Sickie-Poo

"How did you survive the gas?" "I held my breath and let Nursie inhale all the fumes." "Sickie-poo."

I came down so sick Monday, that today is my first day back at work. It's the same RSV stuff that BooBear has had for 3 weeks. The lack of sleep and emotional stress with getting things ready to move and spending way too much money in a given week for appliances led to my immune system being sucker-punched. Werty is also sick, but to him it's just a normal cold.

We got the carpets in the house cleaned on Tuesday. That's how Werty learned that all the plumbing in the upstairs bathroom leaks. /em crosses her fingers that we will have a working bathroom before we move in this weekend. Right now there is a bucket to catch the water. No, I'm not kidding. After spending the weekend measuring and going over options with his dad, Werty has decided what area he is going to renovate first. (Hopefully, after the bathroom plumbing...) We are turning the second kitchen in to a laundry room. That sink's plumbing doesn't work right now anyway, so why not rework the pipes and make the space more functional. I will have to take before and after pics. Regarding the living room, we are not going to rip out the plasterboard. Instead we are going to sand down the gloppy textured plaster, smooth out a thin layer of plaster and then paint.

Appliances

My Valentine's Day was filled with appliance shopping. (und so romantisch...und der Mond...ja, der Mond is so romantisch) So far we have a new water heater and a washer and dryer set. Next on the list is a fridge. We have been to some interesting shops along the way, some we might return to, and some we won't. Werty happened to go to one store at just the right time - he got a gift certificate and a free gift for making a purchase. We will probably use that $20 gift certificate and buy a dishwater there, so it was an effective incentive for the store.

BooBear is sick. And I have Parent Teacher Conferences today. Let's hear it for no sleep! Woohoo!

Homeowners!

We got our house! Such a strange thing. I don't think it will really sink in until we start moving...and if that doesn't work, the first mortgage payment will make it seem real. :P

Our plans on renovating hit a snag. We weren't surprised to find there was no insulation. However, the walls aren't drywall. They are something else, and they are thick. Tearing it out to redo the wiring and putting in insulation is going to be harder than we expected because this stuff is going to be tough to remove. Maybe that's why the previous owner just patched stuff instead of doing it right. Hmmm. We just don't have that much time before we need to move in. Decisions, decisions.

Anytime Now...

Your line is..."Genie, I wish you free...anytime now."

We closed on Monday and were supposed to take possession today...but the sellers still hadn't signed the final papers as of today. Argh!

"One day more or less...what can it hurt?" "Fine. Stay here with the old man." "How's your shoulder?" "I am in your debt. You are free to go." "I know that, sir."

Light at the end of the House Tunnel

We got the final papers we needed back yesterday afternoon. It's not a law office. It's a collection agency, and every time the paperwork crosses their desk, they up the price, including this time, which was a renegotiation to lower the price. They were offered slightly more, but they still upped it. This seems to part of their tactics - stall so that they can increase their piece of the pie. I am sure there is a statistic they use to back up their method - if a buyer has held on this long, they will probably be emotionally attached and will pay the higher price. Or, the agents will be willing to eat the cost, otherwise they don't make the sale and get nothing. Part of me is tempted to walk away just to skew the statistic. I hate being reduced to a statistic. And I hate the underhandedness of it all. As far as I know, the first bank or the agents have to cover the increase. (I hope it's the bank, not the agents - the agents already have to pay for the new water heater that the seller refuses to pay for - did I mention that our agent is AWESOME?). Our final price should still be the same. Today I am signing up for insurance, and hopefully, we will close on Monday. We are going to actually own a house! Meanwhile, I had to fill out my letter of intent to continue my job next year. That was sobering. I have a house, time to work to pay for it...The district just announced that they are shaking things up and moving around the administrators between our school and the other two high schools. Let's hope the new administrator doesn't trash all the programs I teach now that I am so specialized. :P

Crossed Fingers

Our wonderful and diligent real estate agent, Peter, has been bugging the selling agent every few hours to make sure that we get the last piece of paperwork by today. He is confident that we will be able to close either this week or Monday at the latest. How exciting! A big thank you to Peter for being such a great advocate and relentlessly fighting for our side to get this house. Btw, we HIGHLY recommend him!

Argh! Delays!

Still waiting on the second mortgage to sign off on the new price. Hey, look, you get a little more money than the last deal. It's a no brainer - sign it! But now we know that the second bank, rather than taking care of this themselves, turned this loan over to a law office. We assume this means they sold the bad credit to whatever or whoever is represented by the law office now handling the transaction. Which means we haven't set a closing date yet because it's sitting on somebody's desk in a pile. The previous delays were from this same law office not getting around to it until the deadlines passed, meaning that all the paperwork had to be redone and resubmitted. We lose our 60 day locked in rate on the 11th. Let's hope things fall in to place and we close by then.

Meanwhile, lots of drama at work among students. The freeze and thaw pattern of January seems to make students moody. Maybe it's the darker/shorter days. Whatever it is, it's a good thing that February is almost here.

BooBear is 17 months old today. Yay :D