to come home for dinner. I need 11 more shingles to overlap the top ridge and then I can install the ridge cap and the roof will be finished. We will send before and after photos. It looks so much better.

Because of the extensive work required on the roof, we didn’t get much else done at home. Sandy has continued to research for appropriate rental investments and was kind enough to mow the lawn for me since I didn’t have time.

Yesterday, we celebrated Mother’s Day. We started mid morning by looking at a storage unit that is for sale and a two bedroom home in town that is also available. We need to do some number crunching to see if either of them is suitable. Then we headed to a local farm and garden store to buy some chicken feed; they were also selling hot dogs and we enjoyed one for our lunch. Next on the agenda was to ‘beam’ ourselves to the local movie theater to view the new ‘Star Trek’ movie. We sat next to two other church families; all agreed it was a great movie and worth watching. Dinner at a local steak house (a new restaurant we had not yet visited) was next. I decided life was too short not to order the deep fat fried onion, you know the one dripping with saturated fats and loads of calories (since I couldn’t see that part, I just assumed it didn’t exist!) and then made up for it by ordering a salad. Sandy, of course, had the prime rib. We enjoyed our meal.

Today was the normal Mother’s Day tributes at church and we were spiritually feed. And, it hasn’t rained yet!

You might be wondering why we did Mother’s Day on Saturday; because Sandy left for Mississippi after church today. Yes, she did get her favorite omelet for breakfast. Andy had a business meeting in Florida this week and Kera wanted to go with him. Wednesday is their 4th anniversary, so why not celebrate – without the children. So, Sandy will be baby sitting five young foxes until next weekend. Not sure what day she will return. In her absence, I am hopping to get a lot accomplished, starting with the completion of the roof from last week.

Great news for the Mountain Home Girl’s Soccer Team: they are the state champions! First time the girl’s team has accomplished this milestone. They had a 16-3 record for the year.

Have you seen Noah?

Our week has been defined by rain--- sprinkles, showers, gushers, thunderstorms, misting. The plants are loving it! Since we’ve had few downpours when I’ve needed to be outside, it’s been fine with me, too.
Waterlogged, but happy flowers.

Drenched but happy onions, lettuce, broccoli, tomatoes,peas, strawberries (the big patch at the back) and rubarb. The arch is the future home of beans, cucumbers, and cantelope.

Monday we dinked around Branson and went to the Dixie Stampede for dinner and a show. It was nice. Tom found dining in the dark and eating with your fingers not as exciting as one might think.

Tuesday we survived our sales pitch and headed home. Tom had hoped to get back in time to teach at OMART, but it was not to be. He switched his teaching to Wednesday and we arrived home to unpack, check on chickens and garden and Tom jumped on the tractor to bush hog.

Wednesday we decided for sure we didn’t want the 201 south house. We’d hoped the other buyers might want to pay us to take over the contract, but no. So we officially bowed out. Our realtor had another couple who counted that a blessing for them and quickly made their offer. It had been time consuming to check things out, work the numbers, and try to pin down the unknowns. Ultimately, the known expenses, plus the unknown risk costs made it unwise. Late that afternoon, Kevin called. A new house just came on the market. Rebecca, it was the one on Old Tracy Rd. we’d looked at when you were house hunting. It was still a dump. But it was a much more attractive 2 bdrm 2 bath on 3 acre $27,000 dump vs. an $83,000 dump. Tom and I checked it out before going to teach Institute.

Thursday I put in an offer. There were multiple offers… and Friday we found out someone else offered about $7,000 more than we did. I’m glad it wasn’t $500 or so. Tom and I spent time steel wooling and polyurathaning our kitchen cabinets and they look good. He also finished dry walling the downstairs post and around the heater closet. There’s still a lot of trim work to do, but it looks SO much better.

Friday Tom had the Young Women over to haul and burn brush. It was sprinkling on and off, so the fires were pretty safe and they were all a little damp. I did Curves, ran errands, and visited Pam and Frank Pfeifer. Frank had open heart surgery earlier in the week and Tom and I had visited them pretty regularly. I came home and after the girls left, Tom and I kept working and got most all of the east pasture cleaned from storm debris… well perhaps not MOST… but a lot. We relaxed and watched “Paycheck” that night. It was good. I think I saw more guns in that movie than I’ve seen in a lifetime! All bad shots… which was a good thing, since they were shooting at the hero.

Saturday I went to Springfield for a stake RS activity. It was very enjoyable. We learned about scriptures, food storage, and had a tasty lunch. When I came home, Tom was working on installing the kitchen cabinets. So we worked until late doing that. They look very nice.

Today I substituted in Primary. I had a class of 1, and I was surprised at how much fun that was. I was also called to co-camp director for our ward. Susan Arndt, Young Woman’s president said how excited the girls were to have me and Nicole Hall as camp directors. I realized I was more like Miranda than I thought. My first thought was, “Why? I’m the most boring person I know.” But I think it will be fun. And after all, what else do I have to do this summer?