Surprise Wedding!

7-31-13

A wedding!

I dropped off the boys and knew I had an evening of kid free grownup time ahead of me. Ken and I were able to go to IKEA and price out a closet unit for the bedroom, which will save us time for part of the fixing up process. We also were able to wander Target without constant interruptions. We got to P.F> Chang’s a little early which just allowed us to have a drink and discuss baseball at the bar.

The first to arrive was Greg and Tanya which is when we were filled in on one of the events for the evening which was their nuptials! Apparently common law marriage is changing significantly in Kansas and it seemed a good idea legally speaking to get the 10 year plus relationship certified. Tanya wasn’t as thrilled with the slightly impromptu dinner wedding, saying she would have preferred just doing it at the court house, but I think overall she will be glad this dinner was had and that their love could be celebrated with friends.

I was little miss social butterfly, which was strangely fun. Sarah was there, and I had not seen her in person in ages. I caught up with her and Cindy which was fantastic. Danielle Doyle was there, too, which is super fun to see all these people I knew from my past. I visited with everyone for chunks of time, which quite honestly made me giddy with happy. I even played with the three kids that were there, including Celeste who is just a total cutie. Charlotte told me that yesterday afternoon that Celeste was mad at her mother for having married Adam because SHE was supposed to marry him. They had a little ceremony at their house in which Celeste promised to love her daddy forever. Too. Fucking. Cute.

I really did stay up way later than I should on a work night, but despite the minor hangover I am doing pretty damn good. I am guessing I have just had a really good last few days so I am on adrenaline.

Now I have reports to finish up since there were issues yesterday. I have been stalling on doing them but I know that it won’t take me long and really, my day looks to be pretty dull aside from them. 

WOO HOO!!!!!

7-29-13

WOO HOO YAY!!!

Can you tell escrow finally closed?

Even though it was pretty much a done deal by Friday, I still was happy to get word that Escrow was closed. It meant everything was for reals. We went to the house Friday night with champagne in hand. Sadly, said bubbly was without the bubby. I guess it had turned at some point. This did not discourage the celebration in the least. The boys and I danced around the living room with streamers and had a good ole time. My folks came over and celebrated with a toast. When they left, we went and met most of our neighbors who are incredibly awesome on every level. The couple next door to us has been there for more than 40 years and apparently it is the dog stop. He likes to sit in his garage and when the other neighbors walk, they always stop and chit chat and he has treats for the dogs and everything. In fact, while we were there, everyone seemed to come out and Luna and Lycos got to meet all the neighborhood pups. It was so wonderful. Shirley, who is his wife, was excited that we were fixing up the place and was more than ok with us doing things like paving near her plants. I am telling you, it was like we had moved into the best neighborhood ever!!!

Frank and Brandon came by and we chit chatted with them for a while, too. I told them I would write a testimonial. They also still want to provide sandwiches and a house warming shin dig which is super cute. Seriously, if you need a realtor, they are the best!

Friday was the only night to rest. All weekend was work! We cleared out the attic completely and packed up what was to be kept and what went to yard sale. We also cleared out our old bedroom completely. It is ready for work! We also went by the new house to drop off a couple of things where my folks were working on taking down all the molding, which is awesome. I also managed to remove some more of the fake brick stickers.

I took care of a lot of the items in the living room and because of a crate acquisition credited to Dax having spotted a bunch, I was able to pack up most of the books. The living room is way less hectic now meaning we will be able to do some work in there. One of the things we have to do is move the fridge in there for a while since we have to work on building a closet in the bedroom.

Ken moved the couches and other items from the driveway in order to set up the pool for the boys. We decided to go ahead and set it up at the Halldale house since we are going to be working a lot there and the boys need to be able to swim and get out of the house.

Dax managed to wreck another iPod. Sigh. He dropped my old phone, which is what he has been using, into a glass of milk. I don’t even know how this took place, but it did. Said phone is now in a bag of rice, and it will hopefully dry it out.

I am sore, but not tired like I expected. I suppose the adrenaline is keeping me going. I have a couple days of busy at work so this will make the days go quickly. This afternoon has Ken and Dax at the dentist, so I think Bobby and I will get to have some one on one time which I think he will enjoy. Perhaps I can come up with a project for packing that he can help me with. He has been going nuts with the whole pestering little brother thing, so I think one older sibling to another will be good.

SOLD!

7-26-13

SOLD!

Escrow hasn’t closed, but the loan funded and I have the keys!!!!! WOO! I was feeling pretty groovy about the whole thing when I went and retrieved the key from under a brick on the porch. The boys and I went and made copies, taking the time to even choose specialty keys so each of us had a different one. Sadly, Ken pointed out we would be changing the locks so it wasn’t nearly as exciting. LOL!

The close should happen today which means champagne tonight at the new digs along with some sparkling apple cider for the boys.

After we went and made useless keys, the boys and I headed over to the Carson shelter. I tend to browse shelters daily now to see if any puppies are something other than a Pit or Chihuahua. I found a Lab mix at Carson who was positively adorable based on the pic. I tried calling them but no answer. I even tried to contact via Facebook. We opted to go by there. Sadly, the pup had been adopted. Ok, no, don’t get me wrong, I hope that the pup got a home. My concern is that a rescue group pulled the dog and now what would have been an easy adoption for someone for $75 will end up costing $400.

I am wondering if the cats sensed my considerations for a new pup since I was attacked rather brutally last night. Sure, they made it look like an accident. Monarch and Breezer were chasing each other which just happened to result in Monarch running across me on the bed with brute force leaving a giant scratch on my boob and forehead. I am shocked there is no visible bruising being how hard he hit and how much it still hurts this morning. I know they just made it look like I was just in the war path, but I still have my doubts.

I am excited that my mom is coming to lunch today. I am also glad the only real annoying coworker took today off so I don’t have to subject my mother to her bitchiness.

