LIQUID SUNSHINE

Dear Family and Friends,

We have arrived!  It's raining so we must be in Portland.

Love,
Nancy

NOW WHAT??

Dear Family and Friends,

Now that we have sold our house we are blessed with time on our hands.  We still have about two weeks before we go to Minnesota.  Here is what we have been up to lately.

Grandchildren

Heidi, Bryce and Cannon.  Heidi and Cannon live here in Richland, Washington.  Bryce lives in California.  Bryce was here for a few days when we arrived.  I am so thankful that Kylie came to visit while we were here.

Cannon showing me his dental accomplishments:

Heidi playing softball. 
These are things we miss living so far away.

As soon as we sold our house, Chuck and I went to a seafood buffet to celebrate.  We ate our fill of dungeness crab.

One day I had lunch with my friends from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, where I used to work.  We have had several dinner invites and it is so great to see everyone again.

 

And, of course, shopping at Walmart.  Notice that the sign, over the door, stating low prices is now missing.  Uh oh!!

This next picture is for Nancy Hamm. Today, Chuck and I went to the Hispanic grocery store.  I found that it is indeed possible to buy chicken feet here.  You just have to know where to look.  Cut their toe nails off and boil.....best chicken stock ever. 

This weekend we are driving to Portland, Oregon, a favorite northwest city of ours. 

Staying busy but really missing Cuenca.

Hugs,
Nancy

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!

Dear Family and Friends,

We came back to the U.S. two weeks ago to put our house on the market.  We were prepared to do a lot of work to the house and leave it in the hands of a Realtor. This would mean, of course, getting a lawn service company to keep the yard up and worrying about an empty house after we returned to Cuenca.

We arrived in Richland on Wednesday evening two weeks ago.  Thursday, Chuck went to Walmart, bought the cheapest "for sale by owner" sign he could get and stuck it in the front yard.  I was horrified.  I complained and he ignored.  The house was far from being ready to show.

Thursday afternoon, our doorbell rang and there stood a lady who was interested in the house.  I was embarrassed, but invited her in to look around.  She told us that she wanted the house.  We sold the house to the very first person that saw it.

It took a week of negotiation on the price, but we finally found a happy meeting point.

Here is the new owner, Marcia.  We are holding up one finger because she made the offer in one day.

Below is a picture of Chuck and me with the cheap sign in front of our "sold" house.  Notice that a person had to actually get out of their car to see the telephone number.

Here is Chuck, and Marcia's purchasing agent, Scott Anderson of Windemere signing papers.

We are so happy that everything will be completed before we return to Ecuador.

Now we have time to play with our friends and family. 

The Happy Campers,
Nancy and Chuck

Everything In It's Time

Dear Family and Friends,

As you are reading this post, Chuck and I are en route to the USA.

When we first moved to Ecuador we just couldn't come to grips with selling our home.  Chuck had loved and cared for our yard in Richland, WA the same as he does our patio here in Cuenca.   When we moved down here more than two years ago Chuck and I were too emotionally attached to let go of our Richland house. We asked our dear friend, Glenda, if she would care for our house and yard while we decided what to do about selling the house. 

Well, after two and half years living in Cuenca, I think paying real estate taxes on it has really helped in breaking our emotional attachment. Also, we definitely know our lives are anchored in Ecuador now.  We really have no need for a place to "come back to" in case we decided to return to the USA to live.

Glenda has been a wonderful steward of our home.  She has loved and cared for it as if it were her own.  We look at the beautiful work she has done in our yard.  It is a masterpiece.  I can't say enough about how grateful we are.

By Thursday morning we will be in our house for the final time.  We will celebrate and remember all the wonderful years we have shared there.  We will then, stage it, and get it ready for putting on the market.

From all the emotional carrying on I have been doing, you would think we had a castle back in the USA.  Not so, it is just a simple house, but we reared children, played, loved and laughed in this dwelling for all of our married life.

This trip home is filled with emotions.  We are nostalgic about selling the house on one hand, and very excited about seeing our children and grandchildren.

To our Richland family and friends, we will be seeing you in a day or two.  To the Mickelson Knot we will be seeing you all in about a month.

Love,
A couple of old Sentimental Farts.

Take Your Kid to Work Day????

Dear Family and Friends,

Quite often I see things in Cuenca that touch my heart and make me smile.

It is quite normal here to see mamas tending their small children while selling fruits and vegetables at the market.  But, today I saw a daddy working and tending junior. 

I was sitting in Parque Calderon waiting for my friend, Patricia.  I was watching the shoe shine vendors across the street.

The portico is lined with shoe shine vendors in the day and then after 5:00pm, they leave and the hippie jewelry vendors come for the evening shift.

I was watching them work and saw a man getting his shoes shined.  There was the shoe shine vendor, the male customer and a baby stroller.  After a moment it occurred to me how strange this looked.  When the customer left, I expected to see him walk away pushing the stroller.  But no, after getting his shoes shined, the customer walked away alone and that was when I realized that the baby was with the vendor.

It was heart warming to watch the vendor interacting with the baby while waiting for another customer.

I walked across the street just to get a look at the tyke.

I went on to enjoy a wonderful lunch with Patricia.

Hugs,
Nancy