Fresh News! New Pictures!

Let me begin at the beginning, as they say. My last update was October 6, which seems so long ago, even though it's only been a month (give or take). And even though it's only been a month (give or take), I can see such changes in our little NoMonster. Makes me cry if I think about it too long...

The biggest news that I need to report on is WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!!!! Hurrah!!! The angels have sung! St. Joseph finally came through for us!!!! (Though it pains me to say that we could not find him to remove him from his earthen crypt, and if that weren't bad enough, I think he's upside down, too. How's that for gratitude???) We received an offer early-mid September, and it was a good, solid offer, money-wise. However, the buyer was a first-time buyer, and I think he asked for more than would normally be asked for. Like a home inspection AND a home warranty. To be paid for by the seller. Now, here's a tip, boys & girls--if you want a home inspection, pay for it yourself. Otherwise, the home inspector is working for the other guys. In our case, the home inspector worked for US. Now, we weren't selling a faulty home, or a money pit--far from it. I would have been really surprised had the home inspection revealed anything major (which it didn't, by the way). But still--if you're buying a house, wouldn't you want the home inspector working for you? Anyway, we gave the buyer pretty much everything he asked for...which I'm sure cut into our profits, especially since the house appraised for a bit more than we expected (I'm chalking that up to superior upkeep & upgrades! *Smile* ), but it was so worth it for us to not have to worry about a 2nd mortgage anymore that we were willing to do just about anything.

We closed on October 16th--a day foreverafter to be known as "Happy Dance on Main Street, Henderson, USA Day." (Actually, the dance of happiness took place on Crook Street, which is funny, as it's the street that the Courthouse & office of the closing attorney--also one of the Judges in Henderson County--are on. Okay, so maybe I'm the only one who finds the humor in that.) We had borrowed Mom & Dad's Subaru & trailer (thanks, Mom & Dad!!!) to haul the rest of our stuff back. We didn't think we had that much...we were wrong. We'd forgotten about a whole cabinet full of dishes. There were lots of things under the kitchen sink & various items in the laundry room that we had forgotten about, too. So, we loaded up the riding lawnmower (as it wasn't mentioned in the sale proceedings, and we were willing to sell it with the house, but as it wasn't mentioned--we were taking that sucker back with us!); another lawnmower that we're not sure will ever work, though I am optimistic; a dead iMac; the previously mentioned dishes, undersink and laundry room items; and various other bits and pieces of, well, crap. After we loaded up the Subaru & trailer, we headed to Bells. We had this great plan of going up into Jackson, just to see how it's changed, eat lunch at one of our favorite Japanese restaurants...well, that didn't happen. The loading took much more time than we thought, and so we really had about 40 minutes to eat and get to the closing. So, since there isn't another Bells anywhere, we had burgers and fries (and I had to get a chocolate milkshake to go). We went to the closing, and 20 minutes later, the house was sold, and we had a nice little check to take home. Let the Happy Dance commence!

Now on to my next story, which I like to call "And on the 8th day, there was giraffe." See, we got back to Greenville and returned the Subaru and trailer at night, and it was raining, and we were tired. We came in to Mom & Dad's and I set the diaper bag on the floor. In one of the outside pockets we'd stuck the little padded lion & giraffe car seat strap covers--Noah had spit up and some spitup got on the covers, so I took them off to be sure to put them in the laundry. Well, one thing led to another, and Shaka had seized his opportunity to eat a giraffe. Unfortunately, this was not a giraffe that should have been eaten. I don't know if you've seen those padded car seat strap covers, but they're not tiny. They're about 4 inches top to bottom, with a stuffed animal head on it. They're nice & soft & cushy and NOT suitable for doggie consumption. Well, Dad kept an eye on Shaka, and everytime that dog went out to do ANYTHING, there was Dad. For seven days, nothing. No sign of the giraffe from either end of Shaka. Until the 8th day, wherein the Giraffe made his appearance. What we surmise is that Shaka had, well, urped the Giraffe up & just kept, uh, re-eating it. Luckily, on that 8th day, Dad was faster than Shaka, and the Giraffe was laid to rest in the garbage can. Dad said that the Giraffe looked remarkably unharmed, and asked if we'd like him back. We declined. And no, there are no photos documenting this poor Giraffe's countenance.

I think we're up to Halloween now...Noah was a bat, and I must say, was pretty darn cute. After our photo session at home, Noah & I went to Mom & Dad's to trick-or-treat. Pictures are posted below. I've also posted some pictures of when Noah met his Granddaddy Hardin for the first time, as well as some other various photos of the cutest baby in the world.

We went for a ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway to look at the fall colors--Noah's first fall! I think we may have just missed peak color, but it was still pretty great.

Hopefully this has caught us up to date...forgive me for not posting more frequently, but Noah is a virtual time vortex. I don't know where the time goes, but when he's around, it disappears so quickly...We are starting to settle into somewhat of a routine, and he is sleeping through the night, which helps. I still hate having to spend my days away from him, but we're doing what we can right now. Enjoy the pictures!!