Today is the Day!

That I'm going to get all caught up on my blog--just watch. I don't have to leave the house today (unless James pulls a quick one on me) and I'm pretty well caught up on all of the must-do chores around here, and most of all I dread the thought of remaining this far behind or--horrors, no--falling yet farther behind. So I'm getting caught up today no matter how much I have to skip to make it happen. ;-)

I think I left off at the cedar sided house that Tammy Washburn never heard about, right? (You didn't hear because it didn't stay on the list long enough to mention to you. Ha!)

We left at about noon and went to Staples, Best Buy, Kohl's, Wal-Mart and at least one other place--all with things to return or exchange. They had been piling up for weeks, so it felt good to get that taken care of. We also had a few stops at places just to purchase things instead of return them.

Then we drove by a different house that James saw on the MLS that is just over a mile from the church. Wouldn't THAT be nice! We had very low expectations, judging by the location. It's IN town and also in an area that's not known for being the BEST of locations--real close to a Wal-Mart. But it had three acres, so we figured we'd drive by it like all the others before marking it off the list. The setting ended up being beautiful. It's at the very end of a dead end street and while you do have neighbors, they're all spread out and there is nothing close to you. There are lots and lots of woods behind the house and a golf course edges the north side of the property, but there are also trees all along that fence line so you don't really notice it unless you're looking for it. It FEELS so very quiet and private and secluded. The landscaping is gorgeous. Then there's the house. HA! First of all, it looks like some rich, snooty estate. It's HUGE. I mean way, way, wa-a-a-a-a-a-ay too big. Like, twice as big as any house I'd ever need. And it has four great big tall pillars out front. They're square wooden pillars painted white instead of the rounded marble looking ones, but still. Hoity-toity. It's a white brick house and it's just... big. But this house is super-duper cheap (way cheaper than almost everything we've seen) and on three acres and real close to the church... It's another foreclosure (which always warns of disrepair) and we went and peeked in the windows. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! It is soooooo... Oh, I don't even have the word for it. This house was built by a very rich somebody 40 years ago and it has all of the latest styles... from 40 years ago still firmly in place--but with all those years of wear and tear, plus some neglect and probably abuse. We could only see into two or three widows, but we discovered 12" glass tiles with that gold marble effect all over the walls in the dining room, wall paper with giant peacocks and pheasants all over it, oh, I can't remember what all. It made us laugh so hard. I kept saying, "Look at it, James! This house NEEDS us! Look... it NEEDS somebody like us!!!" Ha! It's really something.

Then we happily drove to our appointment at the For Sale by Owner property. It's very, very nice (as is the lady who owns it), but there are a whole lot of things to take into consideration with it. Two of the three bedrooms are very small, the master is nice but has a very small bathroom with NO storage (pedestal sink--they look neat, but are SO impractical!), the "large kitchen" is not large at all and has very little counter space and even less cabinet space (and no pantry or place to add one), the dining area is a little small and there would be no room for a hutch, the laundry room is in a closet in the bathroom, and there is hardly any storage space in the house--closets and such. Aside from those things, it's perfect. ;-) Oh, and it has no real privacy, though the yard is beautiful and we love the fence. Most of the neighbors' houses are gorgeous, but there is one really rough looking trailer right across the street. The things that are wonderful about it are the cedar siding (though it is beginning to look rather worn--the weather here is so hard on wood), the adorable front porch, the gorgeous rock fire place in a really nice sized (not too big, not too small) living room, the wood floors in the kitchen/dining area, the new tile in the bathrooms and new carpet (brown, not white! Wa-Hoo!) throughout the rest of the house, the gorgeous yard with big, pretty trees, the outdoor fireplace and framed awning (can't think of how to describe it), and the beautiful in-ground pool. The pool is actually on the pro's list AND the con's list. ;-) I've heard that pools are a lot of work and money to keep up, so I wouldn't be crazy about that. But when it's super hot and nasty it would be really nice to have! If we're going to have one, I would love for it to be in-ground instead of one that stands up 4 feet high in your yard that you can't really SWIM in anyway. What else... We would need to finish out the garage area and convert it into living space, as well as have an office brought in or constructed out in the yard somewhere for James. So it's a matter of adding up all the numbers and seeing how much it would cost at the end of the day, then looking at the pro's (did I mention it's less than 5 miles from the church and is beautiful???) and cons (no privacy and your kitchen and bedrooms will always be small and low on storage) and seeing if it's really THE house after all. Hhmmm. In the end, we'd end up putting a decent amount of money into it and still struggle to "fit" in it--it's just not going to work well for us. Sooooo, perhaps James was wrong. It's not THE house. ;-)

