May 19, 2006

• Walk-Thru Day

  Today we did the walk-thru of the finished house. Wow, it was really nice. They even put a red ribbon across the front door of our house to cut, like it was a grand opening. Everything was clean, shiny, just fantastic. Technically we were supposed to find any problems, like spots that needed touch-up paint, etc. But really, the list we made was very small and nothing that would take more than a few minutes to address.

  
  

  So, after a lot of begging and pleading, we have convinced them to let us close over Tues/Wed next week, and we may have the keys as early as Wed! That will give us an opportunity to bring over some boxes ahead of movers and get some basics in like toilet paper in the bathrooms, cleaning supplies and trash cans.

  
  

  We found a landscaper this week to do the yards too, but it takes a while. Final plans have to be drawn up, then submitted to the HOA for approval. Plants and materials have to be selected, etc. So it will be several months, start to finish. Oh and our stick trees in the back-yard actually got some leaves on them, so I guess they are not just dead-wood after all!

  
  

  In other news, since we will soon have a garage, Joe could not wait any longer and went out and got a car for himself. Here is a picture of his new toy:

  
  

  

  
  

  Believe it or not, it is 6 years old, but only had 8,000 miles on it! So he got a real deal on it! Becca and Megan are trying to talk Joe into taking them and their friends all over, I think they now see him as a glorified cool taxi service.

  
  

  What else? Um, my mom arrives here a week from this Sunday. She will be watching the girls while Joe and I go to the UK for two weeks. He has to return to the UK every 90 days right now, to keep his visitor visa valid, until he can apply for his green card. We went to the immigration attorney this week too, to get the ball rolling on that, but it will take several months at minimum, due to the divorces not being finalized yet.

  
  

  While in the UK, we plan to spend most of our time traveling up and through Scotland, all the way to the north-most area of the Orkney islands. I have been looking at websites and there is some beautiful and interesting places up there. There is a stone ring, that makes Stonehenge look boring. It is called the Ring of Brodgar.

  
  

  

  
  

  And a Neolithic settlement called Skara Brae that looks just amazing from the pictures I have seen online.

  
  

  

  
  

  We also hope to see Edinburgh for a couple days and perhaps the Armstrong clan tower, since my maiden name is Armstrong. That is very close to Edinburgh, so it should be fairly easy to get to. We will be driving up and down the country, so we should also get to see a lot during the trip. Joe will probably get sick of me asking to stop so I can take photos. The girls are hoping we can get them kilts in their sizes. Oh, and in June in Orkney, the sun is up for 18 hours due to it being so far north! That is going to be very weird!

  
  

  So, as you can see, there is a ton happening right now and it is keeping me insanely busy. I hope everyone is well and has a great weekend!

  • 11:05 pm
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