Sue Martin–Unexpected Surprises
This wasn’t on my bucket list, at least for this year, but…we’ve found our home in Maine. It’s under contract with a closing date in October. Our house in Alabama is on the market with strong interest.
The house in Maine is a geodesic dome on 18 acres and it’s on a lake. It has a windmill and solar panels and we’ll be able to be off the grid. The property contains mixed woodland with open ground that’s a combination of grass and blueberries. It has a huge greenhouse and raised beds for growing vegetables.
The Biggest News
Here’s the biggest news. A member of he Senior Executive Service at Veterans Affairs announced this in a public forum so I guess I can talk about it out loud. I just began the second four- month detail to the Veterans Affairs Office of Information and Technology Employee Engagement Task Force. This time it’s a full-time detail. I’m not sure where this is going but I totally love my new team! And the best part is that I’m getting to do tons of writing in this new role.
DeAnna Quietwater Noriega–My Aging in Place House Hunt Saga
It’s interesting how setbacks can sometimes be for the best! In our January Bucket list post I mentioned that my husband and I were going to search for an aging in place house and detailed the criteria that we would use in selecting the new home. Our purchase of the first house we found fell through when our lender decided three weeks in that they didn’t like our debt ratio. The seller found another buyer before we were able to line up a lender willing to work with us. The house next door to the one we had chosen came on the market for less money as a foreclosure. It didn’t have a fence and the main rooms were painted a bright red halfway up the walls. There was more carpeting than the first house, but the master bathroom had a walk-in shower with a built in seat instead of a bath tub. The new kitchen is a better layout for my husband Curt to navigate with his walker or wheelchair. The asking price was enough lower we could afford to build a wooden privacy fence.
We Have a “Village” of Helpers
Our new neighbor, the man who bought the house we had originally hoped to buy is a self-employed lawn and garden worker. He agreed to remove some heavy brush vines and trees at the back of our lot so the fence company can begin fencing the backyard. While looking at samples of laminate and vinyl flooring, we met the son of a local contractor who does flooring. The contractors we checked with said they couldn’t even begin work on our floors for another three to four weeks. The young man’s father will begin putting the flooring down next week. We purchased the floor material we liked after we had received a ten percent off coupon in the mail. My husband’s sister is coming to help paint over the red walls and hang pictures. She is artistic with good taste.
We have taken the first truckload of boxes and furniture over and stacked it in the two car garage. I have been able to get the locks changed and finished putting the kitchen things away. I have hung shower curtains and started buying staples. We can begin moving the rest of our things as soon as the fence and floors are done. The couple who bought our first choice house had been trying to buy it for over a year but had to wait until their lease was up. The wife is a counselor at the women’s shelter where I hope to volunteer in the fall. With her husband ready and willing to help us keep our yard mowed and bushes trimmed, we couldn’t have nicer neighbors. Our aging in place home is finally coming together. I am hoping to be all settled in for a Labor Day open house for friends and family. When one door closes, another opens! The new door just might lead somewhere even nicer.
Coming Next: Livable Communities
If Sue’s and DeAnna’s stories about finding just the right houses encouraged you, tune in next month. We will be featuring a post on Livable Communities. The post will detail the criteria that people with vision loss cite for finding a community that meets their needs for independence, community, transportation, to mention a few.
In the meantime, you might enjoy reading some related articles and posts:
Bucket List Sequel Four, Part 1, Writing Goals Achieved
Now it’s your turn to report back about your bucket list goals. What have our readers pursued this year? Let us know in the Comments below.