Part One...

We are sooo close to being able to move in! :-) You can almost feel it! In fact, we've begun scheduling deliveries! :-) It's so exciting and I can't wait! Biggest problem? We are going to be gone for a couple of weeks...heading to the Baker-Vegas race! It's our 16th year as volunteers and we committed to it quite a while back! Being so close to moving in it would be easy to stay here, but like Don and I have talked about...we plan on living here for a LONG time! It's been a long journey so we should be able to make another few weeks! With the cost of diesel...it would be REALLY easy to stay here, but we won't! Move-in date? Tentatively scheduled for the week of April 28! It could be the week-end prior but things won't start being delivered until the 28th! It will be a good day to be busy - April 28th marks our granddaughter, Haleigh's 8th birthday. It just doesn't seem like it was 8 years ago that we held her in our arms!

Part Two...

Master bathroom
Front entry
Great room fireplace (not finished yet)
Master bedroom

Part Three...

Sidewalk in back
View of the back of the house
Powder room (blue tape is because there is no water/septic yet)
Front door/foyer

Feast or Famine?

Last Saturday we were honored to have Peter & Marian Harrison stop by for a couple of days to see us. We had to tell them, though, that they weren't the first guests to have "happy hour" in the house, although they do hold the honor of being the first to have "happy hour" in our bedroom! :-) The tile guys hadn't grouted the tile yet so it was the best room to have it in! :-)

It was a busy day for company! Kimberleigh, Tim and Ashleigh came to visit in the early afternoon! Tim and Ashleigh tried a little fishing, but didn't catch anything! My theory? Ashleigh kept reeling in her line and then wanted Tim to help her cast it out! It was a windy, blustery day so they didn't fish for long! :-)

Peter & Marian left on Monday, missing all the rain we had! It rained non-stop for hours on end! I heard that we had something like 7", but it might have been more! Everyone around here keeps saying that they haven't had this much rain at one time in a long, long time! Of course, they are also saying they haven't seen the lake as high in that amount of time either! I couldn't even find the "spot" Ashleigh & Tim were fishing at! The lake has come up 9' and it's a 40,000 acre lake (300 miles of shoreline)! That's a LOT of water! When we lived in Canyon Lake, we were used to the lake rising after EVERY rainfall, but it was only a 383 acre lake (14.9 miles of shoreline)! Not to worry though...we're still a LONG way from being flooded by the Hundred Year Flood! :-)

It's been a while since I've updated our blog. We've been busy with the house and moving steadily on! I was HOPING to be in the house by April 1, but it isn't going to happen. We should be close, very close, but Don and I will be leaving on April 10 to head towards CA and the Baker-Vegas race we volunteer at. This is our 16th year and we committed to it a LONG time ago! With the possible delays of having things delivered, we decided that it would be best to wait until we return so we have tentatively scheduled our move-in for April 25/26th! We will be at the race, head into Las Vegas for a few days and then head for home - literally!

This week has been a very productive week! The tile was installed, part of the kitchen granite, knobs were started (door and drawer) and more of the faux painting was done! It's really coming together now! If you want to check out the progress, go to: www.picasaweb.google.com/vickileith. The house pictures are in Emerald Isle, Greers Ferry, Part 9! The faux painting is in it's own album, Faux Painting by Angelfish.

Ragdolls (Lolita/Sweet Pea & Freddy/Furby)

It's been a year since I lost my cat, Maggie to an aggressive tumor and just a short while since my Mom, lost her cat, Nicole. Both our cats lived a long, well-loved life. For my Mom, who lives alone, losing Nicole left a very empty house to be in. I always knew I was going to get another cat, in my whole life I don't think I've ever gone this long without one. I really thought I'd wait until we got into the house before I did, but sometimes things happen for a reason! :-)

Nicole was a Himalayan and my mom's last several cats have been Himis. My cats have always just been domestic cats. My mom thought she wanted another Himi, but we discussed the pros and cons of care. Long haired cats generally take a lot of brushing to keep them from becoming matted and of course, there is the hair to deal with.

