Sing it, sweetheart!

I attended the Fort Wayne Children's Choir summer concert this evening.  My youngest granddaughter is singing in the Concert Choir this year.  The entire performance was excellent but I must admit that I enjoyed most the old familiar songs - Amazing Grace and Battle Hymn of the Republic.  I also enjoyed a little ditty called "Clear the Line" and had fun explaining to my granddaughters the intricacies of party lines, busy signals and old fashioned dial phones, not to mention the old, old style phone we had when I was very young - the kind that hung on the wall and required the caller to crank the handle to get the operator's attention. Meanwhile my cell phone was informing me that I had missed a call.  We've come such a long way....

Nana rides again

Two grandchildren and I went to the Allen County Fun Fair this evening.  I bought a bunch of rides tickets for the kids and off we went looking for thrills and chills. I was not planning to ride anything but the first ride my granddaughter wanted to go on didn't look too bad (the spiders painted on the side should have been a clue) so I agreed to go in one car with her while my grandson rode by himself. It started out gently enough, a little bit like the spin around cups that little kids ride in, but suddenly the long arms at the end of which our pods were suspended were swooping, springing up and spinning around and we were being swung back and forth and up and down, never quite upside down but very close. I felt like my head was going to fly off and developed such a death grip on the bar in front of me that they practically had to break my fingers to get me out. 30 years ago I swore never again to ride a roller coaster. Now I've added another ride to the never again list. I;m not sure what it's called but I will know it when I see it. Bring on the Ferris Wheels and Merry Go Rounds. I can handle those.

I win!

I love negotiating when I win. Today after much back and forth questions and answers through our agents the buyers agreed to my counter to their inspection request from three days ago. They said "We want eight more replacement windows." I said "Sure, if you'll pay me $4,000 more for the house." They said yes so it looks like there's a closing in my future after all.

The first "guilt trip"

My granddaughter said to me today "You know why I'll really miss your house when you sell it?" "No, Why?" "Because there are so many happy memories and because it's the only house we have ever known you in." I think I will ask the grandkids to tell me their happiest or most dramatic memories so I can write them down.  I am trying to reassure them that I am still me and memories are with us even when we change environments. Maybe when they see some familiar furniture, eat some familiar food in the new place it won't seem so strange. I've already promised to have my son's September birthday dinner there so that should jump start some new memories.

let the games begin.

Next step in my house selling saga. I have received the buyer's requests following their home inspection. A small electric mis-wiring and an apparent duct work problem - these I will fix.  But it seems the buyers like the seven replacement windows I had installed so much that they want seven more. I made what seems to me a reasonable response - I will replace more windows if you will pay me more for the house. So now I'm getting responses from the buyer via his agent to my agent asking if it would save money if he stained the windows himself (they're vinyl so I don't think that's an option) or if he installed them himself? Really?? If you want to install them yourself, just pay me what you originally offered and put in the windows you want after closing. We shall see how this all plays out but having watched the installers work, especially with their nifty machine for folding and fitting the vinyl covering for the outside wooden frames, I don't think do-it-yourself installation is a really great option. We shall see...

hump day

I know that "hump day" is traditionally Wednesday but today I am beyond the half way point in my 12 night stay with my two grandkids and three granddogs.  And while there is no camel wandering around shouting "Hump Day!!" with three galumphing dogs spending the nights with me I've felt a similar looming presence times three  Only five more nights....

It's finally happened

The oldest of my grandchildren, a 14 year old boy, is now officially as tall as I am. Since I'm 5'10" and his father is only 5;7" I'm delighting in the fact that the tall genes from our side of the family seem to be winning out. It was a bit of a jolt though to confirm it looking in the mirror. My grandbabies are growing up fast. But that's ok.  This year I'll be going to marching band competitions instead of or in addition to middle school music recitals. Which sounds like fun until I remember sitting on freezing cold aluminum bleachers during what seemed like a never-ending competition on a miserably cold day way back when our kids were in marching band. I will resolve to choose wisely and never promise to go to every competition.