wow -- two months have passed!

I can't really believe it's been two months since my last update. We successfully closed on both houses, moved all our stuff out of the old house into the new, closed out our storage unit, and brought all the non-Christmas stuff from Grandma's basement. Feels like we may never be finished sorting it all out.

Also, we had a gigantic pine tree taken down, we had the chain link fence completed, and Tom has cut vines and shrubs and small trees out of the backyard. We've been busy.

Currently I am working on the long-awaited literature review for my dissertation and preparing to teach my first GMAT class in September. And getting the house ready for football season's visitors.... We'll stay busy for a while yet!

--Jennifer
Oooh, look, shiny things! 

a non-house post

Turning my attention away from the real estate cyclone in which I live, I did a little non-family genealogical research. My Grandma's family, the Paynes, lived across the road from a black family in rural Bibb County, Alabama, when she was a child. This family was named Johnson; the parents were Rance and Mandy. Rance and Mandy had several adult children when Grandma was little, and they had a grandson named Rudolph who was just her age.

I've heard stories about the Johnsons, how kind they were and what a good cook Mandy was. My favorite is the fact that Grandma learned to ride a bicycle on Rudolph's bike, despite the fact that it only had one pedal. They owned their home, which was still standing when I was a child but has long since collapsed into the earth and kudzu.

Down the road behind Rance and Mandy's house was the home their daughter and her husband rented and lived in with their family. Their names were Mamie and Thomas Smelley, and they had lots of daughters and two sons. One of their sons was accidentally shot in a hunting accident; he made it home, bleeding profusely, but didn't live long. He was only about 14. There's a faint outline of the blood stain on the floor in one room of that house.

How do I know this? Because I was married on the front porch of that house, sometimes called the Fitts place because it was built in 1868 by T. J. Fitts. My great-grandparents bought it in 1953, and my great-uncle owns it now. So our families have been virtually intertwined for the better part of a century.

Today I looked through a database of Alabama death records to see if I could find the record for the child who died by accidental shooting. (I know where he is buried but haven't had a chance to go out there to check the date.) I found it, but for some reason I decided to keep looking at records for that family. I found what I believe was Thomas Smelley's death record, in Selma in 1940. I jumped back a generation and looked for Rance and Mandy, and I located Mandy's maiden name -- Fitts.

And then all of a sudden the original relationship between the Fitts and Johnson families dawned on me. In the 1870 census, two-year-old Mandy lives with her parents, Jacob and Classy Fitts, next door to the T. J. Fitts family. Since "the Fitts place" was buit in 1868, that's probably the home the white Fitts family was living in. I wonder if the little house at the beginning of the road, what I knew as the tumbledown ruins of Rance and Mandy's house, was where the former slaves Jake and Classy lived.

So I have this vision of a woman cradling her bleeding son on the floor of a home built by the owner of her grandparents. I can't quite get my head around this.

Jennifer

and another good sign!

This one is on the other end of our transaction. Future home of the T. S. Lands!

--Jennifer
Oooh, look, SOLD! 

a very good sign

Best I've seen in a long time!



Looking forward to seeing one in front of the one we're buying. Within the next four weeks we should close on both!

--Jennifer
Oooh, look, our house is SOLD! 

Gemini dream

And today is the first day of Gemini. You don't have to believe in it, but allow me to revel in the fact that on the first day of the dualistic sign -- which is my sign and that of my anniversary -- we signed the contract to get out of our house. Escaping this house will be a dream come true (although it's a perfectly lovely house, don't get me wrong).

We'll finally have a place that is ours, full of our memories together. Tom's been in this house for nearly 14 years, and some of those memories are best left behind. Woohoo!

--Jennifer
Shiny things times two! 

at last!

Our house is now under contract! We finalized the deal this morning. Next we'll have to clear out for inspections and appraisals, but the fact that we've got a buyer makes it all worthwhile. It's pouring rain for the second day in a row, but Tom and I are absolutely giddy. No way the weather can dampen this excitement!

It's been a long, stressful week, and it is ending beautifully. I survived my first week of training to teach online for Kaplan, my first live course since February is off to a pretty good start, and there's a light at the end of the real estate tunnel. I hope to sleep well tonight!

--Jennifer
Shiny things in a new house! 

