Busy being appalled
Trying to formulate a reasonable response. Just not sure there is one...
Seen on a student's facebook page: "I'd never hit a woman, but I'd smack a bitch."
Seen in my alma mater's student paper: "Feminists need to choose: chivalry or equality."
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Lame. Weak.
Okay, so the title is actually a quote from one of my favorite South Park episodes, but it's also rather apt for the blog recently, non?
Last week was a little crazy - lots of 12 hour days at the office... the Board of Trustees came to visit and I had to help present on "Student Success Strategies". Went pretty well, I think. It was also the last week that students were able to drop classes or withdraw without receiving failing grades on their transcripts, so that kept me running around. Sometimes the only strategy for success is a timely retreat.
Next week I'll be in Massachusetts for a two-day planning meeting relating to a grant we're working on with 5 other New England colleges. Someone else is driving the van, so at least I'll have a few hours of knitting time along the way. And I get my very own hotel room - oooh aaaah. Right. In any case, I think it's a really neat project and I mostly enjoy the company of the people I'll be going with, so it's all to the good, I suppose.
At home I've been on caulk and spackle patrol. Hoping to get the "medieval" room ready for some paint. The walls are in such bad shape that I hate to expend the energy until we can afford to replace the drywall and maybe - I dunno - cover the subflooring? But I simply cannot live with the faux stonework, reddish-brown walls, and sky blue ceiling for much longer. I mean, could you? I thought not.
I'll try to remember to take before and after pics. Too bad we already took down the wall sconces and the dungeon door. (You only think I'm kidding here.)
Regardless, we still love the house bunches and bunches. Just needs some tweaking... and to stop leaking in the upstairs bathroom. But that's another story.
Okay, so the title is actually a quote from one of my favorite South Park episodes, but it's also rather apt for the blog recently, non?
Last week was a little crazy - lots of 12 hour days at the office... the Board of Trustees came to visit and I had to help present on "Student Success Strategies". Went pretty well, I think. It was also the last week that students were able to drop classes or withdraw without receiving failing grades on their transcripts, so that kept me running around. Sometimes the only strategy for success is a timely retreat.
Next week I'll be in Massachusetts for a two-day planning meeting relating to a grant we're working on with 5 other New England colleges. Someone else is driving the van, so at least I'll have a few hours of knitting time along the way. And I get my very own hotel room - oooh aaaah. Right. In any case, I think it's a really neat project and I mostly enjoy the company of the people I'll be going with, so it's all to the good, I suppose.
At home I've been on caulk and spackle patrol. Hoping to get the "medieval" room ready for some paint. The walls are in such bad shape that I hate to expend the energy until we can afford to replace the drywall and maybe - I dunno - cover the subflooring? But I simply cannot live with the faux stonework, reddish-brown walls, and sky blue ceiling for much longer. I mean, could you? I thought not.
I'll try to remember to take before and after pics. Too bad we already took down the wall sconces and the dungeon door. (You only think I'm kidding here.)
Regardless, we still love the house bunches and bunches. Just needs some tweaking... and to stop leaking in the upstairs bathroom. But that's another story.
Friday, October 19, 2007
More blather
I know, I know. I'm tragically boring lately. So sue me.
I've decided that the one major benefit of not having a lot of furniture is not having to move it when painting and prying things off the walls.
Now if only I could find more time to work on my little projects around the house. This full time job thing really gets in the way. However, next weekend will be my last Saturday at the yarn shop, so at least I'll have 2 day weekends to play with.
Tomorrow, however, I'm heading out on the residential life's weekly bus trip. I'm going with one of the math profs (who is also in my poker circle) to Salem, MA. Just in time for Halloween, eh? All we have to do in regard to the students is to count heads when we get on the bus at the college, and then count heads in the evening before we leave Salem. Hopefully it will be as easy as it sounds.
I'm kind of looking forward to the change in scenery - especially since I don't have to drive and will be able to knit.
My painting plans will just have to wait a bit longer.
I know, I know. I'm tragically boring lately. So sue me.
I've decided that the one major benefit of not having a lot of furniture is not having to move it when painting and prying things off the walls.
Now if only I could find more time to work on my little projects around the house. This full time job thing really gets in the way. However, next weekend will be my last Saturday at the yarn shop, so at least I'll have 2 day weekends to play with.
Tomorrow, however, I'm heading out on the residential life's weekly bus trip. I'm going with one of the math profs (who is also in my poker circle) to Salem, MA. Just in time for Halloween, eh? All we have to do in regard to the students is to count heads when we get on the bus at the college, and then count heads in the evening before we leave Salem. Hopefully it will be as easy as it sounds.
