We're still painting and will be for several more days. Mostly because I suck.
Back in the day, from ages 12 to 18, I attended Girls Camp with the girls from church every summer. Girls Camp was filled with your typical expectations of girls camping: matching t-shirts, skits, girls screaming about bugs, late night talks around the campfire, bras flying on the flagpole.
And every year there was a craft. I am not a crafty person. I wish I was. I have the desire, just not the patience. You have to sit still and pay attention to small details when you do crafts. You have to start out slowly and through consistent practice you become proficient. I always dreaded sitting in the big canvas tent with my pre-cut supplies to make whatever cute thing it was. I wanted the cute thing, but I didn't want to spend the time doing it. I would've preferred sneaking off to play poker with Tootsie Rolls as our currency. Don't ever tell my daughters that, especially Abby.
Painting a wall is like completing a craft, but on a larger scale. You have to make sure you cover every little speck on the wall. And the trickiest part is the edges: the wall/ceiling, wall/baseboard, wall/trim, etc.
I don't do slow and steady. I want to get this sucker done with and move on. So, because of this I know I have to tape every surface that isn't supposed to be painted, otherwise it will be. This probably takes me as much time as it would if I just painted slower, but I know I won't mess up too much if I tape.
It just all takes soooo long!!!!! Day 3 is over. Josh goes back to work tomorrow, so I'll be painting solo for the next 6 days.
I just have to remind myself that we are actually still on schedule. We're just not going to be done early.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Finally Making It Ours
So, since I shared just about every step in our process to buy our house, why not share just about every step in moving into our house? I know, you've just fallen onto your knees in JOY and HAPPINESS. I'm just a generous sort of person like that.
Well, Saturday we changed the locks and got our new doorknobs. They are very beautiful, by the way. Josh had to work that night and Millie had a fever, so that was all we got to do that day. Then on Sunday I spent five hours of my Mother's Day washing walls. The previous tenants' daughter was named Skye and she's six. I know this because she wrote her name and and age on the walls. Along with lots of other artwork. I swear that mother had better have had a good Mother's Day since I was left cleaning her kids' junk off the walls.
Luckily, today we painted over most of what I couldn't scrub off. We began yesterday and we'll be working a lot tomorrow as well. I'll post pictures when I can.
And, I swear, if any of my kids ever write on the walls, I'll do something. I don't know what, but something.
Well, Saturday we changed the locks and got our new doorknobs. They are very beautiful, by the way. Josh had to work that night and Millie had a fever, so that was all we got to do that day. Then on Sunday I spent five hours of my Mother's Day washing walls. The previous tenants' daughter was named Skye and she's six. I know this because she wrote her name and and age on the walls. Along with lots of other artwork. I swear that mother had better have had a good Mother's Day since I was left cleaning her kids' junk off the walls.
Luckily, today we painted over most of what I couldn't scrub off. We began yesterday and we'll be working a lot tomorrow as well. I'll post pictures when I can.
And, I swear, if any of my kids ever write on the walls, I'll do something. I don't know what, but something.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
The Bloggest Loser -- Week Three
Josh's weight loss of 1.08% was the winner of last week's competition. Good job, Baby!
Calculate your weight loss. Remember to use your current weight from last week as your start weight this week. And be prepared to tell me about your week!
This week was one of the toughest I've had.
Despite the wonderful news that our house has finally closed, my body has revolted against me. It's as if all the stress I've been feeling about everything lately has just hit me like a ton of bricks. And because of that, I now weigh as much as a ton of bricks. I had a 4 lb weight gain this week. I'm pretty sure most of that is water, which better give me a wickedly good weight loss for next week. Well, that and my new devotion to being healthy. I had to find some new motivation, so I dug this photo out.
This is me, May 2006. I know it's from four years ago, but when you're a fatty, it's hard to find any pictures of you. Somehow, the bigger you are, the better you become at avoiding the camera. I stayed this size until January 2008 when I began working out. It's hard to tell, but I was about 196 lbs. So, in the last year and a half I have lost 18.37% of my weight. Unfortunately, I've been at a plateau for about a year. A YEAR! I'm considering doing something drastic -- I might actually use a diet plan. Or join a gym. Or {gulp} find a hobby that will allow me to focus on myself so I don't have to feel like food is the only thing I can give myself.
