Christmas Letter 2012

Last year I ended the Christmas letter with a statement "2012, here we come!" and as exciting as 2011 was, 2012 proved to be even better! We were certainly correct to be excited about this year...

"It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow."
Robert H. Goddard (1882 - 1945)

Floods!
In January the entire state was hit with major rain events and melting mountain snow that flooded areas around the state that were not use to flooding. The rising rivers raced down highways and parking lots, destroying vehicles and displacing occupants of homes that have never been touched with flood waters before. I was confident our Corvallis home would not be impacted by the floods, but when the water levels rose dangerously close to the back fence line, you can imagine the concern I had!

This is where I should mention we recently cancelled our flood insurance. To our great pleasure, instead of bridging the property line to wash away our peaceful dwelling, the water purged across the nearby highway and into the neighboring streets. Aside from giving Cheryl a piggy back ride through swift moving, sewage filled river water; it really wasn't too bad at all.

The next day, while I drove two hours south in a state owned car, the parking lot where my personal car sat quietly minding its own business flooded in a great surge of destruction, wreaking havoc on nearly the entire fleet of state vehicles. While other cars in the same parking lot as mine were utterly destroyed, mine only suffered a slightly wet carpet when it was pulled out by a tow truck.

SOLD!
By the time the summer came around, we had our Corvallis house on the market for nearly 18 months. One prospective purchase drew us to put a down payment on a house in Salem, but had to abandon the new house when the Corvallis sale did not work out.

Frustrated, we decided to drop the sale price to avoid realtor fees, and sell it ourselves. Not really knowing how to find potential buyers, Cheryl said to me "see those people across the cul-de-sac? Go ask them if they'd buy our house."

As any sensible man would say, I responded with the clear voice of wisdom: "Absolutely not!"

The ageless wisdom I displayed could not withstand the batting eyelashes, and plea: "come on...for me? I think they own one of the properties, and maybe they need another rental."

I carried my ill-disguised frustrations to the older couple across the way, and simply asked if they'd be interested in buying our house. To our amazement, they toured the house that day, and ultimately bought it! I will forever remember this as one of those ‘too good to be true’ stories. As you’ll find as you continue reading, the timing is perfectly designed for things to come, although we had no clue at that moment.

The mad dash to leave Corvallis left us looking once again for a house in Salem. We thought the house we wanted originally would certainly been snatched up, but odd enough, it waited for our return. We made the same offer they accepted previously, but to our frustrated amazement, they countered our offer and raised the price on us!

Walk away power proved to win the day when I rejected their insult, I mean counter offer, outright, and started touring other homes, leaving them with nothing but an opportunity squandered by greed. Within a couple hours, they reached out to us with a request to resubmit our offer, which they accepted without hesitation.

We were displaced for a month before we got the keys, but some very nice friends loaned us their home for the entire month! They traveled during our month long occupancy, and returned the very weekend we moved into the new house.

Retro is 'in'? I think not!
The new house was 'new' in 1977, and that's when it stopped changing, leaving us with the glorious yellow, fuzzy, felt wallpaper, which I encourage everyone to rub when they're on the potty. Gold foil wallpaper, the blue vine wallpaper, the black & gold wallpaper... Everywhere... All removed by Cheryl. She conquered the wallpaper and turned into the paint master! Walls and trim board changed the house dramatically, turning the house into a home. Deep red, black, yellow, burnt pumpkin, and blue artistically fashioned to make the home inviting, peaceful and cozy.

During the two month race toward the holiday events, I did not sit idly by, although I often dreamed of such moments... I had the pleasure of transforming the ceilings and floors from their vintage 1977 look to the gorgeous display of Do-It-Yourself craftsmanship. Dark wood floors now compliment the new kitchen counters, new steel range and matching microwave. The 1970’s only exist upstairs for the time being. Soon, the fuzzy wallpaper and yellow tub and toilet will be a memory.

For more details about the adventures of life, visit www.jdDaybyDay.blogspot.com

REWARDS!
We finished the final touches about an hour before our annual tree trimming party. All our efforts, working late almost every day, were rewarded with more than 20 people gathering to decorate our tree, eat our food, and drink from the communal collection of wine and other spirits. A nice reward… Well, we thought the gathering was our reward....

...but God had something else in mind...

On the very day of our annual Christmas tree trimming party, little would we know until two days later, Lily "babycakes" came into the world as a preemie, weighing just about 5 lbs. On her 12th day, she came to stay with us, sweeping our hearts into her tiny palm, and wrapping us around her little fingers. 17 months ago, we were traumatized by poor dealings with the Department of Human Services when two toddlers moved in for a couple months, only to be swept away by the system that failed them. Yet now we reenter the system to care for this beautiful little baby, but with our eyes wide open. The conditions are certainly different, and although we know the facts are leaning toward the hope of adoption, we know the system doesn’t always work the way we hope. Yet as found in the events that transpired over the past year, we have full confidence a plan is woven through time and space, and we are greatly loved by the Creator Himself. Peace is in knowing beyond doubt…

FINAL DAYS?
The final days of 2012 are bearing down, and if the Mayan calendar doomsday believers have it their way, no one will be reading this Christmas letter, which would be a great injustice! Not knowing exactly what waits for us in 2013, there is certainly hope to have another great, adventurous year!

The children’s book will be printed and available for the world to see, and at least two more are in the making. I don’t suspect the books will provide enough income for an early retirement, but as things go for us… it is truly difficult to say what is impossible.

"It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow." Robert H. Goddard (1882 - 1945)