Merry Christmas!

Wishing all of our friends and family a very "Merry Christmas" and many blessings for the coming New Year!  Here's a photo we took of us for the holidays from our new house in Statesboro, GA. 

Our new house

We moved to Statesboro, GA about 2 weeks ago. Today, we finally got the pictures hung and the clutter stowed away!  It looks like we really live here now.  Now we can come home and everything is in place!  The only thing we'd really like to have is a bigger sofa and recliner.  We'll be on the look-out for one soon.

We will be going to Dublin again on Tuesday morning and seeing members in Dublin for 2 days then drive to Johnson county next door to see members for 2 days.  But we'll stay at the Page House again.  We are going to try a different room that is downstairs that may be warmer and we won't have to lug all our stuff up the steps!

Sebastian put up lights on the outside of the house.  We are trying a "fake" tree this year.  It looks pretty good to me and not all that mess and having to remember to water it!  The kitten really likes it and has tried to climb it twice now!

Page House B & B

We've been at the Page House B&B for a week now.  The first 2 days I didn't work b/c of being sick!  Went to work yesterday and today and should just have stayed home----all I did was feel lousy and cleared my throat and coughed, ears plugged up.  I usually was able to hold it together in a member's home but wore a mask some of the time anyway. Oh well, just one more day.
Janice and Kelly the Innkeepers are very nice.  They've been owning the B&B for 13 years now.  Kelly's a social worker and Janice runs the Inn full time but is studying to be a nurse. 
The House is all decorated for Christmas already and looks so pretty.  We'll be back for another week in early December.

Page House

 

 

 

Going to Statesboro

Well, things have just turned around completely.  After talking with Martha and Thomas further, we all decided that being caretakers probably would not be in the best interest for either party.  They really need someone who is going to be around and maybe not have any other job commitments so that if they decided to go away for a weekend or a night here and there, they could leave.  We felt like it might be somewhat restrictive for us as well, b/c we'd also like to be spontaneous!  Plus if Bob got a teaching job in the area, he wouldn't be available in the mornings to make breakfast for any guests and not available in the early afternoons to check them in.
Martha had really fixed up the doublewide for us and it looked really nice, so somewhat disappointed about that but on the other hand not so much.
Yesterday we went looking at houses in Statesboro and we did find a cute house to rent for the next 6 months.  Sebastian is planning on taking some courses at Ogeechee Tech College.  He and Bob have talked to someone on the phone and once we move there, they can go in and see someone.  They have auto technician, welding and HVAC as well there so if he wants to do one of those, he's got the opportunity.
The other reason to choose Statesboro is that it is still somewhat central for me to do my job.  Also, Bob can train with Mary in Savannah to learn more about the insurance business.  He received his insurance license.  He also has his Georgia teaching license so could do that as well.
So I guess we are still on track to bring up some or all of our stuff from Gainesville after Thanksgiving.  It's been somewhat of a roller coaster for us.  Not knowing where we want to live and wanting to help Sebastian a little more.  Bob's daughter, Melissa is pregnant again and the baby is due in July 2011.  We feel like we should be closer to her and Anthony and Jazmin, so we are not sure how we can accomplish that.  But at least Statesboro is only about 4 hours away from Gainesville.
So our plan is to do this for the next 6 months and see how we like the Statesboro area, see how much school Sebastian wants to accomplish, how much I will still like doing the job I have and also for Bob to see if he can make any money in the Insurance business or not!