On with the show. I love make-over week on BL. It is my favorite week of the season. Everyone looked so great and they looked so happy. I especially loved watching Mike and Daris. I think Daris is my pick to win. I really hope he does. Every week I root for him more and more. And what about Sam leaving? Did anyone guess he was the one that Stephanie was talking about when she left? I didn't. But, I can't help but wonder about why Koli went to Ashley about Stephanie playing the game against Ashley's mom, Sherry. (I feel like I'm talking about a soap opera.) That really bugged me that he did that, since it seemed to come out of nowhere. Now I can't help but wonder if Koli was trying to protect Sam by getting his love interest off the ranch so he would focus on the game and not her. Hmm. Anyway, almost to the Final Four. Who do you pick to win it?
So tell me how you did this week. Better than me, I hope. Anything that's working particularly well? Anything you've realized has to be done differently?
Calculate your weight loss. Remember to use your current weight from last week as your start weight this week. And be prepared to tell me about your week!
This week was one of the toughest I've had.
Despite the wonderful news that our house has finally closed, my body has revolted against me. It's as if all the stress I've been feeling about everything lately has just hit me like a ton of bricks. And because of that, I now weigh as much as a ton of bricks. I had a 4 lb weight gain this week. I'm pretty sure most of that is water, which better give me a wickedly good weight loss for next week. Well, that and my new devotion to being healthy. I had to find some new motivation, so I dug this photo out.
This is me, May 2006. I know it's from four years ago, but when you're a fatty, it's hard to find any pictures of you. Somehow, the bigger you are, the better you become at avoiding the camera. I stayed this size until January 2008 when I began working out. It's hard to tell, but I was about 196 lbs. So, in the last year and a half I have lost 18.37% of my weight. Unfortunately, I've been at a plateau for about a year. A YEAR! I'm considering doing something drastic -- I might actually use a diet plan. Or join a gym. Or {gulp} find a hobby that will allow me to focus on myself so I don't have to feel like food is the only thing I can give myself.
On with the show. I love make-over week on BL. It is my favorite week of the season. Everyone looked so great and they looked so happy. I especially loved watching Mike and Daris. I think Daris is my pick to win. I really hope he does. Every week I root for him more and more. And what about Sam leaving? Did anyone guess he was the one that Stephanie was talking about when she left? I didn't. But, I can't help but wonder about why Koli went to Ashley about Stephanie playing the game against Ashley's mom, Sherry. (I feel like I'm talking about a soap opera.) That really bugged me that he did that, since it seemed to come out of nowhere. Now I can't help but wonder if Koli was trying to protect Sam by getting his love interest off the ranch so he would focus on the game and not her. Hmm. Anyway, almost to the Final Four. Who do you pick to win it?
So tell me how you did this week. Better than me, I hope. Anything that's working particularly well? Anything you've realized has to be done differently?
Thursday, May 6, 2010
What NOT To Buy For M-Day
I don't know if I am the minority or majority in this issue.
One of the common gifts for Mom on Mother's Day (besides the obvious flowers) is some sort of "home spa" set. Bath salts, perfumes, bubbles, soaps. I'm pretty sure I'm not sticking my foot in my mouth by saying, I don't want those for Mother's Day. I think I've stood on my bubble-bath-soap box enough for Josh to have gotten the hint. I don't do baths. Baths are not like they are in the movies or on TV. There is a reality to baths that Hollywood has never truly explored.
So, to sum it up, baths are a lot of effort to prep for, they aren't relaxing and they are boring.
Get Mom a card for Mother's Day. Or some flowers. Or chocolates.
One of the common gifts for Mom on Mother's Day (besides the obvious flowers) is some sort of "home spa" set. Bath salts, perfumes, bubbles, soaps. I'm pretty sure I'm not sticking my foot in my mouth by saying, I don't want those for Mother's Day. I think I've stood on my bubble-bath-soap box enough for Josh to have gotten the hint. I don't do baths. Baths are not like they are in the movies or on TV. There is a reality to baths that Hollywood has never truly explored.
