On the Yard Sale Road

We were up before dawn and out the door before seven o'clock this morning... on a yard sale mission to find things for Mayberry. At the first yard sale, and I'm betting that woman never had a yard sale before--- she told us to come back in an hour and a half because her helper hadn't arrived yet and she couldn't do it alone. Give me a blessed break. We left and didn't go back. My husband had walked up her driveway a little bit while she was telling me that we couldn't even look, and he said she didn't have much worth going back for anyway. I hate when people tell you that you're too early to look.... it's a yard sale, not the opening of Grant's Tomb, for goodness sake.

So off we went.... we also had Miss C and her mom with us, being that C really wanted to go, and her mom came along for the ride as well. The next stop was advertised as a moving sale, and we bought some great kitchen items, all for 50 cents each.... Pyrex mixing bowls, a vintage glass juicer, and CorningWare baking dishes. Oh... do I have to cook in that pretty country-kitchen at Mayberry? (Just kidding.... just kidding.) I also found some pretty Corelle dishes.... so I bought those as well... just three dollars for eight brand-new-in-the-box plates, how could I leave them there?

There were only two sales advertised for today, so after we left that subdivision, I headed for home on a different road than the one we came on. Lo and behold--- three more yard sale signs, for sales that hadn't been advertised in the newspaper. They were three good ones...... C's mom found me a brand new ironing board and iron. (I won't be ironing much up at Mayberry, but I don't want to be going into town with wrinkled clothes.) She also found a pretty hand-painted country-style vase that will look great on the mantel over the fireplace.

My husband found two great things.... a lighthouse tapestry, complete with the wooden hanger, and a good-sized mirror framed with a soft leopard-print fabric. A fun, chic mirror, and I know just the place for it...... we decided not to set up the two extra bedrooms as guest rooms. One room will be furnished as a sitting room/reading room, with comfy chairs and my bookcases. I'll use the leopard mirror to hang over the small wooden sideboard that I'm putting in that room. Another thing I'm glad I saved--- the small sideboard that I found at a yard sale years ago. We've had it in the laundry room for the past couple of years, after I made room for my mother-in-law's furniture.... it looked cute in there, but it was totally "lost" in that little room. It will have a new home and will look great up at Mayberry.

We're both getting more and more excited as each day passes. And so is young Miss C..... jumping up and down every time she talks about the lake property. She will soon be making the sign for her cabin, which will have a beach-shack theme. The sign will be either "C's Cabin," or "Biggio's Bungalow." (After Craig Biggio, her current Astros heart-throb.)

Gee.... maybe we should've called the cottage "Manilow Manor." (Just kidding... just kidding....)

Yard Sales

I've decided to start going to the local yard sales, estate sales, moving sales--- whatever they choose to call them, it means the same thing: great stuff for inexpensive prices. I haven't been to a yard sale in two years, since my husband's mom passed away. We had too many things here after we had her treasures shipped here from up north. Add those to what we already had, and it was just too much. I had started going through our house and taking things away (that I had found at yard sales and local antique shops).... some of those items got sold on eBay, to make room for the more precious treasures from my mother-in-law's home.

I had stopped going to the yard sales because that was the only way for me not to buy anything else. If I don't see it, then I can't buy it. And if I don't need it, and have no room for it, then why go look for it in the first place. Therefore, no yard sales. Not a one.

Till this morning, that is. I hadn't planned on going today, but on my way out for errands, I saw some yard sale signs and I stopped at two of them. I found Miss C a nice little bookcase for her cabin at the lake... made from picket-fence material, positively cute and painted mint green. Miss C wants her cabin to have a beach-y look, and I think she'll like this shelf. If she doesn't, then I can use it on the screen-porch.

I also bought a copy of James Michener's "Texas" -- brand-new looking hardcover, for just $2.00 -- I've been wanting to read that book for years, and just never got to it. So for two dollars, how could I leave that book there? At the second yard sale, I found a wonderful decorative wall hanging made of wrought iron..... a vintage look to it, made to hold little glass cups with votive candles. A perfect cottage-y candle-holder that will work in any of the rooms there... and it was just two dollars. See what I mean?.......... If you go to yard sales, you're bound to find something that works.

We're going to the yard sales tomorrow, and probably Saturday also.... looking for things we can use at the cottage. Young Miss C will come with us, so she can search for things for her own cabin. She's wanting to find bunk-beds for her cabin, so in case one of her friends comes along for the weekend with her, she'll have the extra sleeping space right there. That girl is as excited about that 14x20' cabin as we are about all of Mayberry. It's a pleasure to see her jumping with glee..... and jump she does... she's bouncing on her toes like a little bunny, I swear.

I'm just about finished packing up things from the house here. Boxes are piled up in the garage, and now there's a bunch of small tables stuffed into a corner of my sitting room. We don't need much in the way of decorative items, since I had so many things "to spare" around this house. Amazing what I can take away from here, and not have anything look like it's missing something. I also went through all of my cabinets and closets, looking for (and finding) things that will look just fine up in that cottage.

The last thing I did today was look through my bookshelves.... I now have a pile of books to take up to Mayberry. Books that I want to read again, and books that would be quick-reads for guests. My sitting room is always so neat.... now it looks like I'm having a yard sale of my own right in this room. At least in that one corner... the rest of the room is still okay.

The next adventure will come when we rent a truck to take all of this stuff from here to there. I think we can do it ourselves. I don't have heavy furniture here to move... mostly small side-tables, lamps, wicker chairs and rockers. That should all be easy enough.... and the boxes aren't heavy. I didn't pack any box so heavy that I couldn't lift it, so we should be just fine. And young Miss C has told us a thousand times that she'll be helping us as much as she can. With the high school starting classes here on August 10th, her time for helping will be somewhat limited, but we hope to get as much done ourselves so when C and her parents come up to Mayberry, they can just relax and have fun rather than move furniture around.

More adventures.... I think going to Mayberry Cottage will be an adventure every time.

Miss C Goes to Mayberry Cottage

We were up at Mayberry Cottage for most of this afternoon.... we had an appointment with an engineer to have the house inspected, and it passed with flying colors. The engineers (two of them) were very thorough... they looked at every inch of everything up there... the whole process taking nearly three hours.

My husband and I had invited young Miss C to drive up with us, as well as her mom. L wasn't feeling well yesterday, and she wasn't feeling all that much better this morning, so she decided not to take the drive. But Miss C was up bright and early this morning, and we left her house by 9:00 a.m.

When we got up to Livingston, we stopped at a deli there to get sandwiches for lunch... one for each of us, plus one for our realtor, who was meeting us there for the inspection. We had our first picnic in "our" backyard... without placecards and a guest book (said Miss C). I had also brought along a can of cat food for the current owner's cat, who looks positively starved. Poor cat also looks to be blind in one eye.... I'm praying that they don't leave the cat there when they pack up and move. It's an outdoor cat, and looks as if it's been through a war, poor thing.

We looked at everything thoroughly today, even more so than the last time we were at the cottage. The little cabin is larger than we had remembered it to be... approximately 14-feet wide, 24-feet long..... so young Miss C will have quite a nice little cabin all to herself. Plus, the cabin has two windows, one looking out to the lake, so she was jumping up and down with ideas of how she wants to decorate it.

I also left a note for the sellers, telling them that we very much appreciate the love and care that has gone into that property, and I also told them that we'd be interested in buying some of the furniture, if they were looking to sell some of their things. I made a list, room by room, of what we would like to buy, but I didn't leave the list there... I'll talk to them over the phone when they call.