I find it humorous that it is summer, a time in which I shouldn’t feel worried about having piles of yard sale stuff outside because rain isn’t an option, that there have been multiple storms that have come along in the last 2 weeks. Sheesh! That being said, I do love the rain.

hoping and crossing fingers

7-25-13

Home stretch?

All of the paperwork is now officially signed and received. I even got the go ahead to change over all of the utilities to our name and we can start work in there. The seller apparently has all the patience and confidence in the world that this is a done deal. I suppose that should make me feel better, but to be perfectly honest, I won’t be satisfied until I have that key in my hand.

Based on estimates it will fund this morning and close tomorrow. I have heard this song and dance before, however I have also emailed with the loan people so they seem to be on top of it this time around. This morning means phone calls for me for utilities and some general waiting.

My mom is coming to lunch with me tomorrow which is super fun. She has never seen my office so I am going to show her where her daughter sits all day and introduce her to a couple of coworkers and then head out to Carson Burger for their nummy teriyaki bowls. Yay!

My plan this afternoon after picking up the boys is the finish clearing out our old bedroom. Maybe if we are ambitious this afternoon we might be able to bring down a little bit of attic stuff, but realistically that will happen this weekend. Either way, I am hoping for some significant progress today.

more

7-24-13

Progress!

The HUD has been approved which was this morning. It is supposed to be sent to Papa Brenan this morning by noon. Our loan officer is hoping to fund today. Oh my goodness, this would be a load of awesome. I hate waiting, though. I have been checking my email every 20 seconds, checking to see if my phone is on, hoping I get some kind of notification that we are good to go.

Yes, there is a lot of work ahead of us. Thankfully a lot of it will be done quickly and simultaneously. We will have contractors and people who will do a lot of the work on the new place. Part of me is strangely bummed about this if only because I like the idea of putting all my efforts into the new place as opposed the old place. That being said, I do like the idea of moving in to a place that will be mostly done and the best part of said move will be decorating. Yay!

I also like the idea of the place being really ours sooner than later since it means I can move some of the big furniture I don’t need in the old place now. I can put a couple of things in the new garage. This will make working on the old place so dang much easier. Right now I find myself still having to take care of a lot of domestic crap while then finding time to do other stuff.

Another nice thing right now is Ken should be done with camp this week. This means he will have a couple weeks in which he isn’t in a class. I know he has some items coming up in Camarillo, but that is not a huge deal and it still means 3 extra days those two weeks.

Andy is talking about coming down on the 4^th, so I know that he and Ken will be working on things during that time. I really hope the electrical doesn’t take as long since a lot of things will be hindered by that progress. The bathroom demolition and then remodel should be interesting all around. Once again, I hope all of this is something that will be quick and painless.

I could be doing some work, but I am beyond caught up and the customer harassing doesn’t sound appealing right now. I want to call someone or email someone at the escrow place to find out if things have been sent. I just don’t want to come off as annoying, especially when there are already multiple people working on it. I will send a follow up at around noon thirty since by then it doesn’t seem rude.

Of course, why should I worry about rude?

I am also still looking through listings of houses. I feel like something bad will happen. I worry that this place we are getting is too good to be true. Of course, I felt that way when I first peed on a stick and determined I was knocked up. There are certain things in life that make me wonder if it is all for reals.

Still waiting

7-24-13

I want to be able to fix it.

We are waiting on I guess the lending company to correct this fucking HUD sheet. Once it is done, it can be sent to the Compound for signatures. We don’t even need a notary. Just ink on paper and FedEx. By all accounts the seller is ok with waiting and everyone just doesn’t understand why the lender is so fucking slow. Sigh. One good thing is that Bob isn’t going out of town today, so hopefully this shit gets to them soon. I am going out of my mind.

In some good news land, I did finally find my sleep zone last night. We moved pillows and made the correct spacing and I slept fantastic. I was super cozy. It was also a bit surreal to have Breezer sleeping next to me on the side pillow. I woke up to see this orange kitty sprawled out there, which was where Goosh would sleep back when he was alive and in that very room. It was pretty cool.

Monarch scared the shit out of me the night before last. I woke up to him dropping this long thing in front of my face in bed. I was sure he had caught one of the mice and was presenting it to me. Turned out it was only Ken’s braid he had “captured”.

I was clearly still in the world of the book I just finished. Lots of old folks and death which translated into Ken and I helping our old neighbor and her family before she was shipped off to an assisted living facility. She was going a little loopy in the dream and for whatever reason, her family was trying to get rid of all her stuff. I was able to talk her down and determined it wasn’t the dressers and other furniture she cared about. It was all the stuff inside. I helped her go through it and it was really an awesome and touching scene in my head. I was looking at pictures of people I didn’t know and newspaper clippings and random stuff with a woman I didn’t really know. I enjoyed the hell out of it.

Of course, there was the wacky side in which I explored her back yard where there happened to be a fountain and concrete ducks that would swim around and randomly quack. Yeah, that happened.

I am picking up the kids from camp the rest of the week. Ken is staying late to start with cleanup. Tonight Ken also has a soccer class and a soccer game. I am hoping that I can remove more items from our old room this afternoon, also. I have been working on laundering random blankets and items that can be packed away once they are cleaned. Perhaps we can get it cleaned out enough that we can start painting by this weekend. Yay!

Still Waiting

7-23-13

One document.

There is one document holding everything up. It is the same document that keeps getting fucked up. Hopefully it was resent or being resent this morning for signatures. Everything else is signed. I just want this whole thing done.

We went through the boxes of books under our bed. We are getting rid of quite a few. We boxed up the rest and got more items cleared from our old room. It is disturbing how much the house has shifted. We noticed cracks that have gotten larger and the one door frame is really tweaked. Hopefully when we do the closet there it won’t be too big a deal. We also determined we are going to most likely replace the window in there.

We put a fan in the bedroom along with opening the windows from the bottom instead of the top which helped greatly. The next thing we need to do in order to increase comfort is we are going to move the bed from the wall a little bit and stuff it with pillows. This is how it was in our real room so hopefully this will give Ken the extra 6 inches I have been using now.