My sister, Karen had sent both my mom and I some web sites to check out and one of those happened to be about Ragdolls. After reading about them, I knew that a Ragdoll was what I wanted my next cat to be! A ragdoll has fur that resembles a rabbits. They are a long-haired cat but their fur doesn't mat. They aren't no-shed, but they are low shed! They are also a much larger cat than the Himilayan or Persian but are in the same family. Ragdolls are very affectionate and are typically called "lapcats". The unfortunate part...a kitten can cost from $550 - $1200, with a cat for breeding (un-spayed/neutered) going all the way up to $2000! That's a little past both our budgets, especially when you can get a sweet, loveable cat at the nearest animal shelter for about $150 (spay/shots, etc.)

I was looking and found a breeder here in Arkansas, but after talking to her, none of her cats were even pregnant yet. It would be nearly six months before she would have any ready to come to our homes! I found lots of breeders, but none of them close enough to drive to when I happened upon a website of a breeder, in of all places, Diamond Bar, CA. She had several "older" kittens that she was selling for only $100. I had also found several retired breeders, but these were generally about 3 years old. The only problem, since she was charging so little, she wasn't willing to ship them. I happened to wonder if she would let me sister, who didn't live too far from Diamond Bar pick them up for us and ship them to us. When I e-mailed, she said that would be o.k. Karen agreed to pick them up and get them on a plane for us, so I set things in motion! It wasn't quite as easy as we all hoped starting with cat carriers that didn't arrive until a week after the cats got HERE, but eventually the cats did arrive! :-)

I have always had male cats, my mom prefers female so Lolita and Freddy were the perfect choices for us! Both cats are 8 months old with Freddy being the younger of the two. They aren't brother and sister, although their grandfather's are the same (or something along that line). Both of them have settled into their new homes and are both so sweet and loveable! Lolita (now named Sweet Pea) is the top two pictures, Freddy (now Furby) is the bottom two!

**Furby is going to be a great match for Tess! He's not afraid of Tess and continues to taunt her!**

Snow Today...Gone Tomorrow!

We were very excited when several of our friends said they were going to come see us in March! We were hoping to be in the house (that was months ago), but knew before they came that we would have to have them come to the RV Park we are at and not the house, but we were still excited to see them and to show them how the house was coming along! First to arrive would be Marlene & Bob Rea for two weeks, Marian & Peter Harrison just for the weekend and then Dottie & Lew Anderson who were originally going to be here for about a week and then it changed to about 4 - 5 days.

We were disappointed when we first heard from the Rea's right after our snow arrived. They were afraid that they would be running into bad weather so they rearranged their direction of travel and decided to stay in Arizona for a while before heading east. They happened to be at the same park for a few days as the Anderson's so I don't know if they talked about it or not, but then we heard from the Anderson's who also changed their travel plans. Even though we told them that the snow was probably not going to happen again, and that the "locals" all said it was "not normal", they decided to wait. We have been enjoying spring time weather since the day after our last snow, with the exception of our day of rain (7" that soaked the entire midwest). Today was in the mid-70's and tonight it's only gotten down to 50 degrees!

One thing we have learned here is that the snow is generally gone by the next day and this snow was no different! I think we've only had 3 or 4 days of snow this winter and 3-4" was all we ever had in one day! There's a saying around here "if you don't like the weather today, just wait until tomorrow"!

The good news...Marian & Peter came on ahead (they're from Indiana so I think they are used to the "white" stuff) and the Rea's are coming in May! :-) We'll be able to have them at the house instead of the RV park since we should be done and moved in by then!!!

Ice, Paint and Appropriate Gloomy Weather!

We were supposed to have a really bad ice storm. It began raining while we were at the house and it was only a matter of minutes before we had the ice on the eaves of the roof line.