While we were at the house, five ducks landed on the back lawn, and two large white egrets flew down onto the boatdock and looked into the lake for their lunch. Beautiful views from every angle of the backyard, and wonderful views from the porches, the kitchen and dinette, the living room, the master bedroom, and what will be a sitting room. We decided that we'll set up just one of the extra bedrooms as a guest room. The other room will be a quiet sitting room for reading, but I may put a loveseat in there that opens up to a bed, just in case we have extra guests. My sister gave me the idea that if I set up the two extra rooms with beds, then they'll just be bedrooms and nothing more. Good idea, I thought.

It was just so wonderful to be up there today.... gorgeous day, lots of sun. It was so hot in town when we stopped for the sandwiches, but once we got to the lake area, with all those big beautiful trees and winding hills, the temperature cooled down a bit. And on our own little peninsula of land, with those sweet-gum shade trees, and the breeze coming off the lake, it was indeed like heaven. No...... it was like Mayberry.

Morning Walks

My husband decided to use the local high school track for his morning exercise, and I went with him this morning. While he jogged around the quarter-mile track, I walked it. We caught up with each other twice (or I should say that I caught up with him). I don't like jogging, and much prefer to walk faster than to run slowly.

I used to walk on a more regular basis, but it's a boring thing to do unless you're walking with someone else. My evening exercises have gone by the wayside these last couple of months. I used to exercise while watching "The Amazing Race" and "The Apprentice," as well as during the afternoon Oprah shows. The first two television shows have ended for the season now, and I've been too busy to watch Oprah since we started this lake-house adventure.

That isn't to say that I haven't been exercising. I've lost count of how many times I've walked around this house selecting things to pack for Mayberry Cottage... and as that old saying goes--- "I should have a nickel for every time" I've gone out to the garage to get packing paper and boxes. I'm so glad that I saved all of those great boxes and packing material from when we had things moved here from Gary's mom's house in New York. I knew they'd come in handy for something, and now I've been using them. When we unpack these boxes at the cottage, I'll toss most of the boxes away and just keep a few of the medium-sized ones in the garage up there.

The front seat of my little car is filled with things to bring to my friend L at J's antique shop this afternoon. Things that I was going to sell on eBay, but I just don't have the time now. I will trade those items for stuff that I can use for the cottage. I plan to start back on eBay in September, but for now, I'd rather get some of these smaller things out of this "eBay closet" and get some things I know we can use at Mayberry.

We're both on a organizational frenzy here. My husband went through his computer room and cleaned out a bunch of things that he no longer uses. He has been setting up a new computer for the past three days, so that spurred the clean-up of that closet. Out with the old... in with just what he truly uses. I've got more things for the donation box that I keep in the garage, and I think I now have enough scrap paper to last me for the rest of my life.

One part of our garage is now piled with boxes all packed and sealed, ready to be moved to the cottage. I've got some pieces of furniture out there as well, and I hope to be able to speak to the sellers of the cottage and see if they're going to be selling some of the furniture that's up there now. You never know.... they just might not have use for some of that stuff.

We've set up an appointment to get Mayberry Cottage inspected, along with the little cabin, the garage, the boathouse, dock, bulkhead, etc. We're moving right along with everything there, now that the contracts are all signed. The longest part of the process will be the title search. They don't have computers up there to do that... it's all done by hand, going through all the records on each and every house up there. A slow process that really should be updated, considering the interest in properties in those towns surrounding the lake. But their slow process is giving me time to pack things up from here, so I guess that's a good thing.

Sunday Surprises

Gorgeous day today..... blue sky, lots of sun...... over 100 degrees, I'm sure.

Our young Miss C dropped by this morning, along with her mom, to bring us buttermilk-cinnamon muffins that they baked yesterday. C is driving whenever and wherever she can, so of course she drove over here from the other side of the subdivision. Yesterday with her instructor from the driving school, she was on the Gulf Freeway, doing 60 mph. What a kid.... a knew she'd be a "natural" driver (to use my dad's term).

I made tea for the four of us this morning, and we all talked about Mayberry Cottage while we enjoyed the muffins. True to what I had thought, Miss C asked us if she could have the little guest cabin, instead of "just a regular room" in the house. I knew she would like that little cabin when she saw it in the photos, but I had thought she wouldn't fall in love with it till she actually saw it. The little cabin is officially hers, and she's already making a list of what to bring up there.

C is making us two signs for the lake house, both on pieces of driftwood that she's been saving. For the "main" house, the sign will of course read Mayberry Cottage, and for the little one, the sign will proudly proclaim C's Cabin. She is so excited about all of this that she can hardly sit still. Both she and her mom will drive up to the lake with us this week when the engineer meets us there to inspect the house and the property. One more step in the process..... the contracts are all signed, then the inspection this week... then we'll have to wait for the title. That takes the longest, so we're not due for the closing on the property till after mid-July.

The afternoon's surprise was a phone call from my friend F in New York. I didn't expect a call, so it was very much a surprise, and we were on the phone for well over two hours. As always, we picked up where we left off the last time, which is always a comfortable thing to be able to do. We talked about old business from NY, and new business in Texas.... and lots of stuff inbetween. I know my husband must've been wondering what two women can find to talk about for so long a time. Girl stuff, good stuff, funny stuff, memory stuff.... it was all just great.

I spent part of the morning packing a few more boxes for the cottage... amazing what I can take from around this house that will fit up there nicely. I also went through my clothes, picking out things to take up there that I can just leave up there.... tops and slacks and shoes, and even a sweater and a shawl for when it gets cooler. It will be nice to enjoy the lake not only on hot summer days, but also as the weather changes during the year. And young Miss C has already asked us if we could maybe have Thanksgiving dinner up at Mayberry instead of here. Love that child.....

"The Secret Garden"

We went downtown this afternoon to meet our friends K and B for a matinee performance of "The Secret Garden." It has been at least twenty-five years since I read that classic story, and this version was more abstract (to use my husband's word) than I remember the original to be. I want to find that book and read it again, without the embellishments and interpretation of the person who wrote today's play.

One of the children in this play looked very familiar.... I could swear that we've seen that little boy in "The Nutcracker" last Christmas. He has a very impish face and a strong voice, and his Dutch-boy haircut is even the same, so I'm betting that he's the same child from the Christmas play.

We went to an Indian restaurant (also downtown) for dinner afterwards. K had her granddaughter visiting, so it was the five of us for both the play and dinner. I've only been to one Indian restaurant, and there were only two items on the menu that I liked, so today's meal was an adventure. We ordered two large dishes that we all could share.... shrimp with an assortment of vegetable dishes, and a chicken and lamb dish with still more vegetables, plus rice. K's granddaughter hadn't ever eaten Indian food before, but she found a grilled chicken dish on the menu and said that it tasted "just like real chicken."

I tasted the shrimp (delicioius), didn't try the chicken and lamb, and really enjoyed the lentils and spinach dishes. Their bread (called naan, I believe) is served soft and warm, and it's very good, especially with the spinach. They served a soft rice pudding for dessert.... not ever one of my favorites, so I just tasted a tiny bit of that.

We told K and B about Mayberry Cottage, and they can't wait for their first drive up there to see it all. They have a big RV for their trips.... they have two miniature poodles and with their RV, they can take their dogs with them wherever they go. And B, who isn't really a party person but always comes to our Charades parties anyway, said that Mayberry would be a great place to have a party. Maybe underneath her serious exterior, a party-girl is lurking.