Other than that, there is not much to report. I am hoping for the magical call that says Escrow is closed. Until then, I wait. 

fuckity fuck fuck

7-22-13

Whimper.

I fucking hate this so much. Friday was supposed to be a day of celebration. Now I have no idea when I will be able to breathe normal. The lending company apparently sent the wrong paperwork again. No one told Ken and I this. The correct packet was supposed to be sent on Friday or Saturday to the notary, who is going out of town. Of course, it seems to be missing. I don’t know what the fuck is going on as of right now. Hopefully the packet is tracked down today and a new notary is retrieved to get signatures. Then it will get over to escrow for the approval. I am so done with this. I am dying.

In the meantime, Ken and I have moved our mattress into the old playroom. We are going to start to work on our old bedroom since it will probably take the most coats of paint to cover the dark red in there. It was strange being in the front room. Especially so low to the ground. I am used to climbing up into bed as opposed to kneeling down to crawl into bed. It is also considerably warmer in there so hopefully this afternoon we will bring another fan in. As if the warmth wasn’t bad enough, the cats feel that this room was set up for them as a new playground. Clearly they have never dealt with blinds before. We have always had curtains. They were in a crazy state both nights, which is loud and annoying. Plus, since I am right under the window, when they would dive out from under the blinds with an explosive force, my legs were hit with a fuzzy bomb. They are lucky they are so damn cute.

I am sore from taking out the old bed frame and moving so many things. Plus, tired due to the cat antics. It should be an interesting day all around.

I am working on some better eating, though. We went to Costco and obtained items to make my breakfast burritos for the week and salad fixings. This means I have low calorie breakfasts and lunches, which makes me happy. I also have opted to not drink any coffee for a while and concentrate on only green tea and water at work. Now I just have to be good at dinner.

I must have been in a different world this morning since I realized when I arrived at work that I had not put any makeup on. Thankfully I have stuff at work, but it was strange how I completely forgot to do that step.

Registration was pretty simple what with us only having 20 signups. We were hoping for closer to 100, but 20 seemed like what we would probably get. The morning went surprisingly quick considering we had so few people. I was mostly upset though being that the bench I was sitting at ripped my shorts. I was very upset what with them being my favorite, and the fact that now my underwear could be on display. Luckily my shirt was long enough that no one was going to notice.

On Friday night we went to dinner at Islands. It was nice just to sit and have good food and try to not think about the escrow madness we are in. After dinner we walked over to Goodwill and found quite a few things. There was a pair of brand new shoes from Target that fit Dax and a pair of lightly used shoes that Bobby will be able to use. I found a pair of white platform shoes that are too big but I picked them up anyway since I may be able to wear thick socks. We also rescued two Woody dolls. Honestly, Pixar has fucked me up for life. I always was one of those kids convinced that the toys had feelings and now I would be hard pressed to leave any toy from Toy Story behind at a thrift shop. We also found a brand new Incredibles phone that apparently SBC was giving out to new subscribers back when the movie came out. It lights up and sounds like an emergency phone for super heroes. It is quite awesome.

The boys were able to finally play at the pocket park that was supposed to open almost a month ago. I had been hounding the city councilman who was part of the huge ribbon cutting ceremony back in June. The park has been locked up since that day, which annoyed the shit out of me. How nice that he got lots of press yet we still didn’t get our park. It was unlocked on Friday so this allowed the boys to walk up to it on Saturday afternoon. Luna and I walked up some time later to see how it looked. It was only us and one dad and his daughter there which was kind of nice. On Sunday when they went back there was even more people, which also was cool. I like being able to let them walk up there on their own, especially since this will give them confidence to walk places on their own, which will come in handy if we ever get to move. I like the idea of them going up to the park by themselves.

Camp is shorter this week, but in some ways it is still a long day what with it being the last week. Class ends at noon thirty, but they will be starting the cleanup adventure. I won’t have as much time in the afternoon by myself. This just means I won’t be as destructive. LOL!

I booked our room at the Wigwam hotel for a weekend in August. It is our summer trip, which may sound odd, but it will actually be just what we need. It isn’t a far drive, which is good. We are going to go to the McDonald’s museum since the kids thought that sounded like fun. We will then go check in to our own little Wigwam where the boys will then be able to take advantage of the pool all afternoon. That is really it. Swimming in a hotel pool and sleeping in a giant fake tent. It will be nice to not have any real places we need to rush off to see and we can relax. Yay!

Now if only I can get my mind off of Escrow. Sigh. 

is today the day?

7-19-13

Have I mentioned I hate waiting?

When the news organizations report the occurrence of a loud, exuberant cheer that was phoned in as being heard as far away as Bakersfield just know it is just me having heard news that we finally closed Escrow. Until that time, all is quiet in Torrance.

I packed 3 boxes yesterday. I took out a bunch of yard sale items to the pile. I also pulled off a panel from the living room wall to see what we were dealing with. Yeah, not good stuff. The part I pulled off was the “good” area. Yie. Based on that, we are pretty sure the answer is new panels. We found some actually quite nice ones at Lowe’s and they are white which will brighten the whole room. It will be a good thing, and probably easier in the long run.

We have registration tomorrow at the boys’ new school. I am not looking forward to the registration angle since even though it is mostly a well-oiled machine, it still is tiring. It will be especially frustrating if close happens today. I can assure you I don’t really want to be logging checks when I could be working on my home. I think I need to recruit an assistant treasurer.

There are still mice in our house. We used one of the live traps and caught a hopper yesterday. My oranges are all quite the mousers. I had all three of them stalking the cupboards. Sadly, they also managed to free the one we caught who was in a tank. That being said, I think another one was caught this morning. Hell, it was probably the same one.

Ken has given me permission to go pick up the keys after work if it so happens to work out that way. I have a sad feeling that we will end up finding out that it funded today which actually means it won’t close until Monday. Bleah. 

Counting Down

7-18-13

So very close!!!!

