Synopsis of the last 3 months: As most of my readers can imagine, life has been really crazy at the Cliff household. We sold our home in 3 weeks, but only after several months of cleaning, remodeling (total kitchen makeover) and "staging." It was pretty intense. We sold by owner (but purchased an MLS number...maybe a post on selling by owner at another time) and had a cash offer for almost asking price. In this economy, what a blessing! After having a huge yardsale about a month ago, we decided to give away the rest of our stuff, most of it to World Relief to help with the settling of refuge families. They hauled away 6 pick-up truck loads! And still, we have a moving van full of belongings that Mike will be driving up next weekend. The kids and I drove to Maine last weekend, and decided to try I95 because Mr. GPS said it would be faster by 4 hours than our normal I81 to I84 route. Let's just say it wasn't...it ended up being even longer. Traffic was horrendous, but on the plus side, we saw the Washington Monument, the NYC skyline and a squadron or 4 military jets showing off for us over Baltimore. We made it just fine, in 24 hours, and boy am I thankful to have extra drivers now! We leave for Hong Kong July 28th.
But for now? Right now, I am at our cabin in Maine...our home. The kids are all working at Living Waters Camp about 40 minutes away, and in the midst of cleaning, I am taking time to smell the roses, literally:
For those of you who have never smelled wild Maine Rugosa roses, well, you don't know what you're missing. There is a hedgerow along my back deck and in the morning when I sit and drink my coffee (here, with a peony background), they are intoxicating:
I love simple pleasures, like hanging my clothes out on our droopy old clothesline because they smell so fresh when I crawl into bed at night:
And eating my cousin Jean's homemade donuts with my morning coffee (to die for...):
Yes, I AM thankful...with a side of thirfty!
