Coming to You From the Land O' Boxes

Well, here I sit in my house, typing on the laptop that I hijacked from my husband.  If I knew how to use a Mac, I would upload photos of the place, and then you'd get a real good idea of what I'm sitting in.  But alas, I was lucky just to get the internet switched on and logged into Blogger.  So you'll have to sit tight with me until the nice Comcast man comes and installs whatever it is he needs to, to get my life back into comfortable, bloggable order.  Gosh, even though cable was a relatively new addition to our lives, I miss is dearly.  To fill the quietness of me all alone in an empty house I dug around and found the boxed DVDs pronto and have been enjoying seeing my old favorites like Pride & Prejudice (the good A&E version), Gone With the Wind, and You've Got Mail while I unpack and wind down at night.

Tonight will be the sixth night that I've slept here.  Four of those nights I was alone (am I brave or what?!?).  I love it.  (The house I mean, not the aloneness).  Of course, we're still getting to know each other (what does this light switch do?), but I feel very sure that this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship.  I feel safe and secure on this street.  I'm getting used to all the new noises, like the way the furnace clanks and the floors creak, and the refridgerator making it's sound.  I even got to answer the door on Saturday to meet a neighbor girl selling me Girl Scout cookies!!  I bought two boxes from little Grace and had a nice chat with her mom.  Joe and his dad and brother moved everything in one day, in pretty yucky weather...I was impressed.  I was less impressed when it turned out that in a last minute decision to just be done with the apartment, it was decided that we needed to give it the final cleaning that night so we could hand over the keys.  Let's just say that swiffering, scrubbing and vacuuming are not things I relish doing into the late night after working a full day.  Glad that is behind us.  This past weekend was dedicated to making all the calls for change of address stuff, and tackling the kitchen.  I had my mom and Joe's mom and we went to town vacuuming drawers and cabinets, scrubbing, ripping out old contact paper and putting new in, and finally upacking the boxes labeled "kitchen" and organizing it.  It felt really good to get that taken care of, and have a little spot at least that feels really functional and non-choatic. 

The things that I'm coming to realize are:

1.  There will be many more runs to Target for this and that, that we need RIGHT NOW.

2.  Everything will not come together as instantaneously as I would like.  I need to remember that it is a process.  Dang it!!

3.  A crowded one bedroom apartment makes for a bare house furniture wise.  That just means buying a few new pieces of furniture.        Since most of what we have is hand me down or scavaged, I am very excited about this prospect of getting something that we are the    first owners of.  And something nice enough that you would not want to scratch it or anything.

4.  Most people are talking about the candidates and their platforms, while we here are focused on much more weighty things.  For instance, should the garbage go under the kitchen sink, or should we get a nice free standing stainless steel one?  See my point?  Suddenly, there are lots of choices to make about furniture placement, wall colors, wiring issues, the list is long.

And you know what?  I'm enjoying every minute of it. 

Scurry, scurry

So.

We found out this afternoon that the trip is a go, so off we fly to DC tomorrow bright and early, and then drive 3 hours into Virginia to see family. We're super happy that we get to see Jerrod, Amanda, John and Tyler, even though we will probably have to come home early (cutting into the DC part of the trip) so Joe can do the court thing. Oh well. Family time is most important (and hopefully meeting a VA blogging acquaintance or two?!?), anything after that will be like icing on the cake.

Since I had pretty much convinced myself that we would be sticking around here and cancelling, you can imagine that I've been dashing all over like a crazy woman. It feels like there are forty-two thousand loose ends all needing to be set straight (house stuff, loan stuff, laundry, packing, yada, yada, yada) and even though I have my trusty lists to make me feel like I'm in control, I'm sure that I forgot something. But I won't fret about that now because I must tuck myself in because my fabulous chauffeur of a brother-in-law Josh will be here way too early for my taste to take me to the airport.

So have a good week! We'll chat when I return...and then (gulp) only 2 weeks till the new house... :)

I Apologize...

Did you fall of the face of the earth? Or did you buy a house, celebrate the holidays and just get really busy???
Where are you???=)

Wow Lorie, you have no idea how flattered I was that my absence was noticed. I often think that this is just a jumble of writing, and who really cares about it? So...thanks.
As to your guesses about why I'm a blogging flake... I am pleased to say that they're all correct!!

