Home Buying Tips from the Happy Pessimist

Just a little FYI for all of those who expect something different - buying a house is stressful and subject to change at any time.

D is driving me a little crazy because he is so stressed out over this whole house thing. I don't think he expected any of the twists and turns that we have faced. On the other hand, this is not nearly as bad as I had anticipated. So far the biggest stress factor in this thing for me is my husband's foul mood in response to the stress. He's not exactly Mr. Sunshine lately.

So, this is my piece of advice : to spare the sanity of those who love you when shopping for a house you need to expect the worst; if you think it can't get any worse then it probably will.

Yesterday we had the home inspection and found out that the house we are trying to buy will need a new roof soon. The cost of the house was so reasonable that I knew there had to be something wrong with it. I was expecting way worse than a roof actually. On the other hand, Dustin is now convinced that the world out to get him because just as things were going well, this popped up.

I'm telling you - expect the worst and you will be pleasantly surprised. Sometimes pessimism pays.

PS - Still haven't smoked.

House and Smoking Updates

Smoking - Still no smoking, which is quite the accomplishment considering last night's stress.

House - Source of last night's stress. We are now in contract and so we were scrambling to find all of the paperwork we needed. We might have new house soon, though. If all goes well we will be closing on my birthday. That'll be a nice gift.

Mac's Sweet Nails, Martha Stewart, and a New House

Mac got his sweet nails at www.softpaws.com. You can also buy a similar product at the big pet stores but they don't have the pretty colors. I figure if you are going to humiliate your cat, you might as well do it in color!

D and I put in another offer on a house. We really like this one and it is in our price range more than the first one we put an offer on. We made a very fair offer, so I think that we will probably get the house. I am pumped. I love the kitchen! I will bake and entertain just like Martha Stewart. You know I use to aspire to be just like Martha, but after her incarceration, I am not sure that she is an appropriate role model.

Talking about Martha's incarceration reminds me of a rather humorous piece of her website. Here is a live chat with Martha after she "returned home". http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?Type=learn-cat&id=cat19846. Notice how she never actually acknowledges that she was in jail. I really do like Martha and think she got a bad wrap, but the degree of denial in this live chat is funny.

Also, here is a smoking update. On Friday I was so frustrated that D hadn't noticed that I said to him "Dustin, have you noticed anything different?" He said "No" and asked what had changed. I didn't want to tell him, but he was begging me and I said "If I tell you can I reverse whatever it is that I have changed?" He said "Yes". So I told him "I quit smoking." He was really suprised and kept asking me when. He really had not noticed. Although he defends himself by saying he would have noticed on the weekend. Oh well. I didn't actually start smoking again either, which was quite a feat considering the crazy drinking that was going on at Chrissy's bonfire. I'll post bonfire pics soon.

Mac's Manicure

Mac was clawing everything. So I found these artificial nails for cats and they work great, but aren't they funny looking. Just call him Mr. Fancy Feet!

My Rejected Crayon Name

You are

What Rejected Crayon Are You?

Will He Notice?

So here is a little secret between my blog readers - I think that means Chrissy - and I. I quit smoking 3 days ago and I am waiting to see how long it will take D to notice.

There are two reasons that I am not telling him. The first is to test D. He complained about my smoking so much that I would have thought that he would have noticed right away and it is funny that he hasn't. It must not have bothered him too much. The second reason is that the longer I actually do go without smoking, the funnier this whole thing becomes, thus encouraging me not to complain about how bad I want to smoke and encouraging me to not light up.

I'll keep everyone updated!

Nature Poo and Why I Like D

I went camping this weekend and it was about 97 degrees out there. Dustin and I rode four-wheelers and all of the dust and dirt just stuck to our sweaty skin. I was dirtier than I have been in a very long time. In a way it was all sort of liberating to get all dirty and stinky and not be able to care about it too much considering we couldn't do much about it since there was not showers. It made me feel like a kid on a hot summer day having too much fun playing to go in a take a bath.

There were also no toilets. I'd like to say that peeing in nature is not a big deal, but the nature poop...that's primative. As I told Wesley in an e-mail, I will never again stare down my cat as it poos in the litterbox. I used to do that just to tick it off and it would look at me like I was a real asshole. Turns out the cat was right - I am an asshole. One feels very vulnerable at that moment.

The whole primative camping and four-wheeling thing reminded me of one of my favorite things about my husband. He has a way of getting me to try things that I am affraid of and getting me to step outside of my comfort zone. Each time he has encouraged me to do something that I am affraid of I end up feeling rather confident afterwards, even if I suck at it (sking and water sking included). I am just glad that I tried it and have more confidence afterwards.

I know that the activities that I listed may not seem all that daring, but please consider that I am uncoordinated, unatheletic, and a clutz. Those activites are a real risk for someone like me and I was genuinley affraid to try them all.

First Entry

I was quite jealous of Chrissy's cool blog (Chrissy just got married...YAY Chrissy and Aaron!), so I decided to make my own. I think it will be a good way to stay in touch with my friends across the country and the world. I find myself writing a lot of the same e-mails repeatedly to give people an update, so this could save time too.