Mt. St. Helens

I remember the anniversary of Mt. St. Helens every year, because it is my cousin Amy's birthday. She was born the day of the eruption. And I say I remember it; I was almost 8, and it was a Sunday, so the memory I have is a combination of Amy's birth and that of her sister, my cousin Traci.

One or both of those girls was born in the early morning. I remember being awoken and told she was here by my mom, but it seems like that was Traci. (I do remember being asked to guess whether Brownie's baby was a boy or a girl, and I guessed boy. Sorry, Traci!)

So Amy and the eruption memories are 30 years old. The media's got plenty of retrospectives on the volcano, and Amy's got her own 30th birthday celebration here.

--Jennifer
Collector of shiny things

Dalila's graduation

Mom, Dad, Grandma, and I went to Athens over the weekend to see Dalila's graduation from the University of Georgia. She is now Dr. Mathews! We had a great trip and got to spend some time with Charles and Lila, some of Lila's family, and our friends Thad and Kristy.

--Jennifer

Proud sister-in-law to  
Lillian Dalila Mathews, PhD! 

P.S. -- I almost forgot the funniest part. Despite having the phonetic pronunciation provided to her, the lady announcing the graduates said "Da-LEE-la." (Dalila says she should have just written "Delilah" instead of trying to tell them DUH-lila.)

back in limbo

We've had another house inspected and have once again submitted repair requests to the seller. This is where the deal fell through last time, although there are almost no similarities between this contract experience and the last one. All communication has been timely and official this time around!

We can't help but be nervous, though, after getting burned by the irrational behavior of the seller in our first attempt. Hopefully we'll fare better this time! We probably won't hear back until tomorrow, when I will be en route to Georgia for my sister-in-law's graduation (PhD!). Glad my laptop is back to being trusty! (Thanks for that, Scott B.!)

--Jennifer
Oooh, look, shiny things! 

our upcoming high school reunion

Ramsay High Class of 1990 is having its first-ever formal reunion in June, a few weeks after the 20th anniversary of our graduation. Jennifer Venable Humphrey and I have been on board since the beginning, but Mere and Jen Tomlin Bowman have had possible conflicts. Mere thinks she has worked hers out for at least part of the weekend, and today JTB booked her flight home from Oregon for that weekend! Yippee!

Now if we can make absolutely certain that Meredith can slip away from her other commitments on Saturday evening, we will all be there for the gala. One more things to cross fingers and hope for!

--Jennifer
Oooh, look, shiny things! 

all better now

I went back to work today for the first time in two weeks. And we're under contract (again), pending inspection (next Tuesday) and the sale of our house. I'm trying to not be completely in love with the new house or mess with whatever good karma seems to be enveloping us at the moment. To have bounced back from losing the house, finding another, and negotiating our way into a contract before the tax credit deadline means we have some good vibes working in our favor.

I don't look at this so much as an issue of God or blessings; it feels more like a shifting of energies. We've focused positive energy on finding ourselves an appropriate new home, and that seems like an act of free will. God doesn't necessarily want us to be in this particular house, but He wants us to do right and be happy.

It's been hard to curb the ill will Tom and I both feel toward the unreasonable seller of the first house. But we have to let it go. Moving on with "the rebound" has made that easier, but I'm having to concentrate on not being hurt or angry. Have to keep the energy positive and keep the good real estate vibes strong!

--Jennifer
Oooh, look, shiny things! 

I don't like Mondays

Yesterday I posted at about 1:00 a.m., so it still felt like Sunday. Not until after I went to bed, got up, and started trying to get some work done (new week, new me) did the Monday-ness kick in.

Last week, I spent Monday getting tested and checked in to the hospital, then the day ended with me in surgery having my appendix removed. Nice. This week was a different sort of bad.

On the Landlanders blog I've posted about our hopes and dreams and fears and tribulations about being under contract to buy an older house in need of some TLC. Well, this Monday all plans fell through and we were forced to void the contract. I will continue to leave the real estate discussion on that blog, but suffice it to say we were extremely upset and felt completely wronged.

Well, when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping. And today we went to see a different house, one that's practically move-in ready, and are waiting to hear from our agent to work out an offer. We've joked that this is the rebound house; we'll have at least one date with a really good-looking house to get over the drama that just ended. But it's possible this is the one!

--Jennifer
Nothing shines as bright on a Monday

appendix free -- that's me!

