So, after making the decision to return to Nutrisystem, I chose Monday, January 30, as my "restart" date.
When I woke up yesterday, I hit the scale and was staggered to see 189.3! YIKES!!
I hit the scale this morning and, drum-roll please...I'm down to 187.3...TWO whole pounds since yesterday.
It's really too bad that my mind hates dieting, because my body sure loves it!
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Food Decision Made
Back here, I was trying to decide whether to stay on Nutrisystem (or go back to, in reality)or go/stay off, because we have undertaken a contract on a meat/freezer package which costs the $5 more per month than NS.
After giving it a great deal of thought (and gaining back 8 pounds!), we've decided to do both. This means that I will be cooking him meals, instead of him eating TV dinners *groan* . He'd had enough of them, and really, I can't blame him, because that's how I've felt about NS. But, my weight is creeping up again, and I hadn't lost all I wanted to in the first place, so it makes more sense to stick with it, or the past year of expense and the agony of dieting will have been for nothing, and I just can't have that.
I have to say though, that after a year, more or less, of eating boxed foods, it is very odd to look into a 19.2 cubic foot freezer (it's bigger than my refrigerator!) and see a mass of frozen red meat. Anticipating lots of company and cookouts, we stocked up on hamburger and a few steaks. I don't think I've seen raw red meat more than twice in the past 12 months...I'm suddenly feeling really happy about my decision to return to boxed food.
After giving it a great deal of thought (and gaining back 8 pounds!), we've decided to do both. This means that I will be cooking him meals, instead of him eating TV dinners *groan* . He'd had enough of them, and really, I can't blame him, because that's how I've felt about NS. But, my weight is creeping up again, and I hadn't lost all I wanted to in the first place, so it makes more sense to stick with it, or the past year of expense and the agony of dieting will have been for nothing, and I just can't have that.
I have to say though, that after a year, more or less, of eating boxed foods, it is very odd to look into a 19.2 cubic foot freezer (it's bigger than my refrigerator!) and see a mass of frozen red meat. Anticipating lots of company and cookouts, we stocked up on hamburger and a few steaks. I don't think I've seen raw red meat more than twice in the past 12 months...I'm suddenly feeling really happy about my decision to return to boxed food.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
I must be doing something wrong
I've been reading a new-to-me blog called "Dooce.com" written by a gal named Heather. As I always do when finding a new blog, I read from the earliest post forward. Heather mentions in her blog, as others have in their blogs, that she receives hate mail.
Since I don't receive hate mail, I must be doing something wrong. Perhaps I don't slam people, religion, cities, whatever, often enough. Maybe my life is too idyllic and without angst. Possibly, I don't cuss enough (at least on here - offline, I swear like a sailor!). Maybe I'm just boring (which is probably true).
Of course, the highest number of readers this blog has ever received in one day was like 55, and since I assume most of those are friends and family, they'd have no reason to send me hate mail anyway.
So, what do I need to do around here to get more attention and maybe even some hate mail?
Since I don't receive hate mail, I must be doing something wrong. Perhaps I don't slam people, religion, cities, whatever, often enough. Maybe my life is too idyllic and without angst. Possibly, I don't cuss enough (at least on here - offline, I swear like a sailor!). Maybe I'm just boring (which is probably true).
Of course, the highest number of readers this blog has ever received in one day was like 55, and since I assume most of those are friends and family, they'd have no reason to send me hate mail anyway.
So, what do I need to do around here to get more attention and maybe even some hate mail?
Monday, January 23, 2006
Decisions, decisions
I thought I was ready to quit Nutrisystems. Judging by my weight gain in the past couple of weeks...maybe not.
That $260 a month or so was part of the equation when my husband decided he wanted to buy into one of those meat/freezer packages for $265 a month. We figured if I wasn't going to do Nutrisystem, we would just transfer the funds from that to the meat package.
I don't know yet if we can afford both - well, we could, I just would have to make it a financial priority and juggle the books.
As long as I'm making even a half-hearted attempt to stay on NS, my weight stays the same, but I gained two pounds this weekend! Without the structure of NS, and the freedom to eat as I choose, I lose control. :(
I still need to lose 45 lbs...apparently, I can't do it on my own yet.
What to do???
That $260 a month or so was part of the equation when my husband decided he wanted to buy into one of those meat/freezer packages for $265 a month. We figured if I wasn't going to do Nutrisystem, we would just transfer the funds from that to the meat package.
I don't know yet if we can afford both - well, we could, I just would have to make it a financial priority and juggle the books.
As long as I'm making even a half-hearted attempt to stay on NS, my weight stays the same, but I gained two pounds this weekend! Without the structure of NS, and the freedom to eat as I choose, I lose control. :(
I still need to lose 45 lbs...apparently, I can't do it on my own yet.
