Eleven Degrees Below Zero!

We bought a cute little house in Prior Lake, MN as an investment. Funny thing about investments...for the Scott Household it usually means a little money and a LOT of sweat equity. Mr. Scottie Dog has been here since mid December. First getting the deal done, researching and buying insurance, setting up the utilities, etc. and finally getting title and getting the work done on our 3 bedroom, 2 bath rental house. It was built in 1941 and has plastered archways, nooks and built in shelves.
It's a cute cottage, one and a half stories and sits on nearly 1/2 acre. After a month of being apart, I flew to MN and we've been working on it together. Mr. Scottie Dog has done the lions' share of the work...some plumbing, a lot of electrical work. He had to clean up the yard before the snow fell as it's important to get the leaves off the grass before the snow buries them. There was a lot of junk to be cleared out of the garage and basement. The stairway was torn up and re-built and the upstairs bathroom needed a new floor (not just flooring!) so he tore that up too. I've been patching plaster walls, sanding them and re-patching several times. Lots of clean-up, it took three hours to get rid of all the cobwebs in the basement (I AM the WOMAN after that job!). Today I washed all the walls with TSP and then rinsed them. All the woodwork had to be cleaned too.

Of course I have played with the grandbabies lots. To hear Shiloh cry, "Namay!" (Grammy) as I appeared at breakfast the first day was wonderful. She remembered who I was. She'll be two in 3 weeks. Mercedes will turn 4 end of next week (we'll be gone by then). Jakob will become a big 6 year old end of March and baby Anastacia is 3 months and counting....smiles at her Grammy too! I've done some babysitting, some sewing with Beka and lots of fun stuff too. A lot of work, a lot of fun. Hopefully we'll be on our way back home by Tues. or Wed. and our little house will find a family to live in it.

I hear there is rain at home (lots and lots!). Thanks to those who look after our house and things while we are away. Here we wear lots of layers, and mittens and scarves and hats and extra socks and heavy coats....it was 11 degrees BELOW zero as we left to work on the house this morning.

PS.....a funny fact: In this part of MN they have a deal at McDonalds....buy one big mac and get a second one for what the temperature was a noon the previous day. I wonder if they'll give me two for 11 cents less than regular price?

Time Flies.....

2012. Twenty twelve. Two thousand and twelve. It's a new year. Time really does fly. I am sure of it. It seems only yesterday I was three years old and all I worried about was who would push me on my swing.
Life was pretty idyllic. I lived the Leave it to Beaver life. My dad was much like Father Knows Best. While my mom didn't wear pearls, she stayed home, made me three meals a day and played cards nearly every afternoon with two other ladies. She was the Room Mother at school, the assistant Camp Fire Leader, the one who "let" me hang up laundry and iron the easy stuff. She taught me to cook and to love jigsaw puzzles. My brothers and I knew the limits of our neighborhood and we ran wild within them. In no time at all I went to Jr. High, we made a big move out of LA; my days at Redlands Sr. High School went by in a flash.

Three weeks out of high school I met a guy in a tree at Sylvan Park. A week later we got engaged and married two years later .
That brings us up to 1972. I was now 20 years old. Whoosh! In a burst of energy we had kids...three lovely daughters to raise and I remember saying over and over again..."I'll do that when things slow down." The next 40 years raced by. The girls grew up, left home, married. Lots of joyous times and some heartbreaks. But it all happened in a heartbeat.

In 2001 when most women are thinking of retirement I opened up a store. Went from stay at home Mom to Shop Owner in one fell swoop. Retail is a 60-70/hour week. In September our store, Scottie Dog Quilts/Redwood Sewing Center celebrated 10 years in business. How can that be?
Here I am today. In two short days I'll be 60 years old. S.I.X.T.Y. How does that happen? I look forward to the future. Probably not another 60 years, but for now I think I'm going to be happily middle aged.