catching up

We are moving toward getting settled in our new home, although getting truly settled will probably take a very long time.  We sold or gave away a lot of  furniture, so we are having fun shopping for new things that will work with the new spaces.  And there are lots of spaces to fill!!  In the meantime, there are boxes of stuff in the garage and in corners, but that is ok.  We are taking our time.  

The yard is mostly landscaping with bark mulch, with only two very small spaces to mow, which makes Alan very happy.  He bought an electric mower to deal with them.

It is hard to force ourselves to work on the house because we enjoy the sun room and the screened-in porch so much.  We have a great view of a wooded ravine in back of the house from both.  I have heard a thrush and owls while on the porch, which makes me very happy.  Shelby loves the porch, too.  Whenever I open the door to go out there, she comes running.

If you are in Johnson City, stop by to see us, even on short notice.  We don't get up early, but otherwise, we are usually available for visitors.  You probably should text one of us to be sure.  I sent out our address and telephone numbers a while ago, so you should have them.

On another topic:

I got the sad news that Dennis Taylor, the guy I tutored at the Literacy Council for several years, died unexpectedly at the age of 55.  Dennis was a big part of my life for a long time, and it really made me sad.  I was able to go to the viewing yesterday evening to pay my respects to the family.  Here is a video that we made for United Way in 2011.  It is elsewhere in this blog, but some of you may not have seen it.