What to do???
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Somehow, I'm not surprised
what decade does your personality live in?
quiz brought to you by lady interference, ltd
Monday, January 09, 2006
Wherefore art thou??
If you've been on the internet for any length of time, I'm sure that you've experienced "Missing Friend Syndrome".
This is where you've known someone online for a couple of years and yes, consider them a friend, but for whatever reason, never actually reached out and called them on the phone, and then suddenly, they are gone.
I've had this happen a few times. In one case, the person actually died, and it was devastating to everyone she had "known" online, as well as offline.
When it happens, it's a little disturbing to me...kind of like reading a book and being at a really good part...and then you lose the book.
Since I've started blogging, I've gotten involved in a few blogs. One that I had been reading, and commented in a few times, was called "The Daily WTF" over on dairyland, but which was not thedailywtf.com. Anyway, Rachelle (the blogger) had a potty mouth, and she was FUNNY.
Because of all that we've been going through, I hadn't caught up on my blog circle for awhile and decided to go see what Rachelle was up and DAMN IT...she's gone! Poof! Not just "hasn't posted in months", but the only entry on her site is "I'm outtie" - so it was an intentional thing.
It just makes me crazy when someone disappears like that :/
This is where you've known someone online for a couple of years and yes, consider them a friend, but for whatever reason, never actually reached out and called them on the phone, and then suddenly, they are gone.
I've had this happen a few times. In one case, the person actually died, and it was devastating to everyone she had "known" online, as well as offline.
When it happens, it's a little disturbing to me...kind of like reading a book and being at a really good part...and then you lose the book.
Since I've started blogging, I've gotten involved in a few blogs. One that I had been reading, and commented in a few times, was called "The Daily WTF" over on dairyland, but which was not thedailywtf.com. Anyway, Rachelle (the blogger) had a potty mouth, and she was FUNNY.
Because of all that we've been going through, I hadn't caught up on my blog circle for awhile and decided to go see what Rachelle was up and DAMN IT...she's gone! Poof! Not just "hasn't posted in months", but the only entry on her site is "I'm outtie" - so it was an intentional thing.
It just makes me crazy when someone disappears like that :/
Weekend of January 7-8, 2006
Guests on Saturday:
Sam, Kaye and 3 kids
Keith M.
Shannon
Jennifer, LaRon and Alyssa
As noted, we had several guests this weekend and we had a great time! Sam is Scott's boss and Keith is a friend of his from work. Everyone went fishing and several catfish were caught.
I spent most of the weekend trying to repair my computer, which seemed to get only worse. Looking at a rebuild next weekend...yuck!!
Sunday was spent cleaning the yards...the neighborhood dogs love to get hold of our trash, and we're still trying to get rid of the trash that the seller left us.
We met a few more of our neighbors. It's encouraging that everyone is making an effort to stop by and meet us! Of course, it's such a small community that I'm sure they want to meet us and make certain we're not drug dealers or whatever.
On the schedule for this week: Getting Shannon's room painted.
Sam, Kaye and 3 kids
Keith M.
Shannon
Jennifer, LaRon and Alyssa
As noted, we had several guests this weekend and we had a great time! Sam is Scott's boss and Keith is a friend of his from work. Everyone went fishing and several catfish were caught.
I spent most of the weekend trying to repair my computer, which seemed to get only worse. Looking at a rebuild next weekend...yuck!!
Sunday was spent cleaning the yards...the neighborhood dogs love to get hold of our trash, and we're still trying to get rid of the trash that the seller left us.
We met a few more of our neighbors. It's encouraging that everyone is making an effort to stop by and meet us! Of course, it's such a small community that I'm sure they want to meet us and make certain we're not drug dealers or whatever.
On the schedule for this week: Getting Shannon's room painted.
Monday, January 02, 2006
Jonah and the Lake
Jonah loves living out here at the Lake. The first time he was allowed down on the beach, he headed straight for the water...and has every time since then!
Here are some other pictures of him enjoying his new life!
Here are some other pictures of him enjoying his new life!
Friday, December 30, 2005
Life goes on
Ziggy's death kind of overshadowed everything else that has happened since the 23rd, but I don't want to let Christmas completely slide by.
As previously mentioned, my mom was here from California, and my daughter and her family were here from Ohio.
We were completely out of the old house by the 22nd, but the new house was a mess. I had to be at work every day, so my mom and daughter did the most wonderful thing for me and cleaned where possible, and tried to organize.
We ended up having a fairly quiet Christmas Eve, as Kristi and her family went down to the lake to stay with my ex-in-laws, so Christmas Eve was just me, Scott and my mom.
