I'm waiting for the plumber to arrive, which is probably the least positive part of my weekend so far. While rearranging things in the garage and removing the cabinets-of-uselessness, Shar and I discovered that the main pipe that drains from the master bath sink and shower (but not toilet thank goodness!) has a very large crack in it, such that when the shower is running it creates quite a puddle on the garage floor. Since we were working with dust, dirt and spiders (ugh!) and both very desperately want a shower, calling the plumber was kind of a must...instead of merely being a really good idea (seeing that Romeo's sink is backed up in the upstairs bath).

Aside from faulty plumbing, it's actually been a really good weekend. ( Recap )
Overall, a productive, relaxing weekend. I didn't get the dishes done and didn't get to the grocery store, but these things can be worked around. And next weekend there will be a three day weekend and a trip to see my folks for the first time in months, which I'm looking forward to. Now I just need my shower back... =)

We survived the move but are still sans internet at the new place. Seems like it's always a 50/50 proposition getting things installed properly - either it goes flawlessly and we have internet the night we move in, or it's a total botch and we go for a week with no connection. We should have something by tonight, or possibly tomorrow morning. Hopefully I won't have to spend time on the phone not-quite-yelling at anyone tomorrow.

Thank all the powers above and below for my friends. We got everything out of the old place and into the new in about 4 hours (and that was with two trips!) and the old place has been cleaned and tidied and is ready for the landlord to inspect tomorrow.

The new place (which I am thinking of as Babylon - since it has a fabulous garden and we all know I'd be kicked out of Eden - and which Poeso wants to call the Sin Bin) is a disaster area of boxes and displaced furniture and other stuff, but it's starting to shape up. The kitchen is fully unpacked and restocked. I'll be taking a run at making dinner there tomorrow night. And thanks to Shar, the bookcases are unpacked and the front room is less cluttered than it was.

Of course, I'm 4 days behind on LJ and FB and every other internet sort of thing out there, and will probably not get caught up - so if I missed anything important...well why didn't you call me? ;P

And now, back to digging out my work in-box and enjoying that I'm not expected to lift and/or carry anything heavier than a notepad today.

Still on track for moving on the 27th. The house is partially packed and we've moved a few boxes, tubs and other bits over to the new place. Not a lot though, since we're trying to get the work on the house done before we drag a bunch of stuff over.

Last week we successfully had the floors in the laundry room, downstairs bath and family room replaced. I love how the slate in the laundry room looks and I think we did really well with carpet color for the family room as well.

Friday afternoon and most of the weekend were spent on scraping the "popcorn" (or "cottage cheese") off the ceilings in the entry way, front room, dining room and kitchen. Killian and Thumper were a HUGE assist on Saturday getting the last of those damned boards off the ceiling.

Last night the painting process started. Took me about 2 hours to get 90% of the front room painted, but it's the largest room, so hopefully the rest will go a bit quicker. It's certainly an experience working with a roller on a pole. Much easier than moving the ladder around, but challenging to get the right angle for the rolling to go smoothly, and tiring for the neck and shoulders as I get closer to the top edge of the ceiling.

There will be more painting tomorrow night (game tonight) and then finishing up/touch up work on Friday afternoon - and clean-up as well. Next week will be the big push to get the rest of the house packed up (read: tackle the kitchen) and as many boxes over to the new place as possible before the heavy lifting on the 27th.

Two weeks and I'll be landlord-free! *does happy dance*

Shar and I went to the title company office yesterday at noontime and signed a whole pile of documents. Then I went to the bank and got a very large cashier's check and took it back to the title company.

The loan should be funded today or tomorrow (depending on how slammed the bank is) and we should have the keys tomorrow or Thursday.

We're homeowners. *insert gleeful squealing here*

( The rest of yesterday )

Though I might be trying to commit some subconscious and very slow form of suicide by stress. Further determinations on that will be forthcoming.

leiland will be here soon and we're off to see the Admiral and his MishFish get themselves properly wedded. I'm sure there will be more congratulations to the happy couple if I get time to post tomorrow, as well as a basic wedding recap. It should be lovely, since it's going to be in Tilden Park in Berkeley.

So far, the day has started with not one, but _two_ wardrobe malfunctions for me - hopefully this means I attracted the gremlins away from the ladies in the wedding party and they won't have any issues! *crosses fingers* (My zipper broke - the slide, not the tab - on the dress I was going to wear and then my garters wouldn't stay attached to my stockings...so different dress, no stockings and I think I look presentable enough.)

