Saturday, March 29, 2008

We got it!!

We heard from our realtor this morning and WE GOT IT!! She said that there were 2 offers very close, but the old man selling the house liked Andrew and I so much that he wanted us to have it! I always knew I was so charming!! I'd love to tell you more, but we just busted open a bottle of Champagne to celebrate! YAY!! Thanks for all your good thoughts!

Friday, March 28, 2008

The suspense builds

We heard back from our realtor yesterday. Wednesday night, there was another offer put in on the house. So the current owners are calling for best and highest offer. Whoever has the best and highest offer by 5pm tonight gets it. Our realtor said that at this point, we should offer whatever was going to be our final offer. We thought and talked and talked and thought. We can afford the payments if we got the house for asking price of $175,000. Our payments would be $200 more than our rent, but we've also been saving about 1/3 of our overall income for a down payment, so paying an additional $200 per month isn't going to break the bank.
So that's what we've decided to do. Offer the asking price of $175,000. The suspense is driving me crazy. I was supposed to work today, but it was overtime and the census is low at the hospital, so they told me not to come in. I may need to bring one of the kids on an appointment. At this point, work would be a welcome distraction.
Today is going to be a real nail biter!
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Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Roller Coaster

I know I haven't posted in a while. You wouldn't understand how busy I've been. Andrew and I are moving back home this spring/summer, and that has been more work then I anticipated.
We were there last weekend looking at houses. That was a lot of fun. We saw some that were diamonds in the rough and some that were all rough and no diamond. There was one in particular that we really liked. It needs work, but it's only $149,000. That's not bad considering it's a 3 bedroom, 3 bath 1700 square foot house with a basement on an acre. We felt it was home. We decided to make a marathon trip back last night to meet with our realtor today to take one last look before we make an offer. My Dad and Andrew's Dad were nice enough to come with us for some extra opinions. Maybe it was because we took off our happiness blinders, or maybe it was because we were looking at it with our "Critical Glasses" on since it was our last look before we put down a large sum of money. It didn't look as promising as it had just a few days before. We knew that there was some water damage, but it seemed to be more extensive. We thought that it would be easy to finish the basement, but the layout wouldn't really work, plus the ceiling is like 6 and a half or 7 feet, so finishing it off would shrink the height noticeably.
Luckily, there was one house that we were not able to look at over the weekend, but we were able to see today. It was cute. The living room had high, cathedral ceilings that were done in wood with exposed beams. There was a crescent cut area in the wall between the living room and dining room. Very cool. It's on .3 of an acre and they are asking $174,900. The down side- I think I remember hearing that the area is known for flooding. And flooding is why we don't want to build on the land that my mother-in-law was going to give us.
We figured that with our dad's in tow, we'd go look at this other house that we liked. It's about 5 minutes away from the flooding house, but this one is not in a flood area. They're asking $175,000. We really liked this house over the weekend, but we thought that there was already an offer on it. Our realtor checked, and NO OFFERS YET!! The house is a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom with a large living room, eat-in kitchen, sun room, garage and a finished basement! It's on .62 of an acre on a corner lot, but it is in a neighborhood. We can see neighbors everywhere. The house is pristine. When we were there on Saturday, the previous owner was there- this little old Ukrainian man. He was cute. He showed us all sorts of things- the door to the septic tank, the drainage from the gutters, lots of stuff. It's a nice solid house that is totally in move in condition... Hard wood floors in the living room and bedrooms.
So... we put in an offer. $160,000. Now we're just waiting, and waiting, and waiting... I don't know how much more waiting I can take. Wish us luck. And wish that the next few days go by quickly. I don't like this waiting game.
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Thursday, March 20, 2008

When did I become a Grown-Up?

Yesterday, we got together with some of my family who lives in the area to celebrate Andrew's 24th birthday. We went to The Sunset, our favorite bar/restaurant. The have 112 beers on tap, yet I always go for my "old faithful," Sea Dog Blueberry (with fresh blueberries in it- YUM!!). Andrew enjoyed a Mead- a honey drink fermented with yeast. It pretty much tastes like honey but gives you a good buzz. Plus, the food isn't bad either. I had a BBQ Pulled Pork Quesadilla- and for the record, it was awesome.
But 24, WOW! That means that I'll be 24 in August. When, how did we grow up? I remember my 14th birthday like it was yesterday. I had long, blond hair, we went to Williams Lake, I wore a blue bathing suit and overalls, my Aunt Wendy was visiting from California, we went back to my parent's house for cake and we ate it in a screen tent, then Sasha, Debbie and I went to see My Best Friend's Wedding at the Rosendale Theater. In fact, Andrew was barely on my radar until a month later. But I knew, at that birthday party...I had a gut feeling that something was going to change. I could sense that things were different. Who knew that I was about to start dating the person who I would be spending the rest of my life with.
And tomorrow we're going to meet with a realtor to start looking at houses. HOUSES! We're getting ready to buy a house! I am not worried that we're getting in over our heads, actually. We're pretty responsible. We can handle our finances and we've been saving a TON of money. It's just such a big step. Once we own a home, there's no going back. That's a real sign that we're adults.
There are some things that, no matter how grown-up, you should still find time to do from time to time.
1. Come down with a serious case of the giggles
2. Look for shapes of animals in the clouds
3. Spin in circles until you're so dizzy that you fall down
4. Make funny faces at yourself in the mirror
5. Keep trying new things- who knows where you;ll find your hidden talents
6. Set seemingly unreachable goals and wholeheartedly try to reach them
7. Be the person who you really want to be
8. Make sure that you always tell yourself the truth
9. Let yourself enjoy the things that you used to (hence my DVD collections of the Muppet Show and Dawson's Creek)
10. Tell the people who you can't live without that you can't live without them

