The Lake Cabin Post

K.. . . . Very first, I HAVE to give a great big SHOUT OUT to

John Coley @ Coley Real Estate

John hung in there with us all summer. . .even gave us advice on FSBO's that we found. He is such a laid back, fun kind of guy who knows Lake Martin like the back of his hand because he grew up there. He is only satisfied when everyone involved in the transaction is satisfied. Y'all know me well enough to know. . .I don't endorse folks unless I mean it. . .an I MEAN IT.

Speaking of "For Sale By Owner" (FSBO) property on Lake Martin. . . Our Three Friends - AND YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!! who said to us this week. . .

"You should have told us!! We are trying to sell our place!!!" . .. . I have two words for you!:

JOHN COLEY!

HELLO!!. . . who, please tell me, who! has the time to ride around all the miles of Lake Martin to find FSBO property. . . NOT US. . . .and I'll not even mention that we know you pretty well. . have seen you several times this summer. . . ..AND didn't KNOW about your property. . . .well, DUH!!

And a very close second . . . I have to mention Melanie Poe our mortgage officer at Aliant Bank . She spent a lot of time with us all summer and was friendly, professional and knew her stuff when it came to lake martin property.

I hope we can stay in touch with these two folks - fun and professional people.

NOW. . .for the SUMMER OF 2009 SAGA. . . .

We've looked at lots of property. . . .put in three failed offers. . . only to spend 30 days negotiating this final one. I know Lake Martin Property pretty well myself these days. . .I know all the "neighborhoods" and am very excited to learn more.

My original outline for this blog was to give it to you play by play all summer. . . .then decided that I'd rather NOT live through it again. . .and that you don't really want to live through it again either.

We ended up with an amazing piece of property. . . we've gone there almost EVERY DAY since we closed . . . it needs lots of TLC and a few major repairs - it's been closed up for two years and only visited a few times in five.

Tom's been there Fri., Sat., Sun. and tomorrow . . . .I'M LOVIN' this. . . he needs time OFF THE GRID. . . Mr. Work 70 hours minimum per week Guy. . . .Or should I say Dr. Work Guy! I love to see him excited about all his new projects and thinking of ideas for us as a family.

Here are a few photographs. . . .as soon as we have it up to speed, I'll post more photos and . . .we'll have all of you over!

Mallard Point, Jackson's Gap, Alabama. . . .Lake Martin Cabin.

Back to the '80s

We can't wait to spend more time relaxing there.

The Last Supper

By request, the last dinner at home together for Summer 2009 was - Individual Chicken Pot Pies~

Dinner at the Denneys

This week I posted a poll on Facebook: How often do you cook and do you plan ahead?

It got a lot of hits and a large variety of responses. I haven't conscientiously thought about this in a long while, but it's worth a studied re-visit.

When Tom and I married - 21 years ago - I did not cook ANYTHING. I had a few easy things up my sleeve, but not much. My mother-in-law however was the domestic queen complete with a home economics degree from Auburn. (She jokingly called it her M.R.S. degree) Most of Tom's life he sat down to a meat, two vegetables, salad, bread and a dessert = usually all from scratch. She was not only a natural, but also very precise about how she prepared the food and the atmosphere.

Not only did she love the art of preparing a good meal, but she also savored the ritual of a family meal. She shared with us why she felt this way when Trey was born. She told us that it creates "family." She felt that family was a way of life, not a group of people.

Seems like we've always sat down to dinner for most of our 21 years. I'm not saying we do it every single night - it's just not possible. We all four have very busy schedules. But when we don't - we ALL miss it. Especially our little renegade - He thrives at the dinner table. Everyone gets their moment to shine and we genuinely enjoy each others company. After all, everyone except me does not know any differently. It's just the way it is.

Like Mrs. Denney told us - you learn so much about your children by sitting down and eating with them. Since Tom and I are faced with raising Tom and Jeff Clones! - it's a wonderful thing.

We love you Grandmama - and miss you every day.

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I'll have to make cooking, planning ahead and getting everyone to the table into another blog. It should be fun - especially since I have so many friends with lots of tips to share~ Cheri in Washington State shares my love of power cooking. Harrow, my baby sistah down the street, is a master of bulk purchases. AND. . .I've discovered a new menu item that I can make SIX meals out of for $4! That's 67 cents per meal or 16 cents per plate! and EVERYBODY loves it. STAY TUNED.