Mayberry Cottage

We must have thought up at least four dozen names for our lake house, starting when we were driving home from the realtor's office. We thought of so many names... all very nice, but none of them had the right sound, the right feel.

Tonight, we went out for dinner at Babbo Bruno's..... sitting there enjoying the meal and once again thinking up names for the house.

My husband came up with "Mayberry Cottage." Perfectly perfect for that house and that property. It has a nostalgic feel to it, a cozy, comfortable, kick-off-your-shoes feel. Pure Mayberry. Mayberry Cottage.

So Mayberry Cottage it is. Perfect name.

I started packing boxes this morning.... dishes and flatware, kitchen items and decorative things with a country flair. And a guest book, of course. Everything I packed is from around the house and the screen-porch. All my pretty wicker furniture will go from our screen porch here into the living room of Mayberry Cottage... it will have a country/shabby chic look, much like the style of the furniture that's in there now. We don't know yet if the present owner is leaving anything behind, but I'm sure we'll find that out before the closing.

It was an adventure looking for a lake house, and it will be another adventure as we make it our own. I can barely wait.

The Lake House

We were up at the lake yesterday, again searching for houses with the realtor. After three hours of looking, we got to a house that the realtor wanted to show us the first time we went up there. She couldn't show it at that time because it had a contract on it. That contract, however, fell through because the buyer is in the service and he got orders to go to Iraq. (Poor guy.)

Before we got up there for our second trip, that same house had another contract on it. That contract fell through as well, being that the buyer's father (who was going to co-sign) only wanted his daughter to buy a brick house. So that contract was cancelled yesterday morning, while we were on our way up to the lake.

The realtor didn't take us to that house first, though, being that we had half a dozen other houses on our must-see list that we told her we wanted to see.... houses that we had found on the Internet. Off we went to see those.... each one, however, had something very disappointing about them that wasn't described in the Realtor.com ads.

"Our" house (the realtor's surprise for us) was just perfect..... excellent condition (just unpack and move in), private coves on both sides of the peninsula-shaped property, deep water at the two-tiered boat dock, lovely views all around. The community is an established one, filled with both weekenders and year-round residents. Houses of all shapes and sizes and prices, with only a low percentage in disrepair.

As we walked around the property for the first time, we felt like we were in a private park. Lots of shade trees, as well as fig trees and flowering crape myrtles. A lush lawn with low-maintenance plants and flowers, and wooden swings set to view different areas of the lake. Being that our property is surrounded on three sides by water, we've got great waterfront plus pretty side views as well. And right on cue, as we walked around the yard, three ducks flew down onto the lawn and made themselves at home.

We made ourselves at home as well.... it was everything we were hoping for. Not only does the house have a large screen-porch, but it has two open porches as well. There are three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a laundry room, large pantry closet, large living room with a fireplace, very good-sized master bedroom with a walk-in closet and private bathroom. Both of the other bedrooms are a good size, each with a large closet, plus they're both on the opposite side of the hallway from the master. The kitchen is country style, half of it for cooking, half for eating, both sections separated by a breakfast bar. Every blessed thing is clean, well-decorated, and has been well maintained.

The more-than-half-acre property is interesting as well.... the garage is separate from the house and looks like a small cabin. There's also a third "cabin" on the property, which the current owner uses for a hobby room, but it could be a guest room or an office.... it looks like a mini cabin, and young Miss C just might want that for her room when she sees it.

The entire property is just perfectly charming, perfectly home-y, perfect for us. We can bring Gracie up there with us and she'll have a big yard like she has here, and even the cats will have a screen-porch there if we bring them up with us.

I've already made a list of things that are here at our house that we can bring up there, and I spent this morning packing up dishes and decorative items that have a country look. We've gone to contract on the house already, signing all the paperwork before we left the realtor's office yesterday.

Of course, now we're saying that things worked out just the way they were supposed to.... the house in Comfort fell through, then we didn't get the blue house, and we didn't get the third house that we bid on. This is the one we were meant to find.... I knew it when I saw it, and it's as wonderful as the house on the mountain in Comfort-- and that's what I was looking for.

Now we've been thinking of names for the house.... without a doubt, it has to have Cottage as part of its name, being that it indeed looks like a cottage-style house. We've tossed around a dozen or more names since yesterday..... the right one will come when we least expect it.

New York Pizza

My husband and I were talking yesterday about foods that we "miss." Either foods that we don't eat much of anymore, or foods that we just can't get down here in the southern part of Texas.

When my husband asked me what food I missed, I told him "a slice of good old New York pizza." We have a considerable number of Italian restaurants here, and some restaurants that just serve pizza. None of them have New York-style pizza, although a couple of them come pretty close. But if you've lived in NY and have had real New York pizza, then "close" just isn't close enough.

After doing a search on the Internet, my husband found a restaurant in Pearland called "New York Pizza." We went there for lunch today... took us nearly an hour to drive there, because the restaurant's location in Pearland is such that it's not near the major highways. We had to take backroads all the way, passing from one end of Pearland to the other-- we had no idea that Pearland was so big. So many traffic lights along the way made the ride slow-going, but we got to see parts of the town that we hadn't seen before, so it was an adventure. (We're just full of adventures these days.)

We found the restaurant..... and their menu consisted of pizza, salads, and hero sandwiches (large Italian sandwiches on long loaf-bread). Instead of getting a regular slice of cheese pizza, I ordered the "heart healthy vegetarian pizza slice." (Okay, okay... the little angel on my shoulder who watches what I eat gave me a nudge at the last minute.) The pizza slices came with a tossed salad, vinegarette dressing on the side.

They gave us the salads first.... fresh and crisp, with small squares of pizza dough bread on the side. Then came the pizza slices--- large slices, about the equivalent of one and a half slices of "real" NY pizza. My heart-healthy slice had cheese, tomatoes, spinach, artichoke hearts and onions. The vegetables were delicious, the crust was delicious, the sauce and the cheese were outstanding.....and it was bubbling hot, the way pizza should be---- by far, the best slice of pizza we've had since we've been here.

Even though the pizza slice was oversized, and even though I always bring home half of whatever I order at a restaurant, I was determined to eat that entire slice of pizza. I knew that if I brought it home and tried to reheat it, the just-cooked deliciousness would be gone. So I sat there and ate every bite, except for just part of the crust, when my stomach just couldn't hold anymore.

We'd love to go back there again for more pizza, but being that it's such a long ride away, it won't be a place we'll go to on a weekly basis. Which is a good thing.... too much heart-healthy pizza will quickly become heart-unhealthy. Sure was good, though. And I'd still get the vegetarian slice.... I love all the spinach and artichoke slices on top of pizza.

Is That The Sun?

Blue sky today...... and it looks beautiful. Today's Chronicle is filled with pictures of downtown residents mopping up the water that flooded into their homes. The neighborhoods around the airport got drenched, with more than three inches of rain falling every hour during the storms. As I've said, these same neighborhoods get the brunt of the flooding each and every time.

The airports had to cancel hundreds of flights during the storm-- not just because of the weather, but because the flight crews couldn't even get to the airports because of flooded-out roads surrounding the airport property. Now honestly, wouldn't you think that somewhere, someone, somehow.... this could all be fixed?


Our friend K called us the other day to tell us that her daughter's father-in-law has a cabin for sale.... on 73 acres, with its own private six-acre lake. A rustic, country-style cabin, along the lines of the Comfort cabin, but not identical in style. K eMailed pictures of the cabin and the property, and it does indeed look charming and cozy. We spoke to the owner, who told us that he's selling it because of his wife's recent health problems. He came over here to meet us, and gave us the keys so we could drive up and take a look at it. Which we will do, when we go up to Lake Livingston again to look at more lake-homes.

