There is something in the garage.
This afternoon I opened the house door to go into the garage and something definitely scurried, darted or slithered away from the door mat and behind a filing cabinet.
I shouted something along the lines of: "Aaahh, sh**." And then: "Oh geez, you better have legs!" Because that is the exact same spot where the huge, gigantic Eastern King snake was last summer. (Yes, I totally have a picture of that snake, but don't want to scare off any Grandmas.)
It was bigger than a Blue-Tail Skink or Anole (cute lizards that live in our yard) and smaller than a squirrel. It really didn't move in a snakelike way, thank goodness.
But what was it??? Does it bite?? Will it try to carry poor little Nugget away?? What if Alex tries to pick it up and carry it in the house like the caterpillars??
Mark finally saunters down to see what I'm hollerin' about and he doesn't even believe me! He looked around, rolled his eyes, and proclaimed I was SEEING THINGS!
Humph.
I think I may have seen it again, but I'm not sure, because I'm kinda twitchy every time I walk through the garage now...
Showing posts with label Random Nonsense. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Random Nonsense. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Still Kickin' Down Here!
Well, we are moved in to the new house!
The carpets are no longer perfectly clean, the kitchen vinyl has black scuff marks, the microwave needs cleaned, sink is full of dirty dishes and there are dirty hand prints along the wall in the stairs.
Almost every door in the house has a childproof doorknob lock. "We're hooomme..."
It is nice to have so much space for everyone to spread out with their stuff.
As I sit in our bedroom, there are NO TOYS scattered on the floor. Rule #1 in the New House: No toys in Mommy and Daddy's room!
Rule #2 is: TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES! And yes, it is usually yelled after the stupid orange, wet, sticky, clay/dirt is tracked across the beige carpet. This is a rule I would love to strictly impose, but it is very hard for all of us to remember!
I can't imagine why they even sell carpets in GA that are any colors other than dark brown, red or orange. Maybe black.... except what would the green pollen look like tracked in on black carpet?
Skip the black carpeting idea...
The backyard fence is finished, Alexander and Abbey (puppy) are very happy. It looks great.
We have furniture coming this week for the family room downstairs and hopefully the satellite will be hooked up by next week. The kids are missing their 'electronic nanny'.
Catelin may be in Disney-Withdrawal. I'm pretty sure that is a real diagnosis.
I say we are moved in, and we are fully functioning, but there are still many-many-many boxes to be gone through. Therefore, we still can't get a car in the garage. And there has been no decorating at all.
How can you decorate without furniture or curtains? So, it's really out of my hands at this point..... uh, huh... **nodding head**
I cannot even contemplate all the boxes that are in Mom's garage. We'll have to fetch those this summer.
"I can't think about that right now... If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow."
Name that movie!
I will try to get some new pictures of the kids up this week.
We'll talk to you all soon.
The carpets are no longer perfectly clean, the kitchen vinyl has black scuff marks, the microwave needs cleaned, sink is full of dirty dishes and there are dirty hand prints along the wall in the stairs.
Almost every door in the house has a childproof doorknob lock. "We're hooomme..."
It is nice to have so much space for everyone to spread out with their stuff.
As I sit in our bedroom, there are NO TOYS scattered on the floor. Rule #1 in the New House: No toys in Mommy and Daddy's room!
Rule #2 is: TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES! And yes, it is usually yelled after the stupid orange, wet, sticky, clay/dirt is tracked across the beige carpet. This is a rule I would love to strictly impose, but it is very hard for all of us to remember!
I can't imagine why they even sell carpets in GA that are any colors other than dark brown, red or orange. Maybe black.... except what would the green pollen look like tracked in on black carpet?
Skip the black carpeting idea...
The backyard fence is finished, Alexander and Abbey (puppy) are very happy. It looks great.
We have furniture coming this week for the family room downstairs and hopefully the satellite will be hooked up by next week. The kids are missing their 'electronic nanny'.
Catelin may be in Disney-Withdrawal. I'm pretty sure that is a real diagnosis.
I say we are moved in, and we are fully functioning, but there are still many-many-many boxes to be gone through. Therefore, we still can't get a car in the garage. And there has been no decorating at all.
