Day Seven

            Seven days and 2,600+ miles since we left Greenbank, we arrived just after 12 noon in a torrential downpour.  The gusty winds picked up in Kansas yesterday and continued today, while the rain started south of Wichita and kept on at various levels of intensity all the way to Bartlesville.  And still continues.

            Dana, looking so perky and pretty with her new shorter haircut, was waiting for us at her front door holding Joelle.  Soon thereafter Benjamin got home (via school bus) from his half day at preschool.  Oh, how those grandbabies have grown since the end of July!  Benjamin is taller and leaner . . . and way faster on his feet.  Joelle is also big for her age (8 months on October 28) and plumper than ever.  She also is cutting her top two teeth and has learned to roll to get places.

            When the rain let up a little, we walked over to my house.  Yes, the front yard has a wide strip of mud from house to sidewalk and needs more fill dirt.  (When the sewer line was repaired, the plumbing crew did not add enough dirt back into the trench they had dug.)  But turn the key and open the front door, and you are socked in the face by varnish and paint vapors—and, more importantly, gleaming red oak floors and freshly painted, neutral tone master bedroom and hallway, a real blessing since the bedroom had been pink (even overwhelming to me) and the hallway a sky blue.

            Dana has already added her personal touch in addition to the cleaning she and Shawn did.  A bowl filled with fruit on the kitchen counter, some snack foods, a microwave, and a spare coffee pot were the first things I noticed.  There were also some decorating touches in the bathrooms and a lovely cushioned bench in the living room.  Wednesday night will be my first overnight in my new home thanks to the loan of their air mattress.  By then, the house should be aired out enough to be habitable. 

            Tomorrow, John and I will go to Lowes to pick up supplies for a few remaining repairs and improvements, which he has kindly offered to do for me.  The day will pass quickly, I am sure, and when Shawn gets home from work we will enjoy some Papa Murphy’s pizza and a pleasant evening of conversation.  Wednesday morning I take John to Tulsa for his flight back to Seattle, and then I will start to settle in.  Hopefully I won’t have to wait for my furniture and books too long.  Dana is ready to decorate!