Christmas morning, we drove out to Scott's mom and delivered her present, and then drove on down to the lake, where we stayed for about 4 hours - missing out on breakfast AND dinner - kinda sucked, and then we had to drive home to meet Scott's step-son Travis and his family. The next morning, we picked Shannon up and then threw an impromptu BBQ with Scott's kids and my daughter and her family...it was a lot of fun. The Texas weather was being kind and we enjoyed 70 degree temps for our first official BBQ at our lake house :)
Kristi and her family left our house Monday night, and left Dallas Tuesday morning. My mom left Wednesday morning...ugh, had to leave the house at 5 am to get her to the airport - and at that, I had underestimated how long it would take and she almost missed her flight.
I loved having them all with me for the first time in many years!
Scott started our remodelling with our bedroom/office. He painted the office, all the trim in both rooms, laid carpet in both rooms and knocked out the wall between them (although not in that order). It took him longer than he thought, but it's 99% done right now and the other 1% will have to wait for our checking account to magically refill itself. It looks great, and the bedroom is much larger and brighter. We should be able to put our office together this weekend.
The livingroom is completely devoid of Christmas now, and is just waiting for the computer stuff to be moved to the office, then we can start deciding picture placement, etc.
After that, we will be painting Shannon's bedroom (our guest room) which is currently Pepto-pink, lavendar and candy apple green (arrrggghhhh!) and which will be painted a color called "Cool Water", which is a very slightly green-tinted blue.
Of note is the fact that Katie, our other Quaker Parrot, seems to realize that Ziggy is gone, and is taking the opportunity to start showing off her personality. She had learned many of his phrases, so it's a little eerie hearing them from her, but she's also bringing out sounds of her own and seems hungry to learn more. Maybe it took the "top dog" being gone for her to come out of her shell.
Well, I hope some of this made sense - I'm sicker than a dog and still at work, so I'm a little braindead. More later!
As previously mentioned, my mom was here from California, and my daughter and her family were here from Ohio.
We were completely out of the old house by the 22nd, but the new house was a mess. I had to be at work every day, so my mom and daughter did the most wonderful thing for me and cleaned where possible, and tried to organize.
We ended up having a fairly quiet Christmas Eve, as Kristi and her family went down to the lake to stay with my ex-in-laws, so Christmas Eve was just me, Scott and my mom.
Christmas morning, we drove out to Scott's mom and delivered her present, and then drove on down to the lake, where we stayed for about 4 hours - missing out on breakfast AND dinner - kinda sucked, and then we had to drive home to meet Scott's step-son Travis and his family. The next morning, we picked Shannon up and then threw an impromptu BBQ with Scott's kids and my daughter and her family...it was a lot of fun. The Texas weather was being kind and we enjoyed 70 degree temps for our first official BBQ at our lake house :)
Kristi and her family left our house Monday night, and left Dallas Tuesday morning. My mom left Wednesday morning...ugh, had to leave the house at 5 am to get her to the airport - and at that, I had underestimated how long it would take and she almost missed her flight.
I loved having them all with me for the first time in many years!
Scott started our remodelling with our bedroom/office. He painted the office, all the trim in both rooms, laid carpet in both rooms and knocked out the wall between them (although not in that order). It took him longer than he thought, but it's 99% done right now and the other 1% will have to wait for our checking account to magically refill itself. It looks great, and the bedroom is much larger and brighter. We should be able to put our office together this weekend.
The livingroom is completely devoid of Christmas now, and is just waiting for the computer stuff to be moved to the office, then we can start deciding picture placement, etc.
After that, we will be painting Shannon's bedroom (our guest room) which is currently Pepto-pink, lavendar and candy apple green (arrrggghhhh!) and which will be painted a color called "Cool Water", which is a very slightly green-tinted blue.
Of note is the fact that Katie, our other Quaker Parrot, seems to realize that Ziggy is gone, and is taking the opportunity to start showing off her personality. She had learned many of his phrases, so it's a little eerie hearing them from her, but she's also bringing out sounds of her own and seems hungry to learn more. Maybe it took the "top dog" being gone for her to come out of her shell.
Well, I hope some of this made sense - I'm sicker than a dog and still at work, so I'm a little braindead. More later!
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Rest in Peace, my darling Ziggy
This morning, around 8:00 a.m., my darling Ziggy passed away.
We didn't even realize something was wrong until last night, when he started shivering and wanted to be cuddled. By then, it was too late. I did get to hold him for a couple of hours last night, as he seemed to seek me out again and again. I'd like to think that he knew he was going and wanted to spend his remaining time with me.
