OMG - Where Did the Month Go?

Well, I bought the house about a mile from my son's house at an auction for about 65% of it's assessed value. And have been working my fingers raw remodeling it. Three bedrooms, one bath, big kitchen, livingroom, attached garage and a little detached storage/workshop building with a nice size front and back yard.

Here are pictures of the house before I started working on it.

I have already removed the wallpaper in the livingroom and my bedroom. The carpets and padding has been removed from the entire house. I painted the livingroom a light taupe and replaced the carpet with medium oak laminate floors.

The room with the "duck" wallpaper now has mahogany laminate flooring. I did touch up the paint with the same taupe paint. I am leaving the wallpaper for the time being since I want to have a guest room that is useable, but removed the wall paper in the bedroom that will be mine. I have a light sage paint for the walls and the same mahogany flooring. I think it will match the floral bedding from our bedroom in SLO.I did buy a new bedroom set, but will be using the matress that Tuviya bought for our honeymoon. *sigh* I really wish he was here to share the rush from getting this house in order.

"Sailboat" wallpaper room is going to be the yoga/exercise and sewing room. I expect to have the floor done in there before I go to Florida to visit Laynee and Marina for the first week of January.

I am thinking that I will be working on the house until I leave for Israel and India. Rabbi set the ticket for the month of April.

Other adventures:
1. I found a group of paranormal investigators that are based about 25 miles away. They are planning a group investigation the first week of February. That should be interesting.

2. Looked into the synagogue in Joplin. They are Reform, but it is the only synagogue within the 50 mile radius of the house. They will start having services on Saturday mornings twice a month and have Friday night services every week. There is a Sisterhood that meets every month.

3. Shopping for "stuff" to make my house a home. The POD of stuff is in the garage. I am hoping the stupid, mutant crickets stay out of my stuff.

4. I have been cooking for the grandkids and my oldest granddaughter has lost about 7 pounds, good since she has been trying to lose weight. We found out that she has juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and she is a little heavier than she needs to be.

Oh - and obviously I got over the bronchitis and sinus infections. I am taking allergy meds regularly now, especially with the cleaning and painting projects.

Off to go get "family pictures" done with Anil's little tribe.

Song of the Week - Light a Candle by Sarit Hadad

Lyrics with English translation:

NADLIK BEYACHAD NER (LIGHT A CANDLE)

Lif'amim nidmeh she'en tikvah
Vehakol nir'e kol kach afel velo yad'ua
Haprachim od lo parchu
bagan uvasadeh

Uva'erev rak maka haru'ach
Az bou venadlik beyachad ner, ner

(Translation: Some times it seems that there is no hope
And every thing looks so dark and unknown
The flowers have not yet blossomed
in the garden and in the field

In the evening only the wind blows
So come on and we will light a candle together)

Chorus:
Light a candle
Light a candle with me
A thousand candles in the dark
Will open our hearts

Lifamim nir'e shehamachar
Lo yavi po nechama labechi velatza'ar
Vehalayla ha'aroch nimshach bli havtacha
Veha'afela chada kata'ar
Az bou venadlik beyachad ner, ner

(Translation: Sometimes it seems that tomorrow
won't come to comfort the crying and the sorrow.
And the long night continues with no promise
And the darkness is as sharp as a blade
So come on and we will light a candle together)

Light a candle
Light a candle with me
A thousand candles in the dark
Will open our hearts

Light all the candles
Let's light the candles every where
Just look at me and take my hand
The heat of love will glow again

(Translation from Hebrew Songs database at hebrewsongs.com)

I HATE Nose Sprays!!!! Oh, and Happy Hanukkah!

Seasonal Holiday Alert for tonight night. Got the candles and chocolate gelt in Los Angeles, CA; books on fish hatchery (instead of gefilte fish) in Multonomah, OR; dreidels and stickers in Colorado Springs, CO; and Potatoes, eggs and Bisquick in Joplin, MO. Totally American Hanukkah coming up in Oswego, KS.

Just so everyone knows that I am NOT out partying and ignoring The Blog Followers, I have been to TWO clinics since I got to Kansas. Ugh! They both told me that the allergies are bad, and that I need to do prescription Nose Sprays, decongestants, inhailed steroids for asthma AND the ubiquitous saline sinus rinses. Oh, and for good measure, a Z-Pac and cough syrup with codeine. **GAG**

There is some good news, in spite of the TMI Health Update. I went to an auction with my son and daughter-in-law and bought a house. It should close escrow before this time next week. Anil saw the poster for the auction when we were walking around town. (He is diabetic and Thanksgiving was YAKKY for his blood sugar!) So we drove by the house. It is Light Green with a dark Green metal roof and trim, Tuviya's favorite color. We were able to look at the inside and saw that it is VERY cute. It was owned by an elderly widow who traveled A LOT, took pride in her home and moved to Oregon to be close to her kids. (Probably what people will say about me when I am 90+, LOL) It is 1170 sq feet, 3 BR, 1 BA with an attached garage, small detached workroom and large front and back yard. Perfect for my meditation path and veggie garden. The workroom will either be a yoga studio (there is a heater in it) or a classroom to teach the grandbabies Hebrew and "stuff". And I got it all for $33K. Hanukkah Present from my Honey...*S*
Pictures are Here...

All of the curtains stay (YEAH!) but the junk in the pictures was sold at the auction, so it should be pretty clean. There are a few small fixes that need done, like the carpet in the livingroom and bedroom needing pulled out since *obviously* my allergies have decided to be a problem here in TotoLand. The Central Heating worked really well, and I have been using my electric blankets here at the Haunted Hotel (my son's mansion - he has a timer on the tv and I woke up to the tv being on at 2am after I *know* I turned it off!)

I should have everything settled in so that I can visit friends in Tennessee and Florida at the end of the month for a couple weeks before the weather gets really bad here.

Off to make soup, latkes and hot chocolate for my grandbabies tonight for the first night of Hanukkah!