L.L. Diamond

Happy Monday! So, not much writing for the last two weeks. I finished going over my latest book, which is not lengthy by any means (just under 50K), but a quick, fun Christmas romp (I think anyway!). That’s being beta’d and I’m working on touching it up for final edits. I also managed another 2K on a modern I have going and hope will be easier to keep up with during all this upheaval than a modern. You’d never know it, but during Agony and Hope, I had one name for the butler and housekeeper then completely changed them midway after not being able to write because of my back. Let’s hope the modern is a bit easier to keep tabs on!

I blogged our last moves and our time in England, and I thought I’d blog this move as much as I could. This one is a sort of two parter. In the beginning of July, we signed the papers for a small place for our daughter near where she is going to college. My husband took her down and cleaned it up and moved a bunch of boxes and her futon in. She needed a new mattress in a bad way, so he purchased her one. Then they returned and a week later, the three of us returned. Hubby had to come home to go to work and I stayed for over two weeks dealing with contractors and constant trips to Michael’s (not a hardship to go to the craft store!) and the home improvement store (this depends on what I’m needing!).

Before my husband left, we built a French drain to try to alleviate some of the rain water collecting in the backyard. Someone had blocked the drainage hole in the brick fence line and we cleared that and added the drain. It still collects some, but it drains much better and we’re working on ways to help with the rest. We put a rain barrel under the base of the gable of the neighbors house to collect that, and eventually, we will put up a gutter for what comes off of the roof of ours. We cut down a medium sized tree in the back (with a hand saw!!) and trimmed the trees which let in some light to help dry it up some as well. I also put down some grass seed in the hopes we can have more than weeds and mud.

We also had to rebuild a shower, which was basically a fiberglass shower with the floor completely stripped. Unfortunately, the home is older and they don’t make that size anymore (we’re finding that on a number of things!). We had to have the entire shower rebuilt and the tile guy had a heck of a job leveling the walls. The demo guys also broke the drain which had to be fixed before we could get the tiling even started. Needless to say, I was done with it all by the time all of that was over.

We also had two doors with water damage replaced. The storage room door was also an odd size and had to be reframed a bit.

Of course, it never ends there! The dishwasher decided to burn up and take the power outlet with it. Fortunately, the warranty company replaced nearly every outlet in the house, we’re working on a new dishwasher through them, and today, the plumber the warranty company is dealing with is replacing the hot water heater that decided to start leaking water the week before I left. There will always be something it seems! I’m still peeved the new bathroom vent/fan didn’t fit the hole and I can’t find one online that will, but that’s a repair for another time! (Even if I tried and failed miserably to rush one the night before we left!!)

One of my last projects was to put pavers under the trash and recycle bins so they wouldn’t sink into the mud as it was. Grass wouldn’t grow there and rocks would’ve made taking the bins out and putting them back a nightmare.

Even with the issues, it’s a cute place and we will continue to fix it up since our other two children intend to go to college there as well. I have a long and probably expensive list of things to accomplish, but the way I see it, we have 10 years or so to do it. I also had 2 weeks on my own with my oldest, which I can’t complain about. We took advantage of a clearance sale at Michael’s, painted the second-hand furniture she purchased, and re-covered the torn up chairs for her kitchen table with some fabric samples we were given. She also spoiled me by cooking nearly every day (even if I had to wash the dishes when the dishwasher crapped out! 😉 )

Anyway, one move accomplished! We just have one more to go!