I'm kind of looking forward to the change in scenery - especially since I don't have to drive and will be able to knit.
My painting plans will just have to wait a bit longer.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Gimping along
It's been a busy week. Of course, that might be obvious from the total lack of posting here...
I have finally seen all but about five of the students I'm supposed to be monitoring. I'm still monitoring them, of course, just not firsthand. But the things I hear... oy vey.
I stained the two windowpane end tables I bought from a local guy via Craigslist. We don't actually have a local list, but the one for Burlington covers the whole state more or less. Mostly less, unless you're in the Burlington or Montpelier areas. But in the process of sitting on the garage floor and staining them, I managed to throw out my back. Joy. So they are still waiting for the coat of polyurethane. But I am gimpified by the unexpected bursts of pain whenever I do something crazy... like twist from the waist.
My mom and the older of my baby sisters came up for a quick visit. They brought my old IKEA desk that I got when I was 12 - it's kind of beat up, but beat up furniture is better than no furniture right now, so I'm happy to see it again. They also brought an old maple dining room table from one of our dead relatives. It needs major refinishing, but is otherwise in great shape. We also have three more sets of "stackable" bookshelves and some metal chairs for the back porch. This is way more exciting to me than it would have been a year ago.
Prior to their visit, I managed to talk Jay into a trip down to the booming metropolis of West Lebanon, NH so we are about $800 poorer, but now own a 26" flat screen TV, a shop vac, new pillows, large microwavable bowls, and fabric for curtains. My mom very kindly volunteered to make said curtains, so they are now hanging in our living room, covering the hideous purpley-red paint smears on the wooden trim left by the previous owners' paint job.
However, we also looked through the photos from the "history of the house" file that the previous owners left for us, and the house had been a wreck when they bought it 15 years ago. Underlying structure was there, but the walls and windows and everything else was pretty well trashed. So as sketchy as I think some of the cosmetic details are, considering what they started with, it's still fairly impressive.
In non-house-related news, we also took them to the big corn maze nearby. Beautiful weather Sunday, only took us an hour and a half to get through (which is about average), and we bought a bunch of preserves from the local memorial orchard which raises money for ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) research. My fridge now holds dilly beans, fresh salsa, and wild blueberry jam. Yummy.
Anywho... I should be working on my research into effective practices in basic skills instruction at the college level. Much more interesting than it sounds, I assure you.
It's been a busy week. Of course, that might be obvious from the total lack of posting here...
I have finally seen all but about five of the students I'm supposed to be monitoring. I'm still monitoring them, of course, just not firsthand. But the things I hear... oy vey.
I stained the two windowpane end tables I bought from a local guy via Craigslist. We don't actually have a local list, but the one for Burlington covers the whole state more or less. Mostly less, unless you're in the Burlington or Montpelier areas. But in the process of sitting on the garage floor and staining them, I managed to throw out my back. Joy. So they are still waiting for the coat of polyurethane. But I am gimpified by the unexpected bursts of pain whenever I do something crazy... like twist from the waist.
My mom and the older of my baby sisters came up for a quick visit. They brought my old IKEA desk that I got when I was 12 - it's kind of beat up, but beat up furniture is better than no furniture right now, so I'm happy to see it again. They also brought an old maple dining room table from one of our dead relatives. It needs major refinishing, but is otherwise in great shape. We also have three more sets of "stackable" bookshelves and some metal chairs for the back porch. This is way more exciting to me than it would have been a year ago.
Prior to their visit, I managed to talk Jay into a trip down to the booming metropolis of West Lebanon, NH so we are about $800 poorer, but now own a 26" flat screen TV, a shop vac, new pillows, large microwavable bowls, and fabric for curtains. My mom very kindly volunteered to make said curtains, so they are now hanging in our living room, covering the hideous purpley-red paint smears on the wooden trim left by the previous owners' paint job.
However, we also looked through the photos from the "history of the house" file that the previous owners left for us, and the house had been a wreck when they bought it 15 years ago. Underlying structure was there, but the walls and windows and everything else was pretty well trashed. So as sketchy as I think some of the cosmetic details are, considering what they started with, it's still fairly impressive.
In non-house-related news, we also took them to the big corn maze nearby. Beautiful weather Sunday, only took us an hour and a half to get through (which is about average), and we bought a bunch of preserves from the local memorial orchard which raises money for ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) research. My fridge now holds dilly beans, fresh salsa, and wild blueberry jam. Yummy.
Anywho... I should be working on my research into effective practices in basic skills instruction at the college level. Much more interesting than it sounds, I assure you.
Monday, October 01, 2007
No Shock
Finally got the deposit back from ye olde landlady. Of course, she told me that despite our previous understanding, she was keeping the 2nd half of the month's rent because her new tenants weren't able to move in right away like she thought they would be. (And this is our problem because...?)
