Yup, she's here

First Blogiversary

Today is my mom's birthday (Happy b-day, Mommy!), which means that it is also my first blogiversary! It's amazing what we've been through over the past year. In fact, the last few years just feel chock full of so many big events, both happy and sad. It's astounding what life can throw at you.

But I'm also struck by the little details, some of which I never recorded here in the blog. There have been quite a few dinner parties that never got mentioned in here. And that time that Tim and I drove out to the beach and watched the kite surfer. And even the Sundays that we've spent at Mark's watching Formula One races. So many little things. Maybe I'll try to be better about that in the coming year.

Of course, I have been very open about the whole house hunting situation and I'm SOOOO happy about that because it means that you, dear reader, will appreciate my news.

We got the house.

WE GOT THE HOOOOUUUUSE!!!!!!!!

But which house? Could it be .... this house?

No. Cute, but no.

How about ... this house?

No, not quite. A little too ... crowded. Heh.

How about ...
THIS house?

Yeah! That's the one! That's our house! As you can probably guess, I did not take this photo. This is the only pic of the house available on the internet. It looks like it was taken in late winter because the trees are still missing their leaves. If you look closely, you can see that there's a plum tree right smack in the middle of this pic. See? LOTS of trees. And a cute little porch. And you can even see the scullery there on the side (which other people might call a mud room or laundry room or utility room, but Tim calls it The Scullery, so there ya go). And ... well, I could go on for a loooong time! You'll hear more about this house in the coming months, I'm sure.

Here's how the deal went down.

Remember how yesterday I was so full of woe because I was sure that the other people would out-bid us? Well, I was right. They offered more money than we did. Ya see, our original offer was for the asking price, but 2.5% of that was supposed to go to our realtor for his commission. So even though we were offering the full asking price, the sellers would not have gotten that full price in their pockets. So after they got the 2nd offer, they called our realtor, Jim. And Jim called to tell us the hard news. And we talked. And we negotiated. Because Jim didn't want us to lose this house just because of him. Within 15 minutes, we worked out a really fair deal. Jim called the sellers & told them about our counter-offer. They told him that they would like to "sleep on it".

The waiting began AGAIN.

This was awful. We didn't know what to think. We said that this would be our final offer, so we feared that the sellers would contact the other party & they would counter-offer again and it would all fall apart and I would slip into a horrendous depression & refuse to bathe for weeks. Heavy drugs were considered, as well as various methods of self-mutilation.

Luckily, all of that horrendously terrible waiting lasted for about 10 minutes. The sellers called Jim. They told him that after they spoke to him, they sat down to watch a movie & realized that they couldn't focus on it. They didn't need time to make their decision. They decided that they really like me & Tim & they want us to have the house. No more counter-offers, no bidding wars. They picked us.

When Jim gave me the news, I broke down crying. I'm still surprised by that. Maybe the squeals of glee & bouncing around will come at the closing. For now I just feel shock. And relief. And peace. And surprise. And a subtle tingling of excitement underneath it all.

Our house.
Our first house.
Amazing what can happen in a year, isn't it?

Episode 8: Offering

Yesterday marked one year since I arrived in North Carolina. Yesterday was also the day we put in a bid on our first house. You'd think I'd be happy. Excited. Brimming with anticipation. I'm not.

So I guess I should back up a bit.

Monday night we went to tour the creamy yellow For-Sale-By-Owner house that I found on Friday. The owners were there during the tour which was kinda strange. I certainly wan't expecting them to be there. So I felt rather odd poking through their kitchen drawers with them in the same room! But Jim the Realtor did his best to snag them into conversations so that they'd focus on him more than us. Yay for Jim!

So the house. My instincts were right. We both really really like it. The layout is lovely. The lot is lovely. Even the bathrooms passed Tim's inspection (by far the best bathrooms we've seen yet). I didn't take pics because that seemed strange, what with the owners standing right there & all! But it's okay. The owners actually seem very nice. And better yet, we like the house. We really like it.

We decided to sleep on it, but the next morning we still felt the same so we told Jim we'd like to make an offer. I spent most of the day with Jim, getting everything arranged. We decided that we wanted to avoid all the crappy headgames that people play in real estate. We just wanted to be open & give them a fair, attractive offer. And since we felt that the asking price was fair, we offered the full asking price. An unusual step perhaps, but we thought it would help. We agreed to their prefered closing date. And we provided proof that we are pre-approved for a mortgage (which is an excellent thing to have in our corner). Indeed, we were able to lock in a very reasonable interest rate, which will certainly make the process much smoother.