It was an appropriate day of rainy, gloomy weather as I had to take my mom, and her cat, Nicole to the vet where we had to put Nicole to sleep. Nicole was 17-1/2 years old and had been in declining health for the past month or two. She had stopped eating, was having trouble walking (her legs would just go out from her almost like she was ice skating) and she was alternating between having accidents and not going to the bathroom at all. It's the hardest decision we sometimes have to make, but in the end...isn't it one of the greatest gifts we can give our pets? These little balls of fur make a big difference in our lives, and all they ask in return is to feed them and love them. Their passing sure leaves a great big hole in our heart! Even though it's only been a few days...it still seems weird not to have her sleeping on the bed or coming out to get a treat when I go to my mom's. It was at this same time last year that I lost Maggie. Maggie had an aggressive tumor on his leg and it had finally gotten to the point that he was having trouble walking and was in pain. I knew that I couldn't let him continue on. That would have been selfish of me. I still miss him a lot! Once we get into the house, I will get another cat. It won't replace Maggie, but will be another fur baby to love!

The really bad ice storm we were supposed to have never really materialized. We had rain and we had cold temperatures, but nothing too severe. The second picture you see is the ice at the bottom of the mirror on the motorhome. This was pretty early on and before it got dark! I think it was really too warm to freeze much more than this!

Friday the painters were finishing up the trim and painting cabinets. On Saturday we went to the house and nothing had changed and there were no painters. Imagine our surprise when we stopped by on Sunday and painters were there...priming the rooms! They had the hallway, both guest bedrooms, game room, breakfast room, entryway (wasn't supposed to be primed yet), and my craft/utility room done! It's just primer and the color isn't quite what it will be once it's done. In the pictures it looks kind of "orangey" but it's not really! The painters are going to be back tomorrow and Angelfish (the faux painters) will be there as well!

From Earthquake Country to Tornado Alley!

Being native born Southern Californian's Don and I are "used" to earthquakes. We aren't used to tornados though! Last year in Florida we had a tornado that hit about 15 miles north of us. This year, in Shirley, AR we once again had one that was way too close and hit far too close to "home". The tornado started off in Atkins, about 130 miles south of us. It never left the ground creating damage all along it's path. It hit Clinton which driving, is about 15 miles away. It's actually much closer as the crow flies. It didn't stop there though but continued it's path stopping just short of the Missouri border.

Last week I headed to Clinton to go to Wal-Mart. It's the closest one around and I didn't even think about what I might encounter. Remember I said it's a 15 mile drive? Well it took over an hour to get there! That wasn't even to Wal-Mart! I couldn't believe the damage and destruction. The pictures you see on t.v. and in newspapers just doesn't really convey the scene before you. Seeing entire trees pulled up, houses with their roofs completely gone and places where a house once stood covered in debris instead of the house are amazing! We have lots of trees in Arkansas and there was a huge area of trees that were all snapped off. What's even more amazing is the neighborhoods where all but one house is gone.

We consider ourselves lucky. Lucky that it didn't hit us. This will affect the building around here but shoudn't bother us since we are past that stage. The house is coming along just very slowly and much slower than we would like. Now that you can see it becoming a real house it makes you want it to be completed even faster! The painters are in there now and have been for several weeks. We were told on Friday that they will probably be there for about 2 more! Why does it take professionals a month to paint the interior of a house? :-) Oh well, it will be worth it when it's done!

On Valentine's Day, being the true romantics that we are...Don and I brought home (to the motorhome) a pizza from Pizza Hut and watched Survivor and Celebrity Apprentice! Couldn't miss those! :-)

A lot of our motorhoming friends are now in Lancaster, CA attending the Monaco pre-rally. This is the first rally we've missed in several years but hope to be at the next one which is in July in Michigan! :-)

I put out some bird seed a few days ago to see if I could get some pictures of the local birds. Here's one that I was able to get. I'm going to have to work on getting a little closer but it was too cold on this day to be outside for very long!

There is a website that shows some of the damage around Clinton. It's amazing! It's http://www.clintonark.com/. If you'd like to see the progress of the house, it's at www.picasaweb.google.com/vickileith look under the Emerald Isle, Greers Ferry, I think I'm now on part 8!

