John called me from the new house last night while he was in the process of pulling the offensive floral wall paper off the walls in Keith's room (Showing pink paint underneath! Aaaauuuuugggghhh! Quick! Get some black sludge slathered on those walls! This room has apparently been girly since 1962!!! We must de-toxify!) . Ahem. Anyway, we got our first official mail since claiming ownership of the house: the electric company, the water authority, the insurance company, and the trash company have already sent their love. How thoughtful.
And here I was hoping they really wouldn't notice.
Friday, July 28, 2006
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
We have a house! Now what?
Closing did go through Friday afternoon--although not too smoothly. First off, I couldn't find anyone to watch the kids while we were in a boring office signing a million papers, so all three kids got to be privy to the inner-workings of house closings. They were not amused. Then the bank kept sending over the wrong paperwork--with wrong names, wrong figures, or just missing things. It took forever. Then as we were leaving, we see that John had gotten ticketed for his car being three weeks out of inspection. Now how ironic that he'd had the appointment to take it to the mechanic THAT DAY but canceled it due to the chaos of the house closing. GRRRR!!! Whatever--WE'VE GOT A HOUSE!!!
Friday night we stopped by the place to see it and show it to the kids. The sellers dropped by and showed us some of the "quirks" and things they had done to the house--and offered us their sectional for a sweet price. Awesome! Now we won't have an empty living room for the next two years as feared!
Saturday night we took sleeping bags and an air mattress and "camped-out" in our new, empty house. The kids had a ball running, running, running through all the empty rooms.
Sunday we went to the company picnic at the local amusement park. Not house related, but I thought I'd mention why we didn't get the moving vans loaded up right away. Previous engagement!
So now this week we've made a few deliveries to the place, but we couldn't get a truck until Sunday. We were hoping to get some painting done, but it just hasn't worked out yet. Our biggest concern is Keith's room. Just doesn't seem right to make the kid sleep in a room with floral wallpaper. Maybe we'll finish it up on Saturday. Otherwise, we're thinking of setting up his bed in the living room until we get it done!
Friday night we stopped by the place to see it and show it to the kids. The sellers dropped by and showed us some of the "quirks" and things they had done to the house--and offered us their sectional for a sweet price. Awesome! Now we won't have an empty living room for the next two years as feared!
Saturday night we took sleeping bags and an air mattress and "camped-out" in our new, empty house. The kids had a ball running, running, running through all the empty rooms.
Sunday we went to the company picnic at the local amusement park. Not house related, but I thought I'd mention why we didn't get the moving vans loaded up right away. Previous engagement!
So now this week we've made a few deliveries to the place, but we couldn't get a truck until Sunday. We were hoping to get some painting done, but it just hasn't worked out yet. Our biggest concern is Keith's room. Just doesn't seem right to make the kid sleep in a room with floral wallpaper. Maybe we'll finish it up on Saturday. Otherwise, we're thinking of setting up his bed in the living room until we get it done!
Thursday, July 20, 2006
THE WAIT IS OVER!!!!
After several very hectic days, hectic phone calls, no sleep, and even MORE hectic phone calls to the same people asking the same things, all our nuts are apparently all collected in the same basket and WE ARE CLEAR TO CLOSE TOMORROW!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!
Don't know the bat-time or bat-channel yet, but as of now realtors and lawyers are apparently calling each other to try to plan the closing orgy late tomorrow afternoon. Now whether or not all these lawyers can get their stuff together in time for that, I don't know. But they've all known that all parties involved were trying for tomorrow, so I'm hoping there will be no road blocks. If anything, I guess it'll happen early next week.
YAY!!!!
Don't know the bat-time or bat-channel yet, but as of now realtors and lawyers are apparently calling each other to try to plan the closing orgy late tomorrow afternoon. Now whether or not all these lawyers can get their stuff together in time for that, I don't know. But they've all known that all parties involved were trying for tomorrow, so I'm hoping there will be no road blocks. If anything, I guess it'll happen early next week.
YAY!!!!
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
P.S. Anyone want a cat?
He's cute, cuddly, Garfield-like personality.
As long as you don't mind the fact that he uses your living room as a litter box....
;-)
As long as you don't mind the fact that he uses your living room as a litter box....
;-)
House closing Part Two
Well, our mortgage broker's wife went into labor today (she was a week late, so I'm actually not sure if it's "labor" or "induced" or "c-section" or what), so since he's not around, it looks definite that we will NOT be closing on Friday. There has been finger pointing about how/why the closing is not going to happen, but we've been told that we've done everything WE needed to do, so I'm not too terribly worried about it. As long as we're out of that apartment by the end of the month, I really don't care.