At 8:30pm last night, Jim met with the owners to give them our offer. The owners said that they had spoken with some other people about the house so they would like to have 48 hours to consider our offer.
Forty.
Eight.
Hours.
Doesn't that seem a bit excessive? I mean, since we're offering them everything they've requested? Or is it just me?

So. We wait.

A few minutes ago Jim called me. The owners of the house had called. It seems that they will be receiving another offer tonight. After that meeting they will call Jim. Then Jim will call us.

Siiiiiiiigh.

Jim reassures me that we have a lot going for us. He said that the owners genuinely liked us, which definitely helps. Neither of the owners are originally from America so maybe Tim's accent endeared us to them. Plus, ya know, we are nice! Hell, just look at that offer! And of course it helps that we already know that we can easily get the mortgage for a good rate. And we're flexible on the closing date, too. All very good things.

But I have a bad feeling about this. I feel that we will not get this house. I fear that these people who are making the offer tonight are work colleagues of the owners. Maybe they'll go with them just because it would strenghten business connections or something. Or maybe these other people don't have a realtor, which would save the sellers that 2.5% commission. Who knows.

But it is so fucking unfair to think that we might not get this house after all that we have done! If you speak to sellers, 99.9% of the population would kill to find buyers like us! So it's insulting to think we may be passed over. It's giving me terrible headaches and I just feel like crying. I haven't gotten a single thing done today because I'm so upset. I haven't even eaten. I'm just distraught. Jim says to think happy thoughts & eat some chocolate (yes, this is my realtor telling me to do this!). He's trying to be positive. I just told him that I'm glad he's talking to the sellers for us because I am far too emotional to deal with this myself.

But I don't have a good feeling about this. Here's hoping this is just my pessimism rearing its ugly head. And here's hoping I'm in a better mood when I make my next post.

Episode 7: Hope & intrigue

Friday the 13th was good to me! Hooray! Here's how it went down, as the young folks used to say.

1. I took our pre-approval application forms to the mortgage broker lady. About an hour later she called & said that we easily qualified! We're pre-approved! And that's without checking international credit. Wee! This is important because this is that tiny bit o' official documentation that we need before we can actually make an offer on a house. And we also have a very good idea of how much the banks will allow us to borrow & how much we need to have for a down payment. These numbers weren't a big surprise, though, because I did my homework. Sometimes it's good to be addicted to the internets.

2. Shortly before 6pm we toured a house. This is the blue house that costs almost exactly the same as the Mauve House, but is on a prettier, more private lot & it does not need any rennovations. No paint, no gutters, no flooring, no nothin'. It's in perfect shape. It's also about 25% smaller. Hmm. We thought it was worth a look. And it was really adorable inside. Truly.
But the bathrooms.
It's always about the bathrooms with us, isn't it. I think if we were able to spend 25K more, we'd be able to get a house with Tim's dream bath. As it is, we're just looking for something that doesn't make us claustrophobic or suicidal. The baths in this house were tiny & cramped (only a thin shower in the master) so Tim's nose wrinkled. And that was that. Honestly, there were a couple other things wrong ... like the strange, tacked-on breakfast room that overlooked the parking pad (?!). A total waste of space for us.
The best things about this house, though, were the 2 cats that live there. Simply put, these were my dream cats. There was a marmalade kitty and a smaller tuxedo kitten. And they were the sweetest, friendliest, most lovey-dovey kitties on the planet! LOVED them! Too bad the cats don't come with the house or they might've had a sale. But since that isn't the case, we moved on.

