23 April 2017

It was another happy week at the Davidson home.  On Monday, Felicity had her well-child checkup in Tucson.  I picked her and Helen up from school at about one o’clock and we drove in to see the pediatrician.  She has been dreading this visit because she knew she’d be getting vaccines.  She felt rather sheepish that she had been so worried when the actual shots went very quickly and rather painlessly.  We had a nice visit with her pediatrician, and I think I got the best compliment I’ve received in a while.  I had declined the Gardasil vaccine and when the pediatrician brought it up, I told her that Felicity didn’t have any risk factors for HPV and she agreed with me, saying “Felicity is eleven going on eleven” and that is very rare.  Felicity is intelligent, witty, and empathetic, but she is still very much a child and is happy to be a child.  I’m grateful for that.  She will have most of her life to be an adult with adult problems, so I am happy to have her content to play with dolls and not have a care in the world about boys.

We stopped and had Chipotle when we were done at Felicity’s request.  We wandered in the world market store (I don’t remember exactly what it’s called) and the girls had fun looking at all the cool stuff.  We also went to Toys R Us and Target so Felicity could spend her birthday money.  She decided on a Beauty and the Beast Lego set.  She and Helen have played with it for hours this week. 

We had family home evening on Tuesday and I continued to quilt in the evenings.  My project is coming along nicely.  I have several blocks finished.  The kids and I went to see another house this week that’s on the market.  It’s another good potential.

On Friday night the kids went to their dad’s for the weekend and I met some girlfriends in Tucson for dinner.  We had a nice meal at Cheddar’s and stayed to chat for quite a while.  It’s so nice to have these opportunities.  I went home and sewed and watched movies.  Saturday, I cleaned and went grocery shopping and did all the other chores I needed to catch up on and then continued to work on my project.  Sunday morning I was not feeling well and missed church unfortunately. 

The house is getting multiple views and saves online everyday as more people are in the market to buy, so I am hopeful that we’ll get a good offer soon.   I have found three properties that are all good fits for us, one being the short sale I put an offer on in February.  My contract with the real estate agent is up at the end of May and I’m considering renting the house out if it doesn’t sell by then.  The couple houses I’ve liked won’t be eligible for the tribal loan I wanted to use, and if that’s the case I’ll have to go with a traditional loan.  If I use a traditional loan, it’s not a requirement that I sell my house, as long as I can get renters in it, so that is something to consider.  It was a happy and productive week and I hope next week is more of the same

16 April 2017

This week I had an overwhelming feeling of contentedness.  Nothing in my life has changed; the house still hasn’t sold, I have no prospects for a meaningful relationship, I still struggle not to eat my weight in sweets, everything is the same, and yet I felt grateful and content.  That’s a good place to be.  I cannot express how much relief and happiness that feeling brings me.  Monday evening we had a cheesecake FHE, that’s what Felicity was calling it anyway.  We had our lesson on the power of optimism and watched “Tomorrowland” as our activity.  Cheesecake was our treat, at Felicity’s request.  It was a fun night, although I’m growing weary of watching a movie as our activity as we have done that several times this year now.

Thursday evening we went to Red Lobster with Nana and Papa to celebrate Felicity’s birthday.  I can’t believe that she is eleven already.  My how time flies.  We had a very nice dinner out.  We went to Boot Barn on our way home and she picked out a new pair of boots as her birthday gift and then opened the few little things that I got her when we got home.  Friday morning she took cookies to school to celebrate with her friends.

 

I went for a run Friday morning and then went to Circle K to grab a soda when I was done (lamentably I have fallen back into my caffeine loop, I’ll be working on that in the coming weeks).  On my way back I saw a sign for a yard sale, the sign said they had camping equipment.  I need to pick up a few things over the next several months, including cold weather sleeping bags, for Felicity’s elk hunt, so I thought I would check it out.  Well…I ended up getting three nice cold weather bags, and a table saw, and router.  The guy made me a really great deal that I just couldn’t refuse.  I know I will be making new shelving and a ton of other things for the new house when the time comes, and a table saw is just going to make that so much easier, so for the price, I couldn’t pass it up.  I found myself (still sweaty and in stretchy pants from my run) picking up my dad’s truck so I could move said table saw to my already very full garage.  

