Well, I did it! My daughter and I moved to our new house and we are exhausted! We downsized, so now we have to find a place for what we didn’t donate or sell, and that is more that I imagined. We had a lot of storage at the old house, not so much here, so I’m trying to find a place to cram everything we don’t immediately need. And my poor kiddo is back at the old house preparing it for our real estate agent (Superman in disguise) to walk through and start the selling process. Since he was the one who sold it to us three years ago, I figured he was a good choice for reselling. Anyway, I’ve sadly neglected my books, though I think about them every night for the few moments before I drop into an overtired sleep.

I’ll be back to working on Summerbird’s Quest as soon as I get some more work done on this house–

Which brings to mind THIS HOUSE! We had to replace the dishwasher and got a credit for it, plus buy a refrigerator and washer and dryer. Costco loves us. But we expected those expenses; they’re pretty normal for around here.

However…the very day we moved in, the gods of the toilets left us a surprise. All three clogged up, two were unusable (thank you moving guys). But we have a shiny new home warranty! Sure, they’ll take a look… for $85. And if it’s pre-existing, they won’t fix it and I eat the $85. I plunked down $1100 to install three new toilets. I don’t have time for someone to determine if it’s pre-existing or not! I have to pee! (Sorry, that just escaped in my frustration)

Time for lunch– Oh, the microwave doesn’t heat up the food. This house was inspected? The $85 guy gives me the pre-existing spiel again, so I get online with Costco again– $489 for a basic above the stove microwave. It will be here in 9 days.

Time to clean up. Kiddo turns on the disposal and it come shooting up the other sink. She is not happy. We call out a guy who does plumbing on the side (recommended by Superman, who knows everyone in this city!). He says the new disposal wasn’t fitted correctly in the first place and is leaking. It has to be replaced. $185 installed (a pretty good deal, he was great), plus the sink is clogged, and he doesn’t have a snake long enough to reach the clog. Real estate agent knows another guy. $140 later, he tells me the pipes are kind of messed up further down the way and he writes on my invoice that he doesn’t recommend using the nice, new disposal!

I’m curious–what was your worst moving experience? What surprises have you found once you moved in?

And back to Summerbird Rises. I left the scene I shared with you in case you didn’t get a chance to read it. It’s what happens when Summerbird crosses into Emythor and loses the veil her grandfather placed on her to keep her hidden. As I said before, it’s one of my favorite scenes. She realizes she looks a lot like someone she’s very fond of, and she isn’t happy about it. So, I’m sharing it with you below.

With the sequel, Summerbird’s Quest coming out hopefully next month (that’s if the house hasn’t any other offerings), this is a chance to read the book that started it all.

I hope you’ll find Summerbird and her odd assortment of family and friends endearing, comforting, annoying, frustrating, loving, and all the other things I did while creating them!

Summerbird’s New Countenance