3. Between dropping off paperwork with Mortgage Lady and touring the cutesy blue house with the amazing cats, I went on a little drive around the neighborhood. I won't name it here in the interest of privacy, but in many ways the name does not matter. There is only one neighborhood for me. And honestly I suppose we should call it a "community" because of the size of it and all of the ammenities, but that sounds rather soulless. "Neighborhood" is better. And I love this neighborhood. I decided about a week ago that I am no longer interested in looking at any houses outside of this particular neighborhood. It just feels right. So when anyhing goes on the market in it, I wanna know.
Anyway, I was driving along, checking out some houses that Jim the Realtor had e-mailed to me when I saw a sign out of the corner of my eye.
For Sale By Owner
Hmmmmmm ...
I turned around & pulled into the cul-de-sac. And oooooh my. Ooooh my. So pretty. I would have taken a photo, but the neighbors across the street were doing yardwork & I thought I would look too suspicious. Here are the basics:
Two stories. Very pretty lot with oodles of trees and shrubbery. And the exterior of the house looks very nice, too. It isn't a cookie-cutter house, but it still looks classic. Me likey.
"But certainly we can't afford it," I thought. "It'll be just outside of our price range. Oh, but look! Fliers!" I parked the car, walked around to the sign and took a flier.
The house is in our price range.
EEEE!!!!!
The square footage is the same as the mauve house BUT it's on a much prettier, much more private lot! Just what I wanted!!! And the floor plan was printed on the flier, so I can tell that the layout looks very promising.
Phone calls were made. We can't tour it this weekend (the husband is out of town & I guess wifey doesn't feel comfortable showing it before he comes back), but we will be touring it Monday evening.
EEEEE!!!!
The house isn't listed on Realtor.com or anything like that, so there's very little competition at this point. This is good. I feel very good about this. Can't wait until Monday!!!

Episode 6: Financing and doubt

We are finally getting our crap together and applying for pre-approval for a mortgage. Took us long enough, right? Sorry, but I've never bought a house before so I'm kinda fuzzy on what one does when. Anyway, we're getting our details together & filling out paperwork. And we've sadly been reminded that we do NOT look good on paper. Everybody keeps saying, "Don't worry about it! You'll be able to get a loan from somebody." Yes, but whom? And at what percentage rate?
Sigh.
And to compound all of this, two houses just came up for sale in the same community ... two houses that are smaller square-footage wise, but which are on gorgeous lots and don't need new roofs, gutters, or exterior paint.
Sigh.

We haven't even put in an offer and I'm already having buyer's remorse.

But that's good, right? Because it means we haven't made the wrong decision yet. So it's okay. Right? Or am I just too picky? Or are my commitment issues rearing their ugly head? And yes, I do have commitment issues. Big ones. I think one of the reasons why I like theatre is because I know I won't be tied down to one thing forever. There's always another play, you know? Lord only knows why my commitment issues don't affect my marriage (and thank our blessed zombie Jesus for that, right?), but I certainly am commitment-phobic in other areas of my life.

It'll be so nice when George gets here & can give me her opinion or slap me around or whatever. I'm sure she'll think that all of these houses are painfully cute & suburban, but it's nice to have a friend who will give you an honest answer. If I showed these places to my few girlfriends here in NC I'm sure they'd just politely tell me that everything looks lovely & that I should just do whatever makes me happy. That's fine and all, but it isn't what I need. There's nothing like an old friend who has known you forever.

Speaking of friends, I may have a new one. I met her on-line. Her husband is a games programmer & they're moving down here so he can take a job. They will be moving down here to the Triangle this month. And the house they bought is within a mile or two of all of the houses we've been considering. How random is that! We get along great in e-mail & I think we may have quite a few things in common. I told her in my latest e-mail that Tim and I met on a feminist message board. If she's cool with the F Word then I think we'll be fine. Fingers crossed!


Randomness ...
Kvetch: Tim is having tooth issues. The crown that Dr. Monty gave him last year no longer wants to stay on.
Anti-kvetch: Meatloaf for dinner!
Kvetch: 3 zits on the middle of my face all at the same time. What am I, 15? Geez.
Anti-kvetch: There's another F1 race this weekend!

The last 5 minutes: A short play

Mary: [reads george's latest post]

[gets to the end of the post and sees that george bought the plane tickets]

[does classic double take & reads that part again]

WOOT!!!!

Crap, now I gotta clean the guest room! ;)

The Mauve House (AKA Episode 5)

The Mauve House is an interesting place. I've tried to come up with a good nickname for it, but it's just so ... mauve. You can't get past the color when naming this house. I think that's the building's biggest problem. It's ... mauve. And not an attractive shade of mauve, might I add. There's a lot of grey in it, so it looks rather sad & unloved. And the grey shutters & roof just emphasize that sadness. It's dreary. It's dowdy. It looks the way I feel on those days when I don't get dressed & I just lie around all day in my robe. A truly despondent shade of mauve.

Have you ever noticed that it's nearly impossible to say "mauve" quickly? That "au" bit just draaaaags itself out. And is it pronounced "mAHv" or "mOHv"? Merriam-Webster approves of both pronuciations and we honor that in our little family (Tim says "mOHv"; I saw "mAHv". Kinda like how we don't pronounce "capillaries" the same). But either way you say it, you can't help but drag out that vowel sound. Mauve. Maaauuuuve.