Don's New Toy!

I haven't updated in quite a while, or so it seems! I can't believe how time consuming building a house can be! We go to the house almost everyday. That's both good and bad! The good is that the guys working on the house know we will be there so I think it keeps them on track! The bad (several reasons) is that it seems to go so *s*l*o*w*l*y*! It's also bad because we see some of the things they do...my pet peeve is that a lot of them smoke and they put their cigarettes out on the floor!!! I'm tired of picking up after them (cigarettes and trash) but I do it! If I don't pick up their trash...Tess does! She has eaten so much crap, it's unbelievable! For Don (and me as well) one of the bad things is getting there and finding the heaters on and the doors wide open or the heat still on after everyone has gone! The worst was coming in with the doors TO the garages open with only the garage doors being covered in plastic! I think the temps were in the low 20's at night then! I think our heaters have been hooked up for a month (or maybe a little longer) and we've/they've already gone through an entire tank (400 gallons/500 gallon tank) of propane! With the cost of propane at it's winter high...that's an easy $900! Now, we won't be using as much when we actually live there because for a lot of that time, it was still "open" to the outside. The garage doors were covered with plastic and the doors didn't have knobs in them! Plus the attic hasn't been insulated yet nor the bottom of the house!

Anyhow, Don and I recently purchased the lot in between us and our neighbors with them so now we have about an acre and a half of land. Everyone has been telling Don that a little lawn tractor just wasn't going to cut it (the grass that is)! Bill, our neighbor told Don about this great little tractor that a local guy had in his shop. After going and looking at it (and knowing NOTHING about tractors) he bought it! It's a used Kubota and although it's older than Don had hoped, it looks and runs as if it's in great condition! In fact, when Don went to look at it the temps were in the low 30's. The guy started it without "turning on" ? the glow plugs (ah, don't ask me...I don't know anything about diesels except you don't put gas in them)! The thing started up with no problems and ran like a champ! The guy delivered it the next day. Know where Don parked it? In the RV garage! Hope he doesn't plan on parking it in there forever! It IS a tractor! :-)

On Saturday Don polished it up, ran it around the yard and even cut some of our dormant grass! Today, we again went to the house and he proudly showed me his polish work! He started it up, showed me how to drive it and off I went as well! I even put the "finish mower" (the part on the back) down and ran it across a small part of the yard! Hope he doesn't get any ideas 'cause I won't be driving it much after today!!!

The house is coming along, slowly but surely! The cabinets have all been delivered with the exception of two that are supposed to be here tomorrow! The trim has just about been completed and the painters have already started caulking and puttying! They worked on Friday and got two rooms completed! It's amazing how long it takes to do everything! They have changed out our front door (I LOVE it) and are finishing up our deck (short 16 boards - UGH!) and back stairs! They've delivered the hardwood for the study, dining room and foyer and the tile guy will come in sometime in the next week or two and start the shower. He can do that while the painters are there and won't be in their way! The cabinet guy will be here tomorrow to set and trim the rest of the cabinets they just delivered! I've picked out lights and tile but haven't quite made up my mind on paint colors!!! For so long, I've only been able to post a picture of the "space" the kitchen was going to be in and now that there are cabinets...you can actually get a feel for it! I asked our contractor a week or two ago if he thought we would be in BEFORE we left for Baker-Vegas (mid-April). He thought about it, tried to think about scheduling and said we would be "close"! I hope that he knows that I EXPECT to be moved in BEFORE we leave! We may not have everything unpacked, but I want to be IN before we leave! I don't think he wants to have the house just sitting, so it seems like he's getting things on a roll! At least I hope so! If you want to see the latest house pictures, you can check them out at www.picasaweb.google.com/vickileith It's Emerald Lane, Part 7!

Happy Anniversary and an update!

Today is our 16th anniversary! Last year we celebrated with some of our Monaco friends as we were traveling to Florida! The year before that we celebrated with a few of the same friends while we were in Indio, CA at the western area FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association) rally!


