Saturday, August 16, 2008

Busy Times in Montana ---

Sorry we are behind on our blog postings. We have been a bit overwelmed with our condo dealings. Here's a quick overview of our last 2 weeks

Aug 11 – 18, Mon-Sun ... We found out on Monday evening that we will be shooting for a Sept. 30th closing on the condo. We have spent the week selecting cabinets, countertop, flooring, appliances and water faucets. It’s a bit different in that we go to specific businesses and make our selections. Of course we have found that the allowances for these items are bare minimums so we pay for any upgrades! We thought (or Dixie thought) it would be fun to select everything....little did we know how difficult and time consuming it would be. (that’s a lot of decisions to make for retired people)! Amongst all that we shopped for Insurance. We have also done a lot of furniture shopping and even made a living room set purchase today (Sat). Since we sold most all of our furniture when we left TX, we have several items to purchase! We checked out a few garage sales Sat. Dixie’s Dad and Doug & Fran came back to Great Falls on Sun. evening as there was a break in the harvesting. Dad is still here but it looks like we will go to the farm on Monday for a few days. Dixie managed to get a few hours of working in with Fran earlier in the week. The weather has been very nice (not too hot). We went to the Voyagers Baseball game on Tue. evening. Friday evening we went to Bill & Gloria Brinkmans house to visit with several of Dixie’s 2nd cousins. Dixie’s Aunt Shirley will be coming for a quick overnight on Sunday. Hopefully next week we will rest a bit at the farm --- no shopping, except ‘online’!

Aug 4 – Aug 10, Mon-Sun
... We’ve had a good time this week visiting with family and kids while at “the farm” in Hogeland. Steve, Levi and Mike went on a long four-wheeler ride Monday over the hills and valleys or “coolies” of the area. Dixie’s brother Danny and daughter Lexi came with us so Dixie has enjoyed “playing” with her and 4 year old Shay. Mike helped out by sweeping some 24 grain bins. On Thursday, with the exception of dad, we decided to return to Great Falls. Dad stayed behind to help drive a combine since Doug was just getting started with the harvest. On Friday, we looked once again at the condos we are interested in and made the big leap. We signed a buy/sell agreement on a 2 bedroom condo in Great Falls. The exterior of the 6 unit building is completed but the interior isn’t finished until purchased. So now the fun begins. We started Sat. looking at flooring and lighting. Danny and Lexi flew back to California on Sun.