I Apologize...

Did you fall of the face of the earth? Or did you buy a house, celebrate the holidays and just get really busy???
Where are you???=)

Wow Lorie, you have no idea how flattered I was that my absence was noticed. I often think that this is just a jumble of writing, and who really cares about it? So...thanks.
As to your guesses about why I'm a blogging flake... I am pleased to say that they're all correct!!

We had the marathon Christmas which was wonderful, but at last count we had 5 different family things that we attended, plus Christmas shopping, wrapping and the like. With Christmas on a Tuesday, it threw me all off kilter and lets just say that having to work the day before and after stinks. But it was great to see brothers who live away, hang out with family that we don't see often, and for Joe and I to enjoy our third Christmas together and quietly look back on all the tangible and intangible blessings that 2007 brought us. God is so very good.

On December 27th we put in an offer on a house that we had looked at 3 times. I had loved the neighborhood for a long time, but Joe had some reservations. After looking at other houses like the Titly House where all the doorjambs looked like something out of Alice in Wonderland, and the Stinky House where the smell of curry slapped you in the face as soon as you walked in, (just to name a few) we reassessed the situation, and came back to this one. We didn't think we really had much of a shot and decided that we would put in a lower offer and if it was meant to be it would work, if they didn't like it, well, we would just move on. At this point rejection really wouldn't bother us so much.
But they accepted it AS IS on the 28th. No counter offer or anything. The house has been on the market since early April, they are already in another house, so they were highly motivated to sell. What a big, BIG praise. I am completely ecstatic. The street has so much charm since it is rather tucked away, quiet and tree lined. The houses were all built in the 50's, and are all a little different from each other so there's some character there, and it is in one of the best school districts in the valley...can you tell I think it's marvelous? Another big plus is that it is move in ready. Everything is in really good shape, and while there will be things to update as we choose, we can live comfortably in the meantime. I think the only big thing that needs to be done is replace the heating system with a new one and have it wired for AC too. Compared to all the other houses that we looked at that needed things done which would cost major $$$, we feel really fortunate that's all we'll have to tackle. Needless to say, it had been a whirlwind of paper signing, inspections, walk thrus, meetings with the mortgage broker and real estate agent...whew. So far, all the inspections have gone great, and if everything continues as it is now, we are scheduled to get the keys on January 31. Yea!
But of course, it's not that simple. About a month and a half ago, Joe was granted some vacation time, so we hopped on it, and booked a trip to Washington DC/Virginia to see the sights and hang out with family. We're supposed to leave in 2 days. But due to a scheduling oversight at Joe's work, he is needed in court on Thursday. So the trip might get called off. We find out tomorrow evening if it's yea or nay. If we do go, we'll be gone 10 days and get back home on the 17th. That is not a lot of time left to pack, sort and clean for the move. Truthfully, it's a little overwhelming. So we've already started to pack up the kitchen, I sorted through my dresser and closet for a donation pickup that came thru, we've gotten a lot of boxes, so I'm feeling OK about the start...but the flip side is that there are stacks everywhere in out apartment, hardly and walking room and I HATE HOW IT LOOKS.
So you see, there's has been constant activity in my life right now...and to top it all off, I got a nasty sore throat/cold that has been causing me pain for about 5 days. The kind of pain where it feels like every time you swallow, liquid lava is going down your throat. My loving husband says that I sound like a man. Talk about terrible timing. It has caused me to fall behind in packing, miss out on some fun family stuff, and who really wants to travel sick? Not me.
Anyway, all that babble to say, things are hectic. But I will post pics of the house as soon as I can, and thanks for being faithful to check in on me, even though I haven't been faithful at all in my blogging. But I will try to do better!