We had the marathon Christmas which was wonderful, but at last count we had 5 different family things that we attended, plus Christmas shopping, wrapping and the like. With Christmas on a Tuesday, it threw me all off kilter and lets just say that having to work the day before and after stinks. But it was great to see brothers who live away, hang out with family that we don't see often, and for Joe and I to enjoy our third Christmas together and quietly look back on all the tangible and intangible blessings that 2007 brought us. God is so very good.

On December 27th we put in an offer on a house that we had looked at 3 times. I had loved the neighborhood for a long time, but Joe had some reservations. After looking at other houses like the Titly House where all the doorjambs looked like something out of Alice in Wonderland, and the Stinky House where the smell of curry slapped you in the face as soon as you walked in, (just to name a few) we reassessed the situation, and came back to this one. We didn't think we really had much of a shot and decided that we would put in a lower offer and if it was meant to be it would work, if they didn't like it, well, we would just move on. At this point rejection really wouldn't bother us so much.
But they accepted it AS IS on the 28th. No counter offer or anything. The house has been on the market since early April, they are already in another house, so they were highly motivated to sell. What a big, BIG praise. I am completely ecstatic. The street has so much charm since it is rather tucked away, quiet and tree lined. The houses were all built in the 50's, and are all a little different from each other so there's some character there, and it is in one of the best school districts in the valley...can you tell I think it's marvelous? Another big plus is that it is move in ready. Everything is in really good shape, and while there will be things to update as we choose, we can live comfortably in the meantime. I think the only big thing that needs to be done is replace the heating system with a new one and have it wired for AC too. Compared to all the other houses that we looked at that needed things done which would cost major $$$, we feel really fortunate that's all we'll have to tackle. Needless to say, it had been a whirlwind of paper signing, inspections, walk thrus, meetings with the mortgage broker and real estate agent...whew. So far, all the inspections have gone great, and if everything continues as it is now, we are scheduled to get the keys on January 31. Yea!
But of course, it's not that simple. About a month and a half ago, Joe was granted some vacation time, so we hopped on it, and booked a trip to Washington DC/Virginia to see the sights and hang out with family. We're supposed to leave in 2 days. But due to a scheduling oversight at Joe's work, he is needed in court on Thursday. So the trip might get called off. We find out tomorrow evening if it's yea or nay. If we do go, we'll be gone 10 days and get back home on the 17th. That is not a lot of time left to pack, sort and clean for the move. Truthfully, it's a little overwhelming. So we've already started to pack up the kitchen, I sorted through my dresser and closet for a donation pickup that came thru, we've gotten a lot of boxes, so I'm feeling OK about the start...but the flip side is that there are stacks everywhere in out apartment, hardly and walking room and I HATE HOW IT LOOKS.
So you see, there's has been constant activity in my life right now...and to top it all off, I got a nasty sore throat/cold that has been causing me pain for about 5 days. The kind of pain where it feels like every time you swallow, liquid lava is going down your throat. My loving husband says that I sound like a man. Talk about terrible timing. It has caused me to fall behind in packing, miss out on some fun family stuff, and who really wants to travel sick? Not me.
Anyway, all that babble to say, things are hectic. But I will post pics of the house as soon as I can, and thanks for being faithful to check in on me, even though I haven't been faithful at all in my blogging. But I will try to do better!

R*O*M*E #1

Seeing as how my posts have been kinda text heavy and picture light, I'll let the pics do most of the talking about the Rome portion of our sojourn to Italy this past August...in no particular order... Oh the Trevi Fountain... so beautiful. It is absolutely huge. And randomly placed; you turn the corner of a little alley way, and there it is.

These are all the nice people that shared the view with us. Other than the Sistine Chapel, this was one of the most crowded places of the whole trip. I especially like the guy in the left hand corner. He looks like his name should be Guido, and is your stereotypical Italian guy, puffin' away in 100 degree weather.
Us. We found the guy with the best looking camera in that mass of people and ask him to take our picture. He was from Australia and very nice. What the picture doesn't really convey is just how hot and humid it was. Our backs were completely drenched. My bermuda shorts were clinging to my body. Even in the shade, standing absolutely still, there was constant dripping. That night, there was a ring of salt around my head from the evaporated sweat. I don't think that's ever happened to me before. It is easy to understand why people liked the toga - the less clothes the better! Luckily, there was this right around the corner:
Ohhh, gelato. I'm drooling just thinking about it now. This was one of the things that made that Mediterranean heat bearable.
My lemon is on the left, Joe's cream is on the right. NOTHING is as refreshing. And unfortunately, nothing here matches it. Sadness.