Anyway, about this house. The first time I saw it, I was not exactly impressed. Hated the color. Noticed that it had no guttering. And this made me suspect that the roof was probably 20 years old. I instantly imagined that the interior would be in worse shape than The Bad Boyfriend & quickly moved along. But one night our realtor, Jim, had it on our list of houses to see. We were scheduled to tour 4 houses that night & I thought, "Oh, what the hell. I'm sure Tim will hate it, but we can always leave."

Well, I was wrong. I liked it. I liked it! But I was still sure that Tim would hate it, so I didn't investigate it thoroughly. But the next morning when I woke up, this was the house I was thinking about. The Mauve House. We toured other homes, but still ... The Mauve House stuck with me. And I was wrong about Tim because he actually liked the house! So I thought about it for a week as we toured other homes. Then on Thursday I talked to Jim and told him that I just needed to tour it one more time. So on Thursday night, we took another walk-through.

And god help us, we really like it.

The square footage is generous. The layout is nice. The storage is amazing (lots of big closets & the biggest kitchen we've seen, and the crawl space is tall enough for our bikes). Even the bathrooms are up to Tim's standards. And if we want to expand the master bath & get the garden tub we long for, it could easily be done with very little sacrifice. The interior has almost everything we want. There were even two "signs" that I'm sure mother would love:
1. There is a stained glass window in the stairwell that features a cardinal
2. The back yard is currently covered in wild violets.

But the exterior. Oh my. Besides the horrific color, the house is at the end of a cul-de-sac, so there are streets on two sides. Plus the neighborhood walking trail runs along the back of the property. Luckily, the house is set up on a slope, so there's no way that people using the trail could look into the house. But still. It could use a little help. It could use a few more trees in the back & maybe a few more bushes along the side. It already has a good bit of vegetation, but it could use a little more. No big deal.

We decided we need to know more. So on Friday Jim hit the books & called a bunch of people. He even had someone go out & give him an estimate on painting the place & putting up gutters (the roof man will see it next week). He unearthed various bits of information, but the most surprising fact is that the house has been on the market for much longer than we originally thought.

This house has been for sale for a. whole. year. Twelve months. I'm not kidding. Why? What is the problem? Is it haunted? Did a horrific crime take place there? Could it really be just that it's so ... mauve? The investigation continues.



Random news
Last night I experienced 2 "firsts" in my life:
1. My first professional hockey game (Our team lost. Boo.)
2. My first snow in April. Snow! Not a lot - maybe a quarter of an inch - but enough to accumulate in places. Eeeee!!

Out of Order

Due to technical difficulties that I cannot fix at the moment, today's blog post is currently showing up below yesterday's post. I know how to fix it, but that would require using the right button on my mouse ... a button that has died within the past hour. I wish I were kidding. Anyway, please scroll down to below the anniversary post in order to read today's post. Thanks!

Best. Wife. EVER.

Late in April last year, shortly after we moved to North Carolina, we got a phone call from Peter & Susan - my brother- & sister-in-law in London. While talking to them, it hit me that their 2nd wedding anniversary had passed just a few days before.
Me: "By the way, happy 2nd anniversary! Sorry I didn't sent you anything."
Susan: "Oh, don't worry about it. Nobody remembers your 2nd wedding anniversary, anyway."

I thought it was interesting that there was absolutely no sense of sadness or disappointment in Susan's voice when she said that. But now I understand. On Monday Tim and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary and we made no big deal about it. No cards. No expensive gifts. Indeed, I gave him a jar of his favorite peanuts & he gave me some gummy dinosaurs. Junk food. That's what we gave to one another on our 2nd wedding anniversary. And we loved it.

Note that this is quite different than our elopiversary which takes place in February. On April 2nd two years ago, we stood in front of our families and exchanged vows & took lots of photos and ate some fantastic cake. Of the two anniversaries, it's the day that means the most to me. When my mother thinks back on that day, I think her eyes well up with tears. That's probably why she remembered to send some flowers.

But despite the fact that this anniversary is supposed to mean more to us than to anyone else on the planet, we've been very lazy in celebrating it properly. Last year we packed up our apartment on our anniversary. But at least we had a plan. This year we didn't even have that. I figured we would just stay at home, make a little dinner, & watch a David Attenborough nature show.

