152 - Today was a pretty low-key day

In the key of A# minor. :)

Went to Cookeville to drop the truck off. In the rain. Of course it had to rain today. Hopefully they'll figure out once and for all what the problem is. And I can't help but hope it is the other dealership's fault, because if it is, I think we will be reimbursed for the a/c work and won't have to pay for this issue, since both were supposedly fixed in Athens.

After that we ate at one of our favorite restaurants, Crawdaddy's. We're addicted to their pesto goat cheese dip. It's creamy and delicious. The rest of their food is good too. Haven't had anything there that I wouldn't order again.

Once lunch was over we headed to Verizon because Mike's phone doesn't want to hold a charge. He's tried different cables, he's tried different batteries, so it has to be the phone. As luck would have it, our warranty expires this month, so Mike will be getting a replacement phone.

Because of the rain, and my tummy... okay, exclusively because of my tummy... we came back after that. We need to let the water run at the house and take another sample to TTU since they shocked the well, but with the rain we didn't. We're getting a water purification system anyway, but they shocked it to get a new reading since it sat unused for a couple of years. I did talk to the plumber about the tankless system, installing the gas line and the purification system. As soon as Hannah gets the okay from the buyer for us to look around the basement, I'll schedule that appointment and we'll have a better idea of how much it will cost. If it's too much, we'll have the gas line run and the purification system put in, but hold off on the tankless water heater. Hannah and Tony have a water heater they will let us have, just needs an element replaced.

Now we're watching A Good Day to Die Hard and afterward we'll probably watch another movie. Usually DirecTv movies are more than I would otherwise want to pay, but if we rent two we basically get two free... so with the travel time around here, it's about the same price as Redbox without the hassle of having to return it. I am getting used to traveling a bit to get anywhere and in the country the drive doesn't seem like 45 mins because it's a nice drive... but it's still a hike.

Tomorrow I have a laundry list of people to call... trash, electric, cable, etc. Can't get cell service here at the park, it's the one downside, but at least we get internet. At the house I remember we had no issues getting a signal, so that's good. So I guess our day tomorrow is going to the house to run the water for a few hours until the chlorine is gone, get the sample and head to Cookeville again. And at some point during the day I take care of my phone calls.

151 - Wooooooo-hoo

Today was a pretty good day. Got our vehicles emptied out... even if everything didn't find a home in the RV it still feels like progress. Oh well, that gives me something to do when Mike goes for his physical. Then we went to lunch at the former Mexican place that used to be a Mexican place that before that was a Mexican place and is now a cafe/chotchke store. It was pretty good, homestyle cooking on a buffet. Definitely not Mexican.

Then we went to our friend's house to chat. We talked a little about my future job and Mike's future side job, and then we met Duchess. She's very cute, very sweet, very fluffy.

After that we went to Lebanon to the Home Depot to look at appliances. Found a fridge we liked, a gas range we liked, a microwave/vent hood we liked and... drum roll... a wine fridge... that... we liked. The appliances were 10% off, so that was awesome. The wine fridge was not a planned expenditure but let me explain... it was $399, and they marked it down to $99. I had been eyeing them for a while now, but they were low on the list of priorities because they weren't cheap... but at $99? It's sold.

We also put ourselves on the list for a plumber to call about the tankless water heater. By going through them, we won't have to pay sales tax, and Home Depot guarantees their work. We don't know any plumbers out here, so that's awesome, because we will need one to install our water purifier and to plumb the LP into the house. So it works out pretty well.

And then... then... we found a Mexican restaurant with good food! The salsa is different, but it's good. The margaritas are good. The taco authenticos were good. It's a hike, but most things are, and... so worth it. Remember, this is the first Mexican restaurant we've been to in TN that didn't suck - and we've been to several!

