In the Meantime...

Wordless Wednesday ~ It's Ours!

Part of Wordless Wednesday.

Breathe, Girl. Breathe...

We just got back from our pre-closing walk-through of the house. Boy, oh boy do you see the house with different eyes when it's yours!

The sellers had the house cleaned, including the carpet. But five years, two kids, and several animals will do a number on carpet that no cleaning company can undo. It will be fine for now because it's good quality carpet, but I have a feeling that new flooring will be our first big expenditure.

They left random crap around that we will need to pick up and throw away. Anyone need a leopard print shower curtain? No? How about bullets? Yes. They left bullets. What the hell do we do with those?

The kids' rooms need major attention. We knew that we would paint the walls, but we noticed writing and stickers on the doors. Do we paint the doors or get new ones? Probably paint, right?

Now that all the furniture is out of the house, we really noticed how much touch-up painting needs to be done. So, do we touch it up or just re-do it little by little? And won't that be a bear once all of our furniture is in?

Lots of little things: loose door knobs, bent vent covers, showers that need to be de-molded and re-caulked, weeding and mulching of the landscaping, sod or seed the spot where the playset was...

I've had about 17 mini anxiety attacks in the past hour and a half. Add to that the fact that the moving to do list playing through my head didn't let me go back to sleep after I woke up at 3 AM, and you have an idea of the pleasant person Jon is living with right now.

But he is so calm. And excited. And that helps me look at all the good stuff.

We get to move out of our crummy plastic duplex with no basement and bedrooms on the second floor (in the middle of tornado country).

We get to leave this crummy back yard that doesn't have anything but weeds and dirt in it, is enclosed by a chain-link fence that we have to rent, and has a 10' square patio that fits nothing except a grill.

We get to leave a neighborhood in which 75% of our neighbors and the people who drive by (at 5:30 AM and 11:30 PM) have jazzed up cars with super loud mufflers and radios. How old do I sound right now? Wait. don't answer that.

We get to leave this kitchen. Too many things wrong there to list...

And what are we getting?

We're getting a solidly constructed home with lovely landscaping, a sprinkler system, a wood deck, and a privacy fence in the back yard.

Pella widows. Wood blinds in the bedrooms.

A dining room.

Room for guests - lots of guests - in the beautifully finished basement.

Bright and cheerful eat-in kitchen with ample cabinet space that opens up to a living room.

A pretty little park across the street.

And much, much more.

Maybe I should print this post out for reference when I'm freaking out this next week during the move. It might serve to calm me.

And for that Jon would be ever so grateful.

Tri Training Totals - Week One. And other nonsense.

I think I did pretty well last week. I was kind of a slacker on Wednesday and Thursday, but still met or exceeded the goals in the training program I'm following.

So, as promised, here are my Week One totals.

I went biking with some new friends and had a yummy pasta dinner and a cold bud light draft after Tuesday's ride, so I probably counteracted any good that the ride did me. But I had fun and met new people so it's all good as far as I'm concerned.

Friday's swim was great! I'm thinking about looking into a Masters Swimming program here in Omaha after I finish the tri. Of the three sports, I'm loving the swimming, enjoying the biking, and still hating the running. I'm just not a runner. I'm not built for it and it rarely feels good. So, after this tri ~ no more running. Until I start training for the next one, that is...

In other happenings at Casa de D last week:

Mr. Leo had some intestinal distress that was particularly stinky and messy and wake mama up at 2:45 for an urgent need to go outside. He's much better now. I have no idea what he ate that resulted in that reaction. Both of my dogs are rotten creatures that eat EVERYTHING. I wish the reaction was instantaneous so they would connect the dots in their little brains. But then that would just be boring, right?

We met our new dog-sitter on Thursday and we love her. As soon as I saw her get out of her car wearing this t-shirt I knew it was going to be okay to leave our babies with her when we go to Germany (in four weeks!) and for any other trip we take in the future. She was sweet, good with the dogs, brought LOTS of forms for us to fill out, and was the perfect mix of professional and goofy about animals. All I have to say is, "WHEW!"

