Life on the Prairie

The lake cabin has been closed for the season and we have moved down from the lake to the prairie.  Our new digs is an old (+100 years) house in Dave’s home town.  you know the one…..there is only 30 people here.

It definitely needs some love and attention.  Here is a little peak at what we walked into…..

the happy crazy house entryway before

All of the carpet needed to be pulled up and this back entryway got some new linoleum to take that yucky stuffs place.

the happy crazy house flooring replacement

Even though there are still a TON of boxes in the living room and dining room, I was able to organize enough of the kitchen to have a clear work space.  Thank goodness!  Cooking at home is one of my favorite past times and not being able to do that was brutal.

the happy crazy house white kitchen victorian house

Here is another shot as I was getting dinner ready.

Jules is digging the banister.

the happy crazy house banister twilight paint with white stairs victorian house

Behind Jules is a gorgeous leaded glass window – I will have to take some window pics to showcase them.  Below is another pic of some leaded windows.  This room is supposed to be the dining room, but for now it is functioning as my library.  Hello!  I need those books out and available for my reading pleasure.

The downstairs bathroom has been cleaned and painted.  I will have to address the floor – unless any of you have some kind of linoleum floor cleaning secret.  I have not been able to clean it any better than this ……

If cleaning is your super power….share your knowledge!

Last item – did you notice a tiny kennel in the dining room/library pic?  well……..

the happy crazy house norwegian forest cat Thorinthe happy crazy house norwegian forest cat Thorin

Meet Thorin.

My first Month in our new State

I am going backwards a bit…but I just wanted to revisit so I can congratulate myself on not freaking out.  no joke

We landed in town with little fanfare, got settled in, the girls into their new school, etc, etc, etc.  On my second day of work a giant blizzard rolled into town.  Now, normally I would be prepared and know exactly when I need to close up shop and head home BUT this was my second day of work and I was not connected to the right news stations or social media contacts, nor was my phone up to date on storm warnings in my new location.  I left work about an hour later than I should have.  That left me driving in a full on white out blizzard…20 miles to home.  I *could* have turned back to town and stayed the night with Dave’s Aunt but my girls were already on the bus headed to the house.  I was determined to make it there, so that there would be no way they would be left alone.  I turned on the GPS on my phone to ensure that I did not miss the turn south on the highway….and thank goodness I did.  You lose track of how far you’ve gone when you are creeping down the road at 2 to 5 mph.   I needed to make a left hand turn and I could not see across the road to verify that GPS was even right, I just turned and prayed.

Imagine looking into a wall of white and not seeing anything until you look out the driver side window, look down and only see a yellow line and nothing out in front of you.  And since I obviously did not stop for pics.   Here is a road pic from a town just down the road.

About 5 miles from home the girls’ bus suddenly appeared to my left and I knew that they at least made it home and were not stuck somewhere.  As the GPS announced that Kramer was approaching, I took the first entrance in….mistake.  I turned directly into an unseen snow drift and got stuck.  I called my sis in law at the bar (that she just purchased) and asked if the girls were with her (they were) and if I could leave the truck in the snow (no).  She sent a patron who was stuck in town as well to pull me out.  I will ALWAYS hold this gentleman in high regard.  The snow and wind was brutal, but still he came to help me.  We were snowed in for 2 1/2 days.  Crazy!

ND Facebook

North Dakota Highway Patrol: Facebook

As a result of that snow storm, I was also involved in a car fire.  After the town and roads were cleared, I drove the truck into town for work….mistake.  As I was leaving to go home for the day, the truck started acting funny, so I pulled down the street that has a truck shop.  My truck starts filling up with smoke.  The girls are freaking out and I am trying to figure out how I am going to put it out.  As I am pulling the kids out, a very nice man from across the street ran over with an extinguisher.  Fire Doused!  he was an off duty fireman…..seriously!!  Issue?  Compacted snow.  Arg.  Obviously no pic of that either.

As an added bonus my beloved Land Rover (totally vintage at 1998 hahahahaha) blew a hole in the side of the engine as I was taking Dave to the airport….60 miles away in sub zero weather.  Ack.  What a nightmare.

All in all – not the best start that I could have hoped for.  But I put on my big girl panties and kept it together.

Dave ended up purchasing a Monte Carlo to drive back and forth to the airport with and its a been a great car for commuting.

DFA5981E-

Super cute, right?

And I now drive a White Chevy Pickup the Dave has christened Snow White.  just to annoy me

It was a dramatic start, but everything seems to have calmed down.  We are house hunting and I cannot wait to show you whats up with that.

Have a good day Peeps!