We closed on the house on Wednesday, Bob left for PA on Thursday, the girls and I spent our first night in the house Thursday night and bought a Christmas tree Friday night...
I'm trying to unpack, clean, get ready for Christmas, prepare for the New Year's Eve party I'm planning ... oh, and the washer and dryer aren't hooked up yet, and I have almost three weeks of laundry to catch up on. And we're leaving town on Tuesday. These next 48 hours are going to be packed.
I love this house. I'm so thankful for it. I think it's going to be a great house for our family.
Pictures coming soon.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
Warmth
Ever since living in Florida for six years, I've had trouble with cold weather. And when I say "trouble" I mean "I don't like it." Kind of like my mom saying she's allergic to coconut (nope, she just doesn't like it).
Anyway, I love old houses, but old houses are not known for their air-tight-ness or their insulation, so imagine my surprise and delight to discover that our new house is toasty! I mean, it's almost too hot upstairs when we set the thermostat for 68 degrees. I don't know if this is due to good construction, or if it's the difference between a forced air furnace and a boiler/radiator system. But I like it. I mean, this is winter! And I'm too warm unless I'm in short sleeves!
And, as an added bonus, the basement (which has no radiators) stays warm enough for Bob to work in his workshop down there comfortably and for me to do laundry down there. And the attic, also unheated, is nice, too. I'm thinking the attic may be "my room." Bob has his shop, I'll have the attic. As long as I'm warm...
Anyway, I love old houses, but old houses are not known for their air-tight-ness or their insulation, so imagine my surprise and delight to discover that our new house is toasty! I mean, it's almost too hot upstairs when we set the thermostat for 68 degrees. I don't know if this is due to good construction, or if it's the difference between a forced air furnace and a boiler/radiator system. But I like it. I mean, this is winter! And I'm too warm unless I'm in short sleeves!
And, as an added bonus, the basement (which has no radiators) stays warm enough for Bob to work in his workshop down there comfortably and for me to do laundry down there. And the attic, also unheated, is nice, too. I'm thinking the attic may be "my room." Bob has his shop, I'll have the attic. As long as I'm warm...
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Perspective
I've been intermittently going crazy lately.
Originally we were selling a house and buying a house, both on Nov. 21. Then we were selling a house Dec. 1 and buying a house Dec. 9. Now, we've sold our house (on schedule, on Dec. 1), but have yet to buy one. We're living with my mother-in-law, as planned, in the intermediate time, and that's going remarkably well, considering we have four people in one bedroom, and lots of different schedules under one roof.
All our earthly belongings are in two moving trucks, parked at our old house. Our Great Dane and two cats are being boarded here in town.
Quick side-story:
On Sunday, I was supposed to drop off the cats at the kennel between 4 and 5. I started gathering them up just after 3, knowing that it might not be easy. I found Katie easily, and put her in the cat carrier. Then I started looking for Janie. I could not find her anywhere. She's quite a stealthy cat, so I checked all her hiding places (that I know of), and then started looking outside. They're inside cats, but I found pawprints around the perimeter of the house, so I started fearing (reasonably, I think) that she'd gotten out while we were moving things out on Saturday, and tried to get back in. I could not find her anywhere. I finally took Katie in without her, my heart almost breaking. I spent a lot of the evening walking the neighborhood, calling her name and shaking her food bowl. Nothing. I went through the house again a time or two. Nothing. We discussed making fliers and/or knocking on doors. It had been brutally cold (wind chill below zero), so we hoped someone had taken her in. We began to realize we might never see her again. We went about our business, cleaning the house, taking the last things out to the trucks, when all of a sudden, Janie walked into the kitchen. Hallelujah! She's an introverted cat, like her "parents", and I guess there had been too many people around for her to want to come out from wherever she'd been. We're so thankful she's ok.
Back to the original point of the post....
We're officially homeless now. I'm dying to live a settled life, to move in, put up pictures, decorate for Christmas, resume our normal life of cooking, laundry (am I really saying this?), living with our animals, etc. I've been hoping we could close on Friday so that we don't have to continue paying by the day for two moving trucks and boarding 140-ish pounds of animals through the weekend. And it looks like we're not closing on Friday. I've been feeling bitter, anxious, hysterical, you name it. Bob keeps talking me down.