I've cried all day, mourning the loss of that little bird who had such a huge impact on our family in the year that we've had him. No more Ziggy singing karaoke and opera, or barking at the dog, or meowing at the cat. No more "Mommy!!" shrieked at the top of his lungs. No more Ziggy begging for pizza, bread, or oyster crackers. No more preening my hair, no more nibbling my ear, or chasing my bare feet.
He will be buried at the top of the hill behind our house, where hopefully, he won't be disturbed for many years to come.
I love you Zigman...and miss you terribly! It's already too quiet without you.
Ziggy - Died 12/28/05
We didn't even realize something was wrong until last night, when he started shivering and wanted to be cuddled. By then, it was too late. I did get to hold him for a couple of hours last night, as he seemed to seek me out again and again. I'd like to think that he knew he was going and wanted to spend his remaining time with me.
I've cried all day, mourning the loss of that little bird who had such a huge impact on our family in the year that we've had him. No more Ziggy singing karaoke and opera, or barking at the dog, or meowing at the cat. No more "Mommy!!" shrieked at the top of his lungs. No more Ziggy begging for pizza, bread, or oyster crackers. No more preening my hair, no more nibbling my ear, or chasing my bare feet.
He will be buried at the top of the hill behind our house, where hopefully, he won't be disturbed for many years to come.
I love you Zigman...and miss you terribly! It's already too quiet without you.
Ziggy - Died 12/28/05
Friday, December 23, 2005
Killing time and an update
Since I'm stuck at work for another hour or so and could be doing real work, but not under any pressure to do so, I figured I'd take some time to update my blog.
I believe I last left off with the fact that we were supposed to move into our house last Saturday, the 17th and, of course, since nothing else has gone smoothly with this deal, I have a story to tell you about it.
We rented our truck on Friday evening, and Scott and his friend, John, started loading it. Scott and I drove out to the house at 4:00 p.m. to do our walk-through, since the seller had already told us he wouldn't be out at 8:00 a.m., like he was supposed to be.
We get out there and...the power is off. It's a little hard to do a proper walk-through with no power, but we did the best we could...HA!
There was still a little furniture in every room. It was apparent that they hadn't cleaned the house at all. The boat house was still filled to the brim with the seller's crap. One of the ceramic light covers on the patio was broken and pieces on the ground. Their teenage daughter wrote on the walls of her bedroom in black magic marker "Tiffany loves you - 11/11/05"....one week before we closed on the house. It was also obvious that the seller had allowed his dogs to hang out in the two carpeted bedrooms - where they apparently relieved themselves. Despite all of this, the seller assured us that they would be completely out that night, and would leave the key for us under a brick by the porch.
Disappointed once again, and furious that we were unable to get into the house and were paying rent on the truck for a second day, we went home, after stopping first at Home Depot and picking out new carpet for the bedrooms, and paint for the walls of the room that will become our office - which was a hideous dark blue.
Sunday morning, we rolled out of the house at the crack of dawn and headed to our new home. Bear in mind that it is a 46 mile drive one way. We arrive at the house and discover that the seller didn't leave the key - but that's ok, the front door was unlocked.
We walk in the house and...the furniture is still there. The house is filthy and I mean that truly. They hadn't washed the tub, hadn't swept, hadn't washed windows...it was truly dirty. Seller shows up a few minutes later and Scott says "What were you going to do with this furniture? Do you need a hand getting it out of here?" And the seller says, "I wasn't planning on doing anything with it...I was just going to leave it." WTF? At that point, he started understanding how pissed off we were and helped Scott get it out of the house and then, the only decent thing the guy has done throughout this ordeal, he and his brother in law helped Scott unload the truck...good thing, because our driveway is a 20% grade and there is no way we would have gotten it done by ourselves.
Today is Friday, and we finally got the last load of little crap over to the new house. The old house is as spotless as I can make it. My mother and my daughter have been cleaning the new house while I work, and trying to organize it as best they can. I'm hoping to get it finished up over the next few days, but I'm utterly and totally exhausted.
All I can say is that I'm getting far too old for this crap and if we ever move again, Scott better plan on getting movers and a cleaning crew.
OK, I'm out of here...Merry Christmas everyone!!
I believe I last left off with the fact that we were supposed to move into our house last Saturday, the 17th and, of course, since nothing else has gone smoothly with this deal, I have a story to tell you about it.
We rented our truck on Friday evening, and Scott and his friend, John, started loading it. Scott and I drove out to the house at 4:00 p.m. to do our walk-through, since the seller had already told us he wouldn't be out at 8:00 a.m., like he was supposed to be.
We get out there and...the power is off. It's a little hard to do a proper walk-through with no power, but we did the best we could...HA!
