Greetings! Today, and each month going forward, I'm joining in with some other fab bloggers to share how we spent our month in just one sentence per day.
Turns out that the theme for June was transition, as we continued to work on turning our dream of living near the coast into actual reality. The beginning of the month was loaded with stress, but it tapered off as the month progressed and things fell into place. And our much needed dose of granddaughter time was just the wonderful anecdote we needed in order to return home recharged and ready to take on our actual move come July.
- Researched every single remaining possible home option available in our price range in our target city and sent the very long list to our realtor so that she could schedule showings.
- Accepted an offer on our home here in the morning, then spent the remainder of the day viewing lots and lots of homes before finding 'the one' and, fingers crossed, submitting an offer.
- Volunteered at a commercial wine competition organized by our wine society and took this booty home afterward as our 'thank you.'
- We got the house, we got the house!
- Made phone call after phone call to begin the process of shifting our lives over to a new community, then spent the evening with our book club discussing the first half of Wuthering Heights.
- Early morning geology and home inspection appointment at the new home, which generated a lot of stress when we began receiving more information about our potential new home than we probably cared to know(!).
- Another appointment at the new house, this time to meet our flooring guy and take measurements, after which we walked to the beach to check out our new stomping grounds.
- Had our current home termite inspected (we passed!), reviewed the completed home inspection report on our new home, then made a rapid call to our agent to better understand just what we were getting ourselves into!
- Got on the scale and realized I'd lost almost five pounds in the last two weeks from the stress of it all . . . I completely lose my appetite when stressed!
- Decided to hold an impromptu party to drink all the open bottles of wine we brought home from the wine competition, so I messaged the neighbors, baked brownies and lemon squares, and fired up the front yard patio firepit in anticipation of a fun evening, which it definitely was!
- Attended our spiritual congregation where we said another sad goodbye before heading to Costa Mesa to attend the Pacific Symphony and enjoy dinner afterward at Seasons 52 with our wonderful friends Ellie and Jim.
- Went for a long walk while our current home was being appraised for our buyer's loan, fingers crossed!
- Exhausting but productive day meeting with our new insurance agent, flooring vendor #2, repiping vendor #2, window replacement vendor #1, and a gardener, all at the new house.
- Got my hair done, always relaxing in that I load up on the salon's copies of People magazine during the two and a half hour process . . . my stylist is very good (see photo from the 16th of June, below :-), but a wee bit slow!
- Enjoyed a super fun lunch out with my girlfriend Mary, learning afterward that the appraisal came in spot on on our house, meaning our buyers were one step closer to closing, hooray!
- Escaped the house here for a long hike while buyers had their inspection done, then partied hard in the evening to celebrate my girlfriend Faith's retirement.
- A seven mile hike in mid-90's heat, which never does my body good . . . I wilt in heat!
- Took my father to see our new house and walk trail to the beach and back, then enjoyed a Father's Day lunch at the lovely Cedar Creek Inn in San Juan Capistrano.
- Cut my basil plant back, and made homemade pesto with the bounty.
- Long, hilly hike with my girlfriend Mary, the last we'll do together until after our move.
- Flew to Metro DC to visit our granddaughter . . . yeah!
- Had a picnic lunch on the front lawn with our granddaughter, an instant hit along with the homemade bubbles I made using dish soap and water, plus the handle of a pair of scissors as the bubble blower - Nana points for creativity!
- Repeat of yesterday, because, yes, both front lawn picnics and bubble blowing continued to enthrall, then watched our granddaughter overnight for the first time ever, gulp!
- The parent-free evening went great . . . after an evening of play with Baba and Nana, she literally rolled over in bed and went to sleep after three songs!
- Drove an hour to Fort McHenry National Historic Park in order to purchase a lifetime Golden Age National Park Pass now that my husband has finally reached the qualifying age of 62 - the best $10 we've ever spent!!!
- Visited historic Fredericksburg, Virginia and learned about one of the Civil Wars bloodiest battles, which left us both quietly contemplative for a good long while afterward.
- Said goodbye to our daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter and flew back to California, boo hoo!
- Started setting aside the items we wanted to take to the new house ahead of the movers, plus took delivery of a new set of pots and pans suitable for cooking on an induction cooktop, new-to-me technology.
- Closed on our new coastal home!
- Took our travel trailer over to the new house to make sure it fit into the garage (it did!), trimmed some overgrown foliage to open up our stunning view even more, met several of our neighbors, then walked down the hill to dinner in Dana Point before driving back to our current home, which doesn't really feel like home anymore!
Our buyers close here right after the weekend, which should make for a most memorable 4th of July if everything goes as planned.