I'm not so sure about this cabin on the 73 acres.... I don't know if I want to be that secluded. So far, every house we've looked at seemed to be in a location where I would drive up by myself and spend time up there alone, if my husband were out of town. This cabin on the 73 acres--- I don't know if I would be willing to do that, even if brought Gracie along with me. The owner of the cabin told us that he's seen a lot of wildlife on the property-- gentle wildlife like deer, and not-so-gentle creatures such as wolves and pumas. I don't want to even think about what would happen if Gracie saw either one of those on the property.

My husband didn't want to make an offer on that pretty house and private lake in Magnolia because he said the lake was too small. So here we are, faced with another small lake, and he's willing to take a look. "It's only a look." Well.... if we're not interested in a small private lake, then why even have a look-see. But we will.... we have a very detailed map, and the owner told us to get there before dark, and leave before dark. (Not exactly what I want to hear when we're driving through the woods.)

I called my sister last night, to tell her the latest in our lake-house adventures. She laughed... and told me that if we didn't narrow the search a little bit, we'd be looking forever. Actually, we have narrowed the search down.... to just a few areas around Lake Livingston. The cabin-in-the-woods was just tossed into the mix by our friend K... her family has been to that cabin and all have loved it, and will be sorry if it's sold to strangers. There is some interest in that cabin, by a group of four men who want to turn it into a hunting lodge. That idea is making the owners very sad, because they never harmed the wildlife up there, either on their own property or in the vicinity. So the thought of gunshots in "their" woods during the hunting season is breaking their hearts.

As my husband says.... "We'll see." I guess the thought of owning 73 acres with a private lake is enticing to him. As for me.... if I were going to invest in a private lake, then I'd be investing in the small lake in Magnolia, where there would at least be some friendly neighbors within shouting distance.... and the house on that property was a "real" house, as opposed to a cabin.

We also had eMail from the realtor in Nacogdoches. Both of the properties up there that we looked at have been reduced in price. There was the small house (which needed so much work) and the larger house (in move-incondition). Both of those sellers are needing to sell now, and both homes could be had for far less than market value. My husband still says that Nacogdoches is too far to drive if we could get a comparable house in the Livingston area. My feeling is that Nacogdoches is a more historical town than any of those around Lake Livingston.

Never in my life would I have thought that this little adventure would have brought so many choices, so many areas, so many lakes, and so many different towns.

Pouring Down Rain

Heavy rains today, mostly all through the morning, with just some showers this afternoon. As always, the usual downtown areas flooded this morning within the first inches of the rainstorm. The news reports the stories, the weathermen measure the inches, and the city Powers That Be don't do a darn thing between one rainstorm and the next. And, just like New Orleans, the downtown areas that flood the worst are inhabited by the residents who can least afford the losses from the water damage.

Back to the drawing board with the weekend-home searches for us. I've found at least half a dozen new listings to see around Lake Livingston. The blue house that we liked now has a contract on it, and that's fine with us. We liked the house, but were wishing it had less stairs and more property, so we hadn't planned on increasing our offer on that one. The one-story house on the larger property is history also-- not sold yet, but we're not increasing our bid on that one either... the seller wants to include a $10,000 boat with the house.... a boat that my husband doesn't want and doesn't want to pay for, so that ends that one. Also fine with me... I loved the property, but wished the house had been a different style.

I called up the home-owner in the little town of Magnolia and told him that as much as we loved his house with its own sweet private lake, we just need to keep looking. It's more than enough "lake" for me, of course, but I'm not the one who's going to be boating and fishing on it. I loved that house and its three-acre property...... a "Comfort house" in Magnolia is what I was calling it. But it just wasn't meant to be, and that's that.

So back we'll go, up to Livingston and Onalaska, for another look-see. But not till after all of this rain quits. Can't be driving along the Gulf Freeway in this weather and not knowing which sections along the downtown loops will be under water. Honestly, you'd think someone in City Hall would make it their business to fix the drainage problems down there.


I spoke to my dad over the weekend, to wish him a happy Father's Day. He sounded fine, but lonely again. He still wants to get out of New Jersey and get back to New York to see Aunt Dolly. He worries about her because she's 94 now, but I think Aunt Dolly is healthier than he is, for the simple reason that she worries less about things than my dad does. Being a worrier can make you ill, tense, and/or depressed...... none of which give you a solid basis for good health.

I didn't mention our weekend-house hunting to my father. I don't think he would understand, given that he took very few vacations in all the years he spent working. My dad was a true working-man.... worked more hours than he rested, and gave away more money than he saved. If he had his life to do over again, I don't know if he'd do anything differently. Would any of us? I guess the bottom line for us all is that we do the best we can when we can... and as Oprah is fond of saying: Only when we know better, we do better.

Crab Feast

We took a break from the weekend-house hunting today...... my husband needed a break, and I can't say as I blame him. He drove to the fish market by the Kemah/Seabrook waterfront and bought a dozen fresh blue-crabs. We invited C and her mom over to join us, and L baked delicious spinach enchilladas to have with the crabs.

Poor C....... she couldn't stand to be in the kitchen while my husband put the crabs into the boiling water, so she went into the living room while that was happening. At one point, one of the crabs slipped out of the tongs and fell onto the stove..... at the very second that the crab hit the stove, my husband jumped back out of the crab's reach and we heard C scream from the living room. We all started to laugh.... all except for poor Miss C, who thought that the crab had jumped out of the pot and was running for his life.

Not easy to put those crabs into the boiling water.... and not easy to watch, either. Young Miss C thought the crabs would be yelling for mercy, so she sat on the sofa with a pillow over each of her ears. She had never picked fresh crabs before, so we had to show her how to do it. That girl loves crabcakes, but she just hadn't realized that the crab in those crabcakes comes from real live crabs. This afternoon was, in my husband's words, a learning experience for C.

This entire week has been a learning experience for C... between the crab-cooking and the driving lessons she's getting. It goes without saying that she now wants to drive everywhere she can, and she's doing better and better each time she gets behind the wheel. She has yet to drive in the rain, or in the dark, but that will all come in good time. She told me today that she was more nervous driving my car than her mom's, because mine is newer and more expensive. I told her to never ever think a car is more important or more valuable than she is...... the car, any car, can always be replaced, but there is only one Miss C in this world.


As for the latest on the weekend house....... we made an offer on the cabin-style house on the open water part of Lake Livingston.... and the seller rejected the offer yesterday. Our realtor believes the seller wants to sell that house for as close to the asking price as he can, which includes the boat he's selling with the house. We don't want that boat, so we wanted that taken off the price of the house..... the seller didn't want to do that either. Fine. We don't want to pay the asking price. It's far too much money, even if he did take off the price of that boat.

We most likely won't make another offer on that house....... the realtor told us exactly what my husband was thinking..... that the seller wanted very close to his asking price. We just thought the seller would go down on the price because he's moving out of the country. Apparently, the seller isn't in a rush. Well, neither are we. Or maybe I should say-- neither is my husband, who has the patience of a saint when it comes to making a deal.

My mind keeps going back to the big house in Nacogdoches...... it's bigger than we need for a weekend home, but that seller is under the gun to sell that house because of the Enron mess. I figure that we could make the same offer on that house that we made on the Lake Livingston house. We already know the Nacogdoches seller is more motivated to sell....... he's made it clear to his realtor that he's willing to take a loss on that house just to "get out from under it."