I spoke to Brandon yesterday and the loan paperwork was being processed last night by the notary and if it gets submitted on time by today, it will close Friday for sure!!! The time of close depends on apparently some number system lending companies have in which they take turns to file, so it could be early and we would know by noon, or it won’t happen till the afternoon. I am crossing my fingers we get the good news early. Brandon also was more than happy to help me out in my request for a Sold sign. We had one up already but somebody took it. It is also possible that the selling agent may take down his sign sooner than later, but either way Brandon would make sure I had access to the sold sign so I could take my picture. YAY!

If we find out before noon I will so be heading straight for the house after work. I know Ken and the boys are not done until 5 and won’t be home till closer to 6, but I don’t care. I want to try out my new route home, and quite honestly, I need to dance.

I was lazy yesterday what with the epic random cramping I was dealing with. I watched a couple of episodes of Breaking Bad. I had not realized just how far into the series I had gotten before. I thought I had only seen a handful, but it turns out I have watched all the way through most of season 2. It is such a strong show and I am glad to be back into the groove with it.

I just signed up for Angie’s List. I am going to look into some contractors now. 

I am sure this will offend...

7-17-13

I hate waiting.

I didn’t do nearly as much yesterday in terms of housework. Sure, I cleaned the kitchen and did all the laundry in the house along with moving my clothing back into the playroom, but it didn’t seem as impressive as Monday’s activities. I felt off and on crampy and ill. It seems that my upcoming period will most likely be a doozy.

I had a dream in which Dax impersonated a professor at a college class. He was so good that no one noticed. Of course, said school also had a teacher who looked like Chris Kataan in a belly-baring tied up button shirt, so the school may have been just a little more liberal.

Ok, I am way ok with people who believe in a god and for the most part as long as they don’t preach at me, I am cool. So here is my observation; I get emails from customers/coworkers constantly in which their signature indicates hopes for a blessed day. Obviously “blessed” could just mean hopes for a nice day, but we all know that the inference is that of a spiritual nature. Is it appropriate to have said phrasing on a work correspondence? I am not saying they should not, I am just putting it out there as a question. If I were to say use a phrase from some lesser known religion or even something more devil based, would that be ok? 

Probably not. I suppose if the wishes were meant to be good, that is ok, but then again with people being so touchy these days about things, wouldn’t it just be safer to say Have a Good Day? I don’t know that there is a right answer, I was just putting it out there as a question.

Just because a jury found Zimmerman not guilty doesn’t mean they are racist. People are throwing around the term “racist” much to loosely these days. The incident may have been from racial profiling, but we can’t say this is a bad thing. We all profile. We profile based on race, age, sex, sexual orientation, hell even just the shoes people wear. I am one of the lone white women at my office. My boss is an old and stupid white man. Most of the colleagues in my department are black women. One of them, who is my friend, has done what would be considered stereotypical “black” things. She loved BET and she actually “aks” me questions. No joke. Jet I know she is quite bright and conscience about her job.

Yes, there are people who discriminate. Yes, there are complete and utter assholes out there. There are people who have not figured out that times have changed. My dad for example has still used the phrase “nig” when describing a black person. He doesn’t mean ill with it. He grew up in a time when let’s face it, it was a standard phrase. My dad bowls with one of his friends who is black. This man is a sweetheart, but thinks all doctors are out to get him. He won’t go to a doctor. He has decided that if you are a doctor you are evil. He also thinks gay people are evil. This coming from a black man who is married to a white woman. Yep, that is for reals. So who is the bad guy here? My dad, who uses an old fashioned phrase in his home, often times to just see if he can get me annoyed, or Freddie, the black guy who hates doctors and gays and will not associate with them? Do you see the problem here? Both are ok guys. The same goes for Paula Deen. Look, I don’t give two fucks about her in general, but I think the outrage over her is out of control.

I don’t think the guys in my shop should be allowed to only speak Spanish in there. I think that no signs in America should be in anything but English. This being said, I have spent time teaching my kids Spanish words I know and have contemplated taking a Spanish class with them. I work with lots of Hispanic people, too, and don’t find them any more or less offense than the next person. I get annoyed at certain things they do, sure, but overall, I try to look at the person, not just their stereotypical actions.

Back to what brought this on; Zimmerman is an asshole. That being said, he was an asshole doing what he thought was right in terms of protecting his neighborhood. He took it too far. He followed a guy when he should not have. Have I done this before? I sure have. I followed a little Asian guy who goes on properties in my neighborhood and takes cans out of our recycling bins. I have called the cops on him, and have had them tell me to stop following him, yet I continued to. I didn’t care that the guy was Asian. I cared that he was doing wrong. I think Zimmerman took Martin’s actions to be up to no good, and it sounds like neither party was smart in how they handled it.

The protests are screaming about this racial crime. Did anyone bother to just yell about it being a crime, and also yell about the real issues? Is it ok to carry a loaded gun in Florida? Are the prosecuting attorneys so stupid to think that second degree murder charges are really what they should have been pursuing? And ultimately, hey people, just because one kid got shot by a guy who had a cop complex doesn’t mean that EVERY black kid in America will be shot, nor does it mean that the person who shot them will be walking free.

I know I will annoy folks with this post. I had been holding off saying anything, but honestly, the crazy protests that have ended in 13 people being arrested in LA make me angry. I am all for people protesting. Hell, it is one of those awesome freedoms I will say America allows that make me kind of patriotic. That being said, don’t be a fucktard when it comes to your protests. Acting like a fool doesn’t make your case. It makes the case that perhaps we shouldn’t be listening to you. 

carpet monster

7-16-13

Carpet monster 0: Gena 1

Pulling up carpet isn’t the hard part. Disposing of the body is. I don’t know why they always portray mobsters rolling up a body into a carpet roll. That is a bitch to move!

I managed to remove the carpet, the incredibly gross padding, and even the carpet boards. I was not graceful while dragging the pile of carpeting through the house, but I didn’t give up and managed to get it outside. Ken had given me a tool to use to cut it into pieces. Said tool was a piece of shit. The only thing that ended up in pieces was the tool.

