We decided to bail out of the other house and move. A mid-week move was a bit stressful and dodgy. We looked like we were fleeing the feds or something and we are still moving in dribs and drabs.

If I disappear for a little while it's because I am attempting to set up a network. I am pretty sure that our router is fried. This happened at the other house but with all the Comcastic craziness I had forgotten. I'll make a tech geek run to Staples later and see what I can do.

Playing solo parent tonight since Sparky is at a conference thingy. Yup, skipping out on the hefting and packing. That's going to cost him this weekend when I am escaping for the day for a girls' outing and he's stuck here moving with the boys. ha!

Good to sleep in my own bed in the new house. And this house? Two, count 'em, two, DVRs. No longer will my very important shows be overridden by Spongebob and Simpsons. I can tape all the Idol and Dancing with the Stars I want! Oh yeah, I still have to share with Sparky.

Off to wade through the wreckage. Moving is such fun!

Guess what we are getting on Thursday night?

A new piano!

No, not a new piano, an antique upright. I was very sad about not having a place for the baby grand here but my mom found us one for the low, low price of free and Sparky knew how much having a piano would mean to me so...

new piano!

Now we just have to make sure the floors are done and heft that thing onto a truck. Free always has strings;)

Not a bad frazzled, but frazzled all the same. I remember reading that it's poetry month this month. I was thinking of this poem this morning:

My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends –
It gives a lovely light!

-Edna St. Vincent Millay

Yes, I know, absent love is implied and not over-taxed nerves but hey, it's Monday, you get what you get!

The weekend went very well. Crazy, busy, bustling but very well. Spring decided to take a break and let Winter have one last play but we managed to have the house done enough for people not to stand around outside with their teeth chattering. J had a fun birthday party and is still happily enjoying his gifts.

In fact, we slept here all weekend. The bunny found us here leaving many chocolate goodies, peeps and beans. Somehow, the bunny forgot to give me a chocolate bunny to chomp the head off of (stress relief, you know) and my children are very possessive of their chocolate bunny ears (learned all they know from me!) so I was bunny ear deprived this weekend. I'm thinking of hitting the grocery story for a 50% off bunny just so I can rip his ears from his chocolate-y head ;)

Today we are back to house progress. The traditional picket white fence gets a fresh coat of paint. And since neither Tom nor Huck are around to do it, it looks like that job falls to us. We're also still working up some presents for the birthday boy. Hard to surprise him. He's very observant and clever (traits that along with his chocolate bunny hoarding, I'm sure he gets from me).

But...the sun is shining and baseball season is in full tilt. Mets are doing well. 4-2 is nothing to hang your head about. C rocked at his scrimmage going 3-3 with 3RBIs and pitching a 27 pitch inning with no hits, 3 strikeouts and two walks. Our first real game is Tuesday night which is also J's b-day.

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

Happy happy Easter/Ostara/Passover/Spring/Chocolate Bunny Season since I have been lax on the postings! Hope it was a good one and the chocolate was plentiful.

Play ball!!

Between real estate agents who don't know what 24 hours notice means and have no concept of common courtesy and Comcast apparently being unable to count to two unless it's for billing purposes, this morning has been a bit stressful.

And tonight I have to be friggin' Sporty Spice for baseball practice when I really feel like slumping down on the couch with a Martini and American Idol.

Yes, it's a pity party. I'll be done in a few, I promise.

Sparky must love me because he built my closet!! Looks like upstairs might be done this week. Move in ready! Of course, we can't move because we are handrail-less and we still need the downstairs floors sanded.

Since I don't want to eat spackle dust with my cereal we will wait til that mess is done to move.

Still no word on the offer. Either they changed their minds or the bank changed it for them. S'ok.

Baseball is back (not that it ever really stopped!) and this means that we may be coming to a town near you! Really! When they said travel team they weren't kidding. If you want a schedule, let me know.

Off to wash the dust out of my hair and go look for some stunning window treatments. You know, so the neighbors can't watch us doing our happy "the closet is almost done and it's time for crown moulding" dance at night any more ;) What? You don't know that dance?

There's a few more pics up if you want to see what's going on. No, no pics of the dance!

hmmmmm.
Originally uploaded by ya Gotta Believe.

A few other pics are up as well if anyone is interested.

Remember I said that we now had a TV and couch in the playroom?

Yeah, so not so much getting done tonight.