This year we spent the day with Kim, Tim, Ashleigh and my mom! Ashleigh belongs to a cheerleading group called Upward Bound. They cheer at the Upward Bound Basketball games on Saturdays! It was the first time we have been to one of the games where she cheers and I have to say it was pretty cute and fun to watch! Today they cheered for two girls teams. The girls were very young and there was no score kept, but boy, did they ever put their hearts into it! The rules are fairly lax and it's not about winning or losing but about playing a fair game! The cheerleaders cheered during the game and then did a cheer at half time. Since there are two games playing in the gym at the same time...they cheered facing one way, turned and cheered the other! This was their very first cheer event and we thought they did pretty good! I'm sure we won't make every game (every Saturday until March) but I'm sure we will see a few more! After the game, we had a nice lunch at the "Mean Pig"!

Tess had her first haircut on Friday! It's kind of pointless trying to keep her clean at the house, but boy does she smell better! She had gotten pretty shaggy over the years and she really looks nice now! The first picture is her in the truck when they were delivering our cabinets! She always jumps in when anyone comes to deliver something! One day she may just get taken away if we're not careful! :-)


The garage doors are finally up on the house! For the past two weeks we have been helping to heat the outdoors! Since the drywall had been put up and they were "taping and mudding" it was important to keep the inside of the house from freezing! The exterior doors haven't been delivered so we put plastic up over the two outer doorways. Doesn't take too much going in and out before they get torn down so it wasn't really helping! The garage doors were supposed to be here the first part of the week and the plastic over the garage openings had been torn and blown so wasn't working very well either! We were VERY excited when they showed up and started installing them! **For those that know Don you can picture him looking at the gauge on the propane tank EVERY single day calculating how much propane had been used!**

You can check out the progress of the house at http://www.picasaweb.google/vickileith. Current pictures are in Emerald Isle, Greers Ferry, AR - Part 7!

We have been having the weirdest weather! Shortly after New Year's the temperatures dropped over night and we had a few nights of temperatures in the teens! One day it never got over 34 degrees! That was pretty darn cold! The first day we saw the fountain just inside the gate at Emerald Isle (our development) frozen I had to get some pictures! The next day I got out my new zoom lens and took some "interesting" pictures of the ice! It only took a warm day and a little rain and the frozen fountain was gone! (Another picture is some rocks that we drive past. They are always wet...this day they were FROZEN!) This last week we had some days that the temperatures reached mid 70's! (That's because we've been heating the outdoors) We even had a tornado warning and a tornado touched down a few towns over from us! We had a rude awakening that day when the owner of the RV park came to get us and told us we needed to come to the bathrooms! Don was just finishing shaving and I was still in bed! We got dressed in a rush, grabbed the dog, grabbed my camera and headed to the bathrooms! There seemed to be a lull in the weather and I headed back to the coach to put the slides in - just in case! Forgot how much "stuff" we had in the way but I got them all in! The tornado never got too close to us but it did hit ground here in central Arkansas!

So, back to our anniversary! I'm not sure how many people that read our blog know that Don and I were married on his parent's wedding anniversary! Don and I have both been married before but when we decided (after almost 6 years of living together) to get married I decided that I wanted to get married on their anniversary! They had (at that time) been married for almost 50 years and I figured if it worked for them...it would work for us! When Don's mom passed away they were almost to 60 years! In 2042 Don and I will celebrate our 50th! Think we'll make it? :-)

Sixteen years ago Don and I had a simple ceremony with our family all present. We had a few very special friends with us and then followed that with a BIG party with all our friends! BTW we couldn't have any more at the wedding...it was a very small chapel and not many more would have fit! :-) I thought it was pretty cool we had all four of our kids stand up with us! I can remember that they didn't seem too thrilled at the time, but I think it had more to do with their ages than anything else! They probably didn't like standing in front of everyone either! :-)

Happy 16th anniversary Don! I love you!