How can you decorate without furniture or curtains? So, it's really out of my hands at this point..... uh, huh... **nodding head**
I cannot even contemplate all the boxes that are in Mom's garage. We'll have to fetch those this summer.
"I can't think about that right now... If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow."
Name that movie!
I will try to get some new pictures of the kids up this week.
We'll talk to you all soon.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Busyness
I know, I know. No new posts. Just what the heck do I do all day anyway? I should have plenty of time to blog.
We closed on the house Friday. Mom and Catelin started boxing up toys and books today. The movers will be here next Friday to move the furniture over to the new house.
The utilities are all taken care of and two fence companies have come to give estimates for a fence. Wow, fences are expensive!! And, here we were complaining that the backyard wasn't that big...
So, everything is rolling right along. We can't wait to get settled and get back into a routine. It just seems like everything has been crazy for a couple months now. We have all passed-around a stomach flu and cold virus. Even The Big Puppy was sick for a few days.
The Big Puppy is now called Abbey. Abbey and Alex are going to be best buddies. He just thinks she is great. She will probably be housebroken before Alex is potty trained.
The glamour of puppy ownership has worn off for Catelin, as she realized that she would actually be expected the help care for Abbey. *gasp*
A puppy is alot of work and you have to take them outside and walk around the yard with them and you have to play with them and feed them. WHO KNEW....
Well, better wrap it up for the evening and get some sleep. I may have to go hunt up some more boxes for packing tomorrow!
We closed on the house Friday. Mom and Catelin started boxing up toys and books today. The movers will be here next Friday to move the furniture over to the new house.
The utilities are all taken care of and two fence companies have come to give estimates for a fence. Wow, fences are expensive!! And, here we were complaining that the backyard wasn't that big...
So, everything is rolling right along. We can't wait to get settled and get back into a routine. It just seems like everything has been crazy for a couple months now. We have all passed-around a stomach flu and cold virus. Even The Big Puppy was sick for a few days.
The Big Puppy is now called Abbey. Abbey and Alex are going to be best buddies. He just thinks she is great. She will probably be housebroken before Alex is potty trained.
The glamour of puppy ownership has worn off for Catelin, as she realized that she would actually be expected the help care for Abbey. *gasp*
A puppy is alot of work and you have to take them outside and walk around the yard with them and you have to play with them and feed them. WHO KNEW....
Well, better wrap it up for the evening and get some sleep. I may have to go hunt up some more boxes for packing tomorrow!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
New Home!
It rained the whole morning of our inspection, of course.
Front Door. Dining room is to the left. Hallway to right leads to bedrooms. Living room behind me.
Living Room, with Breakfast area to right. Gas fireplace.
Breakfast area, door leads out onto the deck. To the right is the kitchen.
Kitchen, looking into the breakfast room.
Kitchen from breakfast room. At the end is the laundry room. Thru the doorway is the dining room.
We are not really digging the green formica countertops, but it will be easy enough to change when we're ready.Family room in the basement. Wet bar. Thru the door is the bathroom.
Catelin is playing a slot machine.
(Please Lord, make them come back and get the slot machine...)
Wet bar area.
This is the other end of the family room. The door out to the backyard is on my left. Thru that door is a bedroom. Around the corner to the right is the garage entrance, stairs up and another bed room on the front of the house.
Friday, February 6, 2009
A New House!
We have a hoouusse, we have a hoouusse, we have a hoouusse, hooray!
The seller signed off on the last counter offer yesterday evening!
For those of you who received spamish type e-mails from me with pictures of houses; it is the big beige two story house. Five bedrooms, big family room in the walk-out basement.
It is just the next neighborhood down from where we live now, so we don't have far to move.
This is one of the very first houses we looked at over last summer, before we were even seriously house-shopping. The size of the house and the way the floor plan is laid out is going to be perfect. The fact that the price kept dropping was appealing as well. Ha, Ha!
Our closing is in the middle of March. Now, we have to find a good home inspector and start pricing a fence for the backyard.
More pictures will come.
The seller signed off on the last counter offer yesterday evening!