Some guys at the sale helped us load up the saw, its table, the router, and the cabinets he had under the saw into the truck.  I got it home and hoped I’d be able to find some help in unloading it.  My dad needed his truck back in the afternoon, so I didn’t have a lot of time to wait.  So I sat in my garage trying to figure out a way to get the saw out myself.  I will admit at this point that I had several people I could have called specifically and asked for help, but I didn’t’ and next time I will.  I ended up sliding a table under the saw, pushing the saw to the end of the table and then sliding the whole thing over the tailgate.  The plan was to stand on the opposite end of the table and as the weight of the saw went over the tailgate, the table would tip, creating a ramp to slide the saw down.  Basically I created a rudimentary teeter-totter using my weight as the counter balance so the table would gently dip down with the saw on it and I could simply roll it off the truck.  Well, I don’t weigh as much as I think I do and when the saw started to tip, in a very cartoon-like way, I was tossed up in the air as the saw slid down the table.  I landed on my butt and slid down the table myself and ended up on my backside in my driveway still clinging to the edge of the table saw.  I literally laughed at myself, then said a silent prayer of thanks that I wasn’t seriously hurt, and proceeded to wheel the table saw (which was now successfully removed from the truck) into the garage. I did hit my shin pretty hard in the process and took the skin off of the inside of my fingers from the death-grip I had on the saw.  All in all it was a pretty successful morning!

Friday evening, my mom came by and brought the kids Easter baskets and then took Felicity out for some birthday shopping.  They had a good time and Felicity was excited to show me the fun outfit she picked out and the other neat stuff she got.  Saturday morning I asked the kids if they wanted to go for a hike in Sabino Canyon or hang around the house, it was a unanimous decision to stay home; after all they had new birthday toys to play with.  I went to the fabric store and picked up some fabric for a quilt I want to make for Arlo’s bedroom.  As I mentioned last week, I want to redecorate the kids’ rooms for the new house.  I am pretty much done with the girls’ room with the exception of some throw blankets for the ends of their beds that I am crocheting.  Seeing as my fingers are all torn up from my little table saw stunt, I can’t crochet, so I thought I would start on Arlo’s quilt instead.  I found an adorable quilt pattern that I want to make for his new room, so I figured this weekend would be the perfect time to start.  Saturday evening the kids went to their dad’s since they were spending the Easter holiday with him. I cut all the pieces for the new quilt and started on the first block, a golden eagle.  I ended up piecing through most of the night (that darn caffeine).  I am off to a good start on the quilt and am loving the blocks that I’ve completed so far.  I didn’t do anything for Easter, just spent time behind my sewing machine.  But I am so very grateful for the Easter season, a time to remember our Savior’s sacrifice on our behalf and the promise of new beginnings.

09 April 2017

Windows and doors wide open today!  I love to have a fresh breeze blowing through the house.  I was home on Monday with Helen and Felicity who were sick.  I’m so fortunate to be able to work from home when those instances arise, as they often do.  In the evening they were feeling better, I’m grateful it was a short-lived problem.  We had family home evening and played a tag game that the kids created themselves.  I really do think that I’m doing my children a service by not allowing screen time during the week and not giving them their own devices.  They spent a good portion of last week after school playing in the backyard and perfecting the rules for this game that they came up with.  It was a lot of fun and they were excited to get to play it with me.

I heard back from my real estate agent about the house that I saw this weekend.  He said the owner was willing to consider an “owner carry back” and would look into his options and get back to us.  This would mean that the owner would transfer the title to me and I would make payments to the owner, this way I wouldn’t have to sell my house in order to qualify for a loan.  I don’t know if it will work out or not, just going to be patient and see.  The house I made an offer on in February is still in the early stages of the short sale, meaning the bank hasn’t even accepted the first person’s offer yet, so that property still has potential of coming to me.  It’s kind of a toss-up between that property and the one I saw this weekend in terms of which one I hope works out.  They have different pros and cons, so I will just trust the right thing will line up when the time is right.  I will honestly admit it would be nice to know where we are going and when!