The kittens had a great deal of fun with the mound of used carpet. They swirled around in at great speeds, attacking it from all angles before settling in on top of it in victory.

In true Gena fashion, I did manage an injury. In atypical fashion, it was only a minor one. I was using the wonderbar with the hammer to remove boards and I missed. I pinched part of my hand between the wonderbar and hammer which has left a small mark and lots of pain. Luckily it isn’t in any spot that is causing difficulty this morning.

It is actually a shame we need to cover the wood. It is not horrid underneath. However, due to us making this into a rental, it would be best to just go with carpet all over.

After I managed to clean up my mess, I sat down with a glass of wine and thought I would watch some crappy chick flick. I chose 13 going on 30. I figured it couldn’t be too bad what with it staring Mark Ruffalo.

I was super intrigued at first, especially when the main character, played by Jennifer Garner, was named Gena. Her younger self was getting a school picture taken when the photographer called her Gina, to which she harshly corrected him indicating it was in fact, Gena. I was excited. I had no idea how it was spelled, but I loved that I might have some kinship with this fictional character, which always makes for a better movie watching experience. I come to find out her name is Jenna. Are you fucking kidding me? Who calls someone Gina with the spelling like that???? Strike one.

Her childhood best friend, and then the guy she hunts down (spoiler alert) when she turns into 30 overnight who ends up being her soul mate is Mark Ruffalo. He is adorable and awkward and cute. The problem is that Jenna’s man is named, wait for it, Matt. Yeah, I can’t exactly get all warm and fuzzy about characters that have a romance and share names with me and my brother. Strike two.

In all fairness, there has not been a strike three yet. I also have another 25 minutes left on the flick since my housemates arrived home during my viewing. I will probably finish is out this afternoon. I am betting the movie will only serve to annoy me further with something else that takes you right out of the flick.

We happened across a yard sale on Saturday that had a bunch of new blinds for sale. She sold us the lot of about 7 for $5 total. We were pretty excited since we needed to get blinds for the Halldale house and this was way cheaper. Some of them will fit across, however all of them are too short. We ended up ordering one from Lowe’s that was the same and Ken is just modifying the ones we bought by using one as a parts factory and making each of them longer. He finished one last night and it looks great! We also found a website that sells the string for blinds and they even have the same color, so we should be able to save quite a bit on these. Yay!

Today’s adventure allows me to put my clothing back in the closet in the playroom. This means I have to remove the rest of the books in there, which isn’t too many, in order to basically have the closet empty except for my clothing. I also have some domestic chores to tend to.

Now to just make it through the boring part of my day. 

Rum

7-15-13

I have a long week ahead of me.

Once again we have a “close” date in which I am actively counting down until. If all goes well, Friday is the big day. Paperwork has been signed and it is now in the 3 day mandatory wait period to allow us an option to bail if we want. Once that passes, the paperwork goes to the magical entity of Escrow. I swear, Escrow sounds like the man behind the curtain. There is a whole lot of smoke and grumbles, but really it is just some little old man sitting there rubber stamping things. LOL!

In the meantime, I have a lot of work to do. Today, since Ken has finished much of the playroom, I can pull up the carpet. I spent time on the boys’ room yesterday. I packed up much of their closet along with other items in their room. Ken told me in general I need to slow down since I am getting ahead of myself. I understand what he is saying, but I also feel like the only way to work on the current house is to make sure things are packed up so we can move things around.

The plan has changed several times with the final decision to do what we had planned in the first place which is to move Ken and my mattress into the playroom so we can paint in our bedroom along with adding a closet in there. The addition of a closet makes it an official bedroom, which will be good since it means we can consider it a three bedroom.

On Friday, I ended up binge watching my Orange is the New Black show, which was fantastic. I then was able to walk with Luna up to Wilson Park where I needed to sign some paperwork for the region. Ken and the boys met me there. I was glad I got to walk since it made sitting on the couch ok.

In theory, Maryann should be back today. I gotta say, I will be quite relieved since I don’t want to deal with her accounts anymore. She has coddled so many of them it is actually disgusting. I had a message on my voicemail from some broad who was all upset that I had simply left a message concerning payment on account. Never you mind that more than half her account is past due by 45 days and it was only a simple reminder. She was all appalled saying that Maryann is always nice and lets them have more time. Fuck, Maryann, what do you think this does for us as a company??

We now have another registration happening this Saturday. I am not as upset as I could be. It is shorter, and it is at the boys’ new school, which is kind of fun. I will get to talk to the principal and the boys can explore their new school, which is awesome.

I am hoping that if escrow closes Friday we can get an electrician in there ASAP. I know my mom will probably want to go to the house on Saturday to start work on the boys’ room. I really just want to get the house construction under way ASAP.

I went and stocked up on scented candles from Dollar Tree. We actually found a brand that has candles that burn all the way. Most of the ones always seem to get to the bottom and leave an inch or so of wax. These ones we found burn every last inch of candle. YAY! I think I will take a few to the new digs, too, so we can light them there when we are over.

The only place in the house right now that freaks me out in terms of getting it done is the garage. I have walked in there recently and no, it isn’t as bad as it used to be, but it looks to be something that will take a damn lot of time. I know there is no ‘rush’ for all of this, but I really am just looking so very forward to being settled again.

I have decided my house warming party will be a holiday party. I figure I will have things in some form of order by December, which makes a holiday party a fun idea. I also have decided that if anyone wants to bring me house warming presents, go ahead and stick to rum. LOL!!!

Orange is the New Black

7-12-13

I hate it when I find a show and a book that I would much rather be consuming than sitting in normal life.

Ok, no, I don’t ‘hate’ it, but I do hate not being able to get back into those worlds. The book I borrowed from the library is turning out to be quite interesting and fun. Yesterday I also started watching Orange is the New Black on Netflix. Holy crap, it is so good! I really am enjoying it. The character development is amazing. I binge watched about 5 episodes, which I suppose on my part is stupid since I only have 13 episodes total.

