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Mr. Groovy filled you in on much of what’s been happening with us in Groovy Ranch Update 17. As usual, I have my own spin so I thought I’d round out the picture for you.
Meet the Millses
Mr. Groovy had his favorite Craiglisters in Update 17 and here I present my favorite “Next Door” family, the Millses.
Next Door is a tool that’s similar to FaceBook except it’s used for neighborhood communities. It’s great for sharing information about lost animals, community events, etc., and it also includes a “For Sale” category.
Angie Mills was one of the first to contact me through Next Door about a buffet table we had for sale. She came to see it, fell in love with it, and put a deposit down on it so that I’d hold it for when her husband Eddie and she could come back with their truck to cart it away.
Unbeknownst to Angie, her daughter Taylor also contacted me about an item for sale. Except it wasn’t for sale. She spotted a small desk in the corner of a photo I posted of our bedroom set and asked if she could buy it. I agreed to sell it to her closer to our move because I still needed it.
Angie also loved a wine bar up for sale but she and Eddie decided to spend money on only one piece. However, one week later, Eddie texted me and asked if I could give him a good price on the wine bar as he wanted to surprise Angie with it for her birthday. I told him we’d reduce it another $50 for the sake of romance, and Eddie was thrilled. I later found out that when Angie no longer saw the listing on Next Door she was carrying on because she knew someone else purchased the wine bar. She had no idea that someone else was Eddie, who bought it for her.
Eddie came for the wine bar a few days later while Angie was at work. He took it home, covered it up, added a note, and presented it to Angie for Mothers’ Day, rather than waiting for her birthday. Afterwards he texted me “That’s one happy woman!! Like a kid on Christmas morning!”
But it didn’t end there. Angie and Eddie returned for a corner piece for Angie’s mom, and Taylor bought our three bookcases. And when she returned for the desk, we threw in a cute floating shelf I’d never use again. All in all, the Millses made five purchases.
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
We chose a builder.
You may recall we found three custom builders that we were very comfortable with. Each one was more than capable of building a lovely home for us. But in the end, we chose Terry.
Now comes the difficult task of letting Chuck and R & R (Russel and Ray) know they didn’t get the job. And it’s going to be difficult because we got to know them through numerous texts, emails, and meetings, and they’re very fine people. Heck, we never would have found our designer, Michael, if it wasn’t for Chuck. And R & R went above and beyond by staking out the four corners of our proposed house, which was required before obtaining the septic and well permits, and mowing the winter wheat to make the inspector’s job easier.
But Terry is clearly the man for us. The best way I can explain our decision is that he’s very “old school.” The three bids were somewhat comparable, but ultimately, it didn’t come down to price. It came down to craftsmanship. We feel we’ll get the best home from Terry.
New Paths to Conquor
Given our love for walking in Crooked Creek Park back in Indian Trail, it should come as no surprise that we found a new walking path to call our own for the next six months or so in Wake Forest.
Wake Forest has a wonderful system of greenways for walking and biking. The Smith Creek Soccer Field is just five minutes from us and has numerous trail heads. Mr. Groovy and I settled on a route that begins with the Smith Creek Trail and ends at Forestville Road on the Sanford Creek Trail. That gives us 55 minutes of walking, in and out, for about three miles.
True to form, we’ve already made friends with a number of dogs, including Scruffy, Sam, Roxie, and Trevi. Photos to come.
Seven Pees and a Poop
This past holiday weekend, Mr. Groovy and I tried our hand at dog-sitting. Our friends (two of the fourteen ex-New Yorkers we now live close to) took a trip to Disney World along with Groovy Mother-In-Law and Groovy Sister-in-Law, and they asked us to watch their dog, Pepper.
Pepper can be somewhat skittish, so we decided to move in with her to keep her discomfort at a minimum. Each morning I awoke to Pepper either licking my face or pressing her hind paws against my ribs. That was her way of signaling it was time for a walk.
During each of Pepper’s four daily walks we counted her pees and poops. One pee, two pee, three pee….is this what new parents go through? She walked, she paused, and boy did she sniff. We knew she was part Jack Russell terrier. We had no idea she was part blood hound. On most walks she peed seven times before she pooped. And then she peed some more. I know this is TMI, but we only got super anal (no pun intended) for a good cause. After each walk we texted the pee and poop tallies to Pepper’s parents, and Pepper’s parents were tickled pink. Nothing makes a vacation more enjoyable than knowing your pet is being well cared for.
One More Pepper Story
Pepper’s parents gave us a heads up about her keen interest in squirrels, rabbits, and cats so we were prepared for her to go nuts whenever we came across a furry creature. However, we weren’t prepared for Pepper’s stubbornness. She has a mind of her own and likes to dictate the direction she takes during her walks.
And Pepper dictating the direction of our walks wasn’t a problem since it didn’t matter to us what route we took—except for one particularly long evening walk, when we wanted to return home and she did not. No amount of yanks on her leash, finger snapping, kissy-kissy sounds, or firm exclamations of “Pepper!!!” would get her to budge. Finally, in a desperate effort to get back to a cushy sofa and TV, Mr. Groovy nonchalantly approached Pepper, lifted her, and turned her body around towards home. For a few brief seconds, Pepper looked stunned. And, then, she pranced towards home as if it was her decision to return all along.
Fight-O-Meter
I know this is getting boring, but believe me, we’ll have some fights soon. After all, we will be breaking ground on Groovy Ranch in June.
Final Note
Lastly, a big thank you to Robbie at Stockstreetblog. He created a powerful post called 30+ Money Bloggers Share Their Best Book For Beginner Investors and included our recommendation. If you know someone who is starting to invest, then this is the post for him or her!
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