Just Another Day ....

You're probably wonder what we've been up to. Well, a whole lot and a lot of nothing! Let me try to explain that.

As you all know, we are planning on moving to North Carolina. We were honestly hoping to be in our new home by now but things just didn't work out that way for us. Our fist buyer was a single mom who ended up losing her job, so we lost our buyer. We then went to our backup buyers, and lucky for us, they were still interested.

We also finally had our hearing to see if we were going to be approved for the variance on the sunroom ~~ or rather, the enclosed porch (as the Zoning Board referred to it). There were four issues on our plate to deal with ... the sunroom, the location of the shed (which we had moved to try to come into compliance), the brick paver patio around the pool, and the fence. Lucky for us, the Board approved the enclosed porch so long as we never utilize it as living space, put heat in it or electric it in. They also approved the pavers. We were told that we either had to relocate the shed or get rid of it. Well, due to the size of our property, there weren't too many options for relocating unless we put it in the middle of the yard on the side of the house so we decided to take it down. As for the fence, the Board never approves a fence (even though it was there when we bought the house) so we either had to cut it down from 6 ft. to 4 ft. or move it in 10 feet to be up to code. Well, two Sunday's ago, Bob and Dan went out on the coldest day of the year and took down the 6' sections in the areas in question and replaced them with 4' sections. Now that we've done all this work, we're hoping to get a re-inspection soon and get the final paperwork on the sunroom.

As of today, we are officially in contract. The buyers bank appraiser was here on Monday, so it looks like things are finally moving forward. My guess is that once the buyers get their mortgage, we can finally close. We were given an "on or about date" in the contract of March 16 so we're just about in the window to close.

As for a house in North Carolina, that's a whole other story. We had made an offer on one but after the inspection and losing our buyer, we chose to back out of the deal. We are now searching again for our new house. We think we've narrowed it down to two. We're going to fly down next weekend and hopefully, make a final decision. What a wonderful Valentine's Day gift that would be!

There's really nothing new to report on the adoption front. We're still in the never-ending holding pattern. The last round of referrals were for February 2006. Our Log-In date is January 17, 2007 so we've got quite a wait still ahead of us. Once we get settled in NC, we'll sit down and re-evaluate the situation and see which way we want to go.

On a positive note, both Bob and I have some things to be proud of.

Bob was nominated for the Circle of Excellence award at work for a second time and he has won. The award ceremony is being held at a beautiful resort called The Fairmont Whistler in Vancouver. We're not sure when it will be held yet but it promises to be a fun time.

I FINALLY finished school!!! I passed my last test and handed in all my final paperwork last Friday. What an amazing feeling! I'm so excited and I can't wait to get my feet wet and work. I actually sat in on my first deposition last week and it was a blast. That was the case I used to prepare my school transcript. The official graduation will be July 12 and it's going to be a wonderfully exciting day.

And finally, an update on Shania. We took her in for the allergy testing because her itchies have gotten much worse and found out that our poor puppy is allergic to everything! Several types of wood, trees, and grass, mold, and dust. She's also allergic to turkey (which she loves!), corn and rice. We are now in the process of giving her shots to see if they'll build her immune system so these things don't bother her anymore. We've also had to change her food to a prescription type that's very expensive. Did I mention that it is like $65 for a 20 lb. bag??? But on a much more positive note, Dr. Wen (her holistic doctor) said that her knee is just about stable and she's doing wonderfully. He's cut her medicine down from 10 pills a day to 6 (it's all herbs). I know she's feeling better because she runs around the yard like a luney toon!

So, that's about all there is for now. Like I said, not much going on but a lot going on.

Well, I'm going to get going for now. I'll check back in a while and give another update when there's something to tell.

Take care, stay warm, and be well!

Love and kisses,
Faith