Hrumph.

Still trudging along, packing, painting, cleaning and spackle, everywhere spackle. (That's an odd word, isn't it? Or maybe I've just seen it so much lately that it's taken on a life of its own.)

The playroom has a rug, a couch, a tv and a large assortment of video games, so the boys are happily settling in while we continue to work on the rest of the place. Sparky assures me that we will be in here for good in 2-3 weeks. I don't believe him. I know, I know, who am I to doubt, but gah, this place is a wreck still.

Beautiful mouldings get ordered today, handrails and newel posts arrive this week and the ceiling will be coffered. There is progress being made. And with progress might even come furniture. I'm not getting my hopes up yet though.

Right now J is trapped up in the playroom because I put another coat of poly on the steps up. Bwahahahaha. Flowers in the Attic?? Me?? I'm off to whip up some powdered cookies and donuts.

Just kidding, really.

I know, just for fun....let's go another round with Comcast, shall we??

If I had a hammer....

Oh wait...I do!

&^%#$^(*&(#*$^%@#&$^(&*&(*%^*

We have finished floors upstairs! Woo! Walls, eh? Not as much but I am looking at the glass half full angle this afternoon.

And do you know what tonight is??? It's a big enough event to cause a break in house stress.

Idol starts tonight!!! We are going to brush aside the dust and debris and settle in to watch the glorious train wreck that is the first auditions of idol.

Things are looking up.

I'm still here, really. I haven't even been abducted by my new crazy ass neighbors. Who moves in at midnight??? Really???

We are wishing that we were closer to moving but still things are progressing with a minimum of scary surprises. We had to do more wiring than we thought. Something about sparks and flames and old insulation. I try not to think about it. But the electricians are scurrying around downstairs as I type this and lights are actually installed and working with no sign of smoke.

The foyer is still a war zone--no ceilings or walls--and the living room isn't much better. But Sparky assures me we are close to drywall. So very close. I can almost feel it.

I'll post more pics as we get them. It's gonna be beautiful someday.

There are some pretty (and scary!) before and during (we aren't quite at after yet) pictures over at Flickr.

Tomorrow we do it again.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Tonight we did manage to have our first fire in the fireplace!

Now I am going to go and try and shower the dust out from my ears and eyes and hair and......

Guess what we got for Sparky's birthday? A house!!

We watched the big moving truck pull away and that meant just one thing. It's ours! All ours!

And we waltzed about doing the "what a cool house" dance until the "look at all the work" voice started piping up. Annoying pain in the ass voice. But the pups were tearing around the yard (and escaping!) and the boys were racing their new RC cars through the empty house.

Tonight Sparky and I just planned and dreamed and had ice cream cake for his birthday. Tomorrow starts demolition, painting, packing and moving. The annoying voice always wins eventually.

Oh, and if you know me, and you've tried to call, the phone's not working. Call the other one. I might even answer. Honest.

That's all that's left to do. Well that, and trying not to throw up while we fork over the ginormous check.

Yup, keep your fingers crossed. Today's the day. The closing is set to go at 2:00 this afternoon.

Just keep breathing...just keep breathing...

"How's things with the house?"

Are you kidding me???

We close in less than a week. Less. Than. A. Week. And the phone keeps ringingringingringing and there's people who want things and expect me to know things. lots of things. and things just aren't staying in my stressed little head right now. and did i mention? did i? that the seller had a heart attack this week? oh yes. and is there a nice way to ask how this might effect things? is there a way to ask if we can still have their house that doesn't sound awful? so...they aren't really moving out for a couple of weeks even though the closing is in 6 days, or maybe 5, people seem confused right now so there's more phoning and calling and talking and asking and ..... Shouldn't we at least be agreeing on a date at this point people?!?
But we just don't know what's going to happen and i can't just show up at the hospital with a card, some flowers, some muffins and a power of attorney form.

We're tying up loose ends and trying not to drink to early in the afternoon. It's not too early now, right? Right?? Right????

Oh, and it's frickin', flippin' cold out there today.

And, because right now it's the little things that are going to set me teetering over the edge, I lost the remote to the DVR. The DVR! Gone. Gone, I tell you. It's been gone for almost a week now. It's like losing a limb or a child and now I am going to have to go to the cable company. Have you ever been there? I have to go in and grovel for a new remote and they will probably ask for a limb or a child as payment.