These two are of the outside of the Pantheon, which is one of the oldest buildings in Rome. It was a temple to one of the gods before Constantine converted it into a church.
The inside shot.
Little street performer who was around the back. She really added a lot to the atmosphere. It was very, very nice to be walking around little side streets hand in hand with my honey to the wafting sounds of accordion music.
The Piazza Navona...full of art, people and cafes.
Joe was obsessed with the massive doors on the majority of buildings in the city. They were wood and iron with really ornate knockers (ha ha - sorry, Joe & his dad's juvenile senses of humor are starting to rub off on me), nobs, key holes, spikes, you name it they had it.
A shot of the River Tiber one night as we headed back to our tiny hotel, that was close to the Vatican & St. Peter's Basilica, which you can see the dome of.
I am really lucky that the Colosseum is not a woman, because if it were, Joe would probably leave me for it. I know that this was his favorite thing that we saw in the whole trip. We spent a lot of time here during the day and the very final night of the whole trip. It is SO OLD. It was built around 80 A.D. It is just hard to wrap your mind around the fact of something so ancient, and big and is still here. There's the whole technical aspect as to how did they really construct that with only manual labor? How did they really make the arena flood with water for mock sea ship battles? Listening to the audio guide also made me think about just what an evil place it really was. For the opening ceremony of the Colosseum they killed something like 10,000 people and 20,000 animals.

When I saw this view of the arena, it made me think of Hadassah, from the Mark of the Lion Series by Francine Rivers, and what happened to her there. Many were murdered for their faith there.

It really gets you thinking about the early church. I mean, you're walking the streets that Paul walked. And Peter. And the Caesars. And the great artists like da Vinci and Michelangelo. It makes you feel very small and insignificant.
Well, tune in to the next installment of Rome, where Joe & I got separated at the Vatican for about an hour. True story.
Shouldn't I get a gold star for uploading all these pictures?

Have No Fear...

Hello kids!

No, I didn't die. Or buy a house yet.

I've been fighting the good fight against a nasty sinus infection, an army of ants that wanted to dominate my kitchen, family birthdays/anniversaries, and life in general. You know, the never ending cycle of laundry, work, grocery shopping, blah, blah, blah. Blogging was pretty low on the totem-pole of what to tackle.

But tomorrow we look at a house. I'm not holding my breath, but who knows?

I went to a birthday party today for Joe's Grandma K who celebrated her 90th birthday and is a total example of a life well lived. It must be a great feeling to look around at a house full of 25 people who call you mom, grandma and great-grandma knowing that you are the matriarch of all that fun, loud, lovingness.

I only have to work 2 days this week! I cannot tell you how psyched that makes me...I am excited to celebrate Thanksgiving with all it's tradition-y goodness.

I ordered my very own Candace Clutch and it should be arriving soon!!!

I also ordered a book to help me learn the ins and outs of my camera. I don't want to be one of those suckers who thinks that just because they have a pricey camera means their photos are awesome and call themselves a photographer. I really want to learn to document people, places, and experiences well.

So I'll try to get back on track with the blogging. I don't want Debbie worrying about me anymore (though it was very sweet). I think the people who signed up to do NaBloPoMo are insane, though I do enjoying reading the fruits of their labors...

Tomorrow the goal is after the house look-see to post about Rome. I know, I know, two months late. But Joe asked if I was ever going to write about it. And when he requests something for this little ho-hum blog of mine, that I'm not sure he always thinks is the greatest thing (why do you want to share things with complete strangers?), I think I should capitulate.

Nightie-night!