And as much as I like the realtor we have in Lake Livingston, I just prefer Nacogdoches and the lake up there to the much larger one in the Livingston area. My husband will tell me that Nacogdoches is an hour farther than Livingston. I will tell him that the town of Nacogdoches is more quaint. Plus, I like the fact that Lake Nacogdoches is much smaller than Lake Livingston.... 2200 acres of water vs. 93,000 acres of water. Does he really need that much water to go fishing? I mean, really...... how much fish can two people eat?

Magnolia

My husband and I drove up to the town of Magnolia this morning. That's the town where we stayed during last year's evacuation during Hurricane Rita. Lovely up there, with lots of rural subdivisions filled with small lakes.

Using the Internet last night, my husband found half a dozen lake-front homes, and off we went on another adventure. We didn't contact a realtor up there... my husband got the directions and maps from the Internet sites, and we acted as our own real estate agents, which is legal in this state. We figured that with only six homes to choose from, the trip would be quick and easy, which it was.

At one of the first houses, wouldn't you know we found an adorable little stray kitten in the front yard--- and we left it there, sad to say. I think it was a little female, which I would've named Magnolia, of course. But I quickly came to my senses--- right at the moment when my husband suggested that I not pick it up. "Once you pick it up and hold her, it's all over." And of course he was right. Besides, we were up there to look at lake-front properties, not kittens.... and don't we have enough cats in this house already. (What on earth was I thinking?)

Four of the houses we went up to see were empty and locked, but we were able to look through the windows and get an idea of the houses (none of which we liked anyway).... and two of them were so bad from the outside that we didn't even get close enough for a good look.

One house was on a small private lake, and the side door was unlocked so we went right on in and quickly looked around--- the house was unfurnished, totally empty and not lived-in.... we wouldn't have done that had it been furnished and clearly someone's home. We crossed that house off of our list because it was too close to the neighbors on both sides, and both of those neighbors had very neglected property and homes.

The best house was on a very, very small lake--- I swear, it reminded us both of the house in the movie "On Golden Pond." The owner of that home was mowing the yard with a riding-mower, and he graciously gave us the tour of his house. Beautiful, well-cared for home, complete with screen-porch, outdoor jacuzi-spa, hammock between two of the trees, wonderful cozy rooms--- everything had a comfortable cottage look and we could find not one fault with either the house or the property. Best of all, the owner was selling not only the property that the house was sitting on, but both properties on either side of the house...... three large lots, all with beautiful shade trees, and a fantastic wide view of the picture-postcard lake.

Of course, there's always a glitch with the most perfect of houses-- the lake was just so small..... more like a very, very large pond than a lake. Even though my husband and I both loved that home, my husband felt that he would soon tire of that small lake. We had asked the owner where he was moving to, and he said he and his wife would be looking at lake-front homes in (of all places!) Lake Livingston.

We drove home afterwards, talking about all the lake-front choices we've seen in the past few weeks (months?). I told my husband that I would be happy with the tri-level blue house on the big cove of Lake Livingston, or the cottage-y home on the small lake (Mink Lake) in Magnolia, or the one-level lake-style house on the large and secluded shade-tree property of Lake Livingston's wide open-water.

Final decision must be his, being that he's the one who will be using the water. And if you're going to invest in a lake property, then you'd better be investing in the "best water." I'm not the water-person..... he is. I will be the one sitting on the dock, feeding the ducks and reading books and making the house a home.

One thing is for sure..... I think we're at the point where we've looked at enough houses in enough areas...... my husband has done plenty of research on the towns, and he knows the tax-bases and the deed restrictions and the prime areas of the lakes that we've looked at. With all of that said, a decision can't be too far away.

Driving Lesson #1

Our phone rang after lunch-time today, and it was young Miss C, asking if I had time this afternoon for her first driving lesson with me. She made a point of telling me that we could use my husband's car, rather than my new car, if I didn't feel "comfortable" letting her drive my car.

I never thought of not letting her drive my sporty little car. When I got to her house, I told her that I knew exactly how my car would react, and how it needed to be handled in any situation... two things that I don't know about my husband's car, since I rarely drive his car, and he almost never drives mine.

Just as I thought, C is a "natural driver," as my father would say. My dad told me those same words time and again when he was teaching me to drive so many years ago. From the first time he let me get behind the wheel, I just took to that car as easily as I got used to my bicycle when I was younger.

For about an hour this afternoon, C drove up and down and around all the streets of our subdivision, plus the streets of the two subdivisions which connect to ours. When she first took the wheel, C kept asking me which way she should go. I suggested the first couple of right or left turns, then I told her to pick out her own route, being that she knows all of these streets so well. C quickly came to the conclusion that riding her bicycle around the streets is a lot different than driving a car around the same streets.

She's going to be just fine with driving... she's just nervous enough to be very cautious, but not nervous enough to whittle away her confidence behind the wheel. I was just so proud of her today that I had to dab at the corners of my eyes with a tissue while she was driving.

Driving Miss C

My husband and I were surprised yesterday afternoon when we got home from grocery shopping.... our young Miss C drove up in front of our home-- C was driving, with her mom in the passenger seat. My husband was out in the driveway and heard C honk the horn.... he came in to get me and told me to keep my eyes closed as he led me down our driveway. When he told me to open my eyes, they filled up with tears as I saw C behind the wheel of the car.

So exciting for her........ she was so happy to show me her learner's permit, and so proud that she passed the written test, and just so thrilled to be behind the wheel. I gave her such a big hug that my eyes puddled up with tears again. Not only were we both so proud of her, but to think that she drove straight over to our house on her first "real" driving lesson was so nice of her.

I was happy that her mom took C out for driving lessons before me.... I was worried about that, because we're always careful not to over-step our bounds with C. Although we love her as our own, we always keep in mind that we're not her parents, and we wouldn't ever want to do anything that would hurt her parents' feelings. C's dad is off working now, and I'm sure he'll be taking her out driving when he gets back home.

Before C drove off with her mom, I told her to remember not to pick up any hitch-hikers. Without missing a beat, she asked me "But what if Barry Manilow is hitchhiking?" I told her that if she ever sees Barry walking along the side of a road, she should pick him up and drive him straight to my house. "Sounds like a plan!" said C. (I swear, how could anyone not love this child?)


We haven't done anything further on the blue lake-front house. We're just sitting tight, and I suggested to my husband that maybe we should drive up there again to look it over even more thoroughly before we make another bid on it. I still believe that our second offer should be lower than the first, given the water levels on that part of the lake. Being that this would be a second home, a weekend getaway, we weren't planning on spending quite that much anyway.

While I was on the phone with my sister last night, telling her more about the blue house, my husband was searching the Internet for even more homes. He found another lake, a smaller one, in Magnolia-- that's the town that we evacuated to during last year's Hurricane Rita. We didn't realize that there was a lake there....... we obviously didn't have time to tour the town while we were up there and we haven't been there since.

So we might just take a drive there.... my husband found more than a few lake-front homes in Magnolia to look at, all priced much less than the big blue house at Lake Livingston. A lower price on the house would mean lower taxes and less money for insurance.

My sister wanted to know if all of this weekend-home hunting is giving me a headache or more gray hairs. My answer was that I don't have a headache, and I haven't counted my gray hairs lately, but this quest for a serene little getaway-home is surely wreaking havoc with my sleep. And speaking of gray hairs... I've stopped high-lighting my hair and the gray hairs that are there are much more attractive than the auburn highlights that were costing me time and money.