I'm looking forward to seeing a whole bunch of my friends all dolled up and getting to see if I really did make jewelry that will go with the dresses, and not just make the girls squeal. (Which they did rather gratifyingly when they got their shinies last night.)

This marks the beginning of a run of, well, running about - almost literally. Today is the wedding. Monday we sign the loan documents and, assuming nothing happens that shouldn't, or doesn't happen that should, we will close on the house Tuesday. (I'm closer to squealing with excitement, but still won't believe it until I have the keys in my hand.)

Next weekend is Relay for Life - thank you mdyesowitch and hoppie for donations! - and then BayCon. Somewhere between now and then, I have to finish my outfit. I have the paint. I have the components to make the accessories. I have the dress cut out. Now I just need to sew the dress together and make the accessories. Shouldn't be all that time consuming, but I do need to get on it.

I should also start packing. Presumably, we'll be moving at the beginning of June. And I have an extensive to-do list beyond that as well (not to mention finding the time for 15 miles of walking/running each week!) but I'm not going to freak myself out with that right now. Instead, I'm going to post this, find my shoes, finish my tea and go to a wedding. =D

After a month of ups and downs, and more than one round of "this just isn't going to happen", it looks like the house is actually going to come through. The seller has done the repairs on the balcony and his agent has delivered all but three of the documents that Patti was expecting from him. I met with her last night to sign off on the seller's disclosures, the inspector's report for the balcony work and a few other things and we'll be meeting at the property tomorrow to confirm the repairs are to our expectations.

Shar and I have discussed (a few times) since the weekend and we've agreed that it's still the house we liked when we put in the offer and the house that we keep finding ourselves making plans for in long-range terms - not just, "we'd want to paint that before we move in".

So if everything continues to progress as expected, by the end of next week we'll own a house.

Of course, we know how much things can change in a week, so I think I'll save the champagne until the final documents are signed and the money has changed hands...

Yes...house related posting again. Ignore if you wish.

( Here's the latest )

Usually I love the heat, but the A/C at the office has been on the fritz this week and I'm finding that what might qualify as "comfortable" at home or outside, rapidly becomes "stifling" and possibly even "nauseating" when there is zero air flow and you're in a box with a window that gets sun almost all day. I've been drinking so much water that I get dizzy by midway through the day if I don't go find something salty to snack on.

It's more tolerable today since the temperature outside has dropped, but has gotten unbearable by about 4pm the last two days. Fortunately, no one really cares if I go home at that point...most of them have left as well. I really don't know how my boss is dealing with it, given that she's got more windows than I do and they wrap around the sunniest corner of the building.

The warm conditions also have the effect of turning my brain to pudding, or Jello, or something similarly squishy. (Honestly, all I can see is the "brain mold" that Alton Brown used in his gelatin episode - he filled it with panna cotta.)

Makes it nearly impossible to concentrate on getting work done, so rather than surf the web I might as well work on a bit of an update, since I haven't really posted anything since the last round of "GRAH!! House...Bastards...OMGWTFBBQ!" Hopefully typing complete sentences will get me back on track to work on what I was trying to do.

( All I Ever Talk About )

Since I posted rather quickly last night before running off to work out my aggravation on a rock wall, I figure a fuller explanation of exactly what the hell happened wouldn't hurt.

( Because I know my housing woes are EVERYTHING you live to read on LJ )

Looks like the house has pretty much fallen through at this point. Patti called again this afternoon when she found out that in addition to the other issues, apparently the seller's agent didn't ACTUALLY have all the bank approvals solidly in place before he let the seller sign the offer.

Back to the drawing board.

I was telling Lairian last night that I'm starting to think that the "short-sale tango" was written by Tom Lehrer.

Allow me to explain the prior post. ( Here there be ranting - much of it copied and edited from a conversation with Stride earlier )

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Doing the short-sale tango...

Both banks signed off on the short-sale at the end of last week. At the beginning of this week, the offer was forwarded to the seller and he signed. Yesterday, my agent was just waiting on a copy of the signed agreement to start moving forward with the closing process. I was THEEEEESS *squints and holds fingers together* close to buying a really big blender.