There was still a little furniture in every room. It was apparent that they hadn't cleaned the house at all. The boat house was still filled to the brim with the seller's crap. One of the ceramic light covers on the patio was broken and pieces on the ground. Their teenage daughter wrote on the walls of her bedroom in black magic marker "Tiffany loves you - 11/11/05"....one week before we closed on the house. It was also obvious that the seller had allowed his dogs to hang out in the two carpeted bedrooms - where they apparently relieved themselves. Despite all of this, the seller assured us that they would be completely out that night, and would leave the key for us under a brick by the porch.
Disappointed once again, and furious that we were unable to get into the house and were paying rent on the truck for a second day, we went home, after stopping first at Home Depot and picking out new carpet for the bedrooms, and paint for the walls of the room that will become our office - which was a hideous dark blue.
Sunday morning, we rolled out of the house at the crack of dawn and headed to our new home. Bear in mind that it is a 46 mile drive one way. We arrive at the house and discover that the seller didn't leave the key - but that's ok, the front door was unlocked.
We walk in the house and...the furniture is still there. The house is filthy and I mean that truly. They hadn't washed the tub, hadn't swept, hadn't washed windows...it was truly dirty. Seller shows up a few minutes later and Scott says "What were you going to do with this furniture? Do you need a hand getting it out of here?" And the seller says, "I wasn't planning on doing anything with it...I was just going to leave it." WTF? At that point, he started understanding how pissed off we were and helped Scott get it out of the house and then, the only decent thing the guy has done throughout this ordeal, he and his brother in law helped Scott unload the truck...good thing, because our driveway is a 20% grade and there is no way we would have gotten it done by ourselves.
Today is Friday, and we finally got the last load of little crap over to the new house. The old house is as spotless as I can make it. My mother and my daughter have been cleaning the new house while I work, and trying to organize it as best they can. I'm hoping to get it finished up over the next few days, but I'm utterly and totally exhausted.
All I can say is that I'm getting far too old for this crap and if we ever move again, Scott better plan on getting movers and a cleaning crew.
OK, I'm out of here...Merry Christmas everyone!!
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
It's starting to look a lot like Christmas!
Last week, our entire town lost its power - on the coldest day we've had this year. The temperature outside was 16, but I have no idea how cold it got in the house. The birds became lethargic from the cold, so we lit a fire in the fireplace we hadn't used in the two and a half years we lived here, and put the bird cages in a semi-circle around the fire to warm them up. Oh, we're down to four birds - we re-homed Lucy two weeks ago. We just couldn't take her screeching anymore - and the other 4 were starting to imitate her! At 5:30 in the morning, that just wasn't cool.
We're supposed to (finally!!) move into our house Saturday morning - and our weather forecast is calling for snow. Somehow, that makes sense, after all we've been through to get the house.
My daughter and her family will arrive here tomorrow from Ohio. They'll be staying for two weeks, but I don't know how much I'll actually see of them. I know they have plans to visit all their friends and other family members, but I know I'll at least see them here and there.
My mom will arrive from California on the 21st...I just hope we have the house set up by then!
My livingroom is filled with boxes and Christmas presents - but no tree yet. Doesn't make sense to buy one when you're about to move :)
I've been letting this blog slide while we've been busy packing, but I'll try to get better about it after the first of the year. If I don't post before then - have a Merry Christmas!
We're supposed to (finally!!) move into our house Saturday morning - and our weather forecast is calling for snow. Somehow, that makes sense, after all we've been through to get the house.
My daughter and her family will arrive here tomorrow from Ohio. They'll be staying for two weeks, but I don't know how much I'll actually see of them. I know they have plans to visit all their friends and other family members, but I know I'll at least see them here and there.
My mom will arrive from California on the 21st...I just hope we have the house set up by then!
My livingroom is filled with boxes and Christmas presents - but no tree yet. Doesn't make sense to buy one when you're about to move :)
I've been letting this blog slide while we've been busy packing, but I'll try to get better about it after the first of the year. If I don't post before then - have a Merry Christmas!
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Tis the Season!
I started listening to Manheim Steamroller last night - always my indicator that the Christmas spirit is upon me :)
Since the stress of the house purchase has passed, and Scott assures me that he'll handle the move and that we will have a Christmas tree for our first Christmas in our new home, I decided to jump back on the Nutrisystem band wagon starting yesterday. I've had two 100% days in a row, and was down 1.4 lbs this morning...woohoo!
