Memphis bound.

So it's official. Mr. Hoozey, myself and the Zs are moving to Memphis soon. Mr. H accepted a great job opportunity there.

Since January Mr. H has been contacted by 3 recruiters, even though he wasn't looking for a job, the first one was in early Feb. and when he told me about it, I kept saying "It's like they literally wrote this job FOR you." He did several phone interviews and then onsite interviews in March. While in the process of this opportunity, the second recruiter (found him because he was recommended by someone at previous job that is working with this recruiter to get another job) contacted him about a job about an hour away from our KY home. He did phone interviews and an onsite visit while waiting on the first one. The second company extended an offer before the first one, but Mr. H turned it down for a couple of reasons.
#1 it was 65 minutes through desolate KY to get there from our KY house- a little too far to do daily commute but a little too close to justify another home that gets you 30 minutes closer (would have meant living in Clarksville, TN since area is rather remote.)
#2 job was just plant manager. Mr. H has participated on a much higher level until he took the local plant manager job to get our youngest through HS. The Georgia job was VP of operations so probably why the first recruiter called. In October his division was sold off- and new ownership treated him like "plant manager" and he realized that he doesn't enjoy his work when he is not part of the decision making process. The new ownership is rather micro-managing so even low level decisions were expected to go through bureaucratic BS.

The third recruiter was a recruiter Mr. H worked with at last job for staffing in the plant and was told to contact him if he came across anything for him in Louisville area. That contact didn't go far because first one was very appealing already and this job was automotive-- they really seem to always require automotive experience which Mr. H does not have.

SOOOO, months later from original contact we have begin date of next chapter in our story. I was rather prepared for it overall as Mr. H was not happy with new ownership because since the sale of the division Mr. H no longer gets vital financial information (sales, budget, etc) that is necessary for his being able to do his job. Also one person has been given more power and this person is literally destroying the business singlehandedly and no one was reining him in. So I had been in the mindset of this wasn't permanent- especially since the original company HR guy said that Mr. H would get a call on day 366 to return to original biz- that they would make a position for him.

So I have been preparing house with intent to sell since 2018 rung in. We listed May 10-- realtor arrived at 4 pm, had first showing at 7pm- before it had even technically hit the market. Just people going by with realtor that saw the sign. They put in an offer on May 13. We countered the offer but first offer was their best offer. Rather surprising to us that FHA buyers would be looking in country club community. They were pre-approved for just about our house price but wanted 3.5% at close which is exactly the minimum downpayment needed for FHA loan. Mr. H and I did not want to have sale contingent on their getting financing since to us it seemed likely it wouldn't happen and just prevent qualified buyer from seeing the house thinking it was no longer available. The next day after listing a professional photographer came out to take photos. I was pleased that there was very little that he changed to my staging- as photographs are on of most important part of process- that first impression online is what has someone request a showing or not.

After the photographer finished it was a mad rush to finish packing for vacation which we were leaving for in the morning. I was actually rather impressed with myself that I was able to get house listed & photographed AND pack for vacation. Before leaving for vacation the house was staged for showing. Extra stuff removed from countertops, beds made "just so" even a quick run of the vacuum cleaner where little bulldog had chewed up "bone."

Overall, it is a much easier to be "showing ready" here, even with two bulldogs. The last time we sold a house, kids would have been 6th, 3rd & 1st graders. We also weren't in a hurry to sell because Mr. H actually wanted to convince boss that moving closer to one plant made more sense than the headquarters as a big project was going in. It was much harder keeping show-ready while still trying to keep real life going for a family of 5. Here I really only have to deal with master bedroom and kitchen. So for showing, I throw a new quilt over master bed and fix pillows. I put away the towels we actually use so only "show" ones are out. In the kitchen I put away real life (dish soap, sponge, etc) leaving only a few items out. In one guest room that Zoey likes to sleep on the bed, I remove a cheap bedspread from the "made" bed. I do dishes almost immediately and hand dry and put away any non-dishwasher items. So can be ready for showing in just minutes. Also had week at beach that house could be shown and only have 2 work weeks left of this living here and trying to be ready for showing. Another plus is that almost everything here is here on purpose. We didn't have years of accumulating stuff since we only brought/bought items we use here- other than a few things that came here when we thought we'd be selling KY house- much of that I have returned to KY when we visited since it became apparent we were going to move. The hardest part is trying to use up the perishable food. The beer stock was taken to the beach so that's been seriously depleted.

Starting tomorrow we should be getting a new roof put on. The HOA approved my shingle choice and have sent the green ribbon to put around mailbox to show that it's approved. Crazy huh? People have asked if we regret the move to Georgia since it was only about a year. I try to look at the positive things that have come out of this experience. #1 I know that I can move without my kids- this was the first time without them. #2 This job opportunity may not have come to Mr H had he not moved back into a position of VP of Operations as they want someone to fill that position and even move up in the leadership team very quickly #3 Yes, it sucks selling a house a year after buying BUT figure almost a wash what realtor fees will be and what renting would have cost. I like this house. There are things that I will look for in another house (like pullout shelves in lower kitchen cabinets-- makes getting things out so nice & love the gas stove/oven) and things I will be adverse to in next place-- overbearing HOA. #4 I enjoyed being a part of knitting club while here. #5 Really enjoyed going to breweries on the weekends we didn't travel to KY. They are dog friendly so we'd take Zeta (Zoey isn't dog friendly so we need to work with her before she can go.) Craft beer is tasty- especially on tap.

So if it seems like I fell off the face of the earth recently or in the near future- this is why. On to the next chapter. A little sad I didn't finish everything I'd would have done here.

