House update!

On Saturday we joined Ralph and Chris on a day trip to Sarasota, about an hour and a half north of Fort Myers. Ralph wanted to test drive a car he had his eye on, and the rest of us went along for the fun. The car deal turned out to be a bust, but we enjoyed the afternoon in St. Armand's Key, a little vacation town just west of Sarasota. We ate at Tommy Bahama's and then looked at shops until it started raining.

On Sunday we tried out the Vineyard Church in Fort Myers. At first no one came up to us or said hello, but after church we couldn't get out the door! The people were friendly and welcoming, and the teaching was right-on. It reminds me of the Mundelein Vineyard-- more families than college students. It's in the running as our new church home, but we're still going to explore. There's another one-- Summit church-- that we're considering. I went to Starbucks on Monday to get some quiet time alone to read. Captivating is the book of the day-- the women's side of Wild at Heart. It's about how women connect with and reveal the heart of God. It is changing my life. Anyway. I was at Starbucks on Monday eavesdropping on the conversation of the barista-on-break. I heard her mention "community groups" and "Chris Tomlin." Chris Tomlin is a worship-song-writer that we like, so I asked her if she knew of a church in the area that sang songs like his. She directed me to Summit, where she goes. Apparently it's a younger congregation and a newish church, sort of near our house. We're going to try it on Sunday.

I promised a house update, so here it is. Brad and I went up to see it on Tuesday after a car-shopping afternoon and a frustratingly unsuccessful try to get our new licenses. Argh. Oh, and Monday afternoon was spent at Wells Fargo trying to learn about mortgages. There are some crazy options down here since the housing market is booming.

We arrived Tuesday afternoon to see that the house has been painted! "Foggy Day" is the base color, and the trim is "Quilter's Thread." There's a job for you. Naming all the paint colors in a paint wheel. We love it-- a good neutral khaki with no pink in it. Lots of the khakis around here look pinkish in certain light. Ugh. You can barely see the house next door-- bright orange sherbet. Well, at least we won't match. Ugh.





We were greeted at the front door by a very large centipede. This thing was nearly the size of our pen. NASTY. Brad knocked it off the wall and smooshed it under a piece of cardboard. It squirted. VERY NASTY. Then, after taking pictures around the house for a half hour, we came back and it was still stinkin' alive. EXTREMELY NASTY. It made me wonder if I'm going to last in south Florida. I'm not so sure. Especially since we found a few other (smaller, thankfully) bugs inside. So nasty. Makes me itch to look at it.




Happier things. The kitchen is looking mighty fine. The cabinets are coming along! This is the view from the back of the house. To the left is the opening to the living room. Straight ahead through the door is the hall and then the office.









Here's our eat-in kitchen nook (I'm standing in the hallway.) The nook is cozy but spacious enough for my enameled-top table and a few chairs.











Here's our lanai. I'm standing at the far end just outside the great room / living room. You can see the eat-in part of the kitchen protruding onto the lanai.


Our closing date is tentatively set for Friday, August 26th. Tentatively. Not. Holding. Breath. But hoping.