That was on a Tuesday. We went to town early enough on Wednesday to go to the Salvation Army in Hoover--found some much needed dress clothes for the Assembly. We've been doing some heavy thrift shopping lately and should be pretty well set for dress clothes for a while. That feels good. :-)

We had tried to have Laura get us in to see the big white brick house with columns (we call it the Quinncrest Monstrosity), but she couldn't do it that night. We went on to church and enjoyed seeing a Missions video that Brother Rob and Brother Ridlespurge have been working tirelessly on. I am always so, so blessed by those.

After church we waited around while guys went pray for our pastor who was home sick. (He's doing much better now, thank the Lord.) When they got back we went to Burger King with the Coxes and the Ridlespurges. While we were there we got to talking about the Monstrosity and the longer we talked the better it got. James was wondering if it is haunted (ha!) and if it has secret passage-ways leading down to the laboratory (pronounced "la-BOR-uh-tory" in your best mad scientist voice) and so on. When we were ready to leave the restaurant James asked if I wanted to drive by the Monstrosity to see how the neighborhood felt at night (safe or scary)... so we invited everybody else to go with us! Ha! I think it was nearly midnight when our three vehicles went slinking down the nice, quiet dead-end street. We all pulled behind the house and tried to keep the kids decently quiet while we peeked in windows and talked and giggled about this crazy house. We'd only been there a few minutes when a cop walked around the corner and asked what we were doing. HA! James was closest to her and the rest of us instinctively closed in quickly behind him, just trying to get close enough to see what was going on. It was a girl cop and she took a step back and said, "Whoa! I know you're probably not up to anything, but I'm all alone here and I'd appreciate it if you'd all just back off a little bit!" Ha! James explained what we were up to and apparently it was believable (nobody would take that many people--and 8 children--if they were going to break into a place) because we had a nice little chat with her about the neighborhood and then she left us there. James was thrilled to find that neighbors keep an eye on things and that the cops were there so quickly. That's a GREAT sign to him. Ha! Whether anything ever comes of this house or not, we've had some great laughs over it and will always have some terrific memories. :-)

On Thursday we hoped all day that Laura would call and say that she could get us in to see the Monstrosity, but it never worked out.

We finally got an appointment set for Friday morning to see the Quinncrest Monstrosity. The Mortuary. The Estate. It looks like any of those. We had only been able to see through a few of the downstairs windows (and saw the gold marble streaked mirror tiles and the peacock wall paper) and were truly prepared for the worst. We were expecting to see serious neglect and abuse and all sorts of nastiness and ugliness all throughout the house. My worst fear was the bathrooms. What if they were 40 years old with pink fixtures and tile and filth and grime that could only be ripped out and replaced instead of freshened up and used? I HATE bathroom remodels--as soon as you call the plumber in it costs a FORTUNE and takes FOREVER.

Well... we walked through the first floor: foyer (yes, I just said that--it's a BIG house!), living room, dining room, kitchen, laundry room, bathroom, den, master with private bath and closet... and couldn't believe how un-horrible everything was. So... what's the catch? A house this size at this price, even as a foreclosure??? It must have something seriously wrong with it. Must be upstairs. We went up and were immediately WOWED by the gorgeous "library" room. It is very large, tongue-and-groove that's stained a dark (cherry, maybe?) color with large beams lining the peak ceiling. It looks like a pretty little chapel except for the built in book cases on each end of the room. It is beautiful and James immediately claimed it for his office--and Church History Museum. ;-) It really would be perfect for that. There are also two bathrooms and several more bedrooms. (Did I mention that this house is big?) And everything looked very nice. Can it be possible that all this house needs is some cosmetic work?! Paint and wallpaper and a few minor fixes??? No way!!!