*sigh*
*sigh*
House closing would be good here
Well, we were originally supposed to close on the house on Friday, but it doesn't look good. The realtor is insistent that everything is going according to plan, but the broker is telling us not until mid to late next week. Good thing we didn't schedule the U-Haul until the 22nd. John is all stressed out which is making ME stressed out. I keep reminding him that I've never heard of ANYONE who had a house closing go smoothly and rarely do they get to do it on the original date. It just ain't so. (Have fun, Jeff and Paula!)
So we've put off putting the utilities in our names until we definitely hear what's going on. I've slacked on packing (which isn't saying much, since I've only got about 10 boxes packed--and those are only some of our books). Thankfully, we don't really have a lot of stuff--just a lot of TOYS. I may start tossing some of those in boxes (or discretely in the Salvation Army drop-off!) in the next few days.
So here's hoping we're closed by sometime next week. Then we can get moved and get on with the next phase of our lives--home ownership!
So we've put off putting the utilities in our names until we definitely hear what's going on. I've slacked on packing (which isn't saying much, since I've only got about 10 boxes packed--and those are only some of our books). Thankfully, we don't really have a lot of stuff--just a lot of TOYS. I may start tossing some of those in boxes (or discretely in the Salvation Army drop-off!) in the next few days.
So here's hoping we're closed by sometime next week. Then we can get moved and get on with the next phase of our lives--home ownership!
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
...and Such
Friday night John and I threw caution to the wind and decided to try to take all three kids to the drive-in to see Cars and Nacho Libre. We've attempted the drive-in option before--hoping the kids would follow OTHER kids' examples and fall asleep in the back. No such luck. This time, with it being a kids' movie, and another "kid-esque" movie as a second-biller, we weren't too concerned about the older two staying awake. We just wanted the Third to be the good baby she USED to be before teething and fall asleep like a good girl. Again--no such luck. We were fine when we first got there. We set up our chairs outside, pulled out a blanket and munched on popcorn while waiting for the previews to start. The minute the previews started--it started to rain! OK, so now we're stuck in the mini-van. It doesn't take Izzy long to realize a) hey, I'm tired, b) hey, it's loud and stuffy in here, c) hey, my erupting tooth is killing me. The screaming ensued. For most of the movie we were dealing with her screaming or not being able to see the screen due to the on/off rain showers. At one point, not being able to handle being stuck in a stuffy mini-van with a screaming toddler, I took her outside. She calmed down and put her head down on my shoulder. Hey! Maybe she just needed fresh air! Great! 20 minutes after I climbed back in the van, she was screaming again. The movie thankfully finally ended, and we started up and headed home. We didn't even stay for the always-amusing credits at the end. Forget it! We'll rent it! And screw Nacho Libre! We'll rent that, too!
*sigh*
Other news: The house-buying/closing is moving along smoothly. We FINALLY got word back from the insurance company that gee, you're right, the roof really isn't that bad, and golly, we sure would like to insure you now! So....I'm rushing around getting all the paperwork out/received for that. Now that we've finally got insurance approval, we're done jumping through all the hoops and crossing all the roadblocks to our July 14th closing date.
It's been a learning experience. We've learned that when brokers/realtors/etc. are telling us something, they are probably meaning something else. The problem I have is that I just don't always know what question to ask to get the actual accurate answer I need. We really wish we had taken the time to take those buy-your-first-home classes that Fanny Mae and such places offer, but this was just a quick, last-second decision. Oh well. I guess we'll know a few things now if/when we have to do this in the future. ER, I hope so, anyway.
Beyond all this, we're trying to find a home for Tarquin, the cat. I can't take it anymore, and he has peed himself out of a spot in the new house. I have a co-worker checking with her aunt to see if we could make him into a barn cat--where he'll be very well taken care of. Other than that, it's the SPCA for him. I shudder at the thought of his being euthenized, but we're just really at our wit's end here. And I just don't feel right putting an ad in the paper and giving him to some stranger--for him to pee in their house. The new owner may not be as forgiving as the current one.... We'll probably keep Winston for now. Even though he's older and has an ultra-sensitive stomach, at least cat vomit is easier to clean up than cat pee.
And last....
For the fourth we spent the day with the family of a co-worker of John's. We just grilled (yes, vegetarian burgers are actually quite good grilled), drank some wine, and chatted all day. The kids spent the day making crafts (their eldest--also named "Izzi" is also quite creative) and playing on the new swing set. All were happy and getting along until Keith got curious with the scissors and cut up some of the crafty "creations". And then Izzi--with the unfortunate "home advantage"--hid a little too well for Mary during hide-and-seek. Mary's not the greatest loser and had to be reminded about the etiquette of losing well--AGAIN. OUR Izzy spent the day running/walking around exploring, getting cranky, and then finally giving up (after a shot of Tylenol) and taking a very late nap. Most enjoyable day.