On The Road for Miss C

Our young Miss C called us at noon-time today with exciting news... she passed the written test for her driver's license and she now has her learner's permit. Her voice was so excited over the phone that I just knew that she was jumping up and down while she was talking to me.

She wanted her mom to come straight over here on their way back from the testing, but her mom insisted on going home first--- C got her mom up and out of bed so early this morning that L had driven to the Vehicle Safety Office without a shower, breakfast or even make-up.

We went out for dinner with both C and her mom last night to the local Chinese buffet restaurant, and C was all excited about taking that test this morning. My husband was asking her some questions about driving, and she seemed to be very confident. We knew that she would pass that test today... she missed just one question.

I assured C this morning that I would keep my promise of teaching her to drive, even though I now have a newer and more expensive car than the one I had when I offered to teach her. Because of that, I plan to take her in and around the subdivisions here, staying off of all the major roads. When it comes time for the larger, busier roads, then we'll use her mom's car or her dad's.

My husband and I are both so excited for her. When C told me the news this morning, my eyes filled up with tears because I was just so happy for her. I swear to heaven, I couldn't love that child any more if she were my own.


We had a phone message last night from one of our neighbors who is also a guest at all of our Charades and holiday parties. My husband called him back when we got in from dinner with C and L. Our neighbor B lives alone... his wife passed away more than half-a-dozen years ago. B had baked a cake yesterday and wanted to invite my husband and I over for cake and coffee last night. It was after 9:30 when we got home, so B and my husband thought it was too late for that.

When my husband told me the gist of the phone call, I called B back and asked him if he wanted to come over for dinner tonight, and we could all share his dessert after dinner. He thought that was a great idea, so that's what we're doing. I've already made a pot of spaghetti sauce and all I have to do is set the dining room table.

I told my husband that B is probably looking for company, and since we've been out to dinner with him before, and he's been to our home so many times, he just felt comfortable baking a cake and calling to invite us over. B loves to bake anyway, and he makes a chocolate cake as delicious as the ones my Aunt Dolly always made for my birthday. Of course, I'm hoping that the cake he made yesterday is chocolate, but whatever he baked will be delicious, I'm sure. And the important thing is to get together with him, if it's company that he needs.

When I first met our neighbor B, I immediately thought he'd make a nice "match" for our friend Frankie, being that they were about the same age, and they both had a nice sense of humor. As soon as I could, we got a party together here and B and Frankie had a good long time to sit and chat. They liked one another right off, but Frankie concluded that B wasn't "boyfriend or husband material" because she believed that he was still much in love with his deceased wife. To quote dear Miss Frankie: "Child, I've got enough to worry about in a day's time without having to compete with a ghost."

Frankie enjoyed B's company at our parties, but always made sure not to spend any more time with him than she did with our other guests. And she was right, of course.... we've since determined that B keeps the memory of his deceased wife very much alive and isn't looking for a replacement.

Miss Frankie..... we miss her still.


As for The Blue Swan, I have a feeling that the sellers are going to be disappointed that they didn't take my husband's first offer on that house. Being that they countered our offer with a price not much lower than their asking price, my husband has been making phone calls to the county since early this morning. He has found out the taxes on that property, and the water levels in that part of the lake. He will use that information to either stick by his original offer, or make a second offer that is much lower than the first offer.

I'm just trying to let all of this go over my head without drowning me. I do love that house, but I've loved other houses as well. And there were so many houses up there that were on our "we could buy this" list that if this one doesn't work out, then we'll just go up there again, or make an offer on the second or third houses on that list.

The Blue Swan

That's the name my husband thought of for the tri-level lakefront house that we're now in the negotiation stage with the sellers. The Blue Swan, because it sits up high on the peninsula, and it has a gracelful, Savannah-style, Galveston-style beach-cottage look.

We picked this house as number one in our choices because it's the newest, and the easiest to care for, with its casual indoor style and small property (lawn) and excellent boat dock and decking. The views are also gorgeous, with both open-water and cove views.

Our offer was put in yesterday, and the seller countered our offer but didn't come down too much. We made the offer taking into consideration the tri-level style, and the small property size, both of which wouldn't appeal to everyone. At the seller's asking price, we could buy a one-story home on a larger piece of property, but the water-depth and the views wouldn't be as good as this one. It's all a give-and-take thing, with every house we saw. This house just has more pros than cons.

The sellers have called their realtor twice since we put in our offer, and they have welcomed us to put in another offer. Our realtor thinks that they're sorry they didn't come down more in their counter-offer to us, and she believes they're motivated to sell now at our next offer. True to my husband's style, he's sitting back and waiting out the weekend before making another offer. True to my own style, I can't get the house out of my mind, and I just wish this wouldn't have to be so drawn out. "That's the name of the real estate game," says my husband.

And so it goes....... I eMailed my sister the realtor's page on the house..... she's calling to tell us to Buy it! Just buy it! She and her husband love the house. I love the house. My husband loves the house... he's just playing "hard to get" with the sellers.

As I've said before.... give me a blessed break.

Lakefront Choices

We spent all of yesterday up around the Lake Livingston area, looking at more weekend homes with the realtor. Total of 15 houses yesterday....... added to at least 20 that we saw on Monday-- an amazing number of homes, all with something great to offer. My husband and I said the same thing yesterday--- we kept wanting to take one house and move the whole thing to a different waterfront part of the lake, or take a certain part of the lake and move it behind a certain house.

In any case, we saw enough yesterday to make up our minds about which section of the lake we'd like to be on.... and thankfully, Marie is such a great realtor that she again steered us away from problem houses or questionable areas. That woman was relentless in her energy..... in and out of houses quickly that we all didn't like, and so patient when we found a "keeper."

We now have three lakefront homes to choose from..... three very good, very new homes with gorgeous views, nice property, boathouses and docks, and (best of all) they're each in move-in condition. All we'd have to do is clean the bathrooms and kitchen, dust up a bit and vacuum, unpack our clothes and that's it.

The first "keeper" was a beautifully charming tri-level home on its own peninsula. The stairs between each of the levels were at an easy incline, less than seven steps between each level. New house, with lakefront property that isn't too big, so the lawn and small garden would be extra-easy to care for. The main level of the house has the kitchen, dining area, and living room.... everything looking out to the lakefront. The second level has two bedrooms, a huge bathroom, the laundry room, and plenty of closets and storage space. The third level has the master bedroom, which gives you a higher, beautiful view of the lake. The master bathroom (which is huge and has a jacuzi tub) is raised four steps up from the master bedroom....... makes you feel like you have such a private suite up there, because the two guest bedrooms are below you. That house is all brand new, with a great kitchen, wood floors, plus it has a small bathroom/shower on the lower level of the house, so you don't have to use the upstairs bathrooms when you come in from the lake. This house is loaded with charm and country lakehouse character.... lots of beautiful wood floors, high ceilings and being on that peninsula makes it feel very private.

The second has lakehouse style on a larger "open water" property, but it's next to a very big cove so all that water doesn't feel so intimidating. This house has a tri-level outside deck, one part which could very easily be either screened-in or made into a glass-enclosed sunroom. Also a new house, with big bathrooms, lots of closets, high ceilings, very large kitchen. Larger property, but easy to maintain with lots of shade trees. The bonus on this one is that the owner is selling it with all of the furniture and even the nearly-new boat that's in the boathouse. The open water of this house brings the price up a little bit, but it's not out of our range. Another bonus on this is that the water depth on this property is deep, so even if the lake is low, you have great water. The furniture is very lake-friendly... lots of wood and leather, and all in nearly-new condition.