Tomorrow we will take the truck to Cookeville and drop it off at the dealership so they can look at another repair that was supposedly completed in Georgia that doesn't seem to be acting right. I think if it turns out that repair was bogus too... their dealership will feel the wrath of Dodge. Anyway, we'll probably go to Crawdaddy's for lunch, and then I'm cooking dinner. I need to go to the store and get what we need for me to start doing that on a regular basis. I just need side items. Of course, Friday we are determined to FINALLY eat at The Bull and Thistle, but other than that... it's lunch and dinner at home so we can eat more healthily (if that's a word) and cheaply.

I'm sooooooo excited about our stove... We found one that was a floor model and we hoped it would be discounted, but they were only taking the same 10% off that applied to all the appliances so screw that! If I can get it new for the same price what is my incentive??? Then, just around the corner there was what appeared to be the same stove, but for $500 less... only 0.4 cubic feet smaller, and after 10% off it was what I had planned to spend. It has an LP conversion kit, five burners with a griddle, and it can be a regular or convection oven. I can't wait to have a real kitchen again. The RV wasn't bad, but it's not the same...

Our saleswoman was a hoot. I love the people out here, they're so friendly. I learned that if the tag is green, it was a return, if it's yellow, it was a floor model. If there is a 03 on the tag, that's the lowest markdown before they destroy it. Our wine fridge was a yellow 03 tag. So now you know. :)

140 - Home Sweet Home

Even though it's an RV, and even though it's messy at the moment (we haven't gotten around to putting everything away just yet), it's nice to be back in our own space again. Living out of suitcases is no way to live. To me anyway. Also nice to be back in TN. Home. We didn't even have any incidents this time. Well okay, one of the jacks didn't fully retract at first, but we caught it before we got too far down the road, and apparently we didn't damage it because we're level.

I am so excited about our house. I'm also a little nervous. Sometimes the enormity of what we're doing knocks the breath out of me and I wonder if we made the right decision. We're starting over. Not completely, but mostly. Most of our friends are back in Houston, but we're lucky to have made a few out here on previous trips. And then the fear recedes and I'm happy with our choice. The excitement comes back... the house, what we can do with the land, a life in the country - which is both simpler and far more difficult than where we come from. Anyway, we have a lot of work ahead of us, but it will be a labor of love.

Went outside a few minutes ago to grab something from the car and there were so many lightning bugs out there. I was lucky enough to have one in my backyard in Texas, but there have got to be about 20 out there. I tried to video it but the quality wasn't good and for some reason I can't figure out how to save the file. Trust me though, it's awesome, and if I can make it happen, we will have a yard full of ladybugs, lightning bugs, hummingbirds and butterflies... assuming, of course, that none of those prey on the others...

Well, it's been a long day and I'm exhausted. We finally found a spot where the satellite will work so I'm going to enjoy an episode of Longmire and probably hit the hay.

139 - Picture Blog

Everyone's favorite, right? Not all that blah, blah, blah, just pictures... the world through our eyes so to speak. Well you're not so lucky buster. I'm going to talk you through it anyway. ;)

Since we had to go back to the Dodge dealership in West Point a third time to get the globe light cover replaced, we decided to make the trip fun. We had decent Tex-Mex, stopped at a pawn shop, and then went to the Aberdeen Historical Cemetery because I'm weird and I like old cemeteries. They're peaceful and interesting... what can I say?

The Confederate section of the graveyard. Some markers are illegible, some are more recent so maybe some historical society has been upgrading them.

Thought it was interesting that the gate was made in Knoxville, TN. Most of the soldiers were made in Mississippi, Texas and Tennessee.

Closeups of some sections of the monument.

Upshot of tree bark. Yes, we're back to that.

Mike's version. The trunk was cracked and splintered to he stuck his hand in there and did an upshot. I still have Flash Gordon flashbacks so I refuse to stick my hand inside a tree trunk. Flash Gordon family fun night at the movies was not a good night for me... that's all I'm going to say about that (for the young whippersnappers - I mean when it first came out in movie theaters).

Rain drops keep falling on my head. They keep falling.

Railroad bridge across the Tombigbee.

