Tabernacle Fire

Many of you are already aware, but for those who have moved away from Utah, our city is in mourning this weekend from the loss of our most cherished landmark. Listed on the US registry of historical buildings, the Provo Tabernacle burned down Thursday night and Friday. BYU broadcasting had been there that night setting up lighting and cameras - new equipment from their new state-of-the-art broadcasting building that sits on the hillside behind the Bean museum. BYU lost $5 million of equipment in the fire. The church also lost an original Teichert painting, the one of JS and OC being given the priesthood, that was hanging in the tabernacle. The tabernacle was built in 1885. With only a shell left, the question will be whether or not the church wants to rebuild it, and whether it will have a similar look to the old one. Last year we took BooBear to see the Nativity show there for Christmas - intending it to be a new tradition. At least no one was hurt.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=13709985

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/12/17/2527546/provo-tabernacle-goes-up-in-flames.html

http://www.provotabernacle.org/

15 Month Check-Up

Weight 25 lbs 2 oz 60%
Length 32.5 in 85%
Head 50 cm 100%

Under Contract

We finally received the contract from the bank for the little house with the big yard. It's a short sale with two mortgages, so we have been waiting and waiting. Now we have the paperwork, we can decide which day to lock in a rate for the loan. The mortgage rate shot up this week to the highest its been in the past 6 months. But, that's life. Now we cross our fingers and hope we can still afford the house. It was a fair price, not a great deal, back in September. Right now, prices have dropped some more, perhaps because it's Winter, so the price we are paying is a little high for the size of the home. However, I am excited about the thought of having more space than we have now. Unless the second mortgage gives us trouble, or we find something in the inspection next week, we could close as early as the end of the holidays.

Hilarious Video

BooBear loves to play 'go through the tunnel' by crawling through our legs. But Werty caught him doing a new trick.

Weekend

It was one of those 'I need a weekend to recover from my weekend' days.
- Two of my ESL students got in a fight, though the original provocation happened in my class, it didn't actually occur in my class. But it turned into one ethnic group pitted against another ethnic group, and a student threatening the lives of other students. I had to give my anti-ignorance anti-racism soap box lecture both Friday and today.
- Two of my siblings were in the hospital. Both are home now. One is on happy drugs, the other will take a few days to physically recover and then longer to fully recover.
- Two days of the NHS charity garage sale, Friday night and Saturday, to raise money for sub for santa gifts. It was a last minute kind of thing, and there were so many other events going on from choir dinner concerts to basketball games, that we only had 3-4 students help set up and clean up, making it take hours longer than it should have. I was at work an extra 8 hours.
- Two sacrament meetings to attend since we had Squeebee's baby blessing, followed by our own ward that we needed to go to so Werty could fulfill his calling. The following baby blessing luncheon was great, btw.
- Two days left until my accreditation report goes to committee and I didn't have time to touch it this weekend.
- Two wonderful reasons to call it a day and head home now to see my family.

My Newest Nephew GLump the younger

My mom just emailed out these pics of her newest grandchild - GLump the younger (until he gets a new nickname). Soyjoy was induced and had him Thursday night. He was a whopping 9 lbs 9 oz and 21.5 inches. That's two inches longer than BooBear! Of course, it would be okay if he grew up taller than his dad, since GLump is average height, same as me. We're happy that baby and mommy are doing well, and that daddy got to be there for the birth.

Random No-No's for House Listings

Werty and I started compiling a list of things that we have seen in listings which probably turn people off to buying those homes. Some of them are too good not to share.

1. Pictures of your children in each shot - besides the obvious safety issue (your address is listed after all), that "lived in" look isn't ideal. Does the child come with the house, or the cat or the dog?
2. Leaving the toilet lid up in those tight bathroom shots, especially when you can see yellow-brown water in the toilet.
3. Your kitchen tile doesn't need it's own close-up shot (look, it's one big tile on my screen) - the same goes for the corner of a room or a closet door (hey, it's the top half of a door, aren't we glad they included doors in this house)
4. If you post 8 photos, and 7 of them are of the front of the property - no matter how pretty it is, people will think that there is something wrong with the inside.
5. "Buyer to verify all information" means that the city owns your whole front lawn and will rip it up when they want to expand the road.
6. If you take a photo of a bathroom mirror, remember that you are mostly just taking a photo of yourself.
7. "Water feature" often means a homemade pile of rocks and cement that breeds mosquitoes and may pose a real danger to your children.
8. "Handyman's dream" = nightmare for regular people, loan officers, real estate agents and insurance adjusters. Putting up a temporary floating wall doesn't mean it counts as an additional bedroom. Just because your ceiling is made up of hanging bedsheets, doesn't mean it's a bedroom.
9. Shag carpet on the floor. Shag carpet on the walls. Shag carpet lining the back of every cabinet, even the bathroom!
10. Crime tape around the exterior of the house, no matter how pretty the house is, detracts from its curb appeal.

Finally, short sales are anything but short.