But frankly, I'm so happy to be done with her (Except for the fact that we work together... sort of) that I don't even really care. Not having to deal with her brand of insanity except in a purely professional setting is fricking priceless. Or at least worth the $325 that she's keeping. Or so I'm telling myself.
How the hell did we live with her for 2 years?
It feels good to be free from renting. Very very good.
Finally got the deposit back from ye olde landlady. Of course, she told me that despite our previous understanding, she was keeping the 2nd half of the month's rent because her new tenants weren't able to move in right away like she thought they would be. (And this is our problem because...?)
But frankly, I'm so happy to be done with her (Except for the fact that we work together... sort of) that I don't even really care. Not having to deal with her brand of insanity except in a purely professional setting is fricking priceless. Or at least worth the $325 that she's keeping. Or so I'm telling myself.
How the hell did we live with her for 2 years?
It feels good to be free from renting. Very very good.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
And another
From the other side. You can see the really awesome northwest facing windows in the sunroom (the vertical windows) and in the kitchen and living room (the horizontal windows). Also, you can see a little of the garage/workshop in the back beyond the kayaks. The garage was originally located on the giant concrete slab closer to the house, but the previous owners has to move it because of some zoning law.
From the other side. You can see the really awesome northwest facing windows in the sunroom (the vertical windows) and in the kitchen and living room (the horizontal windows). Also, you can see a little of the garage/workshop in the back beyond the kayaks. The garage was originally located on the giant concrete slab closer to the house, but the previous owners has to move it because of some zoning law.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
Why there still are no pictures
Friday I left the campus retreat at 1:30 to sign papers. At 2:45 we picked up the UHaul (I hate U-Haul - they relocated the 17 foot truck we were supposed to have, leaving us with a ten foot truck... argh). Jay took that home, and I went back to school to work until 5:30.
When I got home, I found that Jay had recruited a student to assist in loading the truck, and after a little more work, we had a load ready to go. We took the student to dinner at the local pub/restaurant as a thank you, and then he left and we drove up to the house. We stashed all the boxes in the entry room and drove back to the apartment to continue packing and cleaning.
Saturday morning, we got up early to work some more before our friends showed up at 9:30ish to help load some of the really big stuff. We managed to stuff just about everything into the truck, and filled the Subaru with bikes, laundry, and miscellaneous, plus strapped the kayaks on top. Our friends departed, and we made another trip to the house. Unloaded, drove back down to return the U-Haul, ate lunch, returned to the apartment to finish cleaning.
My sister-in-law, bless her, is on vacation and decided to come up to help/visit. With her help we unloaded the last of the miscellaneous stuff from the car and then drove over to Parker Pie in Glover for some of the best pizza I've had in a long time. When we got back, we wrangled the mattress upstairs (tight corners on the stairwell) and set up parts of the kitchen. Jay tested the wood stove and made the place all warm and toasty. We probably made it to bed around midnight.
On Sunday, we were up before 7am and we worked on unpacking - or at least placing boxes in the appropriate room - until about 1pm. Then Jay and his sister went kayaking. I was supposed to take a break, but I couldn't think of anything as interesting as setting up the house, so I pretty much kept at it until 5pm - organizing, doing laundry, etc.
Sunday night we only made it to 9pm before we just had to crash. But the house is fully livable - kitchen is all set up. Bathroom is mostly set up. Bedrooms have beds made up. The rest can wait for a bit.
Today I've been busy trying to organize my work life for the next couple weeks. Go figure - doing work at work... The way this week is looking, don't expect to see any pictures until Friday, or maybe even next week.
Friday I left the campus retreat at 1:30 to sign papers. At 2:45 we picked up the UHaul (I hate U-Haul - they relocated the 17 foot truck we were supposed to have, leaving us with a ten foot truck... argh). Jay took that home, and I went back to school to work until 5:30.
When I got home, I found that Jay had recruited a student to assist in loading the truck, and after a little more work, we had a load ready to go. We took the student to dinner at the local pub/restaurant as a thank you, and then he left and we drove up to the house. We stashed all the boxes in the entry room and drove back to the apartment to continue packing and cleaning.
Saturday morning, we got up early to work some more before our friends showed up at 9:30ish to help load some of the really big stuff. We managed to stuff just about everything into the truck, and filled the Subaru with bikes, laundry, and miscellaneous, plus strapped the kayaks on top. Our friends departed, and we made another trip to the house. Unloaded, drove back down to return the U-Haul, ate lunch, returned to the apartment to finish cleaning.