It's been almost a week since my appendix was removed. Feels like three weeks. I've not had much energy or opportunity to post, but here's a quick recap. I felt unwell last Sunday afternoon, and by Sunday night I knew something was seriously amiss in my belly. Monday morning Tom took me to the doctor's office, where they did some lab tests and decided I likely had appendicitis. So across the street to DCH I went, where the rest of the afternoon was spent getting blood drawn, IVs started (in my dehydrated veins), and then a CT scan.

By Monday evening my mom had arrived and I was in a room. The surgeon came to visit and said, "It's coming out tonight." And at about 11:30, surgery commenced. I returned to my room at about 2:00.

Tuesday I was troubled with post-surgery pain and a high fever; it stayed in the 102.5 range most of the day and spiked to 104. A miserable day, despite the morphine and visits from my boss, Dr. Blum; my cousin Ron; and my oldest friend, Meredith. (She's 103. Not really. But she has been my friend for almost 32 years.)

And then came the call that an agent wanted to show our house the following day.

I spent Wednesday largely by myself while Tom tried to get the house ready to show, and then he entertained the carful of animals while the people were in the house. I felt better than the day before but still not fantastic. And someone made an appointment to see the house on Thursday morning, so Tom got to do it all again the next day. (And this one was for a 2.5-hour stint. Poor Tom.)

Thursday my mom came down early and was present when my drain tube was removed. The darn thing was about 14 inches long and stung as it was pulled out! But much of the pain and irritation I'd had since the surgery was alleviated almost instantly once the tube was gone. I got to go home Thursday afternoon.

Since then I've slept a lot and worked out the stiffness in my limbs and back, generated by trying to not use my abs. Compensating with legs and back makes for a lot of aching. Today my folks and Grandma came and brought us lunch, plus plenty of leftovers to feast upon for the next few days.

And that's it in a nutshell.

One more thing: The folks who came to see the house on Wednesday came back for a second visit on Friday evening. No word yet though.

--Jennifer
Oooh, look, shiny things stuck in my arms! 

open house

We vacated the premises (all but Simon, who stayed safely hidden under a bed) for the open house yesterday. Sounds like we had some traffic early; hopefully we'll have stirred up some interest. Afterward, because it was such a lovely spring afternoon, I took some photos.

Tom's backyard is gorgeous. I wish I had gotten a shot of the forsythia in its glory a few weeks ago. It was nearly as lovely as the dogwood and as vibrant as the azalea.

And then there's our good-looking watchdog. And the pavers Tom laid inside the side gate.

--Jennifer
Oooh, look, shiny things! 

our listing

Yesterday we had our first showing. I'm still exhausted from the frenzy of cleaning. But I feel the need to present the link to our listing yet again, in case someone who needs a house in Tuscaloosa happens upon my blog....

319 31st Place East, 35405

New photos should be posted soon, including one with the dogwoods in bloom.

--Jennifer
Oooh, look, shiny things! 

housekeeping

The house we're hoping to buy was inspected over the weekend. While we were there (6 hours, he was very thorough), we walked around the yard so Tom could tell me some of his landscape plans. When I went back into the house, our agent asked me if I enjoyed yard work. I replied honestly: I don't really like any work.

Which includes housework. We still have boxes of "captured clutter" to relocate before we show the house, and then there's keeping surfaces and floor picked up and dusted. Oh, how I hope someone decides right away that ours is the house for them!

--Jennifer
Oooh, look, shiny things! 

4 sale

And now we have an MLS number and are online with RealtySouth. Open house roughed in for a week from Sunday. Have to pinch myself to believe we might actually be about to move!

Also, our MLS number, 77323, adds up to 4. Which is our collective favorite/lucky number and the house number of the house we want to move to. (And our current house number and street number also add up to 4.) Cool beans!

--Jennifer
Oooh, look, shiny things! 

things are looking up

The for sale sign went up in our yard this morning! I can't really believe it's finally on the market. Fingers crossed that this process is quick and relatively painless!

Kristy came to town yesterday and ended up working her tail off with me, getting the house cleaned up enough for Skip, our listing agent, to come in to see it and meet with us. I couldn't have done it without her. Tom was working outside and shuttling items to storage, so it was just me, Kristy, and the team of feline helpers getting the inside ready to show,

So I'm exhausted but satisfied.