My plan today is to just make it through the day. I have been pretty busy all week with doing Maryann’s accounts. On one hand, it makes the day go by quickly. On the other, it is frustrating just how little Maryann does on her accounts. I may seem like a slacker at work in how much I play on the net and have time to write my journal, but when it comes to my accounts, I am really good. I take quite a bit of pride in how well I do my job.

It sounds like I have some outings this afternoon including a quick jaunt over to Wilson Park to sign some soccer paperwork. I also need to get over to Hot Topic to get my KROQ sticker.

My neck/shoulder still hurts like hell. I really did a number on it. It isn’t as bad as yesterday, so I will take that as a win. I would like to maybe put some of the good pain meds goo I have on it tonight. It would be good for me to relax some more. This is especially true since I am hoping to get some real work done to the house this weekend. 

Shoulder Pain

7-11-13

Ouch.

I don’t know what I did. It was hurting on Tuesday as well, but now it is even worse. My left shoulder and my neck on that side hurts like hell. It is almost like I have a giant knot by my shoulder blade. I am guessing all of my activity yesterday only made it worse, which is why I hurt today.

I set out with a plan when I went home and I accomplished that and more. I decided the entry way/behind the desks was the plan of action. I packed up a box of my desk and paperwork that already had been in a smaller box. I also packed other things and got the whole area cleared out. It took a while, but it looks good.

Luna and I also managed to take the box of newspapers and old leashes to the shelter. We had been saving the newspapers for them for a bit now, so it was nice to not only get rid of this box of stuff, but to also be able to donate it to a good cause.

I also worked on more laundry since that never seems to be done. Luckily, I think I am caught up with most of it.

In addition to all this packing and cleaning, I came across a couple of items that spurred my mom blood and when the boys arrived home they were greeted with an impromptu birthday party for Bolt and Carson. I had this small piñata that we picked up years ago and I had the balloons from when Poppy was in the hospital. I also had come across a couple of small toys the boys didn’t know about and was able to wrap them. And of course, since we always pick up cake mixes from holidays when they go on sale after said holiday, I was able to whip up a quick cake. Ken was amused, whereas the boys seemed pretty thrilled. Yay!

Estimates now put escrow closing by the 19^th. I have another week to wait. Paperwork is showing up in Nevada City tomorrow for Brenan signatures and then should be overnighted to Escrow for their blessings and whatever else they have to do. It apparently will take a couple days but if there are no issues, it will close that Friday. The bubbly is in the fridge, ready to open on the big day.

I am in so much fucking pain right now. I am noticing that it seems to be even worse as I have been sitting here. I bet sitting at a computer, typing, isn’t great for it. If Maryann hadn’t broken her ankle, I would so go home right now.

Light at the end of the Tunnel

7-10-13

I see the finish line. Hopefully it isn’t just the fatigue talking.

The paperwork was discussed at great length with the loan company and Papa Brenan yesterday and agreed on. Said paperwork should be to him by Friday for signature. I am hoping this means we are almost done, at least with this part. Really, the construction and the work to get both residences in shape looks like a walk in the park compared with this process. My grand plan at this point is to host Thanksgiving. That gives me 5 months. I think we can do it.

I was shockingly lazy yesterday afternoon. I just didn’t feel like doing anything. I watched The Truman Show and some episodes of Scrubs while I got my paperwork in order for the board meeting. Katie also showed up before Ken and the boys so she and I visited for a while, which was very nice. There is something rather depressing, though, that I only saw my kids for maybe 15 minutes yesterday.

The meeting was shockingly fun. My arch nemesis stepped down from her post, which is funny since she has been less annoying to me of late. It would figure, right? I have become the boss’ left hand man. I don’t know all the ins and outs of the region, but I am his comic relief at these meetings and I get to keep him on task with many things. It is a little surreal to be so important to the region.

I am considering taking the ref training. I figure I don’t have to do too much reffing if I don’t want to, but it allows me to do sidelines if need be, and this is an extra way to have some exercise. Plus, both the boys will need points for their teams to advance and reffing is the way to do that.

Maryann has been out of the office the past two days. She fractured her ankle, which was already weakened from a previous fall last year. This has been a pain in a lot of ways, but in others it has allowed me to be busy with new accounts while she is out. I like getting new people to yell at since the people who hear me yell now have already heard it all. LOL!

That being said, I am glad the boss took today off. He spent the last couple days fretting not only about his normal stuff, but also the condition of Maryann’s accounts since I was covering for her. As if that wasn’t too much already, he about short circuited when he had to come up with my yearly goals. He couldn’t find anything in my portfolio for me to improve on since my numbers are so damn good. Yeah, I kind of rock.

limbo

7-9-13

Limbo.

As of right now that is where we stand. The typo on the loan documents is being corrected and escrow can be extended with no real issues. That being said, a new dilemma has appeared. The detailed private inspection we had done which was to be “our eyes only” was attached to the loan documentation as an addendum. This has the potential to be bad since they could come back and say there are more things that need repair before a loan is allowed. It is unlikely this far in the game, but one never knows. Either way, right now we wait and still don’t have a close date, which sucks.

Clearly it has motivated me in terms of energy. I got home yesterday with some major restless energy. I managed to clean the kitchen, the boys’ room, our room, do much of the mountains of laundry, prepare financial reports for the AYSO meeting tonight and balance the reports. Oh, and then I managed to take Luna for a walk/jog. I couldn’t be stopped. It was crazy.

Ken and the boys stopped on the way home and picked me up some more hair color which was awesome since I needed a touch up. They did this as a surprise. I am glad I had dinner on the table for them when they arrived.

Dax is suffering from bouts of insomnia. Poor kid got up at 1 and was all kinds of upset. This isn’t the first time recently. He is so frustrated at his lack of being able to fall asleep. I understand his pain. He is like me in the idea that we normally fall asleep quickly and hard. So when this routine is disrupted, it fucks with in bad ways. I am guessing it is a combo of things. He is working hard at not wetting the bed along with all of the routine changes with camp and not being able to run around like he normally does. I am tempted to have him sleep in our bed one night to hopefully settle him. I don’t know that this will have the desired effect. Tomorrow night Ken has soccer, so perhaps I will have them sleep in my bed until he gets home. It may help.