Got a message this morning (which actually came in fairly early yesterday evening) from my agent saying that due to some number fiddling between Seller and Bank #2, the deal has to go back to Bank #1 for re-approval. She knows this is "beyond frustrating" and hopes to hear something today (which we both know is silly, since no one works on Friday anymore...right?).

So we're there. We're right there...but not quite. Talk about a cock-tease. *rolls eyes*

But it does give me something to think about besides work - and it does give me time to get the end of month paystubs and bank statements that we need for the loan process to update the (now three months old) information I submitted back in January.

Theoretically, if Bank #1 doesn't delay too long or change the game on us, we'd be closing somewhere in late April - just about on track for what I expected back at the beginning of March.

Hard to believe it's been a month already...when did I grow patience?

Quick weekend review and house update:

Saturday was Pi Day and Pi Day is good. =) MMM....PIE...

Also, I should not be permitted to attend gem and jewelry shows unattended and without a strict spending limit (enforced in cash, with the credit cards left at home). Thanks to a tip from ladyofdragons, I spent some time yesterday at a gem and jewelry show at the county fair grounds. I was (thank goodness) smart enough to walk the entire exhibition hall and check each booth for interesting things before I started spending money, but it didn't stop me from probably shelling out more than I should have. But everything was so SHINY!!!

And of course, I now have ideas...

House -- ( ain't nothin' really changing but the date )

Heard last Wednesday that the file (offer, appraisal, etc) was being moved to a senior negotiator and that we should hear within the next couple of weeks, then promptly heard on Friday that it was being transferred to a different negotiator. I figured we'd settle in to wait.

Got a call this morning from our agent. She talked to the seller's agent and the file has been signed off by the negotiators and is being set for final review. We should have a final yes or no on whether we get the place within the next 20 days.

Must remember that this isn't definite -- we could still be turned down. That faint buzzing sound you hear is me trying to not get hyper-excited and start bouncing off the walls.

Long weekends are GOOD. =)

Saturday there was lunch (yay lunch!) and game (eep! uber-zombies!) and lots of chocolate. It was good and utterly un-Hallmark, which is perfectly fine with me.

Sunday there was yard work. One more can of green waste and I might be done with the heavy lifting part of that project. Then I just need to focus on maintenance...and possibly the rain gutters. Sunday there was also a missed phone call, because technology does not want me to talk to certain people, and lots of catching up on television. (Was it just me, or did this week's BS:G answer a bunch of questions I didn't even realize I had?)

Yesterday there was RockBand...and then there was dinner and relocation to AdmiralOrko's place, where I was introduced to Left 4 Dead and taught to shoot zombies. It was fun, but lead to some weird dreams last night. Then there was more RockBand.

In all, a nice, relaxing weekend. Exactly what I needed. *purr*


And a quick house update -- the appraisal and offer are in the process of being assigned to a negotiator for the first lien holder, and then the second will deal with their negotiations after that. Apparently there's a moratorium in place on foreclosures or sale of distressed properties from Feb 16 to March 16, so that might slow things down a bit, but since both banks have to work through the process, I'm not sure that it wouldn't take that long anyhow. *shrug* We'll get there eventually...

Did my taxes yesterday, despite technology* trying to tell me that it didn't care if I was motivated, (mostly) organized and had the time.
( Better than death... )( Safe as houses... )

I seem to be developing a routine of sorts -- spend the week trying to make note of all the things that I wanted to post about and then get time on the weekend to post, promptly forget everything that happened during the week, and write about the house hunt.

I'd love to break that routine, but really don't have much else to mention. ( Where I try to remember the week and thus make a liar of myself )
And that was longer than I expected...however, there _is_ house news, so I should update: ( Upping the ante )

( House hunting )

As for the rest of life, 2009 needs to start treating my friends better or I'm going to have to have a serious conversation with the management. I'm already annoyed that I can't do anything to fix everything...

Other than that, things roll on. Work is starting to hit the worst of the January insanity. I hate this time of year. And it looks like I won't have a work-related reason to go East this year (only sending one person, which I'm not the best choice, and the meeting may be held somewhere else). I'll have to figure out if and when I'll get out there. I'd still like to visit, but am tempted to wait till it's warmer...except that B's housing plans seem to be in flux, so if I want my usual place to stay, I'll have to get on the ball with that. (I owe her an email anyhow.)

And now Shar is giving me the "have you finished typing yet? You need to EAT." look.