The third home sits on two lots, which gives you even more property, and there's also a guest house, a gazebo, a wishing well...... lots of extras here, but it isn't furnished. Plenty of shade trees as well, and because the property is so big, you feel like you're on your own island. The house was extra-special because it has all tile floors (gorgeous) and a sunroom off the living room (also gorgeous and my favorite room here). The bedrooms and bathrooms in this house are all immaculate, as is the kitchen and everything else-- the owner's style is like ours, and this could be a house where all of our furniture would "fit in," if we ever chose to just live up at the lake and sell our house here. The waterfront there at that house is "open water" but it's on a shallow part of the lake. The water level is low there right now because they had to drain the lake during last year's hurricanes. (The only time they've ever had to do that to Lake Livingston.) The owner showed us photos of what the waterfront looked like before they drained it, and it's as pretty and as deep as the other two waterfronts. The town is estimating that the water levels will all be up to normal within four months, and could be sooner depending on the rainfall. We love this house most of all, but wish it were on deeper water.

Each house has a "but"....... the stairs on the first house, the cabin-decor of the second house, and the shallow water of the third house. The stairs can't be changed on the first house, the cabin decor can be made more country-like in the second house, and the shallow water can't be overcome on the third house. To get the weekend-feel of a house and spend the least money, the tri-level on the peninsula is the best choice, and we truly didn't mind the stairs because they house was so cottage-y. For the most open-water and the "best" waterfront, we need to choose the second house that's all furnished. If we want to choose a house that we could someday move to permanently, then the third house is the one.

We have seen enough homes now to make a choice, and yesterday's options have given us three good houses in three exceptional areas....... each are private, somewhat secluded but with neighbors within a reasonable distance, and all three homes have been loved and cared for. Being that my husband will be the one who will be using the water for boating and fishing, I'm leaving the final decision up to him. I will be the one enjoying the house and the views, sitting on the dock or the deck feeding the ducks and reading my books. I would be happy with any of these three houses, but being that our aim is to have good waterfront and good boating and fishing for my husband, I think it best that he make that final choice.

The realtor suggested we list the pros and the cons of each of the three houses, and see which one has the most pros. She also gently suggested that we do this quickly because good move-in-condition homes will be the first to go. Between Monday and yesterday, ten homes that she was going to show us had gone into contract.

After all the looking we did, it's finally getting down to a decision. Very exciting.... and finally, finally, I can now think of that mountain-top house in Comfort and put it aside. It was beautiful and romantic up on that mountain, but it was also a four-and-a-half-hour drive, as opposed to a one-and-a-half-hour drive. And I've come to my own decision that lake-front is better than mountain-top. This is all very exciting...... and we both know that we're very blessed to be able to even do this.

Gracie Does Galveston

As I type, my husband and our dog Gracie are at the beach in Galveston. The public and private beaches in Galveston allow pets on the beach, and a lot of the non-public beaches on the west side of the Island allow horses and cars as well.

We used to go out to Galveston on a regular basis, to enjoy the beach and to surf-fish. Over the years, however, the private beaches have gotten more built up with houses and condos, and finding a quiet place to relax in the sun is quite difficult now. We never did go to the public beaches because they're filled with tourists and lots of kids. I'd rather not go now, to any of the Galveston beaches, being that the once-quiet miles of beachfront are not scattered with new homes. Even after the devastating hurricane season last year, people continue to build on beachfront properties that have no seawall protection. And because the last few years have brought so many ocean storms across the gulf, the amount of seaweed on the Galveston beaches is just too much to endure. (Too much to look at, step over, and too much to smell.)

Gracie loves the beach, and she loves car rides. Or maybe I should say she loves doing anything and going anywhere with my husband. She prefers his company to mine and she likes to have him all to herself. She is a guy's dog, no doubt about it. The cats are all "momma's boys," so I guess it evens out.


We will be meeting with the realtor in Lake Livingston one more time. Even though we spent the entire day on Monday looking at lake-front homes, we still didn't see everything there was to see. And we still haven't found a lake-front house without a major glitch. So Marie has found us at least a dozen more properties to see and she'll get everything set up for us so we can do another one-day trip up there. The drive to Livingston doesn't seem like such an ordeal, being that the ride is just an hour and a half away from here. Plus it's an easy drive, on just two major highways, so I can see myself being able to drive up there by myself without getting lost on lonely back-roads. I've been driving since my 16th birthday and I still don't like to drive without knowing exactly where I'm going.

So many houses to look at...... I didn't think this whole project would take as long as it has. But as I've said before-- I'm glad that my husband has a clear head about all of these properties. To date, if this had been up to me, I would've bought the mountain-top cottage in Comfort, the too-large lakeside house in Nacogdoches, and the storybook cabin on the private peninsula on Lake Livingston.

Lake Livingston

We spent all of yesterday looking around Lake Livingston with a very nice realtor who showed us lake homes from 11:30 a.m. until dark. I lost count of how many houses we looked at during the day. We barely had lunch (my husband and I split a banana) and we didn't have dinner till 10:00 last night.

And, of course, I found another cottage-in-the-woods..... or maybe I should say that these little cabin-style homes find me. This one was a picture-perfect, story-book-style cottage, complete with wood floors and light-colored paneling in nearly all the rooms. The sellers are the original owners and they have put all of their love and energy into that four-bedroom home and it shows. The best parts of the house were the large kitchen, large dining room, and an enclosed sun-porch filled with white wicker furniture. The husband loves to fish, the wife loves to read. Needless to say, by the time we left that house, the wife and I hugged one another as if we'd known each other for years.

I loved that little house....... it's on its own little peninsula, surrounded on three sides by a cove of Lake Livingston. And, of course, there's always a glitch. The subdivision that it's in has deed rights that allow owners to rent their property, or put up mobile homes or trailers instead of houses. Give me a blessed break......... my husband just about had to pull me out of that house. We both loved it, especially the park-like property it was on, and I expected my husband to make an offer before we left the house. Silly me. But it's a good thing that he's "in charge" of this little adventure, because if it were up to me, I would've already bought half a dozen houses since we started this quest a few months ago. (Has it been that long?)

Another house that we found was a wonderful house similar to ours here.... lots of tall windows, all over-looking yet another cove of Lake Livingston. Brand new house, lots of bells and whistles. And a glitch. The cove it's on has low water in it at the moment. It seems that during last year's awful hurricane season, The Powers That Be in the Lake Livingston Water Authority opened the gates of the dam to let water out.... they let too much water out of the lake, which resulted in the smaller coves losing some of their depth. So at the back of this beautiful house, on a quite private cove, the sellers had their sailboat tilting in two feet of water instead of the usual twenty feet. Again..... give me a true and blessed break. My husband doesn't want to put in a bid on a waterfront house until he sees deep water with his own two eyes. (Details.... details....) The realtor, as well as all the literature up in Lake Livingston, says that the lake and its coves will be back to normal depth by next month.

We saw so many houses yesterday that our heads were spinning when we said thank you and goodnight to the realtor. She was a buyer's dream-come-true, showing us all the areas up there, and all the houses that fit our requests. My husband liked Lake Livingston more than Lake Nacogdoches, for the simple reason that it's a larger lake. Might as well be an ocean, as far as I'm concerned, because you can't see the west side of the lake if you're standing on the east side, or the north side if you're standing on the south. Lake Nacogdoches is 2200 acres; Lake Livingston is over 93,000 acres. As I said, it may as well be an ocean.