Why I don't like baths:
First you have to clean the tub. Remember the episode of Friends when Monica gets Chandler to love baths? He makes a comment at the beginning of the show of "You just sit there stewing in your own filth." I guess this reveals that I don't scrub my tub daily. Don't judge me.
Bubble baths don't make all the cool bubbles they do in the movies, unless you use an entire bottle. And even then they all melt quickly. Maybe the expensive stuff works well, but if you're able to afford expensive bubble bath for your long, relaxing baths, then I don't know how we are even friends since we have virtually nothing in common. I say that with love.
When does a bath fit into the schedule? If you are the mom at our house, the answer is, "It doesn't." The purpose of a bath is to get away from it all. I can't even go to the garage without Millie freaking out that I'm doing anything without her. (Heaven forbid I have a life.)
Baths are boring. You just sit there. I guess you could do some thinking, but you can do that anywhere: the couch, the car, the kitchen table, the toilet. In a bath, you can't fall asleep because you'll drown. You can't read because your hands will get wet and then leave water marks on your book/magazine. And what if you drop your book/magazine? Sucky.
So, to sum it up, baths are a lot of effort to prep for, they aren't relaxing and they are boring.
Get Mom a card for Mother's Day. Or some flowers. Or chocolates.
Or be incredible like my husband and buy her a new five bedroom house. That works too.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Lessons in Buying a Home
We've finally done it. We signed the closing paperwork. We're technically not closed yet. We have a some title/funding items that have to be completed, so we should get our keys on Friday. It may be because we don't have keys yet, but it's hard to believe that the 45 minutes we spent signing our names today was enough to end the wait of the last 52 days.
So, what have I learned?
1. Buying a foreclosure is worth the money, but be prepared for the wait. Although it's a lot less of a wait than buying a short sale, we had a 45 day closing and it still wasn't enough. Luckily, we started the process with enough of a leeway from our rental agreement. We're cutting it close, but we won't have to extend our lease.
2. Get a realtor who understands you. We started this process with a realtor who told us that the only way we can be competitive in this market is to offer $10,000 to $20,000 over asking price. If a house fit our needs on paper, he didn't get why, when we walked through the house, that we knew it just wasn't our house. With our current realtor, she happily walked through house after house. She helped us narrow down the homes that fit us on paper and she patiently waited for us to feel out each place. She stood by us as we offered $7,000 less than the asking price on our house and then helped us finalize the counter-offer of $2,000 less. That may not sound like a great deal, but the house originally sold for twice what we're buying it for.
3. Guard you credit score, but don't be discouraged if it's low. The way applying for a mortgage works is this: you have to have a high enough score to qualify for a mortgage. After that, it doesn't matter. But, if you're not high enough to qualify, you're out of luck. And having a perfect score isn't any more help than having the bare minimum score.
4. Cash is good, but there are lots of funding options that don't require down payments. Unfortunately, some of these programs are a lot of hassle. But, in the end they save your cash so you can use it to paint, or replace flooring, or replace lighting fixtures, or buy new doorknobs, or...
5. Beware of the overly-optimistic mortgage broker. We've had a lot of false hope because our broker used misleading phrases:
"24 to 48 hours" = "About a week"
"One or two hours" = "Next day"
"One final piece of information" = "Ha, ha, ha, ha! Got'cha!!"
6. HOAs are the most Communist institution in America. If you have the unfortunate opportunity to live in a somewhat new housing area with an HOA, you may know what I'm talking about. Even though you own your home and land, you must abide by rules set forth by the Home Owners Association. And, honestly, their rules are not too over the top, but being told by someone else what color you can paint your home or what size rocks you can use in your front yard or where you can park your car is pretty frustrating. I've never been a "Damn the Man" sort of person, but when I read through the HOA booklet (booklet, not brochure) I seriously wanted to rebel and yell "Damn the Man!" I'd post a life size cut out of Rex Manning himself, but I'll be fined $50 for having an unauthorized decoration that is out beyond the two weeks before and two weeks after the holiday time frame. Plus, I don't really know when Rex Manning Day is. The purpose of the HOA is to keep everyone as similar as possible. If everyone is the same, no one can be better than anyone else. I don't remember the American Dream consisting of "and keep everything in your backyard below the fence line so your neighbors can't see it, unless you write a letter asking for permission."
