Sunday:
HWH is in now and finally a nice HOT shower! Since we are selling the house the cost of the HWH and all other repairs/painting, etc. costs will be deducted before taxes are estimated so no problem.
Finished the 2nd bedroom yesterday but had to touch up the ceiling in a few places. Very pretty shade of cream. Will have to touch up the white painted moldings now too. New paint shows up that they have had some usage. LOL Also may put up new blinds in that bedroom. Definitely will install closet doors in that room and bedroom already painted. Bypass mirror doors will run around $450 for both sets. Not a problem - installed 22 sets in the apartment and one set in DS1's room here.
DS2's room is cleared out and mudded ready for priming. Also repaired and mudded the laundry ceiling yesterday before emptying the tool shed wth DS1 and DH. DH was fretting about getting it done so we just went down and sorted everythng out. Most of the stuff is DS2's, DDIL2's or will go in dumpster. Only a few small boxes to go back to Texas. Still have to do a final clear out of the connexes but those can wait until DH goes to Texas and DS1 comes back.
Today we are supposed to have our "Christmas gift giving" with the family. DD1 told everyone yesterday that we would have it tonight at 5 pm AT DS2's HOUSE!
Yes, the same house that they are still moving into that is full of unpacked boxes and too much furniture! DS2 worked yesterday. Sunday is his only day off and he wanted to do more unpacking and paint the last room at his house today. DD1 doesn't want to have it at her house because it is too much trouble for her. David is home from college and we hoped he could help move the china closet to DS2's but he is busy today which os DS2's only day off. DS2 was unhappy that he would have to stop his work on unpacking and painting to clear room for the family to assemble. I told them that we would have the family HERE since the chidren could play outside, and there was plenty of space to sit. We still have 12 dining room chairs, the table, sofa ad 2 other chairs as well as 3 camp chairs. DS1 bought 4 pizzas at Walmart, I will make a salad, and DD1 said she is making chili. I thought I might have to go get paper plates then I remembered that my good dinnerware has not been packed yet. I have 30 plates so no problem.
This house large and has always been a good place for parties with plenty of play space for children. In many ways I am sorry to let it go. I love the view and total privacy. The patio is 25'x60' so great outdoor entertainment space. But this house is not comfortable for me anymore. It is too much house to keep up, and we can't take care of the outdoor hillsides without our sheep. With our sheep the cost of hay was eating us up. I will miss the views and the space for the kids but it's time to go. If California wasn't busy overpricing everyone out of the state with taxes, fees, and bad politics, etc. we might have tried to make a go of it here. But as it stands, we wouldn't be able to afford to stay here many more years anyway.
Monday:
Had to stop mid-sentence onmy last post to go help DS1 and DH sort and loat stuff we wanted to take back to Texas. They loaded it in the truck and drove it out to the Connexes where they will stage it to load in the trailer the end of the weed. Then I came back in and decided to clear the counters and table for the family dinner befre taking my shower and getting the salad made for dinner. Our "Christmas" was very nice. DS1 found the little tree we had on the porch for Christmas and set it up on a table with all the gifts. Hard to see but it even had mini lights on it.
The grandkids all loved what they got and we all sat at the table for dinner. I had frozen Chrstmas cookies and brought them to CA. They have been in the freezer since we arrived. DD1 and the grandchildren were very happy to see them. Most of my children and grandkids love Legos so were happy with what they got. DS1's Lego arrived after we had left for CA so it s waiting for him at home. He did see another Lego set - new one just out - that he asked for. He said it would be easy to assemble.
Since we used my set of good china for dinner last night, I decided to run all of it through the dishwasher and pack it up today. DDIL2 decided she really liked the pattern so I will split it between DDIL2 and DD2. I have service for 30 since we used to host tons of pot lucks in our old house for our church and preschool groups. Too expensive to buy heavy duty paper plates so I had enough for the groups I hosted. I am down to 26 dinner plates but plenty to split between the two girls. I have my grandmother's pre-WWI Bavarian dinner set in Texas if I host any dinner parties.
Before I cleared of the counters and extendedthe table I put another coat of mud on the laundry room ceiling. Need to prime and paint that then the washer and dryer can go back in place. Once they are in place the refrigerator can be moved out and I can finish the ceiling repair. We had a leaky skylight which ran in along the beams and caused damage to the ceiling drywall in the laundry room. It looked like I was going to have to replace some drywall, but when I got the loose plaster down, it turned out that it just needed to be remudded. We removed the skylight (shame since there is no window in the laundry room) so I also need to prime and paint the board that covers up the underneath of the roof as well. I debated putting in new drywall to make the ceiling flush but decided to leave it in case the new buyer wants to install a skylight later. It is already framed in.
DH is sanding the laundry room mud now so I will be able to prime it as soon as he finishes. Then I will prime DS2's old room. I won't touch up the white moldings in the 2 bedrooms and entry until I can do them at once. Tomorrow I can get at the ceiling over the fridge in the laundry room.
We looked in all 3 of the 10'x10' sheds at the back of the driveway and they are almost empty. DS2 still has shelves in two of them so we will move all his stuff into those sheds onto the shelves. He can back his truck right up to the sheds to load it as he finishes sorting stuff at home and clears space in the garage. His stuff can stay there until escrow closes when we sell. At least it will be out of the house and out of our way as we finish painting and repairs on the house. Once the repairs and painting are done, Rafael can come back to tour the house with his wife and we can discuss how or if he is interested in going ahead with a purchase. If he backs out we will list it. decision.
Got to check the dishwasher and see if the china is done and ready to pack. I decided to wash them all since sitting in the cabinet over the fridge for the last 2 years they have gotten dirty. I have a lot of silverplate serving dishes up there that I used at holidays. Yes, I cleaned my silver every month in the old days. I ironed all the linen tablecoths too and washed my crystal wineglasses by hand. What can I say? My southern grandmother raised me in the old ways. You can hardly give silverplate away these days. I am considering taking it all back to Texas, cleaning it, then spraying it with clear varnish to prevent tarnish. Nothing to lose there since I won't be using it for food and I can put it in the big display cabinet that is built into a corner of the living room. If the varnish keeps it from tarnishing it can sit there and look pretty. If someone steals it oh well. Either way, Win-Win for me. LOL
. You didn't let them slide as kids.
DS1 went back to Lowes again for the 2 gallon primer that was on sale that we did not buy the other day. 
Since we can't sell the house without hot water we are stuck. Also I would like to be able to have a HOT shower with all the painting and work I'm doing. DH will call the plumber today. Part of the extortionate cost is that goodold California has mandated that you have "water expansion chamber" and drain pan under the HWH. They also require all new plumbing pipes and hoses be installed on the new unit. The democrats just have their hands out for all your money. 
![:\](/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/side.png "side :\")