Looks as if things are almost all done with the paperwork for the house. I am almost afraid to write that and jinx everything but as of right now we get to head out for our mini-break on Monday without worry.

On top of that I am more that 75% done with the Christmas shopping, cards are done and most importantly, I loaded all 209 Christmas songs onto the mp3 player.

I might even get to enjoy the holidays yet! I might even get crafty. I might even bake. Or...I might even warm up that spiced wine this evening and park it in front of Its a Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street.

Know how it's going?

Or maybe I should try a nicer approach? A smile and a "please call me back" might work too? No, tried that. Nothing. So maybe the situation doesn't call for that speech just yet. But close, we're getting close. He's really a nice guy but my patience is running short. I am trying to give them money. Oodles of it. Just get the deal done already, k?

on edit: He finally called. Everything should be final by Tuesday and we are still set to close no matter how much they like to scare me.

I was crafty this weekend. I know you might not know this but I can be very crafty. I am also incredibly good at buying crafty project things and then leaving them in incredibly cool organizers and hoping they produce breathtaking creations all on their own.

But yesterday I went to my first all day crop with my sister and a good friend. It was so much fun and we were very creative. Ok, mostly we were shoppy, chatty and well-fed but there was some creativity going on as well.

I will be going back in March. Until then though, the fun and creative things need to be boxed, labelled and readied for moving. I just hope that they are some of the boxes we actually open when we move.

Today is going to be insane as we tidy up all the loose ends before the closing. It even includes a rousing trip to the county clerk's office. I am sure that everything will be bright and cheery and easy-peasy.

I am thankful that the bargaining is all but over and we seem to have come out of it well. **knocking on wood**

Looks as if we might just close on schedule after all.

For xmas I would like some house elves please. I ask every year and this year I was very good...errr...kind of good...well, I tried.

Deals are being made. Wheels are turning. We might get through this yet.

First, food, family, food, movies, food, relaxation and wait, some more food.

My sister came in during one of my breakdowns yesterday. She walked in the kitchen just in time to duck out of the way of the flying cordless phone. Yes, I throw things when I am mad, angry, frustrated.

Seems the house appraised at less than we are paying for it. I was informed of this by my FIL who is also my real estate agent. Let's just say that that didn't go well and I hung up the phone with the idea that the deal was going to fall through, that there would be no new house.

After I calmed down a bit, and my sister picked up the cast off phone, I talked to Sparky to find out that while this sucks ass, it doesn't mean that the deal is off. It just makes things more complicated. Oh, and apparently it's a bargaining tool. Yeah, 'cause I'm loving the bargaining portion of the house buying.

So Ug and I just said screw it and didn't pack the kitchen. We went for lunch and watched Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood. She risked my wrath by pointing out the similarities between the crazed people in the film and myself. But I let her live.

So, for those following along at home, today we hear from the seller, the lawyers and the electrician. I'm sure this will be a stressfree kind of day.

I am starting to pack, at least I am starting to ponder packing. I still have this supersticious belief that if I start packing the whole deal will come crashing through and I will be the jinx that caused it. Irrational, I know, but work with me on this one.

Anyway, I have two smallish bookshelves on either side of the fireplace and I am to the very important decision, as I box up my books, as to what I will place on these prime shelves. I am going to keep one small shelf for immediate TBR books. Other than that I am going with favorites, classics and rereads.

So what goes there?
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

What else? And what goes on your favorites shelf?

Yes, this is my idea of packing. We could be in serious trouble, huh?

I am supposed to meet with the electrician this morning, you know, sometime between 9 and 12. Usually, this would just be annoying. But this morning, when I have the homeowner sitting around as well and not as likely to be understanding, I am getting a bit annoyed. Electric guy now has about 20 minutes to call before I can't get him in over at the house. GRrrrrr

on edit: I just found out that the electrician went there about an hour ago and did the estimate without us. You know, just him and the homeowner. I talked with him a bit but honestly I have no idea where we stand, how much it's going to be or how bad it really is. Right now I am just tired and angry and stressed and Sparky has just about had it with the whole house-buying situation. Stress? What stress?

We are now running in circles between the inspectors, the insurance companies and the mortgage guys.

It's simple. The mortgage guys won't give us a mortgage without insurance. The insurance guys won't insure the kind of wiring we have in the house. The inspector? He sees no problem with it.