My sister-in-law, bless her, is on vacation and decided to come up to help/visit. With her help we unloaded the last of the miscellaneous stuff from the car and then drove over to Parker Pie in Glover for some of the best pizza I've had in a long time. When we got back, we wrangled the mattress upstairs (tight corners on the stairwell) and set up parts of the kitchen. Jay tested the wood stove and made the place all warm and toasty. We probably made it to bed around midnight.
On Sunday, we were up before 7am and we worked on unpacking - or at least placing boxes in the appropriate room - until about 1pm. Then Jay and his sister went kayaking. I was supposed to take a break, but I couldn't think of anything as interesting as setting up the house, so I pretty much kept at it until 5pm - organizing, doing laundry, etc.
Sunday night we only made it to 9pm before we just had to crash. But the house is fully livable - kitchen is all set up. Bathroom is mostly set up. Bedrooms have beds made up. The rest can wait for a bit.
Today I've been busy trying to organize my work life for the next couple weeks. Go figure - doing work at work... The way this week is looking, don't expect to see any pictures until Friday, or maybe even next week.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
The funniest thing I've done in a long time
Last weekend we were over in New Hampshire for a friend's wedding - one of the old Utah horde who now lives in New England. A couple people we were hoping to see were there, including some friends who used to live 2 blocks from us in Salt Lake. Their oldest son is now 4, and they have an 8 month old baby boy now, too. Oldest son (OS) is one of those super-active skinny-ass kids who can't be bothered to eat when there is SO MUCH to SEE and DO and EXPLORE! New baby (NB) is roly poly and totally chill.
OS is so much fun to talk to - at one point he told me that he was the QUEEN of ALL EVIL! (He only has one volume - and that volume is LOUD.) In the last few years he has picked up obsessions with the various Disney heroines - as in, he claimed to be Ariel and every night for three months wore the mermaid costume his (conservative, Republican) grandmother sewed for him. She is now making him a Belle ballgown. He's also showing signs of liking Jasmine, who he insists is a doctor. Which kind of makes sense when you know that his mom works at the hospital and that Jasmine wears blue pajamas and a face veil. Sure. A doctor, of course. His mom isn't psyched that he's watching Disney at all - she extended her arm and tapped it to raise a vein to indicate her feelings about it - but she had to admit that the women were much better characters than the men. After all, rather to want to be Belle (who likes books and is nice to people) than Gaston (who is a raging idiot who beats up his friends).
ANYWAY. All that to get to this:
We encountered the OS and his father within the first five minutes of our arrival at the farm. They had been camping out in the field with a bunch of the other wedding guests. OS was wearing pajama pants (inside out) and a pajama top (backwards) with no shoes.
At one point he was climbing up Jay's leg and I looked at OS's skinny ankles and said, "I bet I could swing you around by your ankles."
"OK! YEAH!" said OS, scrambling over to me.
He laid down on the grass and I picked him up by his ankles and swung him back and forth like a pendulum. Kid weighs 30 pounds soaking wet. I swung him higher and Jay caught him by the hands like a trapeze artist and flipped him back upright.
"AGAIN! AGAIN! AGAIN!" OS says, already climbing back up my legs.
I reached down and caught him around his knees and flipped him upside down. My hands slid from his knees to his ankles... taking his pajamas along for the ride.
Jay and Dad kind of gasp and start smiling. Dad says, "So is this the kind of thing you do with all 4 year old boys?"
OS is laughing.
I look down and see skinny bare tushy swinging back and forth.
Jay's laughing, dad's razzing me, OS is giggling... I laughed so hard I almost dropped the poor kid on his head. Snorting and crying with laughter, I manage to plop him on the grass and collapse in a heap of giggles. Dang... just thinking about it makes me laugh again.
Five seconds after OS pulls up his pants, I hear, "AGAIN! AGAIN!"
I look up and OS has one leg extended and his hands firmly clenched at his waistband.
Love that kid.
Last weekend we were over in New Hampshire for a friend's wedding - one of the old Utah horde who now lives in New England. A couple people we were hoping to see were there, including some friends who used to live 2 blocks from us in Salt Lake. Their oldest son is now 4, and they have an 8 month old baby boy now, too. Oldest son (OS) is one of those super-active skinny-ass kids who can't be bothered to eat when there is SO MUCH to SEE and DO and EXPLORE! New baby (NB) is roly poly and totally chill.