Well, things didn't go quite as planned. Late in the afternoon on the day of our anniversary, I got a phone call. My cell phone said that the call was from Tim.
Me: "Hello!"
Mystery voice: "This isn't who you think it is."
It was our friend, Mark. Mark works with Tim. Mark called to say that .. well, I'll spare you the details. Basically, the team's boss was going to take the team out for dinner to celebrate the completion of a project. When did he want to take them out? That very night. The night of our anniversary.

An ordinary wife would have said no. No way in hell. An ordinary wife would have said that her husband better come home & enjoy his freakin' wedding anniversary with his charming, gorgeous, & wonderful partner. An ordinary wife would have been enraged that her husband would even consider asking this ... and probably even more pissed off because he made his friend do the dirty work for him.

But not this wife.
The fact is I felt miserably sick Monday. Aunt Flow had kicked in the front door of my uterus that morning & was making herself comfortable (and making me rather uncomfortable). I'd managed to take care of the taxes that day & even went to the grocery store, but I was on my last legs and I soooooo did not want to cook dinner. I just wanted to lay on the couch and be alone for a few more hours with my precious, precious bottle of ibuprophen. To me, the idea that somebody out there wanted to feed my husband for free sounded like the best anniversary gift I could receive.

So yes, I let my husband go out with the guys on our anniversary. While he was gone, I baked us a cake. And Tim decided to bow out a little early from the celebrations & got home by 9pm. So we still got to curl up on the couch together & eat cake while watching a David Attenborough DVD.

It was just what I wanted.

Real Estate Madness, Episode 4

I have a weakness for handicapped animals. When I go to PetFinder.com and look at the dogs and cats available, I intentionally look for pets featuring a little green heart next to their listing. That green heart means that this is a special needs pet. A handicapped dog. An imperfect cat. A cuddly friend who is often overlooked by others, but who will love you dearly if you just give them that little extra time and attention they need. I think my ideal dog is probably 8 years old, greying around the muzzle, and missing a leg.

And it seems that my taste in houses is similar to my taste in dogs.

So, we've been touring houses. With the help of our realtor, we have toured 6 homes since giving up on The Bad Boyfriend. Most were promising in their own right, but two have stuck out in my mind more than the others.
1. The Three-Legged Dog
2. The Mauve Monster
Today I'd like to tell you about The Three-Legged Dog.



When we first saw this house, we really like it. The lot is gorgeous. There's no garage, but the parking situation is great. The rooms were spacious without being too big. And the sunroom/breakfast area that looks out on the back yard is simply to die for (It looks better in person than in the photos). Yes, it's a bit old and feels slightly dated, but a few cosmetic changes would fix all of that. As we walked around, we felt certain that we had found The One.




(Tim is sneezing. :) )


Good bones. Very promising.

But the bathrooms. The bathrooms!!!!! The Bad Boyfriend had bad baths, but these were a step beyond. Tim actually refers to the master bath in this house as the Slit-Your-Wrists Bathroom because it is so bleak and depressing. The sink in the master bath actually had a big black crack/hole in it. It kinda looks as though it has been worn through, if that makes sense. Note that this is a cultured marble sink. I cannot imagine how the owner accomplished this damage, but there it was. Worst of all, though, were the bathtubs. Plastic. Flimsy, greenish-grey, cheapy plastic bathtubs. And the walls around the tubs were made of the same awful greenish-grey plastic, but they did not seem to be sealed properly. I could easily imagine the water damage that lurked beneath. And did I mention that they were small & that both bathrooms were crammed up against one another in the corner of the 2nd floor? A slight renovation might be possible for those bathrooms, but they could never be expanded. I think I might be able to live with the size. Tim, however, could not.

I've spent a good deal of time thinking about this house. I keep thinking of that upstairs layout & trying to find a way to make it work Maybe if we take out the master closet and ... no. Perhaps if we shift the washer and drier into the next bedroom and ... no. I don't see how we could make it work. Even if I could, it is bound to cost tens of thousands of dollars - dollars we don't have.

Oh well. Tonight we will be looking at The Mauve Monster again. Details to come ...

More spring flowers

I just gotta say ... Spring is truly gorgeous in this part of the world. Here are a few pics from the front yard.

Ummm ... why are we house hunting again?

Diagnosis

Hee.



From Cat and Girl

The Break-up

I think we broke up with The Bad Boyfriend house yesterday. We're dumping him for someone taller & younger. Isn't that typical? Here's the break-down on the break-up.