For those of you who received spamish type e-mails from me with pictures of houses; it is the big beige two story house. Five bedrooms, big family room in the walk-out basement.
It is just the next neighborhood down from where we live now, so we don't have far to move.
This is one of the very first houses we looked at over last summer, before we were even seriously house-shopping. The size of the house and the way the floor plan is laid out is going to be perfect. The fact that the price kept dropping was appealing as well. Ha, Ha!
Our closing is in the middle of March. Now, we have to find a good home inspector and start pricing a fence for the backyard.
More pictures will come.
Friday, January 23, 2009
On the Home Front
Well, it's been a week and we still have not purchased a house. We are learning a valuable real estate purchasing lesson.
--- "It is not easy to buy a foreclosure."----
That's it, that's the whole lesson.
You would think, with all the foreclosures that banks are stuck with right now, that they would make purchasing one of said foreclosure homes reasonably painless.
I mean, come on, it's a huge purchase and involves legal contracts and real estate contract and mortgage contracts, so obviously it is going to be a pain in the tookus, but this is ridiculous!
This particular house is owned by a bank and being managed by an REO management company. REO (Real Estate Owned) means "owned by the bank". (In a nutshell) The company is paid by the bank to maintain and market the house. They are Real Estate Agents with extra attitude.
Our initial bid could not be submitted to the owner/bank for two days because it was not submitted on the correct forms.
Now EVERYONE uses the same basic real estate forms. It may have a different letterhead, but the bid-to-purchase forms are a standard legal form that all Real Estate Agents use.
BUT NOT THIS REO MANAGEMENT COMPANY. They have their own forms, SPECIAL FORMS. They will not read, process or forward a bid unless it is presented on their forms.
Their forms say: "I want to buy this house. I will buy this house sight unseen, without inspections, without preview, while all utilities are off. I will pay asking price. I will buy this house As-Is. The bank assumes no responsibility for this house or this contract, now or at any time in the future. I will pay all expenses and closing costs and I am an idiot.
You must submit this form without any alterations or changes. No exceptions.
They will present your bid to the owner/bank and you can expect a response to take up to 7 days. Or not.... Maybe.... If you sent the correct forms.... And it actually was submitted.... with all the other bids that just miraculously came in...
Even though the house has been for sale for a year, there are now OTHER BIDS for you to compete against.. " Would you like to raise your bid before we submit it. Decide by 1:00 TODAY...!
HAH!
Now you know why the banks are currently stuck with so many foreclosure properties!
This particular REO Management Co. is strictly working the Atlanta area and they represent almost 400 properties. I'm not even sure who to blame for the shocking lack of customer service; the actual Bank or the Management Company.
It actually says on their website and paperwork, that their 'preferred method of communication is e-mail, so please do not call us'. If you call too many times, like our very efficient agent, they will tell you, "send an e-mail".
Amazing.
Still waiting.
--- "It is not easy to buy a foreclosure."----
That's it, that's the whole lesson.
You would think, with all the foreclosures that banks are stuck with right now, that they would make purchasing one of said foreclosure homes reasonably painless.
I mean, come on, it's a huge purchase and involves legal contracts and real estate contract and mortgage contracts, so obviously it is going to be a pain in the tookus, but this is ridiculous!
This particular house is owned by a bank and being managed by an REO management company. REO (Real Estate Owned) means "owned by the bank". (In a nutshell) The company is paid by the bank to maintain and market the house. They are Real Estate Agents with extra attitude.
Our initial bid could not be submitted to the owner/bank for two days because it was not submitted on the correct forms.
Now EVERYONE uses the same basic real estate forms. It may have a different letterhead, but the bid-to-purchase forms are a standard legal form that all Real Estate Agents use.
BUT NOT THIS REO MANAGEMENT COMPANY. They have their own forms, SPECIAL FORMS. They will not read, process or forward a bid unless it is presented on their forms.
Their forms say: "I want to buy this house. I will buy this house sight unseen, without inspections, without preview, while all utilities are off. I will pay asking price. I will buy this house As-Is. The bank assumes no responsibility for this house or this contract, now or at any time in the future. I will pay all expenses and closing costs and I am an idiot.