We then walked down to the basement. (Yes, a full basement too--CRAZY.) It's mostly wide open space down there (I told James we could just buy the kids some skates and let them go at it! Ha!) with a half bath, another room, and a few storage-type rooms for the furnace and stuff like that.

Long story short (I know--too late for that) we decided to put an offer on it. Laura went home and got busy on all the paperwork while we dinked around town for a few hours waiting to get with her and sign the papers. When she finally called she told us that this house already had a contract on it! HA! You could have guessed that, right??? :-) Sooooo... that was a waste of time!

And yet... over the next day or two we kept thinking and praying about it and decided to do a crazy thing. But more on that in a minute.

For that day, we came home feeling a little discouraged. Although this house was way bigger and "fancier" than what we are looking for (though still in need of some definite updating)--and there is a part of me that would worry about what people would think with us owning such a big and hoity-toity place (!)--it answers the specific things we've been praying for better than any other, by a long shot. The two things I pray for in a house are #1, a safe place to raise our kids with room for the boys to roam just a little bit and be BOYS and #2, a place that can be used to minister to others, where we can be hospitable and have people over for dinners, band meetings, fellowship--and be able to keep people during Conventions and stuff like that. This house is surrounded by lots of "woods" for the boys to play in, in an area that feels very private and safe. As for entertaining, well, there's no doubt you've got plenty room to do it there (ha!)--and being only a mile and a half from the church opens that door a thousand times more. We would never have to turn anyone way--we could house the entire State Convention! HA! (James and Mom tell me that I exaggerate. Mom said that house wasn't NEARLY as "mansion-ish" as she'd expected after hearing my description!) Anyway, because of all the possibilities with the house and how it could be used to be a blessing (I wouldn't even be able to think of it as my own--it would be the Church's house) we were very disappointed to learn that it already had a contract on it before we even got in to see it. And James was a wee bit frustrated with the other real estate company for not TELLING us so before allowing us a showing.

But that night turned out to be quite nice anyway. We got home and my son decided to take me out to dinner. How cool is that?! Sam took me to Mosey Joe’s Café and paid for both of our meals. :-)

As you can see, the ambiance was exquisite, the food delicious, and the company quite handsome. I think I had a half a ham sandwich with a bowl of ramen, sweet tea, and a side of applesauce. Sam even paid extra for our ramen to be topped with real bacon bits. :-) It was so great! Katie is the main chef at Mosey Joe's, so I made the two of them pose for me with their menu before sending them to bed that night. I love the prices.

Saturday morning started with another visit to the café at Joe's insistence (Golden Grahams and hot chocolate with WAY too many marshmallows), then Joe went fishing (caught a few fish and several ticks), Sam played outside most of the morning, Katie fiddled around in her room and was later allowed to playing a computer game (a rare occurrence around here), while I worked on the house. We spent a lazy afternoon watching a corny old black and white movie while I got all caught up on the ironing.

On Sunday (look, I'm caught up now to the current week--look at me go!) we had morning service, then went out for Mexican with Hopkins and Coxes. We had a good visit and the food was great. I love the chimichanga at Habeneros. :-) Afterward we drove by a house that Brother Will had told us about. It was adorable and had a great price tag, but James recognized it immediately as one that had just hit the market and was already under contract. Same song, 14th verse. ;-) We did some minor shopping, then crashed at the Cox's house for the remainder of the afternoon. We enjoyed visiting and comparing how much Brother Will and James have in common (which led to discussing the value of various antiques and Brother will dragging in an old Coca-Cola cooler that James oohed and ahhed over), and playing with their adorable little Yorkie pup, Roxie. Katie and Madison played in the room most of the time, but did go outside to jump rope for a little while. The boys spent the afternoon running around outside in full suits (100+ degrees) with guns and rifles of all sorts. I finally made them forfeit their suit jackets, but by then the boys were beet red, sopping wet and SMELLY. ~Bleagh~

