Monday, July 13, 2015

Alive and Semi-Well in Lexington, KY

I am finally getting the chance to write a post after our extremely stressful move after the sale of our home.  I once again want to thank everyone who prayed for me & offered suggestions regarding nice places to live.

Apparently God did not want us to leave Kentucky!  We looked for a nice rental in 12+ different states, traveling to 3 of them more than once during our search.  We had been misled in one way or another with every home we viewed, & our closing date kept getting closer & closer.  I knew that God had something in mind for us, but Kentucky???  Really???  I had to laugh, but I am also giving Him much praise & thanks.  He blessed us with a beautiful townhome in Lexington which is about an hour north of The Devil's Playground.  It is a very nice area, & we actually have friendly neighbors!  I mean, it's unreal!  Two couples who live here have already come over to introduce themselves & welcome us to the street, & whenever we are walking in the area & pass by someone ... or we're sitting out in front of the townhome taking a bit of a break & someone passes by ... they actually say hello!  Sometimes they even add a sentence or two about the weather or some such thing!  I feel as if I have stepped through the looking glass & found myself in Home Town America or something!  We are within walking distance of various stores & restaurants, but our townhome is on a quiet, tree-lined street which is only traveled by the people who live here.  There is also a nice walking trail nearby.  I have two doctors here who are very attentive & I was saddened about having to leave their care, but now I can keep them ... at least for another year   : )

Living in the townhome is a bit of a challenge.  The kitchen cabinets & drawers are very small, so I have had to decide what things are absolutely necessary for daily life, unpack them, & keep the other things packed.  John & I are still moving things in, taking stock, & moving things out again into one of three storage units ... all of which are still filled to some capacity.  We will keep one to house the things we can't or won't be using while living here.  We ended up making a total of 6 trips to these storage units in a good sized U-Haul ... 5 of those trips in one weekend!  After closing I was feeling as if I had literally aged about 10 years.  It is only now that I am feeling somewhat back to my old self.

Although the townhome is beautiful, it was not well taken care of by the previous tenants.  They had been the only tenants & had moved in 4 years ago when the townhome was brand new.  I do not understand how two mature adults could be so thoughtless about the property of someone else.  Our landlord did not think it was necessary to repaint despite the fact that there is a multitude of damage & marks on the walls & woodwork.  I have been going around with a Magic Eraser to try to get at least some of the marks off.  She said she had the carpets cleaned, but they do not smell clean, & the nap is still smooshed down where the prior tenants' furniture had been, so I question if she had them cleaned or not.  I'm guessing it's the latter.  She also told us that she hired professional cleaners, but I have had to clean everything.  In some cases this has been pretty yucky work.  There are plumbing problems which she needs to address, broken refrigerator trays, & a few other things ... but all in all, it is a lovely home in a safe, friendly area & we are very, very blessed to be here. Thank you Lord!!!

During our moving experience, I was bitten 4 separate times by 4 separate spiders.  I do not like spiders.  Just typing the word makes me shudder.  I did not see them when they bit me so I have no idea what kind they were, but I know they were nasty because the redness & soreness & itching lasted a long time.  One bite was on the inside of my left thigh, & another on the front of that same thigh.  One was on my left waist, & the last one in the middle of my back.  I still have scars/scabs remaining from 3 of them.  The one on the front off my left thigh was/is really weird. The redness & swelling spread around the bite as big as my hand, & the left side of my thigh became somewhat numb.  I still have some numbness there. Ugh.  John told me numerous times that I should make a doctor appointment, but I didn't have the time to spare.

I have not been able to do any knitting or stitching of any kind for the past week or so.  I had been working on a shawl & had reached the border which was a simple k2,p2 pattern.  I was able to do this with just the ceiling light.  I have now reached the point where I need to do a bind off I have never done before, & without my Daylight magnifying lamp, this is impossible.  I have a lamp, but nowhere to attach it right now.  I ordered a floor stand for it before we moved here, but it arrived poorly packaged & damaged. Later this week we are having some furniture delivered including an end table which is crafted perfectly for my light   : )

And speaking of furniture, I think I may have mentioned in a pre-move post that the buyers of our home wanted to purchase most of our furniture, & we let them.  Sadly, we have been having to sleep on the floor ... the questionably cleaned carpeted floor ... for the past two weeks. I have been so tired by the end of the day that I could probably sleep on a bed of nails, but you should see me trying to get up in the mornings! I'm kind of like the "I've fallen & I can't get up" lady from the TV commercials years ago.  We purchased a mattress set last week but it was damaged when it was delivered.  We are now awaiting a new shipment to come to the store & they will then supply us with a new set.  I'm hoping it's sooner rather than later   : )

I guess that's all I have to say for now.  My thanks to those of you who have emailed me wondering if I am okay.  I am ... barely ... lol!  I know I will be doing better once we are more settled in.  I have to admit that I am sadly having thoughts as I'm unpacking that run along the lines of "In 10 more months I will be packing again!"  Hopefully things will be less stressful then   : )

23 comments:

marly said...