I thought about the renovations that need to be done to The Bad Boyfriend. At least one bathroom NEEDS to be renovated, that is for certain. Because of the way the master bath is situated, the only way to expand it would be to break into a corner of the large kitchen, resulting in two rooms that need renovation. And not just any two rooms, but the two most expensive home renovation projects that you can do.
So.
I actually decided to be generous.

1. I found a website that will help you figure out renovation costs, taking into account the region in which you live, the quality of materials you'd like to use, the size of the room, etc. I found a fairly average estimate to renovate just the master bathroom & ignored the kitchen for the most part.
2. Then I added the price of the renovations to the listed price of the Bad Boyfriend House.
3. After getting that figure, I looked on Realtor.com and the MLS (that's Multiple Listing Service for those of you who haven't shopped for a house lately) and found a house that perfectly matched the price I was investigating. I had driven past this house earlier in the week & was intrigued. Now I was even more intrigued. Let's call it. Mr. Tall&Handsome.
4. On Saturday afternoon, Tim and I went out & drove past a few houses. We drove past Mr. Tall&Handsome & Tim really liked it, too. So we called the realtor & arranged a showing for that very afternoon.

One word: Wow.

Wow wow wow.

Mr. Tall&Handsome is more than 200 square feet larger than Bad Boyfriend. And the floor plan is perfect for us. And it has a two car garage! And an additional half bath. It even has a nice soaking tub in the master bathroom. And although it's in a newer neighborhood, it has tall pines in back. And the insulated windows make the house feel just as quiet as our current place out in 'burbs.

I immediately knew that it was time to dump the Bad Boyfriend. This other house (Mr. Tall&Handsome) has so much more to offer. Plus it's move-in ready. No need to threaten our marrige with the stress and strain of home renovations.

So are we making a bid on Mr. Tall&Handsome? I don't think so. Even though I think we can afford him, it would be tighter than I'd like, so we're just going to take a deep breath, keep our eyes open, and show some patience.

Sigh. [this time in relief]

The Bad Boyfriend

I spent the afternoon driving around again. Looked at some more houses. Showed some of them to Tim after work. Wash, rinse, repeat. Some of the houses seem nice, but either the neighborhood is sketchy or the parking is terrible or the house just doesn't grab our interest for whatever reason. Nothing is tugging at us like that white house in the trees. Uuuuuugh. It's like falling in love with a bad boyfriend. You shouldn't and you know you shouldn't, but the attraction is so strong and you just can't fight it ...

And like a lovesick fool, I have to show you the object of my desire. Here are a couple pics of Bad Boyfriend from the street. Forgive me for not showing too much. This is a public blog, ya know. ;)






Great things about this house:
1. It is exactly in the part of town where we want to live. Believe it or not, this house is well inside the city limits & within a quarter mile of tons of shops and one mile away from a major shopping area (mall, movie theater, etc).
2. Trees! Tons of them! Mostly enormous pines, but I think there are a few oaks in there. The only other house we saw with a lot of trees like this is waaaaaaay out in the boonies. The trees look nice, create privacy & keep the AC bill lower.
3. All those trees means no mowing. Seriously! That's how many trees it has!
4. The neighborhood is small and very quiet. Very quiet. When I've been there, I've heard nothing but the chirping of birds. George would hate that, but we love it. Also, it's clear that the neighbors really care for their properties, which is super good.
5. No Homeowners' Association fees! And no covenants! Did you know that my brother- and sister-in-law have a convenant on their house that says they aren't allowed to make soap? Seriously!
6. There is a covered, screened porch on the back. So we could sit outside and enjoy the trees and NOT get eaten alive by mosquitoes.
7. Kitchen is situated so that I could actually watch TV while working at the stove or the sink. So I'm not totally cut off from the action in the living room while gettin' my bake on.
8. Nice long drive with plenty of parking for us and friends.
9. There is a very nice, paved biking trail very near-by. So we could start riding our bikes regularly again.

Bad things about this house:
1. The roof is 21 years old. The owners' inspector says it's okay (and I did some research & it seems this type of roof can last 25 years), but I'm worried.
2. No garage. Where do we put the bikes? Would we need to get a shed?
3. Here's the big one. The bathrooms in this house are SOOOOO tiny! The smallest bathrooms I've ever seen! Imagine if you tightly crammed a tub, toilet, & sink in the smallest space possible. That's the situation in both of the bathrooms. I honestly think your average handicapped toilet stall is bigger than these bathrooms. There's a linen closet in the hall for the public bathroom, but the bathroom attached to the master bedroom is just as tiny and has zero storage space. Where am I supposed to put towels and extra rolls of toilet paper and my make-up and hair drier and Sheff's electric shaver? Where am I supposed to put my freakin' tampons, fercrissake?!?