You must submit this form without any alterations or changes. No exceptions.
They will present your bid to the owner/bank and you can expect a response to take up to 7 days. Or not.... Maybe.... If you sent the correct forms.... And it actually was submitted.... with all the other bids that just miraculously came in...
Even though the house has been for sale for a year, there are now OTHER BIDS for you to compete against.. " Would you like to raise your bid before we submit it. Decide by 1:00 TODAY...!
HAH!
Now you know why the banks are currently stuck with so many foreclosure properties!
This particular REO Management Co. is strictly working the Atlanta area and they represent almost 400 properties. I'm not even sure who to blame for the shocking lack of customer service; the actual Bank or the Management Company.
It actually says on their website and paperwork, that their 'preferred method of communication is e-mail, so please do not call us'. If you call too many times, like our very efficient agent, they will tell you, "send an e-mail".
Amazing.
Still waiting.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Sunday
Well, no new house yet. The bid we made yesterday was not accepted. We offered a fair price, asked for a percentage of closing costs and a 'termite bond' (customary in GA). They countered with 'asking price', no closing and no termite bond. Hmm..
This house is about $30,000.00 overpriced, needs a new roof, 4 windows replaced, landscaping and some updating. Apparently the owners are upside-down by about $17,000.00. No wonder it's been for sale for over a year. Our agent said: 'if that's all they can do the house will sit empty for all of '09 too.' Too bad.
But, we have another bid we are going to send out tomorrow so we'll see.
We are going to shoot LOW on the first offer and see what happens.
(Lori & Rita: This house has a really good paint job... hint, hint...)
This house is about $30,000.00 overpriced, needs a new roof, 4 windows replaced, landscaping and some updating. Apparently the owners are upside-down by about $17,000.00. No wonder it's been for sale for over a year. Our agent said: 'if that's all they can do the house will sit empty for all of '09 too.' Too bad.
But, we have another bid we are going to send out tomorrow so we'll see.
We are going to shoot LOW on the first offer and see what happens.
(Lori & Rita: This house has a really good paint job... hint, hint...)
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Saturday Night
Not too much going on this evening. Mark's working, Alex just went to bed and Catelin is watching a movie.
It's been an uneventful day. It was about 23 degrees this morning and stayed cold all day so we just stayed in and didn't do much. It was actually sleeting this evening, Wow!
We put an offer on a house today so hopefully we'll hear something back tomorrow. This is actually the second offer we have made, but the first one was a real "low-ball" offer on a new construction because we heard that the builder had some foreclosures in the paper. We did not really expect him to take the offer; and he didn't... but with the real estate market like it is around here right now, you just never can tell....
The house we put the offer on today is nice, but it might need a little bit of work. It's been for sale for over a year.
Stucco, 'European' style, 1996, 4 bedrooms, good sized kitchen, fresh paint, big yard, has basement (hard to find in this area), stubbed for bath in basement. It would be a good choice for us, it has lots of potential.
There are no pictures of it online, so it's not one of the houses I e-mailed to family members.
So, that's been our excitement for the week, looking at a few more houses and deciding what to do next! It's been fun.
It's been an uneventful day. It was about 23 degrees this morning and stayed cold all day so we just stayed in and didn't do much. It was actually sleeting this evening, Wow!
We put an offer on a house today so hopefully we'll hear something back tomorrow. This is actually the second offer we have made, but the first one was a real "low-ball" offer on a new construction because we heard that the builder had some foreclosures in the paper. We did not really expect him to take the offer; and he didn't... but with the real estate market like it is around here right now, you just never can tell....
The house we put the offer on today is nice, but it might need a little bit of work. It's been for sale for over a year.
Stucco, 'European' style, 1996, 4 bedrooms, good sized kitchen, fresh paint, big yard, has basement (hard to find in this area), stubbed for bath in basement. It would be a good choice for us, it has lots of potential.
There are no pictures of it online, so it's not one of the houses I e-mailed to family members.
So, that's been our excitement for the week, looking at a few more houses and deciding what to do next! It's been fun.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Saving For Therapy
As we pull into the driveway this evening, we see that the neighbor's cat has left us a lovely gift. A tasty, dead squirrel. Headless.
