House Drama

We are 14 days away from closing on our house, and we won't fully believe it is going to happen until the papers are signed and we hand over the keys!

Today was the last day the buyer had to request improvements be made based on the findings of the inspection...no improvements were requested.... interesting...

Our paper guy (not realtor since we FSBOed) told us that the title company told him that our buyer just had a $25,000 settlement against him from a credit card company...since he stopped making payments. However, his realtor insists his mortgage company knew about this and is unconcerned... Like we said, we'll believe this once all paperwork is signed and money has exchanged hands!

We continue to make plans to move into the rental house. We've looked at several ovens and fridges on craigslist (need them for the rental house). Tonight we went to one guy's house who had both a fridge and oven for sale that he told us was 2 years old....um...at a zero behind that...he'd be lucky if they were 20 years old~! Too bad too because he'd deliver them for free!! So we continue to hunt for appliances and houses and pack boxes and cross fingers that this deal is really going to happen! : )

Goodbye Nina - Hello Austin

Our sweet friend, Nina (middle of picture in black) is moving with her husband and son to Austin, TX next week. Our mommy's prayer group had a farewell dinner at Ocean Zen last Saturday.


We had a FABULOUS time! It was one of those nights where you lose track of time, are the last ones to leave the restaurant, and can't remember the last time you've laughed that hard! Nina is an amazing person - talented writer, organic gardener/consumer, fascinating conversationalist, and funky dresser/decorator!


We will miss her so much at our weekly meetings, but know she'll find amazing friends in Austin.

Olympic Medalists

Addie & Jasmine received a gold medal last week in the team sport of couch vaulting. It is a very difficult sport that requires much concentration and straining. One must position oneself just so on top of Mommy's magazine box (extra points for scrunching as many magazines as possible) pulling forward and grunting on the couch arm until one suddenly tumbles unexpectedly forward face first into the couch. The real trick is to recover and move on before one's sister body slams you from behind. The clincher for the medal was Addie's one handed couch vault with sippy cup securely clutched in the other hand.


The girls also medaled in "Bad Morning Hair," unfortunately they only got silver since Mommy won the gold in this category!


Addie competed, but did not medal in chariot racing...she couldn't convince the dogs to participate!


Jasmine refueling post Olympic events! : )

Update on the Madness!

If all goes as planned we will be officially homeless on September 12th! The inspection on our house happened on Monday and the appraisal will be tomorrow. Our buyer's realtor says that there was nothing big on the inspection and that will be finalizing the contract soon with just a few small repairs requested from the inspection. So we'll wait and see what that looks like!

We have not found a house. We offered on one house last week, the guy made us wait 48 hours for a reply, and then decided to rent instead of sell...we were a little annoyed! There isn't anything else we'd like to buy (listed or for sale by owner) so we will rent for the time being.

I never realized how hard it was to rent on a month-by-month basis until I tried to get this kind of lease... Fortunately, an opportunity has come up to rent a house that needs some significant "face-lift" type work - which will be done while we are renting it - but the good part is they will do month-to-month and the rent will be significantly less than we are paying for our mortgage now...which $$$ to save for a larger down payment or larger vehicle. We may need to remind ourselves of these +++ when we're washing up in the rust stained sinks or cleaning the 1970's CARPETED kitchen floor. ; )

We'll continue to look for our "dream home" and in the meantime get packing!!!

One Big Secret

Hey - long time no blog - I know...but I've got a good reason!

WE SOLD OUR HOUSE AND WE HAVE TO MOVE OUT IN THREE WEEKS!

(breath)

AND WE DON'T HAVE A HOUSE IN MIND TO BUY BECAUSE WE WEREN'T LOOKING BECAUSE WE DIDN'T THINK OURS WOULD SELL SO QUICKLY IN THIS MARKET AND WE DIDN'T WANT TO FALL IN LOVE WITH SOMETHING WE COULDN'T HAVE!

(breath)

SO WE MAY BE HOMELESS!

Okay - so not exactly homeless because we can always rent...but really who wants to move twice! The neighborhood that we would like to move into has lots of old homes with unique and deal-breaking possibilities (foundation problems, sewer problems, asphetos problems, crack house next door problems, etc.). Yet, with that said, this is where we want to live and are willing to wait for the just the right house! We've already looked at 15+ homes in the last 48 hours since we need to put an offer on a house this week if we have any chance of closing when we close on our house. We are looking at one more for sale by owner today...and if it isn't the one...we'll probably be renting! So we are SUPER EXCITED that our house is under contract at a price that leaves significant profit for us - giving us the ability to put down 10% on a decent house.

So there's the quick and dirty update - babies cry - lunch to pack - and house to see at noon!

Life is More Fun When You Have a Sister!

So I bought a second car because they were fighting over the red one...it turns out I didn't understand. They want to be in the same car regardless of the fact each is a one seater - they squeeze and shove each other over until they are both inside!


Addie came up with this game the other day. Too hot to play outside - that's okay we'll just surf in the kitchen.


I was trying to take a picture of Addie making a funny face - but all I got was a sippy cup in my face. We'll just call this one an "art shot."