And yet ...

And yet we like the place. It feels like home. All the other places have just felt like houses, but this could be home.

So like a desperate, idiotic girlfriend, we defend the house. "We can change it!" we proclaim, knowing full well that the stress and strain and finacial expense of a bathroom renovation terrifies us. And the only way that we could renovate that master bathroom and stay on the house's original footprint would be to bust through the large kitchen. So it would be a bathroom and kitchen remodel rolled up in one. How could we ever do this? How could we possibly think that Sheff and I are really cut out to do this kind of crap? Why on earth would we sign up for this?

So we're considering getting a very young house in a very young, very large neighborhood just so we can avoid the renovation nightmares. But we agree that if we do that, we'll always look back on this place as The One That Got Away.

Sigh.

Real Estate Market Madness

I have been consumed by real estate lately. It has taken over my life. It has infected my mind and eaten away any part of my brain that was not already dedicated to thinking about real estate. The other night I was awake until 4:30am just looking at house listings on the internet. I'm beginning to understand how Frodo must have felt about the ring. The power and the longing and the total consumption of it all ...

The good news is that my insatiable desire to go deeply into debt has gotten me out of the house a TON over the last week. And it's all thanks to my darling GPS, Sally. I feel that I should write Sally a poem sometime. She's just so amazing and has improved the quality of my life by leaps and bounds. Dear Sally ... how do I love you ...

But my love for computerized navigation systems can only be matched by my fever for house shopping. I blame it on spring fever. The flowers start to bloom & suddenly everybody feels like nesting. And god help be, I've been sucked into it, too.

I should admit, though, that this fascination with local real estate has been going on for months now. In the past, I've spent the odd hour looking at houses on-line, occasionally driving past ones I like, or even driving through neighborhoods I've never seen before just to see if there are any places for sale. My darling husband had been totally uninterested ... until one week ago. That's when I told him that we need to buy a house before he can buy his beloved Audi TT. Tim was confused. He could not see the logic. So I showed him a mortgage calculator & talked about investing money in things that might actually provide a profit some day. I don't know if he absorbed the fine details. But he certainly learned that in the Dictionary of Happy Marriages, "House" will always come before "Sports Car".

Since that night, we have spent hours pouring over listings. I have spent 3 days & much too much gasoline on the roads with Sally, visiting house after house, investigating neighborhoods, & taking notes on my impressions. Since all of this began, we have formally toured three houses (4 if you count Mark's house since his is laid out exactly like one of our old contenders). It's been crazy.

Now we have narrowed it all down to one. One house. One house that we really like. And a part of me is stunned and scared because I've never bought a house before & I can't believe that we may have found Our House in such a short period of time and what if we screw up and what if this is a big mistake and what if it doesn't work out and we have to keep looking but what if it does work out and I'm stuck with this house with these teeny little bathrooms and I don't know exactly what we should do.
Really. I don't.
But when I look at this house, I feel that it is just right for us. Even with all of its flaws, I see hope and possibilities. I almost feel that it has been sitting on this lot, just waiting for us to come home.

We shall see ...

I am blind. And clueless.

I have very poor eye sight. If I want to read a book without the aid of vision correcting apparel, I have to hold the book within 2 inches of my eyes. That is not an exageration. Since I usually wear contacts, my horrible vision is not a big issue most of the time. But I've been wearing my glasses lately. And if I misplace my glasses, I'm in trouble.

For example. The other day I took a shower. While I was drying off afterwards, I realized that I could not find my glasses. I felt around on the seat and the little shelf in the shower. Nothing. I felt around among the detritus on the countertop. Nothing. I felt the top of the toilet tank and I felt around the edge of the bathtub and I even felt along the towel bar next to the shower. Nothing. So I walked to the top of the stairs and called down for help.
"Tim? Honey, can you help me? I can't find my glasses."
Dutifully, he appeared at the foot of the stairs, so I explained the situation as he walked up.
"I felt all over the place, but I just can't find them. I'm pretty sure they aren't in the shower, but-"
And at this moment, my husband reached the top of the stairs. And he reached out towards my face. And he plucked my glasses off the top of my head. And handed them to me.
I could see the grin on his face quite well even without the glasses.

Is bigger always better?