Hello Shirlee! Nice to hear that you are sheltered and OK, still close to your doctors, and in an area you like. But I was surprised to see Kentucky!!!

Vickie said...

Friendly neighbors?! Woo hoo! Friendly neighbors. What a benefit. I am praying for you two.

Purple Pixie Dust said...

Nice to hear from you again. Everything will turn out for the best. big hugs from Lynda Ruth

stitchinpeanut said...

Parts of this post is not loading for me... Are u moving to Lexington ky. That is prob 30 min south of me... If so we should try to do lunch one day.

Edgar said...

I'm so happy you've found something temporarily..... and you have some nice neighbors!!!

Kaisievic said...

Hi Shirlee, Oh, such a big move for you - I shudder to think what it must have been like! I know how much "stuff" we all have after a long time in one place. I am so thrilled for you that the house is in a nice neighbourhood but what a shame that it had not been cleaned properly for you. John is right, you should get those bites looked at, I don't like the idea of the numbness! Good luck with settling in and getting back to your lovely stitching. all my love, Kaye

Michele Inman said...

Very glad to see your post - I'd been wondering how you were doing.

Robin in Virginia said...

Happy to see your post, Shirlee! I have been wondering and thinking about you. Hopefully, your new mattress set arrives soon and things get taken care of.

Take care!

Robin in Virginia

gracie said...

Happy you have found a pleasant place to live, but sorry you are dealing with unpleasantness. Hang in there

vwestermeyer said...

So glad to see a post from you. I've been wondering where you ended up (still soooo sorry that you didn't become my neighbor! LOL)

PNLima said...

I counted the days after the "14 more days"!!!
Glad both of you are safe and with a roof over your heads and with nice people around.
Hugs

Weronika said...

Great to see you blogging again! So nice you came back! It's nice to hear that you're surrounded by so many nice people there. Good luck!

The Inspired Stitcher said...

Glad you have found a place to land even if it is temporarily. I will send positive thoughts for you two. Hang in there! Hugs!

Vicki said...

Great to hear from you, Shirlee! I'm sure you're relieved that the move is over and you're getting settled in. Sounds like your new neighborhood is friendly and well located. That's wonderful! Take care of those spider bites...

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

A new house! How exciting! I'm glad it is a nice neighbourhood even if the house needs some work. If you email me your address then I might remember to send a New Home card. Or at least a Christmas card in due course!
Or may surprise you with a visit. That will give your nightmares for the next few months LOL

Dirty Martini Queen said...

Good news that you found a temp home and I feel your pain because we went thru it just over a year ago. We're still in our rental home and 90% of our stuff is in storage but we are lucky that this home had a full finished basement which has been our storage unit. Get those spider bites checked out because numbness doesn't good.

Frances said...

Sounds like things are working out!! So glad you've found a pleasant place for now!!!

Mouse said...

well hopefully you are a wee bit nearer to getting settled and yeahhh to friendly neighbours :) ouchie re the spiders ... should have gone to the drs sounds like you have had a bad reaction ... love mouse xxxx

Carol said...

Sounds like you will be very happy in your new neighborhood, Shirlee. One of my happiest years was the year we rented a townhome in the DC suburbs. We met some great people and it was truly hard to leave and return to our home here in Pittsburgh.

Hope you can get some furniture soon!

Maggee said...

I have been thinking about you nearly every day, wondering where you were... how it went at closing... and so on. Once you get settled in, and get the house cleaned REALLY good, you can relax a bit before looking again. Sounds like you need to visit your doctor about the bites pretty soon! Take care! Big Hugs!

Annette-California said...

Congrats on getting all moved. I'm so Happy for you to have friendly neighbors - WOOHOO!!! I would like your new address also Shirlee for Christmas time please. Hope you get to the doctors soon to have those spider bites checked out. Numbness? Not good! Lovely to see your post.
I know you will be so thrilled when you get your new bed.
love Annette

Paula said...

Lexington is one of my favorite cities. You get a small town feel with big city benefits. I also think it is easy to get around in unlike bigger cities. Having doctors you like and trust is important too. As for clean, no one ever cleans well enough to suit me. Hang in there.

Shirley Hill said...

Your new town sounds wonderful and I am so happy to see you back. But so sorry for your lousy landlady. Do you have renter's rights in Kentucky?