Been thinking about my grandpa a lot, as I usually do when we're in MS. A great portion of his life was spent working on the railroad (yes, all the live long day), so when I see trains and railroad crossings, guess who comes to mind?

Been wanting to take a pic of train tracks. Mike was taking his own pics of the bridge so I wandered off. And there was a train whistle, so I thought I'd get a pic of the train (yes mom, from a safe vantage point, not standing on the tracks...) but we went on a wild goose chase and while we did find the train... we couldn't figure out where the hell it was going. Bollocks.

Dam.

Dam flower.

We went down a long gravel road somewhere along Mrs. Todd's Shortcut and this was just kinda cool (yep, I never miss an opportunity to reference this little known short story by Stephen King whenever I can... not because it's a particularly good story.. just because).

Kind of unremarkable until you enlarge it and realize that I caught a dragonfly meandering across the sky above us as I snapped this pic.

Cool tree at my cousin Jeremy's house. Which used to be my Aunt Wanda's house. Which used to be my grandparent's house.

Mike made like a goat and climbed up a hill to get this pic of the railroad bridge. Showoff... Have to admit it's nice though.

And he found this.

More wetlands (by Mike).

Cool little waterfall (Mike).

Flowers. Yes. Dam flowers. (Mike)

That's about it. Bank called and said the loan paperwork should be done about the time we close on the sale of the Texas house, so we may be able to get into our TN house before the 28th. Termite inspection should have been completed this afternoon, not expecting any issues. The well water will need to be purified, but we can install a system pretty easily. We spoke to Amerigas about installing a propane tank so I can have a gas range/oven... which I now prefer, having used one in the RV. I may have a job and I'm pretty darned excited about it because I'd be working with people I really like (and I'd have a job!). Mike is going to go through his pre-employment physical soon, so hopefully that goes well and he'll start working on the oil rig and helping out at the other job (cuz we'll be able to work together) on his days 'off'. We have confirmation that this little girl, heretofore known as Duchess, will soon be ours (yes, the cutie in the picture): http://www.golsn.com/listings/pets-more/dogs/3453637.html?ref=1369948905 And we will be headed to TN on Saturday or Sunday to bide our time until the house is ours.

Feels good to have things coming together, because frankly - LAST YEAR SUCKED! 40 is going to be so much better for us. :) Now I'm going to go eat some leftovers and watch Ganster Squad, because Emma Stone is awesome and there's nothing on tv... can't wait to have our cable back...

138 - Home Sweet Home

Made a short overnight trip to Tennessee this week, the majority of our time was spent on the road, but we did manage to accomplish quite a bit. And we found a way to skirt Nashville which is nice, especially since we would have been in the middle of rush hour on the way home.

Stopped by the house to see it in person a second time. It's still as I remembered it, light-filled, a tad on the small side, but cozy. We already want to tear down walls, but we'll start with little things like paint, fixtures and hardware and do the rest over time. The barn isn't much to speak of, the framing seems sturdy enough, the walls... not so much. Didn't realize we have a HUGE magnolia tree out front, needs some trimming, but it's full of blooms.

Next day we signed the loan paperwork at the local bank. We have been approved with a very good APR, better than I currently have in fact. We also opened an account with the bank so that we can have something available nearby, and we are wiring the proceeds of the sale of Prissy Lane to that account as an act of good faith (and it's convenient since the new loan is through the same bank). Then it was off to Cookeville to meet Hannah at the title company and officially sell the Prissy Lane property.

Have scheduled an inspection for Tuesday afternoon and once that is done we can schedule the appraisal. I don't foresee any issues with the appraisal and hopefully none with the inspection either. So it seems that we're moving right along and by June 28th (happy 40th birthday to me) we will have a place to call home again. Didn't realize how much we'd miss having that. Living in the RV wasn't bad, but if you don't have a homebase... unless you're a minimalist, it's hard. We're so happy at the prospect of getting our things out of storage.