*sigh*
Other news: The house-buying/closing is moving along smoothly. We FINALLY got word back from the insurance company that gee, you're right, the roof really isn't that bad, and golly, we sure would like to insure you now! So....I'm rushing around getting all the paperwork out/received for that. Now that we've finally got insurance approval, we're done jumping through all the hoops and crossing all the roadblocks to our July 14th closing date.
It's been a learning experience. We've learned that when brokers/realtors/etc. are telling us something, they are probably meaning something else. The problem I have is that I just don't always know what question to ask to get the actual accurate answer I need. We really wish we had taken the time to take those buy-your-first-home classes that Fanny Mae and such places offer, but this was just a quick, last-second decision. Oh well. I guess we'll know a few things now if/when we have to do this in the future. ER, I hope so, anyway.
Beyond all this, we're trying to find a home for Tarquin, the cat. I can't take it anymore, and he has peed himself out of a spot in the new house. I have a co-worker checking with her aunt to see if we could make him into a barn cat--where he'll be very well taken care of. Other than that, it's the SPCA for him. I shudder at the thought of his being euthenized, but we're just really at our wit's end here. And I just don't feel right putting an ad in the paper and giving him to some stranger--for him to pee in their house. The new owner may not be as forgiving as the current one.... We'll probably keep Winston for now. Even though he's older and has an ultra-sensitive stomach, at least cat vomit is easier to clean up than cat pee.
And last....
For the fourth we spent the day with the family of a co-worker of John's. We just grilled (yes, vegetarian burgers are actually quite good grilled), drank some wine, and chatted all day. The kids spent the day making crafts (their eldest--also named "Izzi" is also quite creative) and playing on the new swing set. All were happy and getting along until Keith got curious with the scissors and cut up some of the crafty "creations". And then Izzi--with the unfortunate "home advantage"--hid a little too well for Mary during hide-and-seek. Mary's not the greatest loser and had to be reminded about the etiquette of losing well--AGAIN. OUR Izzy spent the day running/walking around exploring, getting cranky, and then finally giving up (after a shot of Tylenol) and taking a very late nap. Most enjoyable day.
Birds, Death, and such
Last Thursday morning, being behind-hand on the laundry as always, I rush downstairs to get my jeans out of the dryer to wear to work. On the way, I pass by the downstairs bathroom and hear "chirp, chirp, chirp." I KNEW it! A while back, I SWORE I heard a bird in the bathroom vent, but never hearing the noise again, I assumed maybe the bird got stuck--and upon never detecting the impending smell, I assumed the bird just gave it up and moved out to better accommodations. NOPE. There is now a CHORUS of chirps coming from the bathroom. Now, I'm not quite fully awake yet, and since this is the bathroom I hardly ever use (it's the designated "kids' bathroom"), I go to turn on the light--and hit the vent switch instead. YIKES! Well, after a bit of flapping around, I still hear the chorus, so I figure the birds are way up there, and all's good. Not being able to do anything about the poor birds at the moment, I grab my jeans, and go about my morning of getting ready and getting the kids up.
20 minutes later, Keith is rushing in the bathroom to do his business and says, "Mommy, I can't go in here, it smells!" I check it out, and now I've got pieces of nest and bird crap all over the floor. By the time John is up, we can actually see a little bird leg hanging out of the bathroom vent! Great! I demolished their nest! Great! It's time to go to work!
Upon arriving home from work, John gets out the screwdriver and removes the still squawking baby birds. He finds three--two in pretty good shape, one which is barely moving and obviously already knocking on heaven's door. Upon inspection outside, we see the tiny little vent hole where mama had built her nest, the rest of the nest on the ground, and another baby who didn't survive the great fall. (Now I'm wondering if the nest--having been built in such a precarious place in the first place, had collapsed during the night whereupon the three fell deeper into the vent, and the one fell outside which is why I could finally hear these obviously weeks-old birds which we couldn't hear before).
Well, we stick the babies in a box, and I'm trying to reach animal control (which is closed at this point). Now, in a book I had read as a youngster, a family finds a baby wren and are able to raise it. In the book, the mother had put the baby bird in the oven to warm up and had made a mixture of flour/milk on the stove which she fed to the baby with tweezers. I'm too freaked out to put the birds in the oven (sing a song of sixpence?), but I do decide to at least warm up a little milk and feed it to the remaining babies with a medicine dropper. The two alert birds are going crazy and obviously love it! I try to get the not-so-alert one to take some, but it barely opens its mouth. Just as I got one dropper-full in each little alert beak, John yells from upstairs, "It says here [on the internet, obviously] NOT to give them milk or ANY kind of liquid." Apparently the baby birds could suck it down so quickly that they could choke themselves. Oh. Well, so much for childhood books as resources.