Grr. All of this means that we can't get money from the seller because we are going to get a CO but we can't get insurance because the house doesn't pass.

I never want to hear the words "knob and tube" again.

We're looking into high risk insurance and into having the whole house rewired. Both options are sucking every last penny from our pockets.

And all of this has to be done through spokespeople because the whole world might collapse if we had just one direct conversation.**

some rambling house thoughts....

Seems that Sparky is going to be late to the home inspection this morning. No problem, I'll meet the guy over there.

But wait. Easy? No, this can't just be simple. Seems that homeowner guy has decided to work from home today and hang out. Yeah. Awkward.
Things went back and forth a lot during attorney review and I'm not sure we're all hunky-dorey and buddy buddy or any other two word-y combos.

I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that there's nothing terrible lurking under the eaves. This is the last real hurdle before lots of paperwork.

Wish me luck!

on edit: All went well. The homeowner was very pleasant and seemed accomodating. The inspection didn't turn up any ogres under the stairs or banshees in the attic. No surprises. It's an old house with quirks and charm but there was nothing we weren't aware of. Back to bickering with insurance agents and moneylenders but it seems doable at this point.

I love our little house. We've just outgrown it. In the days before our digital cameras I took lots of before and after pictures of baby murals that changed to little kid murals that have changed again into boy murals. I took pictures of all the projects, mouldings and painting that we've done and it makes me a little sentimental to leave here. It was the first house that we owned.

But the I spend some time browsing through the Flickr set of the new house or walking down our new street on gorgeous days like this and I can't believe we are this lucky.

Oh yeah, we still have stress and trouble, but I am moving my family to the perfect house for us on a tree lined street with a huge yard and great neighbors and I have to pinch myself once in a while.

Don't worry, the house next door closes today and I will be bitching and moaning again in no time. But for a little bit this morning I am drinking a cup of tea and wondering how we got here.

Mortgage meeting...check
Set up house inspection...check
Start insurance process....check

Panic.....check

I am feeling like we have plenty of time to pack since even though the closing is scheduled for the middle of December, we won't be moving until probably the end of January.

But....there' holidays. Big holidays. Clutter creating, stress inducing, shopping, baking, crafting holidays.

And there's so. much. stuff. Stuff everywhere. Stuff having parties and creating more stuff.

I am going to shoot for throwing away a lot of stuff--possibly some every day. A little like flylady without the whole wearing shoes and shining your sink emails.

People are starting to bring me empty boxes. That seems like they think I should be packing. Where do I start? And you know you get to that point when you have both places and you just don't want to go back to the old one and finish up, that point where you just want to go "eh...we don't really need the rest of it, do we?"

There are going to be many, many checklists--color-coded, post-it checklists--stuck to everything.

Today will be spent trying not to kick Slick Jim in the crotch and it will be a long and trying day, trust me.

No, not that Jim, or that one either. It's one you don't know. He's the real estate agent for the seller who seems to think that we just hitchhiked up here from the swamp where we recently crawled out from under a dark and mossy rock.

Ew, I hate the slick, car salesman-y way he winks and smiles. I hate that we have to doublecheck everything that oozes from his mouth to make sure he isn't trying to snag us in his trap. If I didn't know better I would think he was running for something. You know, some kind of office that doesn't actually require doing anything but gets your face plastered about on campaign posters. Every time I have to deal with him I need to keep my feet firmly planted on the ground because the urge to just let one foot fly up and keep him from reproducing is very strong.

But this morning we plop down a ginormous deposit, meet with the mortgage guy, call the inspectors and generally start things moving much more quickly.

And the fun part? Conversations now go "When we move we should...." as opposed to "If we get the house we should...."

It's a good thing. And I will chant that as I try not to injure Slick Jim.

pssstt.....

We're out of attorney review!!

I am trying to keep the bitch instinct in check as we go through this closing so that we don't wind up either a)in jail for manslaughter or b)bitching ourselves out of a deal.

That said, we aren't going to let them turn this into a Richard Pryor movie. (Does anyone but me remember this movie??)

We talked to the lawyer and the sellers are not allowed to just remove the lighting without replacing it with something of equal value. At this point I don't even care so much about the equal value part since we will be picking out our own, obviously much cooler, light fixtures. But I don't want to move in with dangly wires all about.

Also, that live for free crap is not happening. Take it or leave it. And I know they are closing on the new house a few days after our closing so they aren't going to mess around.