OS is so much fun to talk to - at one point he told me that he was the QUEEN of ALL EVIL! (He only has one volume - and that volume is LOUD.) In the last few years he has picked up obsessions with the various Disney heroines - as in, he claimed to be Ariel and every night for three months wore the mermaid costume his (conservative, Republican) grandmother sewed for him. She is now making him a Belle ballgown. He's also showing signs of liking Jasmine, who he insists is a doctor. Which kind of makes sense when you know that his mom works at the hospital and that Jasmine wears blue pajamas and a face veil. Sure. A doctor, of course. His mom isn't psyched that he's watching Disney at all - she extended her arm and tapped it to raise a vein to indicate her feelings about it - but she had to admit that the women were much better characters than the men. After all, rather to want to be Belle (who likes books and is nice to people) than Gaston (who is a raging idiot who beats up his friends).
ANYWAY. All that to get to this:
We encountered the OS and his father within the first five minutes of our arrival at the farm. They had been camping out in the field with a bunch of the other wedding guests. OS was wearing pajama pants (inside out) and a pajama top (backwards) with no shoes.
At one point he was climbing up Jay's leg and I looked at OS's skinny ankles and said, "I bet I could swing you around by your ankles."
"OK! YEAH!" said OS, scrambling over to me.
He laid down on the grass and I picked him up by his ankles and swung him back and forth like a pendulum. Kid weighs 30 pounds soaking wet. I swung him higher and Jay caught him by the hands like a trapeze artist and flipped him back upright.
"AGAIN! AGAIN! AGAIN!" OS says, already climbing back up my legs.
I reached down and caught him around his knees and flipped him upside down. My hands slid from his knees to his ankles... taking his pajamas along for the ride.
Jay and Dad kind of gasp and start smiling. Dad says, "So is this the kind of thing you do with all 4 year old boys?"
OS is laughing.
I look down and see skinny bare tushy swinging back and forth.
Jay's laughing, dad's razzing me, OS is giggling... I laughed so hard I almost dropped the poor kid on his head. Snorting and crying with laughter, I manage to plop him on the grass and collapse in a heap of giggles. Dang... just thinking about it makes me laugh again.
Five seconds after OS pulls up his pants, I hear, "AGAIN! AGAIN!"
I look up and OS has one leg extended and his hands firmly clenched at his waistband.
Love that kid.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Yet another mini-update
Financing approved! We're now chained to a $150K, 30 year, 6% mortgage... or we will be officially next month. Just have to wait for the sellers to finish up the few repairs and inspections that we requested, and we'll be good to go.
I am really looking forward to having enough space for my books and my knitting stuff. Right now I live with stacked bags of yarn and leaning towers of books everywhere.
As a side note - for anyone who I am linked to via Facebook, I do want to keep the ties from here to there a one-way avenue. In others words, people who read the blog can be aware of that stuff, but I don't want the people I know only from the big F to mosey on over here. If they find me on their own, fabulous. And kudos, too, because I have tried Googling myself in a hundred different ways and I never turn up, which I consider a good thing.
Financing approved! We're now chained to a $150K, 30 year, 6% mortgage... or we will be officially next month. Just have to wait for the sellers to finish up the few repairs and inspections that we requested, and we'll be good to go.
I am really looking forward to having enough space for my books and my knitting stuff. Right now I live with stacked bags of yarn and leaning towers of books everywhere.
As a side note - for anyone who I am linked to via Facebook, I do want to keep the ties from here to there a one-way avenue. In others words, people who read the blog can be aware of that stuff, but I don't want the people I know only from the big F to mosey on over here. If they find me on their own, fabulous. And kudos, too, because I have tried Googling myself in a hundred different ways and I never turn up, which I consider a good thing.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Sicko
Headcold just in time for my first day of work yesterday. So far, so good. Still in the set up phase, and it's hard to be productive when you're blowing your sore red nose every five minutes.
Mostly I'm reading all the information I need to be familiar with ASAP. Also signed up for Facebook. (Yes, finally! My sisters have been on me to do that for awhile.) So if I had an email addy from you, and you were in the Facebook network, you might have gotten tagged. Just say yes, okay? If you are on Facebook and are looking for me, I'm now there. I know you're excited - don't lie. Ha ha.
No new info on the house yet. I'll certainly update when I know more.
Headcold just in time for my first day of work yesterday. So far, so good. Still in the set up phase, and it's hard to be productive when you're blowing your sore red nose every five minutes.
Mostly I'm reading all the information I need to be familiar with ASAP. Also signed up for Facebook. (Yes, finally! My sisters have been on me to do that for awhile.) So if I had an email addy from you, and you were in the Facebook network, you might have gotten tagged. Just say yes, okay? If you are on Facebook and are looking for me, I'm now there. I know you're excited - don't lie. Ha ha.
No new info on the house yet. I'll certainly update when I know more.