I met friends at another new (to me) restaurant on Friday. Yummy, yum, yum!

Friday evening was beautiful, so we decided to grill my famous (to us) turkey burgers and some asparagus and have Jon's favorite cole slaw. This is what happens when fingertip meets Wusthof 7" Santoku:

(I'll spare you images of the actual wound. That would be gross.)

We spent part of Saturday morning in the ER for treatment of my self-inflicted avulsion. The sucker just would not stop bleeding! I didn't want to go to the ER, but Jon got all bossy and made me and I'm glad he did. They cleaned it and properly dressed it and that allowed for the healing to begin.

I was supposed to keep that huge bandage on until tomorrow morning, but I took it off this afternoon. The wound looks much better so I should be able to swim early this week. I did go running  yesterday and biking today with that big ol' thing on though!

Jon reserved a truck and hired a couple of movers for the last week of June for the move into our first real house. We. Cannot. Wait. to get out of this crappy house and into something good. Something really good. *sigh* 

See that pretty bag in the background of the above photo? It's the beautiful, quality work of my good friend Angie. It's the perfect bag to take with me to Germany. You can get one of your very own here or shop the rest of her site for your perfect bag or accessory. You will not be disappointed.

If you're still reading and care, here is the training schedule for week two.

Since I couldn't swim today, Jon and I went for a ride. I'll adjust somewhere later in the week.
Feelin' good and so happy that the training is going well so far!

Moving on...

Well, we didn't get the house. We're disappointed, but we know that there is a house out there that has our names all over it. And we have plenty of time to shop.

All I have to say is this. When you are selling your house yourselves, don't get mad at the buyers' agent when she calls to make sure you understand the contract you signed and faxed back. She didn't need to do that. She did it out of courtesy. She could have just gone ahead with the sale and you would have been unaware of the fees you agreed to pay until you got the check from the sale and saw that it was $6,000 less than you thought it was going to be.  Get a lawyer to read the contract next time, dudes!

*Ahem*

So, we're back on the house-hunting bus. Our agent, K, made an appointment for us to look at a house this afternoon and we met with more strangeness. The appointment was at 2:00. K got there at 2:05, the owner met her at the door and said, "The appointment was for 2:00. You're too late, I've already started cooking." K said, "You can keep cooking. We'll just walk through. Okay?" To that he says, "NO!" and slams the door in her face.

K called the listing agent to find out what is the deal with this guy. I got there when the listing agent was calling K back. We were told that the owner did not want to  show the house now, but we could make an appointment (again) for another time.

Um. I don't think so.

The search continues...

Two things made me smile today.

This

is not one of them.

First off, grab yourself a tissue and read this. It made me want to get out my sewing machine and make a bundle of toys to secretly drop in locations all over Omaha. (The woman who made the toy in the post I linked to above is Donna's sister-in-law. You can read her post about it here.)

If you're interested in participating, you can get details on the Toy Society blog. Start reading their blog and your faith in human nature will be restored. (If you need even more help in that department, go here.)

The second thing to make me smile today is this:

This is what Leo does when it is 15 degrees outside and there are no sunny spots around the house in which to lie.

The big dude bogarts the heating vent in the bathroom. How cute is that?

Wanted to buy.

google images

*    A mid-century ranch style home in a southern suburb of Omaha.
*    In good shape, as it will be purchased by two non-handy people.
*    One-car garage a must, two-car garage preferred.
*    Full finished basement (see 2nd * above).
*    Remodeled kitchen.
*    Large, fenced backyard with mature trees.
*    Nice landscaping would be a bonus (again 2nd* above).

The house-hunting has begun, though not in earnest as we have eight more months on this lease.

We had our first of I'm sure will be many disappointments last weekend as we showed up for an open house of a cherry ranch in the next town over only to be informed that the house had sold a couple of days before. (Why they didn't change their Craig's List post to indicate that I don't know.)

I think that we've found a good buyer's agent who knows we're not in a hurry and is willing to work with us to find a house that we love.

So, wish us happy hunting!