Summer is in Full Swing!

Hello.

It's been a while, I know. But as I sit here with a head cold and a sore throat and procrastinate working, I'd thought I'd give ya an update.

To finish my last post, an old friend from Ohio reached out and found me online! She and I were bff's up until 3rd grade when she moved away to Arizona. It wasn't until she said via email that she lived in Casa Grande that it hit me. I vividly remember writing her letters (remember when we did that? We should to talk to someone about bringing that back!) addressed to "Casa Grande, AZ" and my imagination was filled with scenes out of an old western movie complete with horses drinking out of a water trough on a dusty road as I put those letters in the mailbox. She used to ~ and still does ~ do barrel racing. So Stacey has 2 kids and has been married for 10 years. We exchanged pictures and got caught up and are throwing around the idea of a reunion. Hey, I now have 2 newly reunited old pals that live in Arizona...why not go out for a visit?

What else? Brian and I have made an offer on a lake house in Michigan. There were 2 that we liked but of course we both liked different houses. I opted for the turn-key immaculate smaller house with a two story gorgeous deck and a brand new dock that comes with no toys.....Brian opted for the the bigger house that needs a lot of work, all walls are covered in dark wood paneling with a small deck and crappy dock, choppy layout but comes with LOTS of toys. I call it the "Polygamist House" because it currently sleeps 18 or 19 ~ the place is filled with twin beds and baby bassinets. We made an offer on the Polygamist House. I agreed because I have personally witnessed magic moving from Brian's brain to his hands when it comes to home renovation. The man is a visionary in that sense so if he tells me he can make it not only nicer than the other house, but better, then I'm on board.

We went out to Michigan a few weeks ago and Mike and Carolyn, the owners of the clean house, took us out on their boat and gave us a tour of the lake and the adjoining lakes. They are GREAT people and now I know why it's never a good idea for buyers to meet the sellers ~ because emotions are involved. They bought a bigger house on the same lake and they are waiting to move in until they sell their 1st house. Mike actually called Brian and said 'What's up, buddy? I gotta get my wife out of here! Let's make a deal!" He really needs to sell. Then the realtor called Brian the next day and said "I've got something to tell you. Mike wants to make YOU and offer. He dropped his price and is throwing in the brand new dock and the bar." Ain't that some shit?? Have you EVER heard of a seller making an offer to a buyer??? Crazy. Gosh we'd LOVE to help them out but we need to do what's best for us and our situation. Mike and Carolyn will still be on the same lake so I do look forward to hanging with them more. I hope they just want to hang with us if we don't buy their house!

In other news, I'm training for the Chicago Marathon again this year. Haven't run it since 2004 as I got into the sport of Triathlon for the summers of 2005 and 2006. Last year I took a break and used wedding planning as my excuse, but that's all it was. I just needed a break. Training is going well and we're already into Week 3. Brian's best friend and Best Man is also running it this year so he'll be making the trip here from Virginia so that'll be fun. Too bad he runs a lot fast than me. He'll finish in about 3:30. I'm hoping to beat my last time of 4:09 and run the race in under 4 hours.

Well I need to stop procrastinating and get to work. I'll try not be such a stranger here this summer!