Friday, August 17, 2007
A few more tidbits
Inspection went very well. I highly recommend buying from a builder who doesn't like to be cold. Foundation solid, insulation good, no water damage, good electrical. The hot water heater and the furnace will need to replaced sooner rather than later, but we were expecting that. Mostly needs some cosmetic work - scraping, painting, caulking - deck needs to be bolted in on one side where it is pulling away from the house a little (like an inch) and the back corner of the garage/outbuilding has a bit of erosion that needs to be fixed. So now we're just waiting on the bank. Appraisal is scheduled for Monday.
And that's all for now, because I just came back from the eye doctor and my pupils are still pretty blown.
After we close in September, I'll put some pictures of the house on Flickr.
Inspection went very well. I highly recommend buying from a builder who doesn't like to be cold. Foundation solid, insulation good, no water damage, good electrical. The hot water heater and the furnace will need to replaced sooner rather than later, but we were expecting that. Mostly needs some cosmetic work - scraping, painting, caulking - deck needs to be bolted in on one side where it is pulling away from the house a little (like an inch) and the back corner of the garage/outbuilding has a bit of erosion that needs to be fixed. So now we're just waiting on the bank. Appraisal is scheduled for Monday.
And that's all for now, because I just came back from the eye doctor and my pupils are still pretty blown.
After we close in September, I'll put some pictures of the house on Flickr.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Meep
Home inspection scheduled for Wednesday. If that goes well, appraisal will be Friday.
I start the new job on August 20th. I will still be working at the LYS (that's Local Yarn Shop for you non-knitters) every other Saturday and teaching the occasional sock or lace class.
As for the job, I don't want to post too many details here, but it's basically a guidance counselor-type coach and coordinator for the at-risk first-year students. If they want to succeed, I help them find a way to do it.
Also, I deleted blog links for anyone who hadn't posted since March. If you visit here and notice your link is gone, that would be why. If you start posting again, please let me know, because obviously I liked your blogs enough to put up the link in the first place. There's still a few who haven't updated since May. If that's still the case in October, those will be cleared as well. I do like to remain mostly on top of stuff like that - otherwise I forget and click the link and get disappointed all over again.
Home inspection scheduled for Wednesday. If that goes well, appraisal will be Friday.
I start the new job on August 20th. I will still be working at the LYS (that's Local Yarn Shop for you non-knitters) every other Saturday and teaching the occasional sock or lace class.
As for the job, I don't want to post too many details here, but it's basically a guidance counselor-type coach and coordinator for the at-risk first-year students. If they want to succeed, I help them find a way to do it.
Also, I deleted blog links for anyone who hadn't posted since March. If you visit here and notice your link is gone, that would be why. If you start posting again, please let me know, because obviously I liked your blogs enough to put up the link in the first place. There's still a few who haven't updated since May. If that's still the case in October, those will be cleared as well. I do like to remain mostly on top of stuff like that - otherwise I forget and click the link and get disappointed all over again.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Made Peace
Came home to find another note from the LL - profuse apologies and telling us she'd like to come to an arrangement with us. I went over to talk with her because I desperately needed to not feel all stressed out all the time. Again, big apologies from her, hugs, congratulations on the house, encouraged me to stay until our closing (Sept 14th!) and offered to help us move when the time came.
She also explained a little better the source of her stress - her daughter's expecting her first baby (after a few miscarriages) in November - and admitted that she just freaked out and stopped listening and then completely overreacted by calling her lawyer.
I'm still a little less forgiving about the note she left for us yesterday morning, but I think I need to let it go.
Anyway... now we just need good news on the home inspection and from the bank. We meet with the bank tomorrow around noon. Wish us luck.
Came home to find another note from the LL - profuse apologies and telling us she'd like to come to an arrangement with us. I went over to talk with her because I desperately needed to not feel all stressed out all the time. Again, big apologies from her, hugs, congratulations on the house, encouraged me to stay until our closing (Sept 14th!) and offered to help us move when the time came.
She also explained a little better the source of her stress - her daughter's expecting her first baby (after a few miscarriages) in November - and admitted that she just freaked out and stopped listening and then completely overreacted by calling her lawyer.
I'm still a little less forgiving about the note she left for us yesterday morning, but I think I need to let it go.
Anyway... now we just need good news on the home inspection and from the bank. We meet with the bank tomorrow around noon. Wish us luck.
Checking In
We came to an agreement on price with the sellers. Going to sign papers in a minute.
We also found an alternate place to live for September.
Now we just need to get a house inspection and clear things through the bank. We were pre-qualified for $5000 less than we're going to need, but I don't imagine that $5K will be a huge stumbling block.
Will post more as it happens.
(I'm still too stressed to eat, but at least I got a good night's sleep last night.)
We came to an agreement on price with the sellers. Going to sign papers in a minute.