And we're puppy shopping. Hannah and Bombdog breed German Shepherds and just had a litter. There is a female Mike is eyeing and Bombdog thinks it would be a good match for us. I'm happy it's a puppy so that maybe she and Gracie will bond a bit, but I have never house trained a dog before and am also unsure about my allergies. I have been paying attention lately and it appears that *maybe* if I'm around a certain dog on a regular basis, my allergies seem to lessen over time. At least that's been the case around Jericho, Mike's brother's chocolate lab who is indoor/outdoor. Of course, we won't be getting this puppy until we have the house and are moved in. With Mike's 21 on-21 off schedule I am going to end up being the primary caretaker... *insert 'the look' here*... but at the same time, I love German Shepherds, and while we do have neighbors, it is a little rural out there and it will be nice to have a dog around for company/additional protection.

Yesterday we went to Country Squire for catfish. Today I'm catching up on housework and we're watching a Longmire marathon. The lead character reminds me of Lee Majors, so much so that it's almost distracting. Cool show though, we like it.

The a/c issue has been fixed and we have the truck back. Still working with Dodge to see if we can get some of our money back. The transmission is still not shifting correctly and for some reason they couldn't replicate the issue when they had it so it will hopefully get us to TN and then we won't really have to use the truck a whole lot. That buys us time to get it fixed in the future. I don't know what the problem is but it is extremely annoying. Guess we'll be heading out on the first. Mike has to fly to Houston for pre-employment physicals on the 9th and will return on the 12th, then I don't know exactly when, but he should start the 21/21 schedule soon afterward and we will once again have money coming in. It's getting tight but I think we'll just be able to make it, and we're holding on to enough money (I think) from the sale of the land and the house to get things we need without having to put those on the card (mower, stove, refrigerator, window units, utility deposits, moving expenses (Austin)).

Also, since I keep forgetting to call, if mom and dad read this before I do finally get around to it: the tick problem is back. I was taking pics of pics and when I looked up, two ticks were slowly (but with eerie determination) marching across a couple of the pages toward me. I killed them, but it has creeped me out. Gracie doesn't seem to have acquired any, or they aren't bloated enough to register when I feel around. And also, I did put a septic tablet down the toilet. There is a whole box in the guest bath on the top shelf as well, just for future reference. And I bought a bag of cat food for Doug. Poor thing was starving.

137 - Digger

Been doing some digging around while I'm here, lots of old photo albums to rifle through. I don't want to disturb them so I leave them as they are and take pictures of pictures so I can have a copy for myself. Figure I'll post them on a family website and that way everyone has access to them instead of just one person. Some really neat stuff in there going back about four generations or more. This is the kind of stuff I've been searching for... for decades.

Yesterday the sun finally came out, so we got to drive around and take pics of Amory, missed a couple of things I meant to get, but captured most of the memorable places.

136 - Back East

We made it to Mississippi.

As usual, it was not without incident. Either our bad luck continues, or Mississippi hates us.

As we made our way east, the sun beat in through the windshield which is always a hassle, but especially so once your a/c stops working. Unfortunately the cold snap was over, so it was an uncomfortable ride... putting the windows down only helps so much.

Mike realized this was the same thing that happened to the truck to cause us to take it to a dealership in Athens in December, so our plan was to bring it to a dealership here in Mississippi where we could hopefully get it repaired under warranty. Given our luck, you know that's not what happened. What did happen is that the dealership in Georgia did not perform the repairs correctly or completely, so after the dealership in Mississippi examined the truck we were told that no parts were replaced, so there is no parts warranty. They also didn't flush the line, so debris is causing issues, and I know we discussed flushing the line because I remember that the warranty company specifically stated they do not pay for that. So we paid for the flush. Working under the mistaken assumption that our after market warranty had a vested interest in this information since they did pay a (small) portion of the bill, I contacted them to see if they could add any muscle to our fight, but was told that "they can't be held responsible for incomplete repairs," as usual, defensive. And oh by the way, since they paid for it once, they won't pay for it a second time.