Our dog, Jonah, has been with us 31 days now, and he's gained 10 lbs! He was thin when we got him and needed filling out, so this is a good thing. He's such a good dog, although he freaked me out tonight by barking very loudly at his reflection in the sliding glass door tonight...lol. Makes me think he'll be a good watchdog though :)
I haven't started Christmas shopping yet - thank God I don't have too many people to buy for! I should be able to start this coming weekend, and we'll have Shannon, so I'll get her to help me. Having her around every other weekend sure has been nice...and well worth the hassles we went through to get this thing with her mother straightened out!
Three websites for you to check out, in light of the holidays. They're coupon sites...hope you find one you can use!
http://www.currentcodes.com/
http://www.couponcabin.com/
http://www.dealhunting.com/
Since the stress of the house purchase has passed, and Scott assures me that he'll handle the move and that we will have a Christmas tree for our first Christmas in our new home, I decided to jump back on the Nutrisystem band wagon starting yesterday. I've had two 100% days in a row, and was down 1.4 lbs this morning...woohoo!
Our dog, Jonah, has been with us 31 days now, and he's gained 10 lbs! He was thin when we got him and needed filling out, so this is a good thing. He's such a good dog, although he freaked me out tonight by barking very loudly at his reflection in the sliding glass door tonight...lol. Makes me think he'll be a good watchdog though :)
I haven't started Christmas shopping yet - thank God I don't have too many people to buy for! I should be able to start this coming weekend, and we'll have Shannon, so I'll get her to help me. Having her around every other weekend sure has been nice...and well worth the hassles we went through to get this thing with her mother straightened out!
Three websites for you to check out, in light of the holidays. They're coupon sites...hope you find one you can use!
http://www.currentcodes.com/
http://www.couponcabin.com/
http://www.dealhunting.com/
Sunday, November 27, 2005
22 days and counting
Well, in 22 days, we'll be able to start moving into our house!
The bitter taste left over from the closing has started to subside as our excitement begins to build. We went furniture shopping on Friday - I've wanted new furniture for quite awhile and since we aren't going to be smoking in the new house, I didn't want to take smoke-smelling furniture into it. We found a set at Rooms to Go, consisting of a sofa and what they call a "chair and a half". Both pieces are recliners, which Scott and I both wanted. They will be delivered to the house on the 20th. Of course, we paid more than I wanted to, but that's fine - hopefully, it'll be the last set of furniture we buy for 10 years or so.
Our conversations are now peppered with ideas and plans. Since our ultimate goal is to build a new house on that land, we've been looking at floor plans and we've decided to go with a log cabin look - and this is the design we really want. This is 2-3 years away though.
I think I'll spend today packing some more stuff. Most of it's already in storage, but there's quite a bit more that could be packed up now as we're getting closer!
The bitter taste left over from the closing has started to subside as our excitement begins to build. We went furniture shopping on Friday - I've wanted new furniture for quite awhile and since we aren't going to be smoking in the new house, I didn't want to take smoke-smelling furniture into it. We found a set at Rooms to Go, consisting of a sofa and what they call a "chair and a half". Both pieces are recliners, which Scott and I both wanted. They will be delivered to the house on the 20th. Of course, we paid more than I wanted to, but that's fine - hopefully, it'll be the last set of furniture we buy for 10 years or so.
Our conversations are now peppered with ideas and plans. Since our ultimate goal is to build a new house on that land, we've been looking at floor plans and we've decided to go with a log cabin look - and this is the design we really want. This is 2-3 years away though.
I think I'll spend today packing some more stuff. Most of it's already in storage, but there's quite a bit more that could be packed up now as we're getting closer!
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Pictures of the house
Sue, just for you and anyone else who may want to look :)
http://photobucket.com/albums/b127/honey4evr/Our%20House/
For password, use helen
http://photobucket.com/albums/b127/honey4evr/Our%20House/
For password, use helen
Homeowners....at last
The closing was painful, very stressful, broke us completely financially (I'll be bouncing checks until Thursday), but it's over. We'll move in starting the evening of December 18.
The lender kept putting off getting the loan docs to the title company - they were supposed to be there Tuesday, then Wednesday, then Thursday, and still were not there until noon on Friday.
The seller tried to put off signing until Monday, which meant they would occupy our house until 12/21...and I just lost it. I called my father in law, who has been dealing with the seller, and raged at him. My mom is supposed to be here from California on 12/20...where the hell was I going to put her? My daughter and grandchildren are coming in from Ohio on 12/14....they'll have to stay at a hotel or with her father. It's going to cost $31 a day to board the dog and cat, while we're staying with the birds at the home of my ex-mother in law, or a friend, since we have to be out of this house on 12/10. Father in law finally called the seller and lit into him...so they showed up at closing and signed.
When we got in there to sign, the title company informed us that they needed another $2100 by certified check - and there was no branch of our bank in that town - no way to get the money. I lost it again. The title company finally, after 30 minutes of us trying to find a bank who would let us cash a check (HA!) decided that we could wire them the money on Monday morning.