We did find out this week that Felicity drew a youth elk tag, so we will have a hunting trip to plan for October.  She’s pretty excited about that.  I’m thinking between that and buying a new house, we won’t be going on any other vacations this year!  I continued to run this week, although not quite as many miles.  I had some time on Friday evening, so I tackled a project I’ve been putting off.  The fish tank had grown (literally) quite disgusting so I took some time to drain it, scrub it, and refill it.  It was a lot of work, but not as much as I had anticipated.  Once I got it all clean and the water treated, I went to the pet store and bought a new Plecostomus (ours had died a few months ago and that’s why the tank was so gross).

The kids went to visit their dad this weekend and we had an open house on Saturday.  I don’t know how well it went, but I’m hoping as the number of online views and saves continue to climb, our open houses will be more fruitful.  I had planned on attending the temple and got out of the house around 9:30.  I had the feeling several times that I shouldn’t go, and thought that was a strange feeling to have, I always feel positively about going.  Well I ignored the feeling until I got to about Marana and then decided to check the schedule online, only to find that the temple closed at 1 o’clock.  I didn’t feel like driving to Gilbert instead, so I was grateful that I didn’t get all the way up there only to find it closed (for the Easter Pageant).  I instead went to every stinkin’ Target in Tucson, looking for things for the girls’ bedroom. 

I decided that I’d re-decorate their room when we get into our new house, they’ve outgrown the princess theme they’ve had for the past several years.  There was a really cute bedroom set that I found at Target awhile back and found that they were discontinuing it, so I had to search all the stores to find everything I wanted to pick up.  As a result, I saved quite a bit of money since a majority of the things I got were on sale.  When I got home, I crocheted a couple of additional throw pillows to go with the bed set.  I have plans to redecorate Arlo’s new bedroom as well, I’ll just have to set aside some money to do that in the next few weeks.

I was able to attend the new ward on Sunday and was very warmly welcomed.  It’s a small ward, but very nice.  I attended a single adult gospel doctrine class 2^nd hour which was nice.  I think the kids and I will be happy in the Olivero ward, the only downside is that if we end up buying our house and property further down Sahuarita road, we’ll be in a different stake and will have to move wards again.  We’ll cross that bridge when we get there!  For now it’s a step in the right direction.  I can honestly say, that in the last three weeks or so, I have felt like my old happy, optimistic, determined self again.  I had missed her.  I had a couple friends comment that they had missed her too.  There are good things on the horizon and I’m excited what life is going to bring us!

 

02 April 2017

Lamentably, I don't think I took any good pictures this week.  It was a pretty quiet week.  We had our Family Home Evening lesson on talents and then watched "Sing" as our activity with popcorn and candy.  We didn't have any week day activities, which meant we got to spend evenings together and I appreciated that. 

I got to run in the morning before work with my friend Aubrey, it was great to get my run out of the way first thing.  I ended up running 17 miles this week!  I was surprised I was able to do so much as I've been sick.  I have this terrible, persistent, shallow cough; it's kinda driving me nuts.  Its really only bad at night...you know, when I should be sleeping! 

I had Friday off, and after cleaning and running I had lunch with a friend and some girls from the new ward I'll be in.  It was a lot of fun to hang out with girlfriends and meet new people.  I'm hoping this will make our transition a little more smooth.  It's always nice to have friends waiting for you when you go somewhere new.  In the evening, the kids went to spend an extra night with their dad.  I spent the evening in. 

Saturday morning was the first session of General Conference, so I watched that, then in between sessions I went for a 4 mile run and walked to Walmart to get a few things.  After the afternoon session I went grocery shopping and then met my mom to go into Tucson to hit up Sam's club.  I picked up the kids in the evening.

We watched conference together in the morning and then went to see a property in the afternoon.  It was a very promising option!  2200+ square foot house on a little over 4 acres with great outbuildings, a fabulous porch, and views that can't be beat.  It is up against state trust land, so it really is exactly what we are looking for.  I will probably make an offer, but my hands are stilled tied by not having my house sold.  In the price range the house is at, they most likely will not accept an offer contingent on my house selling, but it's about all I can do for now.  I'm getting really good at the letting go and being patient for the right thing to come up.  I have no idea how everything is going to work out, so I'm just going to go with the flow and be patient.

We had a picnic lunch at the park and then watched the remainder of conference.  We went to my parent's for dinner when we were done.  Helen wasn't feeling well, I'm hoping its an isolated thing and we don't have an epidemic getting ready to spread through our house!