Here's some perspective, though: we sold our house, at a relatively small loss, in a time when houses either aren't selling, or are selling incredibly low. We sold our house to a woman we really like, who loves the house, and who allowed us to keep our stuff in the house for a week after closing so we could avoid a storage unit. Our animals are warm and fed and cared for. Our belongings are safe. (I had clients once whose things were in a military storage unit, and EVERYTHING they had burned to the ground.) We have a place to stay that's comfortable, with free child care, meals cooked for us every night, and an open laundry room. Not to mention the fact that my mother-in-law is happy for us to stay as long as we need to. Not to mention the fact that we can watch all the football we want while we're there.
Originally we were selling a house and buying a house, both on Nov. 21. Then we were selling a house Dec. 1 and buying a house Dec. 9. Now, we've sold our house (on schedule, on Dec. 1), but have yet to buy one. We're living with my mother-in-law, as planned, in the intermediate time, and that's going remarkably well, considering we have four people in one bedroom, and lots of different schedules under one roof.
All our earthly belongings are in two moving trucks, parked at our old house. Our Great Dane and two cats are being boarded here in town.
Quick side-story:
On Sunday, I was supposed to drop off the cats at the kennel between 4 and 5. I started gathering them up just after 3, knowing that it might not be easy. I found Katie easily, and put her in the cat carrier. Then I started looking for Janie. I could not find her anywhere. She's quite a stealthy cat, so I checked all her hiding places (that I know of), and then started looking outside. They're inside cats, but I found pawprints around the perimeter of the house, so I started fearing (reasonably, I think) that she'd gotten out while we were moving things out on Saturday, and tried to get back in. I could not find her anywhere. I finally took Katie in without her, my heart almost breaking. I spent a lot of the evening walking the neighborhood, calling her name and shaking her food bowl. Nothing. I went through the house again a time or two. Nothing. We discussed making fliers and/or knocking on doors. It had been brutally cold (wind chill below zero), so we hoped someone had taken her in. We began to realize we might never see her again. We went about our business, cleaning the house, taking the last things out to the trucks, when all of a sudden, Janie walked into the kitchen. Hallelujah! She's an introverted cat, like her "parents", and I guess there had been too many people around for her to want to come out from wherever she'd been. We're so thankful she's ok.
Back to the original point of the post....
We're officially homeless now. I'm dying to live a settled life, to move in, put up pictures, decorate for Christmas, resume our normal life of cooking, laundry (am I really saying this?), living with our animals, etc. I've been hoping we could close on Friday so that we don't have to continue paying by the day for two moving trucks and boarding 140-ish pounds of animals through the weekend. And it looks like we're not closing on Friday. I've been feeling bitter, anxious, hysterical, you name it. Bob keeps talking me down.
Here's some perspective, though: we sold our house, at a relatively small loss, in a time when houses either aren't selling, or are selling incredibly low. We sold our house to a woman we really like, who loves the house, and who allowed us to keep our stuff in the house for a week after closing so we could avoid a storage unit. Our animals are warm and fed and cared for. Our belongings are safe. (I had clients once whose things were in a military storage unit, and EVERYTHING they had burned to the ground.) We have a place to stay that's comfortable, with free child care, meals cooked for us every night, and an open laundry room. Not to mention the fact that my mother-in-law is happy for us to stay as long as we need to. Not to mention the fact that we can watch all the football we want while we're there.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
A Roller Coaster Ride
This morning, Bob met a structural engineer over at the house. He had sent him a copy of the appraisal so that he'd know why the bank was concerned, and the engineer had read over it before meeting Bob this morning.
He was shocked. After reading the appraisal, he thought, What are these folks getting themselves into? And then he went through the house. And he was really impressed. The house is really solid, and incredibly well-built. He had no concerns about the structural integrity. He's going to write up a "clean bill of health" for our bank. I think he's also going to reference how misleading the appraisal is, with all of its references to the flaws, and none to the house's [many] positive attributes.