We also found an alternate place to live for September.
Now we just need to get a house inspection and clear things through the bank. We were pre-qualified for $5000 less than we're going to need, but I don't imagine that $5K will be a huge stumbling block.
Will post more as it happens.
(I'm still too stressed to eat, but at least I got a good night's sleep last night.)
Monday, August 06, 2007
Blindsided
This all just went down last night, and I got about 4 hours of sleep (instead of my usual 8.5) and I know that unless I get this out of my head a bit, it's going to keep me up for many more nights.
We've been living in our current apartment for two years. We don't have a written lease. Partly because our landlady told us she's never had written leases, and also because we had a very good experience with our previous landlady without a written lease and it didn't occur to us that this time might be different. (Not smart on our part, clearly.)
When we moved in we agreed to stay through May. In May '06 we agreed to stay through August. In August '06, we agreed to stay "through the winter", and that after that we said we would be looking to buy a house. She asked us in June if we would be able to move out by August. As we hadn't seen any houses we liked then, we said that we weren't able to guarantee that, but that we were looking for houses. So in June, she told a potential renter that the place wouldn't be available for sure in August. She never seemed terribly upset about this and just asked that we keep her informed on the status of our house hunting.
We've been keeping her updated. There just hasn't been much definite to share.
Last week we found a house we like and today we'll be putting in an offer. If the offer is accepted, then our real estate agent said to expect 4-6 weeks for the closing process. We wanted to wait to see if the offer was accepted before giving our LL a definite date. For some reason, we were thinking that 30-45 days notice would be appropriate. (Maybe because it always has been in the past...)
Last night LL showed up all pissed off and ranting about how could we forget it was the beginning of the month? We had forgotten to give her the August rent check, which admittedly was our error. She lives in another house on the property so we usually just hand it to her when we see her. She's been down at her son's house taking care of the grandkids this week, and we've been running around house hunting, job interviewing, and farewell partying for friends who are moving away. But we've been a couple days late before and she hasn't cared, and we've given her rent up to a week early before when she needed it before a vacation. So I thought this was not such a huge deal.
She apparently took it as an insult and thought we had decided that August was going to be our last month and that we had just chosen not to inform her. We apologized repeatedly, but she wasn't hearing any of it, she just kept accusing us of taking advantage of her. She asked us if we could be out by September 1st because she has someone else who is interested in renting, and we said that we didn't think so. We said that October would be acceptable, and she countered with "I can't do November!" Um. Okay.
Insert much more yelling that we were being unfair and deceptive and just wanted to do things on our own schedule without thought for anyone else. Especially since EVERYONE KNOWS that she rents August to August only... Everyone except us, apparently. So we're sitting on the couch kind of just sputtering because we're completely unprepared for this, and she just says fine, she'll talk to us later, and storms out.
Ten minutes later she returns to let us know that she just talked to her lawyer and is "serving us papers" to be out by the 9th of next month. She says this is more than fair, fairer to us that we have been to her, and that she's giving us more notice than we gave her, and that she should have known better because she only has problems like this with people who have too much education. (!!! She teaches, same as we do...) We asked for clarification on that last month's rent and the security deposit, and she answered, adding, "Because I'M not dishonest." Basically implying that we are, of course.
I'm more upset about that than about having 30 days to figure out our living arrangements.
Pretty much I think it comes down to all of us hearing the same words and interpreting them differently. It's an issue of communication more than anything, and I have definitely learned my lesson about getting these agreements in writing.
So right now, best case scenario is that our offer is accepted, inspection goes well, bank agrees to finance (we are pre-approved, but they have to decide the house is worth the purchase price), and we're in the new house by October. Worse case, inspection goes bad, we have to find another apartment for a year. Either way, I think we're going to end up with our stuff in boxes, sleeping in a friend's spare room for a couple weeks.
I'm not sure whether I want to cry or scream.
This all just went down last night, and I got about 4 hours of sleep (instead of my usual 8.5) and I know that unless I get this out of my head a bit, it's going to keep me up for many more nights.
We've been living in our current apartment for two years. We don't have a written lease. Partly because our landlady told us she's never had written leases, and also because we had a very good experience with our previous landlady without a written lease and it didn't occur to us that this time might be different. (Not smart on our part, clearly.)
When we moved in we agreed to stay through May. In May '06 we agreed to stay through August. In August '06, we agreed to stay "through the winter", and that after that we said we would be looking to buy a house. She asked us in June if we would be able to move out by August. As we hadn't seen any houses we liked then, we said that we weren't able to guarantee that, but that we were looking for houses. So in June, she told a potential renter that the place wouldn't be available for sure in August. She never seemed terribly upset about this and just asked that we keep her informed on the status of our house hunting.