John gives me the number of some local wildlife preservationist to call. I leave a message. The babies are still chirping away--for about the next 20 minutes. Then they all quiet down. And they are all cold. I guess following his internet advice, John puts them in a planter and hangs them outside in the hopes that their chirping (which they are no longer doing!) will call the mother. Nope. They've stopped squawking and now they are apparently orphans. We bring them back inside since it's going to be a chilly night, put a dish towel in with them, hang them up in the utility room where Tarquin can't get at them, and hope for the best. But warning the kids when we put them to bed, that "it doesn't look good."
Next morning I rush down to check on them, and just one is barely twitching. I hang them back outside on the shepherd's hook knowing that this is the end. I tell both kids as they get up that "the birds didn't make it." Poor Keith starts crying immediately. Mary took it a little better. Both kids did pretty well in the long run. Lots of questions. Lots of answers. And while they seem to be handing it well, I can't help but wonder if I could have helped the birds more. What if we'd just used our heads and put them outside in the first place? What if I hadn't fed them milk? What if that @#$% preservationist had ever called back? What if I hadn't flipped the wrong @#$% switch? Good grief! I now have the weight of the death of four little baby birds on my shoulders! And all I can think of is that poor mama bird grieving over the death of her little ones and wondering what that awful whirring noise was that scared her off and broke up her little nest. *sigh* Humans suck. Especially meddling ones....
20 minutes later, Keith is rushing in the bathroom to do his business and says, "Mommy, I can't go in here, it smells!" I check it out, and now I've got pieces of nest and bird crap all over the floor. By the time John is up, we can actually see a little bird leg hanging out of the bathroom vent! Great! I demolished their nest! Great! It's time to go to work!
Upon arriving home from work, John gets out the screwdriver and removes the still squawking baby birds. He finds three--two in pretty good shape, one which is barely moving and obviously already knocking on heaven's door. Upon inspection outside, we see the tiny little vent hole where mama had built her nest, the rest of the nest on the ground, and another baby who didn't survive the great fall. (Now I'm wondering if the nest--having been built in such a precarious place in the first place, had collapsed during the night whereupon the three fell deeper into the vent, and the one fell outside which is why I could finally hear these obviously weeks-old birds which we couldn't hear before).
Well, we stick the babies in a box, and I'm trying to reach animal control (which is closed at this point). Now, in a book I had read as a youngster, a family finds a baby wren and are able to raise it. In the book, the mother had put the baby bird in the oven to warm up and had made a mixture of flour/milk on the stove which she fed to the baby with tweezers. I'm too freaked out to put the birds in the oven (sing a song of sixpence?), but I do decide to at least warm up a little milk and feed it to the remaining babies with a medicine dropper. The two alert birds are going crazy and obviously love it! I try to get the not-so-alert one to take some, but it barely opens its mouth. Just as I got one dropper-full in each little alert beak, John yells from upstairs, "It says here [on the internet, obviously] NOT to give them milk or ANY kind of liquid." Apparently the baby birds could suck it down so quickly that they could choke themselves. Oh. Well, so much for childhood books as resources.
John gives me the number of some local wildlife preservationist to call. I leave a message. The babies are still chirping away--for about the next 20 minutes. Then they all quiet down. And they are all cold. I guess following his internet advice, John puts them in a planter and hangs them outside in the hopes that their chirping (which they are no longer doing!) will call the mother. Nope. They've stopped squawking and now they are apparently orphans. We bring them back inside since it's going to be a chilly night, put a dish towel in with them, hang them up in the utility room where Tarquin can't get at them, and hope for the best. But warning the kids when we put them to bed, that "it doesn't look good."
Next morning I rush down to check on them, and just one is barely twitching. I hang them back outside on the shepherd's hook knowing that this is the end. I tell both kids as they get up that "the birds didn't make it." Poor Keith starts crying immediately. Mary took it a little better. Both kids did pretty well in the long run. Lots of questions. Lots of answers. And while they seem to be handing it well, I can't help but wonder if I could have helped the birds more. What if we'd just used our heads and put them outside in the first place? What if I hadn't fed them milk? What if that @#$% preservationist had ever called back? What if I hadn't flipped the wrong @#$% switch? Good grief! I now have the weight of the death of four little baby birds on my shoulders! And all I can think of is that poor mama bird grieving over the death of her little ones and wondering what that awful whirring noise was that scared her off and broke up her little nest. *sigh* Humans suck. Especially meddling ones....
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