I truly don't think I could have taken another delay or another problem...I'd have been fitted for a straight jacket if there had been.
Thank God it's all over....and I swear, I will never go through this again. Next house we buy will be EMPTY.
The lender kept putting off getting the loan docs to the title company - they were supposed to be there Tuesday, then Wednesday, then Thursday, and still were not there until noon on Friday.
The seller tried to put off signing until Monday, which meant they would occupy our house until 12/21...and I just lost it. I called my father in law, who has been dealing with the seller, and raged at him. My mom is supposed to be here from California on 12/20...where the hell was I going to put her? My daughter and grandchildren are coming in from Ohio on 12/14....they'll have to stay at a hotel or with her father. It's going to cost $31 a day to board the dog and cat, while we're staying with the birds at the home of my ex-mother in law, or a friend, since we have to be out of this house on 12/10. Father in law finally called the seller and lit into him...so they showed up at closing and signed.
When we got in there to sign, the title company informed us that they needed another $2100 by certified check - and there was no branch of our bank in that town - no way to get the money. I lost it again. The title company finally, after 30 minutes of us trying to find a bank who would let us cash a check (HA!) decided that we could wire them the money on Monday morning.
I truly don't think I could have taken another delay or another problem...I'd have been fitted for a straight jacket if there had been.
Thank God it's all over....and I swear, I will never go through this again. Next house we buy will be EMPTY.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
The closing
*sigh*
We didn't close. Our landlady must have decided she didn't want us to move or something, because she intentionally sat on the paperwork she needed to fill out and send back to the lender...hence, loan documents didn't issue today.
We took our certified check for the anticipated closing costs to the title company and signed another extension to "on or before November 18th", terrified all the while that the seller wouldn't agree to it.
We found out a little while ago that he did agree to it, but that he now wants a firm 30 days to move, but he will absolutely be out on that 30th day. Fine...not a problem. We had gone up just last night and gave the landlady a check that paid us to up 12/10. Everyone now believes we'll sign loan docs on Tuesday morning, so we'll have to give them another 3 days of rent, and not have a week to clean the way we had planned.
What I'd really like to do is choke the life out of my landlady, but of course, I can't do that. She told our loan broker that she didn't have the lease in front of her and couldn't verify how long we lived here...we moved in in September of 2003....2.2 years ago, and she only needed to verify 12 months. If she hates us, it would have made more sense to fill that paper out as fast as possible and send it to the lender by fax right away so we'd be gone. If she likes us and wants us to stay, she has a strange way of showing it. And, btw, she's a residential real estate agent for Coldwell Banker, so it's not like she didn't know how badly we needed this....and I had called her twice about it anyway....once while she apparently had the document sitting on her desk and she told me she hadn't heard from the lender. Purely evil.
We're going to go rent a storage unit in the town we're moving to, and we're going to start loading up Scott's work van with the boxes we've had packed for 2 months, and move them out there. I figure if we've done without it this long, it can stay in storage until we settle in and I'll bring a few boxes home at a time. That'll thin out the clutter around here (2/3rds of the house is in boxes scattered around my house) and we can start cleaning. Benefit: Things that were a priority to keep 2 months ago, may not be as important to keep in another 2 months.
Other than the landlady thing, I'm calmer and it's going to be ok. The landlady thing hurts to the quick...this is not some corporation...this is a woman that lives 500 yards from me and waves to me every day. We feel utterly and totally betrayed.
Friday, November 04, 2005
It wasn't supposed to be this hard!!
I haven't been posting and probably needed to, if for no other reason than the therapy benefits.
Last Friday, we bought a dog from the SPCA! His name is Jonah and he's a Labrador mix, probably with Weimaraner. He is without a doubt the best dog I've ever owned. He's 7 months old, weighs 40 lbs, and is calm and gentle.
We were supposed to close on our house on October 31, but we received word that our appraiser had been unable to get out to the house - couldn't hook up with the sellers, so the closing got extended until November 10. I called the sellers yesterday to let them know that our insurance agent needed to come and inspect the house and, in the course of that conversation, discovered that while they have every intention of closing on 11/10, they have NO intention of being out of the house by then, nor do they intend to pay rent to us for staying there. Contractually, of course, they can't do that; however, they let it be known that if we intended to force the issue, they would simply walk away...with our $5,000 escrow.
Needless to say, this has Scott and I completely and totally stressed out. I lost 3 lbs overnight simply because I couldn't eat and from crying (I cry when I'm stressed - and when we fight, which is occurring because of the stress). We reminded each other this morning that we love each other and this is just a house and there are more houses out there, and even if we have to wait a year to find one, we'll be just fine. It still sucks.