We've been keeping her updated. There just hasn't been much definite to share.
Last week we found a house we like and today we'll be putting in an offer. If the offer is accepted, then our real estate agent said to expect 4-6 weeks for the closing process. We wanted to wait to see if the offer was accepted before giving our LL a definite date. For some reason, we were thinking that 30-45 days notice would be appropriate. (Maybe because it always has been in the past...)
Last night LL showed up all pissed off and ranting about how could we forget it was the beginning of the month? We had forgotten to give her the August rent check, which admittedly was our error. She lives in another house on the property so we usually just hand it to her when we see her. She's been down at her son's house taking care of the grandkids this week, and we've been running around house hunting, job interviewing, and farewell partying for friends who are moving away. But we've been a couple days late before and she hasn't cared, and we've given her rent up to a week early before when she needed it before a vacation. So I thought this was not such a huge deal.
She apparently took it as an insult and thought we had decided that August was going to be our last month and that we had just chosen not to inform her. We apologized repeatedly, but she wasn't hearing any of it, she just kept accusing us of taking advantage of her. She asked us if we could be out by September 1st because she has someone else who is interested in renting, and we said that we didn't think so. We said that October would be acceptable, and she countered with "I can't do November!" Um. Okay.
Insert much more yelling that we were being unfair and deceptive and just wanted to do things on our own schedule without thought for anyone else. Especially since EVERYONE KNOWS that she rents August to August only... Everyone except us, apparently. So we're sitting on the couch kind of just sputtering because we're completely unprepared for this, and she just says fine, she'll talk to us later, and storms out.
Ten minutes later she returns to let us know that she just talked to her lawyer and is "serving us papers" to be out by the 9th of next month. She says this is more than fair, fairer to us that we have been to her, and that she's giving us more notice than we gave her, and that she should have known better because she only has problems like this with people who have too much education. (!!! She teaches, same as we do...) We asked for clarification on that last month's rent and the security deposit, and she answered, adding, "Because I'M not dishonest." Basically implying that we are, of course.
I'm more upset about that than about having 30 days to figure out our living arrangements.
Pretty much I think it comes down to all of us hearing the same words and interpreting them differently. It's an issue of communication more than anything, and I have definitely learned my lesson about getting these agreements in writing.
So right now, best case scenario is that our offer is accepted, inspection goes well, bank agrees to finance (we are pre-approved, but they have to decide the house is worth the purchase price), and we're in the new house by October. Worse case, inspection goes bad, we have to find another apartment for a year. Either way, I think we're going to end up with our stuff in boxes, sleeping in a friend's spare room for a couple weeks.
I'm not sure whether I want to cry or scream.
Friday, August 03, 2007
Still Here
Been a hectic week or so. We found a house we intend to make an offer on, had friends visiting from out of town, have friends leaving town unexpectedly for a new job in Virginia, had a job interview for a newly created position at the college, been working at the yarn shop, been knitting, been reading...
Hmmm. Looking at that list, no wonder I haven't posted in a while.
The job interview went well. I'm one of their top two candidates out of 56 people who applied. The other guy interviews on Monday, and I should know about the job by the middle or end of next week.
We'll officially put the offer on the house after I know about the job, just for peace of mind sake, though we will still offer on the house even if I don't get the job. It's a little farther north than we had originally intended to look, but it's the first house we've seen that I felt at home in. It has views, three bedrooms, good light, a separate garage/workshop, about 3 acres, and in a quiet neighborhood that's really only about 5-10 minutes from the interstate, and 5 miles either direction to two good kayaking lakes.
Things might continue to be quiet around here until the next week or two play out, but I will be sure to update as I get new information.
Been a hectic week or so. We found a house we intend to make an offer on, had friends visiting from out of town, have friends leaving town unexpectedly for a new job in Virginia, had a job interview for a newly created position at the college, been working at the yarn shop, been knitting, been reading...
Hmmm. Looking at that list, no wonder I haven't posted in a while.
The job interview went well. I'm one of their top two candidates out of 56 people who applied. The other guy interviews on Monday, and I should know about the job by the middle or end of next week.
We'll officially put the offer on the house after I know about the job, just for peace of mind sake, though we will still offer on the house even if I don't get the job. It's a little farther north than we had originally intended to look, but it's the first house we've seen that I felt at home in. It has views, three bedrooms, good light, a separate garage/workshop, about 3 acres, and in a quiet neighborhood that's really only about 5-10 minutes from the interstate, and 5 miles either direction to two good kayaking lakes.
Things might continue to be quiet around here until the next week or two play out, but I will be sure to update as I get new information.
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