New Opportunity in Louisville, GA

While staying these last 2 weeks in Louisville, GA at the Old Town Plantation, we had a conversation with the owners of the farm and B&B.  We were discussing our dilemma with trying to find a place to "perch" for awhile somewhere in Georgia so I could do my House Calls job without having to drive too far within a day of work, so I could return home almost every day.  We have also been trying to help Sebastian to decide on whether he wants to go to school in Georgia for automotive or HVAC repair and also get a job somewhere in Georgia. 
A few days later, Martha, the owner comes by our cottage with an interesting proposition.  She wanted to know what we would think about becoming part-time "caretakers" and helping them out around the place especially when they needed to be out of town periodically.  We could live in a small house on the property with free rent and electric in exchange for approximately 13 hours per week of work.  There may not be work every week so it would be sporadic---like when they were gone, we'd feed the dogs, water some plants and be here for emergencies.  Occasionally, if there were cottage guests at the time that they needed to be gone, we'd cook the breakfast in the mornings.  We could still keep any jobs that we had.  And if we did any work above those hours, she'd pay $20 per hour!
She even talked to the local HVAC repair owner [heating and air conditioning] about possibly hiring  Sebastian to work with him and train him in the business.  There are a couple of tech schools about 30 minutes away that Sebastian could learn more in HVAC if he liked it or in automotive repair if he wants to.  
Sebastian could also help take care of the basic work around the farm if we are gone at the same time as the owners. We told Martha and Thomas that we'd like to try it out for the next 6 months.  It just felt right to take them up on this offer. 
We had been searching for some place to call "home" again in Georgia.  For a time, we thought maybe Savannah.  But prices for housing seemed to be on the high side there.  We really wanted to be close to Anthony, Melissa and Jazmin in Gainesville as well, but again trying to be there enough for them and do the House Call job seemed to be at cross purposes. 
We finally just let go of trying to make any decisions and had sort of committed to going back to Gainesville as our home base when this opportunity presented itself out of nowhere!  But it feels right to try this out. I do have a lot of time off from my job and we could travel back to Gainesville as often as we want to or need to for the next several months anyhow.  And then, things could change from there in ways only God knows right now!

OLD TOWN PLANTATION & RETREAT IN LOUISVILLE, GA

We've been in Louisville, Ga this past week and will stay for another week.  I only have 3 days of work and then we'll be flying off to NY to visit family for about 7 days. We'll get to enjoy Tom's renovated house longer than we did after we finished it in April!
We are staying at the Old Town Plantation and Retreat.  It is a bed and breakfast but they don't have individual rooms like most B&Bs, but have cottages.  Ours is called the Courtside Cottage b/c it is next to the tennis courts.  Tennis anyone?  Not us, no rackets and weak knees! 
The houses are on several hundred acres of land---just beautiful countryside.  Martha and Thomas, the owners are just really the nicest people. This land has a very historical background also, dating back to the 1800's.  There are several houses on this property that are very old cracker-style houses.  One was torn down b/c it was too costly to fix up but they left the chimneys!

See some of the pictures below.....check out the Picasa Link for more.  They'll be up for awhile there as well.

Courtside Cottage

 

We walked down this tree lined lane to find the river and a good fishing spot but never did find the river.

Restored old Library with remaining chimneys from torn-down house.

SAVANNAH, GA

We are back in Savannah!  We were at Red Gate RV park about a week ago also then went to work in Emanuel, Jenkins and Candler counties for 3 days.  We stayed in Statesboro again at the Parkwood RV Park.  It was simpler to stay there and travel to the other counties which surround Statesboro.  Anyway, then we came back to Savannah last Saturday and have been here since. We are still in our RV staying at Red Gate RV Park.
Bob is taking the last 2 days of his insurance agent classes and then will take the test before we leave Savannah this Saturday coming up.  We'll be dropping off the RV in Jacksonville but may head to G'ville first to drop off all the extra stuff we have been carting around due to the RV!

 

We did some sightseeing in downtown Savannah a week ago, walked along the river front and also around City Market area. 

Savannah feels like a "small" big city.  Traffic didn't seem too bad for a Saturday.  Sundays probably are even slower!

Red Gate Farms is where we have the RV parked.  It has a lot of land that is still owned by the same family for the last few generations.  Lots of amenities---pool, clubhouse with 60" screen TV and laundry facilities.  It has been very convenient to Savannah and the water as well as Bob taking his classes.  I will be working from  here also for 3 days this week, seeing members in Bryan, Evans and Liberty counties.

One of 4 fishing ponds

Home away from home

Bob-firing up the grill

Horses!

Swings overlooking the pond