Category: Glimpses of Life

This past Sunday we drove around and stopped at an open house in Lino Lakes, Minnesota.

The house we looked at was very nice.  It was nestled in a woodlike setting with trees.  The color of the house blends in with the colors of the trees.

It has a fenced in area for a dog run.  The background has a marshy area.  It also has access to the lake right down the road.

There are arches in the windows and in the entry from the living room to the dining room.

And the sun room, which is enclosed with windows, overlooks the trees and the marsh area.

This house has made it to our top two if the current offer we have on a house is not accepted.

We will have to compromise though as there is no bedroom on the main floor.

Overall, it’s a beautiful house and has very good internet service, a plus in our techie family.

We recently went to see a bank owned house in Lake Elmo, Minnesota.  When we arrived, there were already plenty of people there.

The inside of the house was better than what I imagined.  At 3300 square feet, everything was in pretty good shape for being banked owned.  All this house needed was new carpeting and a good cleaning.  The layout was really good also.

Across the street was a park so no new houses could be built there.

This house sat on approximately one acre.  Not too many trees but a few evergreens which made it rather scenic.

Two hours after viewing this house, an offer had already been made and accepted by the bank.  It had only been on the market for sale for 2 days.

How tragic and sad are the current events for the people of Japan and those who know and love them.  You are in my prayers Japan.

I was reading an article this morning by CNN which had this paragraph:

“At a shelter in Sendai, a shell-shocked man who fled the tsunami would not let go of his 3-week-old infant. “I have to protect my children. I have to protect my children,” he said.”

His possessions are unimportant.

A reminder to me to hang on to what’s important — the people around me.

Well, I don’t know.  Maybe we’re not supposed to live in Minnesota/Wisconsin.

We can’t seem to find a seller who is able to sell their home for the actual value.  Prices are so high and the homes that have sold in the neighborhoods are low.

Our 5th house and 5th seller has countered our offer with only $7K less than what the house is listing at.  We are currently $43K apart.  If we offer $15K more we are pretty sure they aren’t going to accept it.

Looks like we’ll have to find a 6th house and 6th seller in a couple of days. We have options for other houses so … that may be the way we have to go.

I finally purchased my airline ticket for my Chicago trip in May. It’s a solo trip as my husband has decided to accumulate more vacation time and not deal with TSA at this time.

Gobs of people to visit but the primary reason for this trip is twofold:  my “nephews” high school graduation, and checking in on an elderly friend who I have power of attorney for.

Not that everyone else isn’t important because they are but …

One week does not seem long enough though to visit so many people and I may have to set up a schedule and slot people into it.  I did that once when I took a trip to Chicago for two weeks.  I sent a schedule to all my family members and told them that if they didn’t schedule themselves for a slot, they probably wouldn’t get a visit as there were too many of them and we had little time.

My uncle, who assumed I was joking, failed to schedule himself.  When I returned, I had a call from an irate uncle.

The schedule worked though.  And it made it easy for me to see everyone.

Hmmm … Seattle folks may get a schedule.

We are now waiting to hear if our 5th offer on a 5th house has been accepted.  The deadline we gave them was tomorrow.  We wished we would have heard sooner but hopefully we’ll hear something tomorrow — even if it’s a rejection.

Isn’t life wonderful?

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The locals call them Minnesota boogers. And we hope to not have any of them as spring approaches.

This is the name given for the snow and ice that accumulates next to your tire that can cause damage to your tires if not taken care of.

On a recent trip from Fargo to Minnesota, a few inches of snow had fallen, it was cold and we were not aware of what was taking place beneath our car — paying more attention to the road.

What was to be a quick stop at a rest stop turned into a rather lengthy stop as we scraped the frozen ice and snow from our tires. The ice had already been scraping against the tire.

When we looked up from our work, we noticed that other drivers were now doing the same thing. Everyone had been so intent on driving that they hadn’t noticed the danger.

It’s always nice when the people you’re visiting make your meal from scratch.  That’s our Fargo family.  They have an exceptional cook.  Our Saturday evening meal was simple but delicious.

Spaghetti with sauce, fresh parmesan cheese, garlic bread, salad and a chocolate cake for my husband’s birthday.

Garlic Bread

Spaghetti Meat Sauce

I should have stirred the meat sauce before taking a picture.  It was delicious!

Betty Crocker Decadent Supreme

The cake was not made from scratch but only because we decided to visit on short notice.  It was a very rich cake and had chocolate mousse.  Here’s the front of the box.

On our recent trip to Fargo, we came across a condiment carousel.  I had never seen one before and this appeared to be a vintage one.

Condiment Carousel

This is one of the houses we recently went to see in Woodbury, Minnesota.  It’s in an older development.

Woodbury, Minnesota house

The house is also “older” on the inside and, although the main floors were recently beautifully sanded, the rest of the house needed many updates.

Although we are “thawing,” we have had so much snow in Woodbury that it is taking a long time for the snow to melt.  So, much of the landscaping is still under snow.  Meteorologists are predicting another big snowfall this week.