Next call was to Dodge. They have gotten a portion of it resolved, they will replace the compressor at no charge, but to fix the rest will cost us $800. We don't feel we should have to pay for any of it since we already paid once, but each dealership is independently owned, so Dodge can't really force two dealerships to cooperate with each other. We have one more iron in the fire, a school friend of ours works for Dodge and has offered to help.

Just really sick and tired of dealing with this.

So that wasted a day.

Next day we had catfish at Pickle's, and went to see my grandmother. She seems lucid one moment, and confused the next. I'm worried she may have Alzheimer's. She seems to be creating multiple fantasy worlds. She kept imploring us to go to the house at the end of the street, claiming it belonged to my great-grandmother and they turned it into a nursing home where the rooms looked just like the one she was in. When my aunt voiced her theory that grandma had dreams and couldn't tell the difference between her dreams and reality grandma said, "Don't tell them that! They don't need to know that!" And when my aunt said G.G. never owned a house on this street, she said, "You don't know, you haven't seen it." A little while later she told my aunt to find her shoes and when my aunt asked if she was going somewhere, she said since they wouldn't take us to see the house, she would. It would be funny if it weren't my grandma.

After that we went to my cousin's house. He invited us to his house for steak, who am I to refuse? So we drove to Alabama and hung out. He brought out a rifle and let me fire it. The recoil on the first one was about what I expected, it felt like might leave a bruise, but I think I did okay. I've always aimed using sights and never through a scope, it was difficult for me because the slightest twitch makes the sight move and I lose my target so they let me kneel down where I could put my elbow on my knee to steady it. It helped. Then he brought out an AK47. This one was bone stock with a metal sight, more like I'm used to, nothing fancy. Once I figured the sight out I hit my target. He was pretty stunned that I'd never fired a rifle before, and was spot on with a gun not known for its accuracy. Here's how I shot:

Then he put a beer bottle up and we took turns shooting. It took me two tries but I got it from 32 yds away. I couldn't really see it to be honest, I had my glasses on, but had to use my bad eye because using my good eye put my face too close to the buttstock and I didn't feel comfortable. I kind of went with where I knew it should be and sighted that area in. You should have heard Mike and Jason when I hit the bottle. :) Makes my head swell a little bit.

Today was low key. We stopped by the RV to drop a few things off. Still there, no foul odors, no mice, all good news. Then we drove around looking for a throttle to replace the one on the Harley that was damaged. No dice. Had a Bill's Hamburger, very similar to Country Boy's but thinner slice of onion and different kind of fries. Country Boy wasn't open, that's been the case the last four times we visited, so I give up. Now I'm defrosting some pork and rice that we had in the freezer and taking advantage of the 3G signal while it lasts... the last couple of days the internet has been slow or nonexistent.

Talked to the bank this morning, they sent more paperwork and it sounds like we're moving forward. It explains the terms and estimated closing costs, so I *think* we are on our way to getting the house. We have also discussed how long we foresee being in the house and we're pretty sure that as long as we like it out there, it's probably our forever house. We will keep looking for land that Mike can use for hunting, and maybe we'll build a small vacation home out there for a weekend getaway. Basically, we hate the idea of moving after we've put in a lot of work into this house (landscaping, renovations, gardening, pens for livestock, etc.). Moving means we'd have to start over... neither of us is keen on that, especially as we get older. So over time, we will do things here and there to make it what we want it to be, and that makes me happy. I'd like to find a place to settle, and I have to say - being out here for only three days, I'm so much more relaxed... no traffic... slower pace of life... yes, it will be a lot of work, but it will be a better quality of life.

Tomorrow I think we'll go take pics of the area. Have some ideas already. It's what we like to do, and we don't have plans, so it will be our entertainment for the day. I'm in a sort of nostalgic mood. I see things that have meaning to me from my childhood and I'm seeing things I never notice before. So we'll see what we come up with. (Picture blog!)