A Jonah Week

If you ever read the Anne books, you know that Anne's term "a Jonah day" is code for a really, really sucky day. Because let's face it, getting swallowed by a fish is pretty bad. Well, I dub this week "Jonah week". Let's just say work was not a happy place to be. Which is really rare for me. Normally it's pretty routine and placid and although I definitely don't see myself being there for years to come, I enjoy the people I work with and for. Right now, some coworkers are having major life issues at home and just because of proximity/typical office stress stuff that normally wouldn't phase them, but is totally triggering them, I get to bear the brunt of it. Just being rude, icy, nitpicky about my work which in turn makes me defensive, and in general not like their normal selves...I hate it! The worst thing is, the problems that they're dealing with are things that I've never had to face, and so mostly all I can do is listen and pray for them - I have absolutely no advice to give, and any words of comfort I think to say seem pretty hollow.
TGIF!!!
Now that I'm cozy in my sweats and curled up here at home, some of it seems really silly, and I don't know why I let it bother me. But I hate the tension, and feeling like I've done something wrong...even when I haven't, and thinking that someone is unhappy with me, even though I know perfectly well that I don't have anything to do with the root of the problem. Ack!
Well, I have two days to recover. Focus on other things...like getting my booty in gear and cranking out the remaining things I have to do for the fall boutique at church...and coming up with a Halloween costume, 'cause we're going to a party on Halloween night. I don't know if it's just the week I've had, or that I don't feel in too Halloween-y a mood right now, but my creative juices are not flowing - any suggestions as to what I should be?

Sorry Charlie

The house is a no go. The short version is they got another offer for the exact asking price, and they took it.

The longer version is that on this past Monday while at work, I got a call from the realtor who was a "sub" for ours while he was out of town, saying that he hadn't seen anything new on the market that would interest us, he wanted to let us know that he hadn't forgotten about us, and oh, by the way he had talked to the seller's realtor and he was going to be presenting the sellers 2 offers in 15 minutes.

WHAT???????? This is the point where shock took over and my mind went numb and I was pretty much useless.

"But I thought we were waiting for them to counter our offer, or at the very least respond with a yes or no....and what about getting the mom evaluated? Are they raising the asking price? I don't understand...", I sputtered. The agent said that it was highly unusual that they never got back to us and basically let it fizzle out. And no, they weren't raising the asking price, they just wanted to get one that would be a lot closer. And did we want him to call the selling agent and tell him we were still interested and he could throw ours into the pot with the other 2? At this point, I told him to call Joe and get his opinion as to what we should do. This is where it got sticky.

Joe, bless him had gotten off work at his regular time in the morning, but had to stick around for traffic court...so he was tired, and hungry, and did I mention tired?? That is not the most winning combo. So he called me after talking to the sub agent dude, and it went something like this. Keep in mind that neither of us had any paperwork with our chicken-scratch figures, Joe was really fatigued, and I was in shock in an office, because basically at this point we had 10 minutes to decide what the deuce we were going to do with a LARGE sum of money and our future.

Joe: Do you think we should go for it?
Kate: I don't know.
Joe: If they don't get the mom evaluated, what's the worst that could happen to us legally? I mean, if they don't like it after it's done and sold to us and then they realize she wasn't in her right mind, I guess they could take it away from us and then we'd be back in the same position, right?
Kate: I don't know.
Joe: Even if they said yes to our higher offer, we'll still have to work with these people on all the inspections/negotiations...is this really the type of people we want to deal with?
Kate: I don't know.
Joe: Do you recall any of the figures as to what our mortgage payments would be if we put down an offer of X amount? I mean, I recall that we qualified for X amount, but just because we qualified for that, doesn't mean we can actually afford it...
Kate: I don't know. (See how helpful I can be at very crucial moments in life?)
Joe: OK. Let's do it.
Kate: Really?
Joe: I don't know, what do you think?
Kate: I don't know.
Joe: Forget it! We're not doing this. It just doesn't feel right, and I don't have any peace about this situation at all...let's just hold tight and see what they do with these new offers.
Kate: OK.

And there you have it. I was a little mopey throughout the rest of the day, but I'm over it now. It was nice to finally have a definitive answer, even if it was the one I didn't really want. I'm sure that we'll be back out there this next week, scoping out houses, so definitely keep us in your prayers that the right one will pop up, and I will keep all of you in the loop.

***Chris, I'm surprised at you! Where do you think I learned my repertoire of moves to entice Joe with? I know, I know, Joe is a lucky man. And it's all due to Showgirls. Don't knock it till you've tried it!