My husband has dreams of boating and fishing all around that lake. I told him that the only way I'd get on a body of water that size would be if I had the Queen Elizabeth II underneath me. The realtor thought I was kidding, and she told me that I could just wear a life-jacket and I wouldn't have to be afraid of drowning. I assured her that I would drown in a bucket of water if I happened to panic. She laughed at my joke, and I knew she was thinking "Such a city girl."

Our trip up to Livingson yesterday only confirmed the fact that we'd have to go back. I think we've narrowed it down to two separate areas..... each of which has deed restrictions that don't allow renters, or trailers, or mobile homes. Now that the realtor knows exactly what we're looking for (a cozy cottage for me, deep open water for my husband) she will be able to put together a list of good houses. Not that yesterday's list was anything but good..... we had a nice selection of low to middle-scale to fantastic houses to look at and compare.

My problem is that I have to feel comfortable with a house when I walk into it. Laugh at me if you will, but I swear that I can sense the "energy" of a house when I go through the door. There was one house that we walked into the back door from the water side, and I walked straight towards and out of the front door........ the house felt that bad to me. And it had a spectacular waterfront view from the back of the house. I told my husband that I wouldn't care if they gave us that house for free, I wouldn't be able to stay in it for more than 20 seconds at a time. He didn't laugh at me, because he knows that I'm not joking about what I can feel about a house. The realtor, I'm sure, was probably again thinking "City girl."

This whole process is taking much longer than I thought it would. And I have a feeling that if we don't settle on something by the end of June, the rest of the summer months are going to fly by without a result as well. Although, being that the summer months here can last till the end of October, we may still have a chance to enjoy a lake house this season.

Galveston Sand Castles

We drove out to Galveston yesterday, to walk along the beach and look at the entries in the annual Sand Castle contest. Over 50 different sand creations yesterday, many of them intricate versions of castles, some of them using themes from popular movies...... all of them very distinctive and very creative. I told my husband that a cool entry would be a sand castle made up of White Castle hamburger-shapes. We could call it the "White Castle Castle." But you'd have to be from NY and know what a White Castle burger looks like, in order to understand the concept.

So hot out on that beach yesterday... it was 99 degrees here in town..... we could see lots of sunburned backs and arms on the people working on the castles. All of the people who enter the contest work at architectural firms.... we heard that one team flew in from Chicago early yesterday morning to compete in the Galveston competition. I guess they don't build sand castles in Chicago.

As hot as it was in the sun, it was enjoyable to see....... and the ocean wasn't too rough yesterday. Still a lot of seaweed on the beach, though. Guess they can't keep up with that, or control it very much.

We also tried a new Thai restaurant on the way home.... we got take-out, rather than eating in the restaurant, being that we felt wind-blown and sandy from our long walk on the beach. The new Thai place wasn't as good as our usual one here, or as good as the downtown one we went to last week with K and B. We ate our dinners, but we wouldn't go out of our way to go back to that restaurant again.


Our young friends C and L surprised us this morning... they rode their bikes here around breakfast time and spent about an hour with us before they had to go and meet their friends. C was all excited because she starts her driving lessons tomorrow. L doesn't know when she'll get her license...... my guess is that her parents will make her wait till her twin brother gets his. In her family, I think her brother is higher up on the totem pole than she is, and that's a shame.


We're still talking about that big house up in East Texas...... we got a call from the realtor, who tells us that the sellers are very anxious to sell and were hoping we'd make an offer..... they are strapped for cash and need to "get out from under that house," to use the realtor's words. Which makes us think, of course, that we could offer them less than what we were thinking of offering for that house. So we may just be doing that, but we want to wait a few days... to talk about it some more, and to check the real estate listings once more before we come to any final conclusion.

I guess I'm over the point of getting myself heart-sick about any of the houses we've been looking at. I felt so badly about that house at the top of the mountain in Comfort, but I can see now that the very long drive from here to there wouldn't have been the best thing for us. I'm not getting attached to any of the others we've looked at, no matter how pretty the house is or how gorgeous the views are from the back porch. One of my husband's real estate rules is "He who holds the money holds the power." We still have the money, so we still have the power to look at dozens of houses and chose just one. I feel badly for the people who built that lovely house up in East Texas, though....... they must've felt that the lake-front house up there would be their retirement dream home....... then Enron went bust and took their dream with it. Very, very sad.

Skunk vs. Skippy

We had a phone call tonight from our young friend C..... seems a skunk got into their yard and sprayed her two dogs. Most of the skunk-stuff got on Skippy, but her other dog Molly got some of the spray as well. C's mom was on her way to Kroger to buy tomato juice, which works on taking the skunk odor out of a dog or cat's hair. I don't know how much tomato juice it takes to bathe two dogs, but thankfully, C's dogs aren't that big.

C was worried that Skippy would jump into their pool to wash off the skunk odor, but I told her that I didn't think the dog's mind would work that way. C's dad is at his job in Louisiana.... he misses all the good stuff, as C said.

Both C and her friend L stopped by here yesterday, collecting soaps and cosmetic items for the local Battered-Women's Shelter. (How sad that our society even needs such a shelter.) C was collecting the items as part of a Girl Scout project. I went through all the bathroom cabinets and dug out all the free-sample products I had and never used, plus I had some cosmetics that were give-aways from my friend S who sells Mary Kay. By the time I was done, I had filled up a little shopping bag for C.


We went to Babbo Bruno's tonight for dinner.... haven't been there since the second week of May when we ate there for our anniversary. We were happy to see K there, but sorry to hear that C and her family have moved to New Mexico because her husband got a new job out there. It was a quick move, with just a two-day notice, so we didn't get to say goodbye. I can't imagine having to move three kids, a dog and a cat, and a houseful of furniture in just a couple of days. Not too long ago when we went to Babbo Bruno's, C had tears in her eyes and I'm wondering if she had an inkling back then that they would be moving away. Very sad....... K will miss her a lot....... and we're all hoping that C and her family will do well in their new home.


We're still talking about the "big house" on the lake..... We've compared the price to other houses that have sold, and this one is (again) over-priced. The owner is in a bind, and must sell this house..... he used to work for Enron, and we all know the end of that story. That's why this house is up for sale. Nearly a year now that they've been trying to sell it. The original price was way higher than the current price, but even with the reduction in the selling price, I can see why it's going to be a hard sell-- the kitchen is smaller than what you would expect for a house that size, and the taxes are higher than you would expect for a lake house. They could've kept the taxes at a more reasonable level by opting for three bedrooms instead of four, and by leaving out the small half-bathroom. The garage is also super-large, with room for three cars.

The reality is that the house is what it is, and that's not going to change. My feeling is, if we're going to consider that house, then put in one offer and only one offer, way less than the selling price, so it's more comparable to the other lake homes that have recently sold up there. If the seller is indeed so anxious to sell, then he'll accept the offer and we'll have a great house for a reasonable price. If he refuses it, then so be it. He'll either be stuck with that house for another six or ten months, and after that time, he'll be willing to take our low offer, if we're still interested in it at that time. I just can't see coming up to his asking price when we're "settling" for a small kitchen and making do with the higher tax bracket this house is in. Clearly, this seller built more house than was necessary, and it's just sad that Enron burst his bubble.

As my sister keeps saying.... "Relax-- in two months, this will all be over." And she's right--- in two months, we'll either have a weekend home, or we won't. I'm getting just plain worn out by all the looking, discussing, figuring, planning. It seemed so easy a month ago when we were in the house on top of the mountain in the Hill Country. I knew that the magic of that house would wear off once we drove back down that mountain.