It's been a long time. Years...
Circumstances have changed some. Over the summer we got serious about downsizing. After almost 30 years in the same home we packed up, tossed out, donated to Goodwill, threw out some more, gave more to Goodwill and finished packing up the rest. Most of it went into a large storage space on one of the hottest weekends of the summer. The house went on the market the next weekend. Several couples looked at the house while we were finishing cleaning and hauling away the remaining stuff. Apparently we timed it right because the house was on the market for only three days and we got our asking price. An old friend offered us use of a bedroom in her mobile home while we worked on selling our home and buying another. The inspections and repairs and paperwork involved took a month and a half. My work commute went from 10 minutes over half an hour. We went from the two of us plus the dog in 2200+ sq ft into a master bedroom and sharing a 1100+ double wide with S. and her four cats. Quite an adjustment.
The requirements for our next home were: 1) smaller, 2) single story, 3) high speed internet and 4) not in the same area we've lived for the past 30 + years. Some place different. Also, I'm starting to get on in years, eligible for Social Security in early 2017 so we didn't want where I work to be an overriding factor in location. Once we knew how much we had to work with we started looking in earnest. We had to expand our search area to further and further away from the old neighborhood to find suitable possibilities while waiting for our old house to close. Cornelius, Forest Grove, Gaston, Yamhill, Colton, Salem, Gales Creek, Dallas and finally Sheridan. Shortly after closing on our old house we looked at a brand new house in a small subdivision that looked promising except there was an HOA. Our realtor contacted the builder and learned he had another home in the area about to go on the market. On a cul-de-sac, backed up onto the South Yamhill River, single story, in our price range and the property line extends to the middle of the river. And it wasn't finished yet so we could choose the appliances, fixtures and the like. It didn't take too long before we decided this was the one we were looking for.
The river looking down from the edge of our backyard
We picked out hardware, light fixtures, and appliances and checked on got the contents of both storage units into it for one trip to the new house. Stepson Scott is a whiz at loading a truck! I took the week before Thanksgiving off to work on unpacking and settling in. We downsized when we moved out of the old house but we're finding that that wasn't nearly enough. There has been and will be many more trips to the Goodwill in our future. Naturally the week after we moved in we started experiencing some of the heaviest rain the area has had in years.
The river close to the peak from the safety of our living room
Later that night it got up to the edge of the back yard before going down. We have been watching it go up and down ever since.
The river level yesterday from the edge of the backyard
My commute to work has gone from 10 minutes to half an hour to now over an hour in the morning and at least 1.5 hours coming home. Some days it seems like all I do is drive, work and sleep. We hired a new Quality Manager last month to take some of the load off and prepare for anticipated new business. We are preparing for an important customer audit in mid January. Doing well will mean more opportunities and require higher levels of support. It will all be worth it in the long run.
I was thinking seriously about early retirement until the boss surprised me with a promotion and a hefty raise. Not so much now. We'll see how long the extra money makes the commute worth it. We have plans for the back yard that the extra $'s will help pay for - a fence to keep the dog from falling into the river, a lawn, a path to the river bank, a spot for a covered swing and maybe a spot to wet a fishing line from. I have to double check, I think the state stocks the river with trout in the spring. Imagine, catching dinner from your backyard. Not so far fetched for us now...
In other news, the oldest stepson, Troy fell two weeks ago and broke (fractured) his left shoulder (he's left handed). Instead of surgery they want to immobilize it for up to six weeks. No cast but his wrist and upper arm are velcro'ed to his torso to keep the shoulder from moving. He went through two weeks of physical and occupational therapy in the hospital and will be getting daily visits from the therapists now that they've let him go home. He worked from home 4 days a week and his boss has let him know that he can up that to everyday until he gets the all clear from the doctor.
Compared to that everyone else is doing just hunky-dory.