I'm picking Shannon up tonight after work and taking her to our house for our very first entire weekend visit! Scott and I are very excited about this, so it is a bright spot in an otherwise miserable week.
Last Friday, we bought a dog from the SPCA! His name is Jonah and he's a Labrador mix, probably with Weimaraner. He is without a doubt the best dog I've ever owned. He's 7 months old, weighs 40 lbs, and is calm and gentle.
We were supposed to close on our house on October 31, but we received word that our appraiser had been unable to get out to the house - couldn't hook up with the sellers, so the closing got extended until November 10. I called the sellers yesterday to let them know that our insurance agent needed to come and inspect the house and, in the course of that conversation, discovered that while they have every intention of closing on 11/10, they have NO intention of being out of the house by then, nor do they intend to pay rent to us for staying there. Contractually, of course, they can't do that; however, they let it be known that if we intended to force the issue, they would simply walk away...with our $5,000 escrow.
Needless to say, this has Scott and I completely and totally stressed out. I lost 3 lbs overnight simply because I couldn't eat and from crying (I cry when I'm stressed - and when we fight, which is occurring because of the stress). We reminded each other this morning that we love each other and this is just a house and there are more houses out there, and even if we have to wait a year to find one, we'll be just fine. It still sucks.
I'm picking Shannon up tonight after work and taking her to our house for our very first entire weekend visit! Scott and I are very excited about this, so it is a bright spot in an otherwise miserable week.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Valium, anyone?
OK, so daughter #1 had her baby, daughter #2 got married, and the visitation issues with my step-daughter have been resolved to our satisfaction. The only remaining issue for October is closing on the house. The loan app has been signed, but not yet approved. We have all the money we will need if we get the 100% loan, but if it's only a 90-95% loan, we're going to have to go to Scott's dad...which we really do NOT want to do! If it's a 95% loan, we'll only need $2000, but I still don't want to go to him!
I'm a little worried about how the birds are going to take this - moving them could cause some issues like more night-frights (which Ozzie gets more frequently than I like) and it could also cause some feather plucking. Nobody does that now and I hope they're secure enough about us that the move doesn't make them start!
So yeah, a little stressed, but nothing that 10 mg of Valium couldn't help! ;)
Sunday, October 16, 2005
She'll carry on
On October 13, at 10:00 a.m., my newest grandchild, Kathryn Lynn was born. She weighed in at 8 lbs., 10 oz. and was 21 inches long. My daughter was in labor for only 7 hours, and only pushed for 12 minutes, and after only 3 good pushes, presented our little beauty.
After packing to come home yesterday, I sat holding Kathryn. As I gazed at her, I realized I wanted to live long enough to see the young woman she is destined to become.
My nickname for my grandmother was the "Ice Queen". She was a very hard woman who, upon being told by my mother "I love you", responded with "God bless you". Love wasn't apparently part of her make-up. Needless to say, being raised by the Ice Queen, my mother wasn't exactly the most loving parent around, and she did try, but unconditional love was not something I experienced.
I know the mistakes I've made with my children, but thankfully, they received enough good from me that they have become very loving and generous adults. I can't wait to see Kathryn (and her big brother Alex, and their cousin Alyssa) grow into adults who were loved unconditionally. My daughters are such better mothers than I was, so I apparently did something right!
I doubt seriously that I'll live long enough to see Kathryn become a mother, but I was totally in awe as I sat looking at that sweet baby face, and realized that at some time in the distant future, she will tell her children stories about her grandmother (me). I pray that the stories Kathryn shares with her children about me will include lots of humor and tons of love!
After packing to come home yesterday, I sat holding Kathryn. As I gazed at her, I realized I wanted to live long enough to see the young woman she is destined to become.
My nickname for my grandmother was the "Ice Queen". She was a very hard woman who, upon being told by my mother "I love you", responded with "God bless you". Love wasn't apparently part of her make-up. Needless to say, being raised by the Ice Queen, my mother wasn't exactly the most loving parent around, and she did try, but unconditional love was not something I experienced.
I know the mistakes I've made with my children, but thankfully, they received enough good from me that they have become very loving and generous adults. I can't wait to see Kathryn (and her big brother Alex, and their cousin Alyssa) grow into adults who were loved unconditionally. My daughters are such better mothers than I was, so I apparently did something right!
I doubt seriously that I'll live long enough to see Kathryn become a mother, but I was totally in awe as I sat looking at that sweet baby face, and realized that at some time in the distant future, she will tell her children stories about her grandmother (me). I pray that the stories Kathryn shares with her children about me will include lots of humor and tons of love!
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