Now don't freak out (I know, that's the pot calling the kettle black), but here's one of the house's flaws:
Those are my brothers-in-law, Jon and Steve, up there. I love this picture, and I don't even know why, though if I thought about it much, I'm sure I could come up with reasons. I do not have time today.
There was a small fire in the base of the chimney, and they repaired the chimney but not the siding. Yep, we're buying a house with [a horrible chain link fence and] plywood on the side of it. It doesn't look pretty. Yet. But it will! (Oh, and they also have tried out various paint colors around the house on the siding. I think there are probably at least five different colors around the house. Here, you can see just two.)
Anyway, after the stress of yesterday, I feel particularly thankful for the hope I have now, after the engineer's assessment this morning. I don't know that we could have asked for a better result from their meeting this morning. Now, I just hope the bank is convinced. They should be. Let's see if they are.
Happy Thanksgiving!
He was shocked. After reading the appraisal, he thought, What are these folks getting themselves into? And then he went through the house. And he was really impressed. The house is really solid, and incredibly well-built. He had no concerns about the structural integrity. He's going to write up a "clean bill of health" for our bank. I think he's also going to reference how misleading the appraisal is, with all of its references to the flaws, and none to the house's [many] positive attributes.
Now don't freak out (I know, that's the pot calling the kettle black), but here's one of the house's flaws:
Those are my brothers-in-law, Jon and Steve, up there. I love this picture, and I don't even know why, though if I thought about it much, I'm sure I could come up with reasons. I do not have time today.There was a small fire in the base of the chimney, and they repaired the chimney but not the siding. Yep, we're buying a house with [a horrible chain link fence and] plywood on the side of it. It doesn't look pretty. Yet. But it will! (Oh, and they also have tried out various paint colors around the house on the siding. I think there are probably at least five different colors around the house. Here, you can see just two.)
Anyway, after the stress of yesterday, I feel particularly thankful for the hope I have now, after the engineer's assessment this morning. I don't know that we could have asked for a better result from their meeting this morning. Now, I just hope the bank is convinced. They should be. Let's see if they are.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Freakin' Out
I'm trying not to, but really? We're selling our house on Monday, moving in with my mother-in-law until we close (supposedly) on the house we're buying in two weeks.
And now our bank is telling us they don't want to lend us money for that particular house because they're worried that it's not structurally sound, based on the appraisal. The appraisal? What? The appraisal that specifically says, "There were no adverse physical deficiencies or adverse conditions observed at the time of inspection which would appear to affect the soundness of the property." But they were concerned about some things (the roof needs to be replaced -- but is not leaking--, there are two broken windows, they need to fix some flooring in the kitchen, the floors "slopp", etc.), and when they called the appraiser, they ended up talking with his boss who said that the appraiser should probably not have written that sentence. The boss who's never seen the house.
The house needs some work, I'll give them that. But structurally unsound because of "slopping" floors?? Whoa. They must not have experience with old houses. If that house is structurally unsound, this house is falling down. If those floors are sloping, then these floors are practically vertical, not horizontal. Honestly.
I am so p***ed off (and I don't curse!), I can hardly see straight. If we lose this house because the bank doesn't have a clue, I don't know what we'll do. Ironically, in this time of recession, our trouble with getting a mortgage doesn't have anything to do with our ability to get a loan, but with the house used as collateral for that loan.
I sat down with the girls this morning and prayed about it, but immediately resumed freaking out. Then I called Bob and left a message on his voice mail, crying. Poor guy. I know it doesn't help him to have a wife who's losing it.
I do not want to be homeless! With two little girls, a Great Dane, and two cats! At the holidays!
Pray for us, please.
And now our bank is telling us they don't want to lend us money for that particular house because they're worried that it's not structurally sound, based on the appraisal. The appraisal? What? The appraisal that specifically says, "There were no adverse physical deficiencies or adverse conditions observed at the time of inspection which would appear to affect the soundness of the property." But they were concerned about some things (the roof needs to be replaced -- but is not leaking--, there are two broken windows, they need to fix some flooring in the kitchen, the floors "slopp", etc.), and when they called the appraiser, they ended up talking with his boss who said that the appraiser should probably not have written that sentence. The boss who's never seen the house.