Kristy visits are never long enough. She was here about 23 hours, and I would have preferred she stay a week. This morning we went over to visit Mary-Keeley and Katie, since Kristy won't be able to come back for their mom's memorial service (and I may not be able to get out of teaching, so I might miss it as well). They were doing as well as could be expected, actually better. We laughed and tried not to cry for about two hours. It was good to see them, but I'm so sorry that it was under these circumstances. Hopefully Tom and I will get to go visit Joyce tomorrow or Friday.

When I start thinking I'm overloaded and that I'm ready for things to get back to normal, I need to remember that none of my real estate issues have life-altering consequences. I can handle this!

Also, Jennifer and Scott sold their house in Atlanta; they closed this morning, around the same time the sign appeared in my yard. I hope there's some sort of cosmic positivity going on in the housing market!

--Jennifer
Oooh, look, the shine's coming back! 

I missed out

Saturday morning I happened to locate Penny's blog, which I linked to in my last post. I spent the better part of that morning sobbing, and this afternoon I returned to it and lost my composure again. Part of my sadness is selfish -- I feel like I missed out by not knowing Penny.

I am reminded of Anne Morrow Lindbergh's death, which prompted me to start reading her journals. I felt sad that I hadn't known her (as a reader) during her lifetime, and at the same time I felt somewhat guilty about that fact. WHY hadn't I discovered her sooner? The same is true here.

From my days of working at Hoole long after Joyce had retired, where I met her as a guest speaker and occasional visitor, I felt sad that I hadn't gotten to work for her. Long before I started dating Tom I felt that way, and I have always enjoyed my brief encounters with her. Then I learned that she had mentioned to him that he and I might pair well together, about a month before we figured it out ourselves. (I knew I liked her for a reason!)

We even talked to Joyce about getting ordained online to marry us. She was, of course, willing to do it -- excited at the prospect, no less! And then there was the wedding gift from her and the girls. I actually don't recall what the gift was, although I have a record of it; what was important was the way it was wrapped. She had tied it in tulle with sprigs of fresh lavender tucked in.

Why is this significant? Because we had baskets of lavender for our guests to scoop and shower us with as we left the reception. She hadn't known that my wedding had a lavender theme. But she knew. Joyce has that way.

When I made sachets from the leftover lavender, I tucked the Joyce lavender into one I kept for myself.

I can't stop thinking about her now. And the girls, of course, but mostly Penny's mama. We have joked that she's Tom's "other mother," since she hired him right out of college and mothered him a bit along the way. His own mother lived across the state, and in 2004 she passed away. He says Penny was kind of like the big sister he didn't know very well. He heard Joyce talk about her, and later, when the girls worked at Hoole, he knew her vicariously through them.

It's strange to be going to a memorial service for someone whose "bookends" you know the way we know Katie, Mary-Keeley, and Joyce. We missed out on the filling. And the more I read, the more I realize what the world is going to miss with this loss.

--Jennifer
So very sad.

sad, sad day

Yesterday the world lost a light, a woman I am very sorry wasn't one of my best friends. (I'd have had to take a number, though; seems lots of folks felt the same way.)

Penny vs. Cancer, Little Red Hen

Penny McAllister lost her battle with leukemia yesterday. A valiant three-month fight, which ended a few weeks before her 57th birthday. I only met Penny once. I worked with her daughter Katie at the time, and her mother, Joyce, had been the curator of special collections at the University (and Tom's boss) for years and years. Katie is very much like Joyce, and when I walked in and saw Penny sitting in the office, I said something about how she fit right into the space between her mother and her daughter. (They are three of a kind.) She said, "Yes, I'm the missing link!"

This was before I knew her younger daughter, Mary-Keeley. Both girls worked at special collections while they were undergrads, and I worked there as a grad student. I ended up working with MK longer and knowing her better than I did Katie. But my heart aches for both of them right now, and for Joyce. For everyone who knew and loved her, which by all appearances was a huge circle of folks.

--Jennifer
No shiny things today.

more signs that I'm old

Not only do I blog about cleaning my refrigerator, I now get to add an ACE-inhibitor to my daily drug roster. For those of you young folks reading this, that's blood pressure medication. I'll be on blood pressure AND cholesterol-lowering meds.