She loves us very much...
As we get out of the car, Mark decides to "show" Catelin the squirrel.
So, you already know what kind of father my children have.......
He proceeds to chase Catelin around the driveway slinging a dead, headless squirrel by the tail.
She is shrieking bloody murder: "Mom, Mom, help, make him stooooopppp, why'd you marry him anyway???!!!!" AAAAAHHHHHH, Help!!
She shoves poor bewildered Alex down on the concrete. He is already confused & frightened, not sure what is going on. Usually if Catelin cries, he cries too (just in case).
She is screaming like a maniac, Alex is bawling HIS head off and Mark is running after Catelin yelling "EEEEWWWWW!".
The peace and quiet of our little neighborhood is shattered.
Don't you think the neighbors just love us?
Such is my life, dead squirrels and all.
She loves us very much...
As we get out of the car, Mark decides to "show" Catelin the squirrel.
So, you already know what kind of father my children have.......
He proceeds to chase Catelin around the driveway slinging a dead, headless squirrel by the tail.
She is shrieking bloody murder: "Mom, Mom, help, make him stooooopppp, why'd you marry him anyway???!!!!" AAAAAHHHHHH, Help!!
She shoves poor bewildered Alex down on the concrete. He is already confused & frightened, not sure what is going on. Usually if Catelin cries, he cries too (just in case).
She is screaming like a maniac, Alex is bawling HIS head off and Mark is running after Catelin yelling "EEEEWWWWW!".
The peace and quiet of our little neighborhood is shattered.
Don't you think the neighbors just love us?
Such is my life, dead squirrels and all.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
You Can't Beat Free!
Back in October, when I first started thinking about Christmas shopping, Catelin was going on and on about her friend's Nintendo Wii. She wanted a Wii for Christmas. Well, I thought, it could be a gift for the whole family to use, Mark could play with Catelin with it, etc, etc.
Then I priced them. Not only were they hard to find, but they were $250 for the basic console with one traditional controller and one "action" controller. Well, when you start adding in all the second controllers and a couple games to play, it became quite pricey.
So, we decided, maybe not this year. Maybe next year, when the prices start dropping and we have a big family room to play in, etc...
BUT, while feeding my blogging addiction I came across a Blog Giveaway. Blog giveaways, they are so much fun and I never win anything, and Mark just laughs at me, but I'm always hopeful. One of these days I will win a Kitchenaid Mixer from http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/!
Sooo, http://www.noobie.com/ is having a Wii giveaway for Christmas!! Fantastic! I sign up, BUT, if I "tell my friends" about it I get 5 extra entries. Well, of course I pimped out a few e-mail addresses so I could get 5 extra entries!
I warned Mom that I had done this, and told her she could just delete any junk looking stuff.
Well, SHE ENTERED THE WII GIVEAWAY TOO! And out of 8,000 entries.............
No I didn't win, of course not................ MOM won the Wii giveaway! How cool is that!!!!!!!!!!
Then I priced them. Not only were they hard to find, but they were $250 for the basic console with one traditional controller and one "action" controller. Well, when you start adding in all the second controllers and a couple games to play, it became quite pricey.
So, we decided, maybe not this year. Maybe next year, when the prices start dropping and we have a big family room to play in, etc...
BUT, while feeding my blogging addiction I came across a Blog Giveaway. Blog giveaways, they are so much fun and I never win anything, and Mark just laughs at me, but I'm always hopeful. One of these days I will win a Kitchenaid Mixer from http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/!
Sooo, http://www.noobie.com/ is having a Wii giveaway for Christmas!! Fantastic! I sign up, BUT, if I "tell my friends" about it I get 5 extra entries. Well, of course I pimped out a few e-mail addresses so I could get 5 extra entries!
I warned Mom that I had done this, and told her she could just delete any junk looking stuff.
Well, SHE ENTERED THE WII GIVEAWAY TOO! And out of 8,000 entries.............
No I didn't win, of course not................ MOM won the Wii giveaway! How cool is that!!!!!!!!!!
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