Monday Updates

So what's new since yesterday?

We've received a secret pal gift, more on that tomorrow since today's post is 'overflowing'!

HOUSE UPDATE:
Had our 'meeting of the minds' with the builder, real estate agents (his, ours), floor contractor and met up with the lawyers afterwards... bottom line, most issues resolved:

repairing hardwoods 'damaged'
reverting back to original design scope on exterior 'support system locations' (like compressors, etc)
repairing the ceiling damage from the upstairs 'leaks'
fixing the damage to the new kitchen and bathroom wood cabinets
agreed to install the appliances (this was a major bone of contention)

And we received a very sincere (and we admit well deserved) apology from the builder for the, shall we say, "approach", he took. We are closing best case a week, worst case 2 weeks. We have to move out all the appliance deliveries, utility installs, shipping/moving delivery, etc and need to resolve when to take care of some 'painting issues.

We haven't entirely reached agreement on all terms but our lawyers are working hard to resolve and they've done a great job. We are hopeful, but at the same time we are pissed it came to this. It shouldn't have.


Quilt Updates:
We've received a few more sets of fabric from Family for quilt squares and I also sent out the last call to family and friends 'holding out', LOL. We've heard back from most but not all, in the end it will be what it will be.

This weeks quilt squares come to us from E's Gram, his aunt/uncle B&J, and his great aunt/uncle R&L. Here's the scoop on the squares.

The first picture is a beautiful assortment of sentimental selections. A tux shirt from E's Grandpa who died 10 years ago in from what I heard was a horribly tragic car accident. E's Gram barely survived. So it is with great honor that we have a piece of his past to include in the form of a tux shirt. Also included is a handkerchief, brilliant blue that will be great to sew onto the quilt topper as an accent. Gram also gave us fabric from her first cap (brown and white) as a nurse in the military along with some fabric from her uniform (blue and white). She mentions that she went into the service in 1944 after her sister convinced her to do it and then never joined along with her, LOL!!!! Turns out this was Gram's calling and she loved her time as a nurse in the service. I love hearing links/ties to the past and having a peice of the fabric to share with Magpie is magical.

The next set of squares comes from R&L, they selected, quite fitting by the way, fabric with a Florida flair. They live there during the winter, from now till May basically every year. We caught up with them this past spring which I put up a post about back in April I believe. They've travelled the world and as we sat with them during one last supper this past spring we talked about all the places they've been, the things they've seen and experienced. it was ironic that at that time we hadn't yet shared that we were adopting, telling the mom's came first. When they mentioned they hadn't been to Asia but always wanted to go, we thought about how strange it was that this would be one of the earlier international trips in our marriage. We expect to travel the world too, but we're likely reversing the trips R&L took in their marriage! We still wish we could have shared things with them that evening.

This final square today is from E's aunt/uncle. Also a wonderful sentimental gift. B has been there for us, to listen to us objectively, to share, to cry open deep tears over Sophia and our loss. To allow us to fully share and grieve and not feel hindered or that it was too difficult for her to hear. We know our loss impacted everyone in our lives, but E and I know it imapcted us the most deeply and it was vital to be able to fully grieve, to fully cry, to fully share in our loss outside the 2 of us. It was essential to surviving, for that is truly the best we could come up with. So B&J, thank you from the bottom of our heart. The square they sent was from B's scrubs, she says "the kids like them"! This is funny because E loves to say this phrase about everything from food, to cars, to whatever! we plan to cut the square around the pocket so we can tuck something in it, perhaps a scrap of fabric from someone else.

Thanks to our family for continuing to participate.