And on top of that, this pain I've had in my shoulder is most likely not an injury to my rotator cuff (which is good), but a somewhat spontaneous condition called capsulitis, or frozen shoulder. "People 40 or older are more likely to develop this problem." Nice. But seriously, it's possibly an autoimmune disorder, so it fits in with all my other endocrine issues. *sigh* (At least I'm almost 40, not having this happen at 25.)

Also I get to take daily anti-inflammatories, probably Advil. Maybe I need some rheumatism liniment, or perhaps a poultice of some sort would help. Or I could just feel blessed with the ability to forecast the weather with my arm! (No, I can't really do that. At least not reliably.)

So today was an odd mixture of good and bad. Blood pressure still running slightly high, bad. Going on medication that might have some unpleasant side-effects, bad. But treating it before it becomes a scary problem, good. And not having to have shoulder surgery is very good indeed! (I love my endocrinologist!)

And tomorrow we'll (hopefully) have lined up the inspector, paid our earnest money, and have a plan for listing this house on the official market. Good, good, good!

And I almost forgot! The day started out GREAT when I got a reply from a fellow genealogist I had contacted, who sent me a link to a resource I didn't already know about. Spent my spare time today tracking down death certificates for folks whose certs we hadn't located and collecting parents' names in some cases. Very, very good for the family research! More about that here.

--Jennifer
Oooh, look, shiny things! 

more goodness

Today has been a damp, dreary day. But I woke to an array of cats snuggled up with me, which was good. And then I was able to painlessly solve a minor mix-up at work. Then I had a meeting that was actually kind of fun, and then...our realtor called! With good news! The sellers accepted our offer!

Later tonight (or tomorrow morning) I anticipate getting an email with the final contract, ready to sign and return. Am trying to think of creative ways to make our house appealing to a broad range of buyers:

• put something delicious-smelling in the oven
• light cozy candles
• dust like my life depends on it
• remove all evidence of the litter box and its associated unpleasantries...

There's still a lot to do, no doubt. But knowing they've accepted the offer puts us just a little closer to making it happen, for real. And that's a good thing.

--Jennifer
Oooh, look, shiny things! 

things I like

My 2010 bloggery began with the Landlanders blog, which is intended to reflect what's going on in the Land household (not just in my head/world). Then I added the Land Cats' blog, because they've always got something going on. While setting up landcats.blogspot.com, I googled blog templates and found the Shabby Blogs site. Thus I realized I needed a blog of my own, to pretty up however I wanted. Thus you are here.

While adding links and such to this blog I've clarified a few things about myself. The first point here is nothing new; I like colorful collages. I've always known this. I have a magpie's aesthetic sensibilities -- I like sparkly, shiny, colorful, crafty, clever doodads. I collect and keep. Quilts, linens, frames, scraps (of paper and fabric), books, books, and more books.... So of course I like everything at Shabby Blogs.

Anyone who knows me (or has read the Land Land blog) knows that we live in a too-small house and I have tons of stuff in storage. I don't have a sewing machine in my home. My fabric (save the small sewing kit and embroidery basket) are stored in Grandma's basement, 50+ miles from my house. Even my paints and glues are packed, although they are still located on-site! Once we get this house sold and moved into a home with room for me to be me, I will be in a better place figuratively as well as literally.

That said, in collecting links for this blog, I've located sites reflecting things I like. They're listed in the column on the right, and I expect to continue to add to it over time. Enjoy a glimpse into my head and heart via other people's pages!

--Jennifer
Oooh, look, shiny things!

St. Pat's (and McKenzie's belated birthday)

The best leprechaun waiter at Applebee's (and his lepre-couple waitress partner for the night) with Isabel and McKenzie.

Then we went back to Mere's for surprise cake (surprise for McKenzie) and decorations put up by me and Isabel. Note Ted's tail....

And more kid shenanigans:

2010 Jenvention

Jennifer Venable-Humphrey and her boys, Robert and Ethan, came to Tuscaloosa yesterday to visit me and Meredith (and Isabel) for our annual Jenvention (minus one, since Jennifer Tomlin Bowman has removed to the west coast). We dined, then we visited the university campus (so Robert could see the library and he and Isabel could climb statues and trees) and Barnes and Noble (so moms could have coffee/cocoa), then capped it off with a bit of Wii at Mere's house.
 McKenzie didn't arrive until after 6:00, so she didn't get to join us. Bummer, because she'd have enjoyed the boys!