I managed to also do about 100 squats yesterday. I am hoping to keep that up. I will not be doing my walk/jog today. My ankle feels a little sprained so I will give myself a day off. Plus, with my meeting tonight, I probably won’t have nearly as much time. Instead, I will concentrate on burning calories with more cleaning. Fun.

The meeting tonight looks to be long what with the upcoming season upon us. I am not thrilled about this, but whatcha gonna do? In reality, I could bail early since my part is really quick. Sadly, Ken has more to do.

The new neighbor dogs are grouchy. They bark at Luna and must be saying some nasty stuff since I have watched them get her all riled up and then they go into a barking frenzy. I don’t like my dogs to bark all day, so I hope that it isn’t constant. I know I shouldn’t worry too much being that their dogs (along with so many others) bark all day AND night so mine are pretty mellow, but still. I don’t want to contribute to the chaos.

hoping for good news

7-8-13

Panic and stress are key this morning.

I was feeling pretty groovy Saturday morning. I had accomplished a lot the previous two days. We had a fantastic 4^th of July and Friday I was able to make a dent in kitchen packing. The sun was shining as much outside as it was in me.

Then the clouds formed.

We were at Costco when Ken got a call from his dad. It was expected what with the paperwork having been sent to them to sign so that hopefully escrow would be closing this coming Thursday. Ken’s tone was visibly somber and I had to take to breathing exercises to prevent the inevitable panic attack.

The loan paperwork came through but the quoted rate was not correct. Papa Brenan received the paperwork and noted the error. He tried to get in touch with the loan agent with no success. The problem was that it was July 4^th. In addition to the holiday, it was a holiday on a Thursday which meant a long weekend for many people, including Michelle the loan gal.

Papa Brenan was angry and feeling rather deceived. He also felt as though due to this snafu, we would fall out of escrow. His feeling is that if the rate on the paperwork is correct, it is too late to find someone new to finance the loan. If the paperwork is just a typo, there isn’t enough time before Thursday to correct. He also said escrow couldn’t be extended.

I quickly texted Brandon knowing that he would get back to me right away. Ken also got on the phone with Frank. Frank and Brandon are awesome. Frank told Ken that although Michelle was on vacation until today, he would text her. He did so and discovered that yes, it was just a typo. Michelle also said it would all be corrected today. In addition to this, it is pretty easy to extend escrow especially since the seller is probably ok with it since we are motivated buyers. He also called Papa Brenan to calm him down. Brandon also called me and was concerned that I was ok.

Now, this doesn’t mean we are out of the woods. Papa Brenan has a knack for over dramatics when it has come to this whole thing, but that being said, there is cause for concern. The seller could very well decide to bail on us. However, it feels to me as though this isn’t something that has not ever happened before. Fixing paperwork shouldn’t take that long. Sure, there is some time that needs to be spent, but since there is such a time restraint, people will bust their asses to get shit done. Maybe I am just thinking of all of this in terms of if I was the person who had to fix it I would already have it done. I sometimes forget I am far more efficient than other folks when it comes to work.

I still feel like this is fixable. Maybe I am optimistic. Maybe I am just stupid. Maybe I just refuse to believe that something this fucking minor could mean us losing the house. Either way, I was upset and I took to my generic spiced rum that evening. I will point out that I wasn’t the one that put it in the cart. Ken actually sought it out for me.

Sure, I was pretty fuckered up that night, but not as much as later when I woke up at 1 am in a complete panic. Dax had lost his other front tooth and I didn’t know if we had changed out the tooth in the goblin with his little prize. I could have gotten up to look, but I didn’t want to wake Ken up. Instead, I spent the next 2 hours stressing about that and the house and everything else in life. I really didn’t sleep well. I must have finally dozed off, even though I know I tossed and turned. Around 8 I woke up to find Ken was already up. I got up and he and the boys had gone and picked me up breakfast. Ken thought pancakes would be a good plan for what he assumed would be an epic hangover. Thankfully, hangover was minimal. Pancakes were wonderful!

So I will be spending today trying to not freak out. I don’t know what time Michelle gets in the office. I know that the paperwork had to be written up and sent to the notary to get signatures. Honestly, I am tempted to just fly them down here to sign everything. Sadly, this is not up to me.

The rest of my mini vacation of 4 days was fine. We worked on the hopefully new house on the 4^th. We cleaned up the tiles in the rec room and my parents cut down much of the giant bush in the backyard. I am hoping that it wasn’t for nothing.

We took the boys to see Despicable Me 2 yesterday, which was a much needed outing. It was comfy and air conditioned and funny. It wasn’t as good as the first, but still a lot of fun.

Today is the start of 2 weeks in which Ken and the boys don’t get home till 6 pm. This means I get home around 1:15 and have all this time to myself. Today’s adventure will have me cleaning up the messes from the weekend. I also am planning on painting the porch roof. Most of this won’t take long, which means I have time to walk with Luna, including some jogging in there. I had a dream in which I ran a 5K, and I am now inspired to make it happen. I jogged a bit yesterday at the tail end of our walk. Dax and Luna jogged with me. I hurt, but it was the good hurt. I hope to feel more of that. This morning I have already committed to squats at bathroom breaks again. 20 per break. On the 4^th I had to use a public restroom and I noted how much easier it is to hover now that I have worked on those muscles lately. LOL!!

I have to get over to the mall, too. KROQ stickers at Hot Topic. I know this may seem pretty lame, but I like them.

Why is it only 6 am???

Kicking Ass and Taking Names

7-3-13

I have been on such a roll I forgot to write about it!

Yesterday I swear I was on fire. I got up my normal time at 4 and was rocking life until 9 when I went to sleep. It was report day, which is normally my time to shine at work, but I am telling you, I was even shinier. I had everything done before the boss even walked in the door. It did leave me pretty much zoned out in front of Excel all morning, but well worth it in the long run.