For now, I will play nice. But it takes a lot of work so don't push me.

The homeowners are pushing for a speedy closing. I'm all for speedy. Winter's coming and I am twitching to curl up in front of a roaring fire in my new living room.

But....

Oh yeah, there's a but. They want to close early and then stay in the house until Jan. 10.

Hrumph. They'll be paying "rent" and all that but there's something a little anticlimactic about closing on a house and then not getting to run around from room to room cackling "mine...all mine..." Or something like that. We were kind of hoping for New Years Eve in the new place. Maybe they'd like to have us over?

Still happy it's a done deal as long as inspections go well.

on edit: Apparently they thought it would be ok to stay there and not pay because "we would be paying that anyway." Ummm, sure...we'll be paying a mortgage for the next 15-30 years anyway as well, wanna stay? I think not. They won't be staying for free. Isn't going to happen. We'll try and work something out but it won't be us paying two mortgages while you get your new house ready. Sorry.

Ungh. Small snag in house process and my stomach is doing backflips. At least this should be good for the diet. Maybe when we move I'll only need my "skinny" clothes.

on edit: Problem solved. Contracts get signed tonight. Whew!

That's how I feel this morning. Happy and nervous. Tired but alert and on edge.

Guitar Guy is coming in a few minutes and that always makes me feel grounded, creative and centered. But I'm not even sure that GG can settle me down today.

I wasn't going to post anything--jinxes and all that--but we agreed on a price last night. It's all paperwork now. Oh yeah, and money. Lots of money.

When the call came I jumped in the air so excited that I couldn't even make a sound (kind of a "sound like someone trying not to make a sound") and then I sat down...hard. Somewhere in all the elation came the "we're really going through with this" thought.

For right now, I am going to focus on the elation. The packing will come. And the payments.

Took the boys through the house. They ran from room to room exclaiming, "This one's mine!" and "This is where the Xmas tree would go!"

As happy as I am that they love it like we do, I worry that something will happen.

Keeping my fingers crossed that the offer is accepted this time...or next.

We had a good weekend. A fall weekend. We spent Saturday watching C's team hold their own against the first place team. Yes, they lost. But they played hard and played well and a team that had 10 run ruled them last time was held to 3 hits. C's 19 game hitting streak came to an end but he still got on base. And he looked great behind the plate, picking up a bunt to get a runner at first and stealing an in the park home run away from the other team with a bang-bang play at the plate. Good day.

Yesterday was spent at my parent's house for my sister's b-day. We don't spend nearly enough time there so it was good to just hang out a bit.

Today? Today we do Monday catch up. We try and catch up from a weekend of running around and doing nothing.

The weekend also included a minor breakdown for me when I saw that the house we are bidding on was having an open house. I know, rationally that this was scheduled before we bid and that we aren't under contract yet, but emotionally I am just not that together. I want this house. I know it is good for my family and I hate anything that jeopardizes my family getting this house.

This afternoon we have another walk through and we place another counter offer. The difference today is that the boys are going to get a chance to go through with us. They're excited. I'm a mess. I just want to close the deal and move on.

We heard back from the homeowners. We have a slight huge gap between our offer and their counter offer.

I detest this part. The haggling, the offers and counteroffers, the bullshit.

Sparky lives for this part. While I am in tears, stomping around screaming things like "You're going to lose us this house with your 'Let's Make a Deal' bullshit," he's happily conspiring with his dad (our realtor) and coming up with yet another counter offer.

Still optimistic but I just want to stay out of this part as much as possible. Because, really? I would just give them the price and move in and apparently that's not how it's done.

While this housebuying craziness is making me tense and I am sure my blood pressure will be a tad on the high side (that will make it actually normal!), it does have some benefits.

Too stressed and busy to eat means my skinny(ish) jeans are fitting again.

House within walking distance means multiple daily walks with the pups. By the time we move people will think I either have lived there for a long while or I am a crazy stalker.

See? House buying can be good for your health.

Nope. No word yet. The bid was submitted with a 48 hour window so I am sure that we will hear something one way or another by tonight. At this point I am sure we are going to be making counteroffers for a while still. But...I am keeping all fingers and toes crossed.

The other real estate agent called our real estate agent (my FIL) for the second time to see if we were interested. (Bid is being finalized with mortgage guy.)

This is good for us, yes?