We also got a call from Laura while we were there. This is where we did the really weird thing. :-) We'd been doing some more thinking and praying about the Monstrosity (that turned out not to be a monstrosity at all once we saw inside) and had decided to put an offer on it. HA! Go ahead--laugh. We already know. It's insane. The house already has a contract on it. That means that somebody else is already in the process of buying it. In fact, the story is that the guy had a contract on this house, it fell through, the house hit the market again, and he immediately put another offer on it and it is now under contract with him again. I'm sure he's worked hard to see that whatever caused it to fall through the first time won't happen again. In any case, what we did is put in a secondary offer, or back-up offer, so that IF the current contract falls through our offer will be there waiting. I know it's illogical and irrational, but we felt like it's what we should do. We know this house to be worth way, way more than the asking price and it would fit all of our needs PLUS open up such amazing opportunities to be hospitable... we just felt like we should put in a "just in case" offer. :-) And we've been praying and talking to God about it. I read a verse the day we saw the house (and then learned that it was already under contract) that said that GOD is the judge; he putteth down one, and setteth up another. I know it sounds nuts, but I'm praying for God to "put down" the current contract, and "set up" ours. :-) I have such a hard time praying definitively about anything. I'm always praying for God's will and never anything specific because what if I'm praying in a direction that isn't God's will--what if He's wanting to use a situation in some other way, you know?! I have moments when I feel presumptuous even talking to God about this house, but I feel like I've searched my heart and I truly believe that my motives are right and I'm wanting it for the right reasons. So, I'm asking God to work miracles and move mountains and grant us this house that matches everything I've been praying for--and so much more. I would love it if He blessed us with it. And if He says no, I'll be truly thankful that He has a different plan for us. I just felt like asking specifically this time. :-)

Anyway, Brother Hopkins preached on faith at church that night. I was so blessed and so enjoyed the good prayer time afterward. Just what I needed. :-)

James has owed all the church kids milkshakes for a few weeks now. (He promised it to them when they were helping fold Convention programs and stuff like that.) We finally pulled it off that night. We went to Jack's with the Ridlespurges, the Coxes, and the Parkers. James was able to free himself of his milkshake commitment (and they use Blue Bell there--YUM!) and we had a great time visiting. All the kids were arm wrestling at their table and before long James had cleared the trash from between Sister Ridlespurge and me and wanted to see who could take who. HA! So we gave it a shot and were both equally surprised at the strength of the other (isn't that always the way it is?!) but in the end I was able to take her. Considering our age difference, I'm pretty sure she could have beaten me in her prime. ;-) We then made Brother Ridlespurge and James give it a go. THAT was funny. They just sat there for the longest time, arms trembling, but never actually moving either direction. They finally just quit. Then Brother Chris had to try Brother Ridlespurge. That's the only one I got a picture of.

It was a great night.

~whew~ I'm almost caught up--there's no stopping now!

The first part of this week was full of more of the same: housework, praying, and fasting for the Assembly. I also had lots of computer work to do as well as making reservations and plans for our post Assembly trip. I starting on the planning guide we're putting together for distribution at the Minister's Convention next month. It will include all of the pastors, clerks, and ministers contact info and stuff like that. I also pulled out the couches and found all manner of interesting clutter (better me than the Powells in a few weeks! Ha!), swept and swiffered and got lots of other hidden places in order. We straightened up the basement and cleaned out the griddle and overflowing grease cup (oops), as well as the fridge. It feels good to get some of those odd jobs taken care of.

We had WMB service on Wednesday night, the Ladies' Prayer Meeting last night. No news for today, really. Charlie got a haircut and now looks like an overgrown rat again, but it's actually the best haircut he's ever had--he'll be adorable in a couple of weeks. :-)

And that's IT! I'm all caught up! Wa-Hoo!!!!!

One last picture, just because it's available. Sam doesn't really eat lizards, in case you're wondering. Just plays with them and then releases them. Outside. As far as I know. ;-)