Catching up

So much has happened in the last month. Between closing the sale of the Kernersville house, and clinching the job with CMS, there were many "little things" to do.

We closed on the Kernersville house on May 25, the Friday before Memorial Day. With the money from the sale, I was able to pay off the VISA card, repay my sister for the money she lent me to replace the AC in my current home, and have the wooded area cleaned up along the left side of the house.

Having the lot cleaned up wasn't just for aesthetics, but for safety. There were six dead trees in that wooded area, one of them over 30 feet tall, too close to the house for safety. Having that side of the lot cleaned up really made a huge difference in the overall appearance of our property. I think the results were worth what it cost.

As for the job at CMS, they made an offer in early June. Then there was a lot of busy work to do before I could actually start working. There was a background check, fingerprinting, drug testing, health certification including a TB test, and a day-long pre-employment orientation session.

Although I didn't realize how much I had to do before actually being "cleared" to start work, fortunately I had requested my start date to be June 26 (this past Tuesday), so I had plenty of time to do all the CMS pre-employment tasks, plus take care of some things around the house that I'd been putting off for lack of money or motivation. Besides having the left side of our lot cleaned up, Frances and I also repaired the wood "skirts" along the bottom of the front porch posts.

Repairing the posts was the last task remaining to be done from the home inspection report I had done before I bought this house. The inspector noted that all of the posts but one had some wood that was rotting. The repairs weren't difficult, and we saved a lot of money by doing the work ourselves. Our friend Kerry helped by measuring and cutting the wood for us, and showed us what to do by repairing the first post himself. Then Frances and I took care of all the rest -- prying off the rotten boards, nailing up the new ones, caulking, and putting on primer. The only thing we haven't done is paint over the primer coat. I'm proud of the work we did.

As I've already said, my first day back to work was Tuesday. My first week at work couldn't have gone more smoothly. I'm riding the bus, and although I have to transfer buses downtown, the commute isn't as bad as I had anticipated. The morning commute, from the moment I step on the bus at home to the moment I step off the last bus in front of work, is less than 45 minutes. The evening commute is a little longer, only because of the timing of when the buses run, since I have to transfer.

As far as work goes, I feel really lucky. My team is one of those rare groups of folks who actually get along and pull together. There doesn't seem to be any sniping or in-fighting, so I feel truly blessed to have such a great working environment. These are the folks I'll spend most of my waking hours with, week in, week out, so how fortunate I feel to be working with them!

Menu Plan Monday

Wow, I can't believe so much time has gone by since my last entry. I've been keeping busy:

• following up on the pending sale of the Kernersville house. Negotiating with the buyers over repair costs; faxing urgent paperwork; keeping FedEx and UPS in business with overnight mailings. Still no closing date, but it can't come too soon!
• keeping my house cleaning business going until the job at CMS comes through
• submitting my application for the job at CMS (a story in itself, and probably not very entertaining except to those involved). I had an interview scheduled last Friday, but at the last minute, the manager had to cancel. Tentatively rescheduled for Wednesday (two days).
• organizing my finances in Quicken (checking account, VISA) and working out a budget. This was a lot of work, and this story needs to be told, as I hope others can benefit from some of my ideas -- separate post to follow in the next couple weeks.

Without further ado, this is what we have planned for this week. All the dishes were cooked yesterday, as usual, so we should stick to the plan, since all the hard work is done!

Monday: Szechuan beef stir fry ; rice; Indian-spiced green beans

Tuesday: Sausage and herb lasagna; tossed salad

Wednesday: Chicken Breasts with Italian Dressing; tossed salad

Thursday: Leftover stir fry

Friday: Leftover lasagna

And for dessert this week: Apple cranberry crisp

For more meal ideas, click here! to go to the Organizing Junkie's blog. Scroll down to "Menu Plan Monday" to see her menus for this week, and for links to see what some of the other ladies will be dishing up.

Soon we'll be "house poor" no more!

Jerry and I have a signed offer to purchase our house in Kernersville! Wait, it gets better... there are no contingencies and the buyer is pre-approved for financing, so this looks like a "done deal"! Can I get a "Whoo-hoo!"?

The contract states that the home inspection will take place by May 11, and we don't expect any surprises from that (except for maybe teensy ones). Remember last fall before we put the house on the market, we had a thorough inspection done and spent $$$$ to repair and spruce up the place.

It's too far off to have a closing date yet, but the contract anticipates closing by May 25. So it looks like, by end of this month, we'll be "house poor" no more! (And with the proceeds from the sale, I should be able to pay off my credit card debt, which I ran up to $$$$ while I wasn't working last year.) Thank Heaven!