As predicted, it HAS been a busy week thus far. However, other than finishing the cleaning at the old house, I haven't done a lot there. DH has worked each day though, and has put a new roof on the barn, and one of the other outbuildings. He has also moved most of his hay to the barn, and done various other outside tasks.

The electrician is coming Sunday, and will install a new meter as well as check ALL the wiring and outlets. The house had an outdated electrical meter, plus needed some wiring on the outside of the house to be put into the walls.

Next Wednesday the central heat/air will be installed -- which will probably take at least three or four days. Additionally, we're having a line run from the nearest natural gas line to the house -- the line is alongside the road. For that, we'll get a FREE natural gas water heater, which will be installed in the cellar, along with the natural gas heating unit. The house has propane gas (two wall heaters) but that stuff is not as clean as natural gas; there was a yellowish tint to the walls, though that is partly due to the older propane heaters used. At any rate, we like natural gas (which we have in the city) and since it's available, we'll get it set up for the house.

I've spent some time doing various neglected stuff here at the house in town -- I had some painting touch-ups, sanded down a door and repainted it, cleaned out a couple closets, etc. There's not much else I can do at the old house till the other major stuff is finished. Then I will help sand down the floorboards and doors, and help paint.

We have decided to install new windows, but the ones we've chosen will look very similar to the older ones. We'll do that one-at-a-time, and DH will do most of the work. He changed ours here in this older house, but thank goodness we won't be living in the old house till that is finished. It is a huge mess! At any rate, we've also decided to cover up a couple doors, change the front door to what is now a front bedroom, and make it a living room. The fireplace is in that room, and it would be much better to have it as a living room, not a bedroom. We're also going to create a HUGE closet in what will be our master bedroom, and that will help a lot.

At first we didn't plan on doing this sort of remodeling, but the more we looked at the house, the more ideas we came up with. And doing all this before we move there will make it so much easier on us. Probably we won't be able to actually move there till possibly next spring, although we might make faster progress than we think. In the meantime though, we are going to sand/paint and clear a small bedroom where we'll put a bed, so we can spend the night sometimes on weekends. That will give me an idea of how I'll like living there -- or not.

I have my good days and bad days. Sometimes when I'm there, I think if I had all my belongings, and my cats, I'd LOVE living there. Other times when I'm here in town, I don't know if I can ever move away since we've lived here so very long. Making a gradual transition will be best, I think. We are planning on renting this house in town, and that will make it easier, since we won't actually be losing this house. It's just difficult to move away from a place you've lived so long...but I am going to try this, because, as I've written before, there's problems with this neighborhood (illegal Mexicans), and DH wants to be able to have the horses nearby.

And speaking of illegal immigrants, I read about the Wal-Mart crackdown. I wish the INS would get off their butts, and start cracking down on ALL illegals. There SHOULD be enforcement, because IF we don't make it difficult on the illegals, why would ANY immigrant bother to take the RIGHT, LEGAL way to citizenship? Here's an excerpt:

Sources: Wal-Mart Knew of Illegal Workers

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Evidence including recordings indicates that Wal-Mart had direct knowledge of immigration violations involving its cleaning contractors at stores across the country, federal law enforcement sources said.

Federal agents raided Wal-Mart's headquarters and 60 of its stores across the nation Thursday, arresting more than 300 illegal workers in an immigration crackdown at the world's biggest retailer.

The workers were arrested as they finished their night shifts at Wal-Mart stores in 21 states. Agents also hauled away several boxes of documents from an executive's office at Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville.

An employer can face civil and criminal penalties for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants or failing to comply with certain employee recordkeeping regulations.

If that last statement is correct, then why the heck isn't more being done to STOP the companies using such illegal immigrants? Oh...wait...I think I know: cheap labor.

Today DH is going to level the cellar floor, take out some of the dirt and fill in some holes in the yard. The workers will pour a cement floor for the gas hot water heater, and central heating unit on the cellar floor later.

Our weather has been absolutely gorgeous. Couldn't have asked for any better. I've been on my bike ride every morning, except today since I have to go grocery shopping and need to get started soon. I'm still at 93 lbs, so I can't complain since I've been eating more than usual. Next week the weather will turn cooler, down into the 30s at night...with rain most of the week. We actually had good timing on DH's vacation this week. He does have another week, which he'll probably take around Thanksgiving, so we can do more work on the old house.

And so it goes...till next time.