So here's to forging ahead but still keeping true to yourself! And Happy Spring!!
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Friday, March 14, 2008

Crunch Time

I've been busy working up a storm. I've been picking up extra shifts at work. Maybe because we're trying to save all the money we can. It's getting to be crunch time on our home buying plan. We're going to meet with a realtor the end of next week to (hopefully) look at some houses. We would ideally like to close in late May/early June. It's kind of scary to feel like this much of a grown up.
As for my plan between now and the end of next week, my days will be filled with work. I'm off tomorrow, but I'm working Sunday through Wednesday. Wednesday is also Andrew's birthday, and we will be celebrating over a nice dinner with my aunt, uncle, cousin and my cousin's wife.
I have some cute things planned for Andrew's birthday. What you may ask? I'm not going to tell...it's a surprise! Ok, fine, I'll show you on Thursday.
Maybe we'll go see a movie tomorrow. Hmmmm, maybe Vantage Point?
Enjoy your weekend!!!

Thursday, March 6, 2008

As American as...

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I can't WAIT for baseball season to start. I don't understand why I get so excited about it. I have so many good memories associated with baseball.
Maybe it's because baseball means summer- and summer is always happy. Warm weather, swimming, ice cream and baseball!
The first game I remember was actually a Mets game that I went to with my dad, my uncle and my cousin. it was free hat day, but they weren't giving out Mets hats, they were giving away Brooklyn Dodgers hats.
When I was in high school, my sister played softball, and Andrew lived right next to the softball field. He would meet me at all of her games. It was a really fun time- though I didn't pay a lot of attention to the softball games.
I have been to Yankee Stadium many times. Two years ago, my mom and I organized a Party Bus to Yankee Stadium, and we are doing that again this year. I just got the tickets today and we're waiting for a firm price quote from the bus company.
In the mean time, my parents are thinking of coming out to Boston so that they can see a game at Fenway. I've been there for a game once, and I 'd like to go again while we still live so close.
I can't wait. Just 25 days until the Yanks season opener. Nineteen days until the Sox season starts (because they play the A's in Japan on 3/25).
Let's Go Yankees (Clap- Clap- ClapClapClap!) Think my boys are going to make it all the way this year? Any early predictions for the post season?
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Wednesday, March 5, 2008

I Just Don't Get It

I don't understand Hillary Clinton. I don't get how people can support her. Does any one else listen when she opens her mouth?
I saw a lady from Rhode Island on tv and the woman said that she voted for Clinton in yesterday's primary because Hillary "promised" to care about Rhode Island. Honey- what Hillary promises doesn't mean bupkis.
She also said that she was going to run a positive campaign... until she saw that Obama was a viable candidate.
I haven't liked her since she randomly picked New York out of a hat and ran for senate in a state that she had no connection to.
She's been grasping at straws to keep her campaign moving (Denounce vs reject).
Hillary also mentioned on her now infamous "telephone" commercial that she knows the military and foreign heads of state, but she knew them in the capacity as first lady- which is NOT an elected position nor does she have any actual decision making responsibilities in that role.
She mocks Obama's idea of being open to talking with foreign heads of state who we are not BFF's with. I mean, our embargo on Cuba really brought Castro to his knees. Oh wait, no it didn't. Hmm. Who knew that ignoring a problem won't make it go away? If we talk, then not only will we understand more of where they're coming from, but they will also understand where we're coming from.
As a woman, I would be ecstatic to have a woman for president, but I do not feel compelled to vote for Hillary JUST because she's a woman. I am sure that I will see a female president in my life time, I just hope it's the right woman.
I am disappointed with Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island for the choices that they made and I hope that the voters in Wyoming and Mississippi validate my opinions next week.
And Remember...
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Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Adventures in Charlestown

My friend Marc
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came to visit this past weekend. We went to Charlestown on Sunday for some sight seeing along the Freedom Trail. We started at the Bunker Hill Monument
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where I had some fun with Colonel William Prescott.
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Then we climbed to the top of the Monument (which was quite a workout!) and had an awesome view of the city- including Andrew's favorite bridge!
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Also at the top, there was a cannon which was featured on the program "History Detectives." This cannon was the reason for the march on Lexington and Concord. Little known fact. It's a really good show (on PBS), but I digress.
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On the climb down, I had to go really slow. I had a bit of vertigo. I've never had height issues before, and I didn't like it one bit.
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After Bunker Hill, we went to my favorite ship, the USS Constitution. I've been on that tour probably 6 or 7 times, but it never gets old. This time, we had a really good tour guide and he shared a lot of information that had not been given on other tours.
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Then we got home and found this...
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What is it with my cats and the bathroom?