As you noticed, I found a way to make the pics bigger here on the ol' blog. Do you think this is a good thing or a bad thing? Let me know. In the mean time, here are some more flowers from the front garden (all taken on March 5th).

I got a GPS!

Ask and ye shall receive! After my horrible experience nearly 2 weeks ago, my dear Tim ordered a Garmin GPS for me and my car. Originally he was going to give it to me for my birthday at the end of April, but it arrived sooner than he expected. Plus, I obviously needed it ASAP! So earlyt in the week, Tim let me open up the box of joy. I was so excited & relieved, I actually cried. Seriously. This weekend we tried it out & it is fabulous!!!! We drove to the other side of the metro area & back ... and did not get lost at all! And so ya know, the voice on ours is the same as on George & Derek's GPS, we are also refering to our GPS as "Sally". It just feels right. ;)

Anyway!

So, you ask, What else have you been up to, Mare? Not a whole lot, as you can probably imagine. The weather around here has been gorgeous, though, so I've been taking some photos.
What's that?
You'd like to see some of them?
Well, I don't care what you want. I'm posting 'em anyway! :P But not a lot 'cause it's bed time.

Here are some shots from around this nameless little town in which I live. I really don't want to reveal the name of the town, so I can't share a lot, but I think these will give you a good idea of the cute quirkiness of the place (Our local bait shop is located between the paisserie/bakery & a coffee shop. I think that's great). I took these on our first really warm, beautiful sunny day in a long time (2/28). I didn't even need a jacket. Lovely.

I need a GPS system

The Bad: Today I got lost. Really lost. After a bit of shopping, I left the local Trader Joe's & I drove around in circles for 45 minutes until I mysteriously found myself back at the very location I had left three-quarters of an hour earlier. Somehow I managed not to burst into tears, although I did say, "You gotta be kidding me," to no one in particular at least 5 times. After I finally found my way back home, I felt exhausted and discouraged. Hours later when Tim came home, I still felt wiped out. At least I got some of those papadums, so the trip wasn't totally dismal.

The Good: It's warm & sunny & Spring is springing! Here's the evidence from our front yard.

Caturday!

Okay. Fine. I give in. So many of my favorite bloggers have written the "5 Things About Me" entry & have said, "Now it's your turn!" So I guess now it's my turn.

Hmmm. Let me think.

1. I have a tiny bit of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - especially when I'm stressed out. At those times, I count my steps & I avoid cracks in the sidewalk. If I hear a word, I will spell it over and over and over again in my head until I can't even remember where I first heard it. I will count on my fingers obsessively, but the number I stop on must be divisible by 4 or 10. Really. I hope this makes you feel better, Liz.

2. I think my first appearance on stage was when I won a Halloween costume contest at the old Broken Arrow Community Playhouse. I was 5 & I was dressed as an angel (My mom made the costume). My best friend's mother was the artistic director of the theatre company. I'm sure that this fact did not influence the outcome of the contest, as it really was a great costume.


3. I was a Clown for Christ. Back in high school, my family's church had a small clown troupe made up entirely of kids. We went to hospitals, day care centers, and retirement homes where we would perform skits. My character did not speak. I used sign language & gestures. That's right ... I wan't any ordinary clown ... I was a MIME! I wore a billowy white suit with pastel ribbons around the seams. My make-up was a white face with small pink lips, purple eye shoadow, & a pink jeweled tear that I glued onto my cheek. I performed Sandi Patti's "Love In Any Language" in sign language. And my clown/mime name? Gentle Spirit.

4. I hated eating in public until I was about 17 years old. Even then, I still wasn't fond of restaurants or the school cafeteria, but I was able to get over it for the most part. See, I had a lot of digestive issues as a kid (a LOT!) & was terrified of having sever stomach cramps (& everything that came with it) while away from the house. Even the smell of food could bring on an episode. This is why I never worked in food service. And this is the main reason why there are so many foods I've never tried. I just had such terrible experiences with food when I was little. But my guts are better now & I'm far more open to culinary experimentation than ever before. Yay. :)

5. It's the little things that make life worthwhile, ya know? One of the little things that I enjoy is silly pictures of animals. And if those pictures have wacky captions? All the better. This picture in particular makes me smile to no end.
I can't explain it. I just LOVe this pic! Last night I was on the phone with george and just thinking about this photo made me giggle. If you like this sort of thing, too, then check out this website: "I Can Has Cheezburger?" It'll make your day brighter.