I got home and was so energized from my outstanding day I was in turbo mode. I cleaned the crap out of the kitchen and worked on laundry a little bit. Ken and the boys arrived to find me just finishing the kitchen and I set them all to work. The boys did not appreciate my sarcastic humor. I took them into their bedroom and proceeded to tell them about this new technology that was attached to their bed. I explained that with the cool little pegs, you could balance fabric on them in such a way as to keep them off the floor. I told them it could be used with robes and towels. Bobby looked at me and then shook his head. Dax said, “We know this mom!” I responded, “Oh, I assumed you didn’t based on the pile of robes and towels under it.” Yeah, I win.

We did some of this housework and then I set to work on reconciling some AYSO stuff for month end. It wasn’t too bad seeing as I apparently had already worked on some of it recently. I am considering adding an Excel sheet to everything, so I may work on that today.

At around 3, we set out on our bikes to the post office and then to the grocery store. I also was able to make my deposit for a registration check along with picking up the statements for the meeting next week. We also found another crate behind Ralph’s which is good since we need more for packing books.

At home, we ate dinner and I prepped for my meeting on the phone that was scheduled for 7:30. I was also able to finish the book I had been reading while waiting for this. The meeting, which was only supposed to be 30 minutes, went for an hour. Luckily, it was mostly good stuff and I now have a bunch of things to create for the new fiscal year.

I crawled into bed and felt like I had truly had a productive day. This made me happy. I hate it when I feel like I accomplished nothing.

I have to now just make it through today since I have 4 days off from work ahead of me. Tomorrow morning we are going to load more crap into the POD, and I am hoping to persuade Ken to help me bring down some boxes in the garage so that I can go through things on Friday. Thankfully it looks to be cooler in temperature today and tomorrow, so this will not be as exhausting.

I discovered that Torrance Library added an e-book section and I was able to download my first borrowed e-book this morning. They don’t have as wide of a selection as I had hoped, but I know that they only just started. I am hoping to stop purchasing so many books and instead borrow them. I am ok with owning some books, but at the rate I was going I would need to gut the current house and just make it into my own private library. Thinking about this makes me want to win the lottery so I can buy the houses next to the new place and make them into this fantasy library.

I am surprisingly awake this morning. I was pissed when I awoke since I was in the midst of a very intense dream. I know that I had made some kind of random deal with this convict, who happened to be played by the one guy in Breaking Bad. He had just paid me and I was heading back to my family and he to his girlfriend, who ended up yelling at me, which I didn’t care for. He stood up for me, which was strange based on our backstory (which I know was complex, but I can’t remember it all). We ended up killing her with poisonous snakes and I know I now had an infant puppy I was going to have to bottle feed. Like I said, I was not ready to wake up.

Escrow delayed

7-1-13

Today was supposed to be the day.

Don’t fret, of course, but still, it is a bit of a bummer. Escrow has been extended about a week and most of this is to make sure all the paperwork that has to travel 400 miles is done on time. I had just been hoping to spend a good amount of time at the new place this weekend. Oh well, it just forces me to work on the current digs more diligently. Besides, the work needing to be done on the new place is mostly holding pending doing the electrical work. Since that kind of work can be slightly destructive in spots, there is no point in painting if said wall gets a hole in it.

On Friday, my dad was able to go home from the hospital. Truly, he felt 100% better once the draino kicked in. Of course, there was a pool from the nurses on how long before he strangled his roommate. LOL! I showed up with the boys on Friday afternoon and they were just giving him another meal, not more than a couple hours since his last one. They were clearly trying to get his system back up and running. Thankfully, the doctors cleared him later that day and he was home by about 6:30.

My weekend was good. Saturday, despite the forecast of crazy heat, we decided to work hard on the house. Ken had changed out our toilet on Friday and spent Saturday painting in the playroom. I spent the day in the bedroom packing and clearing out so much crap. I packed up books and more of my clothing. We are almost done with the playroom which means we can move either us or the boys in there. We had originally planned on moving us in there, but after some thought, it may be ok to move the boys in there. They would just be in mattresses, and since it is such a busy month, they should not have too much time to destroy the room. LOL! We can then work on their bedroom to get it painted white.

The living room looks to be the biggest challenge. The wood paneling in there is full of holes and truly should be removed. The issue is that the walls behind them look to be, well, probably not in the best condition. If they are ok, we can paint and it is all good. If they are not, we have discussed putting up different, plain paneling. It would be the whole living room and the entry way, which would make it all uniform. We also will carpet in that whole section.

I applied to borrow against my 401K. This way we don’t cash anything out and instead will be paying it back. This should help with the expenses for fixing up the current home. There is still a new kitchen floor to be put in. Mostly, though, it is a lot of painting.

Sunday morning it was turning out to be rather lazy. The heat didn’t get to us on Saturday since there was a decent breeze and our house ended up being rather cool considering. This was not the case on Sunday. I thought we needed an outing. We packed up the kids and the dogs and went out to Huntington Beach to go hit up the dog park for a while. Ken, Luna and the boys splashed around in the waves while I hung out with my old Lycos who couldn’t make it out nearly as far as everyone else. It wasn’t as hot there, and when we did leave, the fog had been rolling in. It was perfect, really, even when Luna yacked up about half the ocean near me.

The rest of Sunday was much more lazy. I did go out to Target and to Daiso in order to pick up more poo bags for the dogs. I just needed to get out of the house. When I got home, my shockingly not wiped out pups were up for some fun in the back while Ken and the boys played Minecraft with Anthony. I then ended up doing some laundry and dishes just to keep busy.

I am a little concerned this morning. I feel a little light headed. Not sure what that is about.

Even though it is only a 3 day week for me, it looks to be very busy. Reports will take place tomorrow and this means last minute posting today. Thankfully there already seem to be a lot of people out of the office, which should hopefully make for less panic.