The house needs some work, I'll give them that. But structurally unsound because of "slopping" floors?? Whoa. They must not have experience with old houses. If that house is structurally unsound, this house is falling down. If those floors are sloping, then these floors are practically vertical, not horizontal. Honestly.
I am so p***ed off (and I don't curse!), I can hardly see straight. If we lose this house because the bank doesn't have a clue, I don't know what we'll do. Ironically, in this time of recession, our trouble with getting a mortgage doesn't have anything to do with our ability to get a loan, but with the house used as collateral for that loan.
I sat down with the girls this morning and prayed about it, but immediately resumed freaking out. Then I called Bob and left a message on his voice mail, crying. Poor guy. I know it doesn't help him to have a wife who's losing it.
I do not want to be homeless! With two little girls, a Great Dane, and two cats! At the holidays!
Pray for us, please.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Mommy Blogging
Bob called me from work to inform me that I'm a mommy blogger. I suppose I am. I definitely meet the description in an article he read today. Of course, I resent being called a mommy. I am not a mommy! For whatever reason, I don't like that word/name. I can't stand it when people refer to me as a mommy, and thank goodness, Bob does a good job of correcting people, "she likes to be called Momma."
Anyway, so I'm a mommy blogger. Follow that link up there, and read what he read. I watched the Motrin commercial that is discussed, and it really irritated me. I'm glad they're taking it out of circulation. I realize that for a lot of people, it's no big deal. But it offended me.
I'm going to live up to my mommy blogger designation now and post videos of Cecil.
I can hardly believe that I've become one of those parents that thinks their kids are incredibly cute... but of course, I've become one of them.
Here goes (practicing pronunciation):
And everything is a phone, these days: alarm clocks, spoons, conch shells...
Anyway, so I'm a mommy blogger. Follow that link up there, and read what he read. I watched the Motrin commercial that is discussed, and it really irritated me. I'm glad they're taking it out of circulation. I realize that for a lot of people, it's no big deal. But it offended me.
I'm going to live up to my mommy blogger designation now and post videos of Cecil.
I can hardly believe that I've become one of those parents that thinks their kids are incredibly cute... but of course, I've become one of them.
Here goes (practicing pronunciation):
And everything is a phone, these days: alarm clocks, spoons, conch shells...
A Sad Turn of Events
No, before you get worried, nothing bad has happened. Not anything of real gravity.
But, the other night I spent hours baking bread. I love homemade bread, especially homemade bread from my grandmother's recipe. It is sad to me that I don't have a whole lot of memories of my dad's mom, but I do remember her cooking. For me, this is a small way for her to live on in my family: I like to cook using her recipes.
So, I baked bread the other night, and since it takes a long time and I don't do it often, I made a double batch, resulting in four loaves. You can imagine how pleased (or not) I was to discover that Lily (my Great Dane) had eaten a half loaf. I was so stricken at the waste of it that I haven't brought myself to throw it away. Should I compost it? That, too, seems like a waste. I'm wondering if we should feed it to the ducks at Columbian Park so we at least get some pleasure out of it.
The remaining loaves:
The disfigured, ruined one:
But, the other night I spent hours baking bread. I love homemade bread, especially homemade bread from my grandmother's recipe. It is sad to me that I don't have a whole lot of memories of my dad's mom, but I do remember her cooking. For me, this is a small way for her to live on in my family: I like to cook using her recipes.
So, I baked bread the other night, and since it takes a long time and I don't do it often, I made a double batch, resulting in four loaves. You can imagine how pleased (or not) I was to discover that Lily (my Great Dane) had eaten a half loaf. I was so stricken at the waste of it that I haven't brought myself to throw it away. Should I compost it? That, too, seems like a waste. I'm wondering if we should feed it to the ducks at Columbian Park so we at least get some pleasure out of it.
The remaining loaves:
The disfigured, ruined one:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)