Lunch with Maureen

It's hard to believe I have had Maureen as a neighbor for nearly 17 years.  She has been one of my truest friends, longest friends and most respected persons.

I also love that our boys get along so well.  Robert and Aaron did most everything together.

Today Maureen and I went to lunch together.  We walked down memory lane - we laughed - we cried.

She told me that She and Harley are also moving, which in a strange way makes the sting of my move away from Louisville easier to accept.  They are moving to North Carolina.  They have always loved that area of the country.  She is having a magnificent beautiful lake side house built.  They are building it from the ground up.  The photos she showed me look amazing!  I am happy for her.  I would much rather prefer to move to North Carolina over Memphis, but the hope of Dallas stays in my mind.

I shared with her how, at the moment, we don't even know the city we are moving.  It is so strange.  Surprisingly, I am not worried.  I think it is because I am anxious and hopeful that Flex will change their mind and allow us to move to Dallas.

We will have to make an extra effort to get together once we both move away.

Another trip to Memphis

Mark had another business trip to Memphis - so since I was still without a job, and with very little responsibilities, I went with him on the business trip.  We drove down (in a rental car) Tuesday mid day.  It is a six hour drive - and of course it rained on the way down.

This trip I was with a new realtor for the Mississippi homes.  Her name is Tina.  I was given her name by recommendation, but she was not a good fit for me.  First, she didn't listen to any of the previous emails I had sent with details about the homes I wanted to see on the trip... it was like she hadn't read any of them.  This meant I needed to start from scratch again, making a list of possible homes and locations in Mississippi to see.  She seemed put out that I had not narrowed my search to a specific area in Olive Branch.  I keep an open mind and made decisions based on each and every house I see.  This was a disaster - she tried to make decisions for me, even to the point of not showing me homes because she thought I would not like it, but not giving me the opportunity to make that decision for myself. Even with all that I was trying to work it out with her on Thursday, but when we stood me up Friday morning and then said "I assumed you didn't want to meet," as her excuse - I was completely disenchanted with her - the lack of professionalism, the lack of respect, the lack of knowledge... and so on.

Mark still wanted to see the homes I had talked about.  She agreed to meet us at 2:00 pm.  I picked up Mark from work and we met her at one place - too small of a yard for Mark.  Then we drove out to the second (but first choice) place.  Mark liked it, and I liked it.  She was very pushy about writing a contract.  We said we would write one when our house sold.  She seemed very disappointed.

Mark and I had a long drive home, and we were trying to leave before a big storm him.  Unfortunately, due to the extended house looking that we did, we were stuck driving home in an ice and snow storm that covered many states.  Mark was a trooper.  He drove in the icey parts.

So far I still have not found the house and location I want, but I feel like it will reveal itself when the time comes for us to move to the Memphis area.

Painting and Packing

Oh my gosh - so much work.

At first it started out as fun projects to update the house while we contemplated the possible move away from Louisville KY.

Then Mark found out that we have to move to Memphis, TN in order to stay with the company.  At first they wanted Mark to move to San Jose, CA, but he refused that offer. 

Immediately, we had so much work to get done on the house to get it ready to go on the market.

The LIST:

Paint master bedroom
Paint master bathroom
Paint Robert's room
Paint Robert's bathroom
Paint shared bathroom
Paint Marissa's bathroom
Paint Marissa's bedroom
Paint kitchen
Paint Weight room
Paint game room
touch up trim upstairs
touch up trim middle floor
touch up trim basement
replace carpet basement
replace carpet upstairs
replace one garage door
replace 6 windows
clean moss off patio
remove books and bookshelves from:
two from Master bedroom
Robert's room
Marissa's room
upstairs hallway
England room
two bookshelves in basement
three bookshelves in study/office
pack all books away or sell books to 1/2 price books
get rid of extra bedding, clothes, shoes, furniture, accessories, etc.
get rid of family room couches
store coffee and end tables from family room
remove desk from master bedroom
remove desk from Marissa's room
clean out Robert's room
clean out Marissa's room
clean up and thin Betsy's closet
clean up and organize Mark's closet
clean up and organize dining room
clean up and organize kitchen
clean up and organize game room
clean up and organize weight room
clean up and organize entertainment room
remove sewing machine and sewing stuff
remove personal photos from basement
remove personal photos from bedrooms
remove personal photos from hallways
remove photos from fridge
remove glass table from front entrance
remove round rug from front entrance
remove draperies from dining room
remove draperies from study/office
get microwave fixed
remove microwave from counters
remove TV from family room
clean up where TV was
kill weeds
replant grass
fix cupboards so they hang right
fix tape in master bathroom ceiling
fix broken tile in master bedroom shower
clean out main floor coat closet
clean out shoes from drop zone
paint drop zone
touch up trim in drop zone
clean up and organize storage room
clean up and organize storage under the stairs
clean up and organize storage closet in basement bathroom
THROW or GIVE anything not needed in MEMPHIS

Mark accepts offer to stay with FLEX

Mark had been looking for a new job since March of this year.  Just after getting back from Cayson's blessing Flex contacts Mark to offer him his job in the Memphis office.

Mark and Betsy consider the offer and accept it. 

We will be moving to Memphis, TN as soon as the house sells.  Unfortunately, they made this offer after school already started so we missed the "school rush" to find a new home. 

Mark is happy to be able to stay with Flex.  This is such a blessing.

Memphis for Soccer Tournament

Wow, what a crazy weekend.  I got Robert out of school early because we had a 6+ hour drive down to Memphis for a Soccer tournament. Our first game is Saturday morning.  Surprisingly, the weather all week has been wonderful, but today and tomorrow are expected to be cold and wet.  The fields are slick from the rain, too.

We are playing in the Germantown Invitational Tournament - this is where we would have lived if we moved to Memphis (about 10 years ago).