Little projects.

So a while back I was shopping at Hobby Lobby and they had a bunch of knobs on clearance. Being the crafty gal- I immediately thought-- "I could make something cool with those"- especially since all were less that 50 cents. Ten small blue ones that I put on two light lime green boards I painted were 10 cents each. So FINALLY made some "coat hangers" out of the knobs and some plain "1 by" pine boards that Mr. H routed the edges for me. I had cut them to the sizes I wanted months ago. Then holidays had them sitting in KY house while waiting for the routing to be done. Mr. H finally did that a few weekends ago for me (technically the router is my B-day present many years ago but it's a little tricky to use so Mr. H said he'd do it for me as long as I cleaned up the mess.)

I drilled smaller holes all the way through the boards to fit the bolt of the knobs through then used a larger bit with tape at "stopping point" so it wouldn't go all the way through so the nut would be below the wood's surface on the back. (Countersink bits would do this but I didn't have them so I MacGyver'ed my own countersink bit.)  Last year's B-day present was a new cordless drill- I am quite handy with it since I've been installing most of window treatments I've made, on my own, for years. After I drilled the holes I did a light sanding to take off any sharp corners or slivers. Painted 3 of them in white paint (used trim paint I am painting the trim in GA house) and 2 smaller ones a light lime green I had from a cork board project where I painted cork-board & frame this color. On this project I used bolt cutters on the knobs bolts so they wouldn't go past the wood before I mounted them but from doing the project I would wait until the bolts are mounted and cut the bolts at the end because the nuts were hard to start on the already cut bolts.

I used Command hangers to put them up since they were mounted in GA house and not sure we will be long-timers here. One is mounted in the entranceway- it's handy for putting the dogs' harnesses on when it's bedtime. Or a light jacket for all the potty breaks with the pups. The theme of this one is squarish knobs. 

Next is one that is in laundry room. I hang my collapsible laundry hampers (for when I sort laundry) on it along with vent cleaning brushes (I've got multiples-- this dryer in GA gets a lot of lint through the screen and different brushes do a better job collecting all the lint that gets through.) This shows the nice routed edge a little better. 

Last is one I hung in the kitchen. I went with darker knobs since the knobs in the kitchen are dark on white cabinets. I can hang my dish washing aprons that I made- sewed aprons and then cut clear vinyl same size and sewed together with binding. Keeps me from getting front of my shirt wet when I do dishes. I also made cute matching "regular" aprons for baking (and sometimes eating like a bib--- hehehe) Two Christmas ago I made my mom several dishwashing and regular aprons to match her kitchen. This Christmas she brought "hers" back for me to fix because she used it for baking and burnt holes in the vinyl. Have to say it kind of pissed me off because she had regular aprons to use- just too lazy to use it- and disrespected the time and money I put into them. Most times materials for handmade things are more expensive than buying a ready-made similar item. My mom doesn't make things so she tends to take for granted my time and effort on the things I made for her. This Christmas I made my mother-in-law the dishwashing aprons to match her two kitchens and she is a sewer and valued them greatly on clever design of them and how useful they were. She thought I should mass market them. When I told her my mom burnt the crap out of hers my MIL says "Why didn't she just turn it over? You did such a nice job on the finishing of the wrong side of the apron that you can barely tell it's not supposed to be used." 

These "coat hangers" are probably a handmade craft that the materials were cheaper than trying to buy something like them. At 50 cents at most  a knob and just 1x3 or 1 x4 pine boards- I was able to make 5 of them for about $20 in raw materials since I already had the paint. I gave my daughter one of the green ones with small blue knobs to hang necklaces, scarves, etc from at her apartment. I plan on giving my mom the other green one so she can hang in her kitchen and hang her aprons on it so that she has no excuses for not changing aprons when she isn't doing dishes. 

I still have to finishing painting trim in kitchen and master (& little hallway by master) then I'm finished with entire main level of painting projects to do for GA house. Today I just picked up the 26' multi-position ladder I ordered from Home Depot because the one I bought from Walmart is not tall enough for Mr. H  to use in A-frame configuration in middle of the room to reach the ceiling and hang new chandelier I bought for dining room. I am in love with these kinds of ladders. With the 20 ft one I was able to paint vaulted walls in dining room and a guest room by using as extension ladder on these vaulted walls- painting edging on extension ladder & then rolling using pole & A-frame ladder. Normal wall heights I was able to use in A-frame configuration to paint edging (& top of window trim in vaulted living room.) 

We are thinking about retiling the main floor bathrooms-- cheap 4x4 white tiles and are #1 not attractive and #2 not very safe for flooring. It's going to be a job because have to pull up the crappy tiles but would be a great "add value" project to the house. Mr. H wants to paint the exposed concrete walls too. That's an easy one to do and probably a good summer project for me as basement isn't heated. I may do some painting in the finished rooms in the basement also but just looking forward to finally getting the main level bright white trim and new colors on the rooms that weren't so great. 

Of course I have ideas for other projects too- thinking about making two "bookcases" in white for the kitchen. One for right next to a countertop near stove that is just empty floor space (great place for cookbooks) and another in corner near kitchen table-- maybe a corner kind of thing- for phone/computer/etc charging station, and little items used at kitchen table? Also want to make a stool for the bathroom. There's some space behind the door that would be a great place for a small seat to put shoes on/take them off for bath or shower as skinny tub surround isn't very good for doing this.

Of course I still have loads of knitting and sewing projects in the works most days. I still need to fix my mom's dishwashing apron... not too inspired since it's destruction was no accident.