And those are a few things the last seven months have taught me.
So, what have I learned?
1. Buying a foreclosure is worth the money, but be prepared for the wait. Although it's a lot less of a wait than buying a short sale, we had a 45 day closing and it still wasn't enough. Luckily, we started the process with enough of a leeway from our rental agreement. We're cutting it close, but we won't have to extend our lease.
2. Get a realtor who understands you. We started this process with a realtor who told us that the only way we can be competitive in this market is to offer $10,000 to $20,000 over asking price. If a house fit our needs on paper, he didn't get why, when we walked through the house, that we knew it just wasn't our house. With our current realtor, she happily walked through house after house. She helped us narrow down the homes that fit us on paper and she patiently waited for us to feel out each place. She stood by us as we offered $7,000 less than the asking price on our house and then helped us finalize the counter-offer of $2,000 less. That may not sound like a great deal, but the house originally sold for twice what we're buying it for.
3. Guard you credit score, but don't be discouraged if it's low. The way applying for a mortgage works is this: you have to have a high enough score to qualify for a mortgage. After that, it doesn't matter. But, if you're not high enough to qualify, you're out of luck. And having a perfect score isn't any more help than having the bare minimum score.
4. Cash is good, but there are lots of funding options that don't require down payments. Unfortunately, some of these programs are a lot of hassle. But, in the end they save your cash so you can use it to paint, or replace flooring, or replace lighting fixtures, or buy new doorknobs, or...
5. Beware of the overly-optimistic mortgage broker. We've had a lot of false hope because our broker used misleading phrases:
"24 to 48 hours" = "About a week"
"One or two hours" = "Next day"
"One final piece of information" = "Ha, ha, ha, ha! Got'cha!!"
6. HOAs are the most Communist institution in America. If you have the unfortunate opportunity to live in a somewhat new housing area with an HOA, you may know what I'm talking about. Even though you own your home and land, you must abide by rules set forth by the Home Owners Association. And, honestly, their rules are not too over the top, but being told by someone else what color you can paint your home or what size rocks you can use in your front yard or where you can park your car is pretty frustrating. I've never been a "Damn the Man" sort of person, but when I read through the HOA booklet (booklet, not brochure) I seriously wanted to rebel and yell "Damn the Man!" I'd post a life size cut out of Rex Manning himself, but I'll be fined $50 for having an unauthorized decoration that is out beyond the two weeks before and two weeks after the holiday time frame. Plus, I don't really know when Rex Manning Day is. The purpose of the HOA is to keep everyone as similar as possible. If everyone is the same, no one can be better than anyone else. I don't remember the American Dream consisting of "and keep everything in your backyard below the fence line so your neighbors can't see it, unless you write a letter asking for permission."
And those are a few things the last seven months have taught me.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
The Good With the Bad
The Good News: We have a good shot at signing the final documents tomorrow. It's just a matter of a phone call to tell us to come sign.
The Bad News: We could be called at anytime to head to the office about 45 minutes away. To complicate matters, the girls have early out tomorrow, so we'd probably have to check them out of school so we can bring them with us.
The Bad News: Our tax refund, which we planned to use for most of our clean up of the new house, is currently being held until we send the IRS some information. Because they won't tell us over the phone what they need, we have to wait for a letter. It's been 8 weeks since we filed our taxes. Not cool.
The Good News: We should be getting back most, if not all, of our earnest money. Not as much as the tax return, but still it's money.
The Good News: Dad is coming back to town tomorrow.
The Bad News: He has to go almost immediately to report to his new job. Just a tiny, short visit.
The Bad News: The car died on Josh this evening before he headed off to work. Don't know if it will start for him in the morning.
The Good News: We have a large, shiny, vehicular target to site our guns on.
The Bad News: I have a lot of things to do around this house -- cleaning, packing, sorting, scrubbing, etc.
The Good News: I can get off the computer and do some of that stuff tonight. And I think I may actually do that.
The Bad News: We could be called at anytime to head to the office about 45 minutes away. To complicate matters, the girls have early out tomorrow, so we'd probably have to check them out of school so we can bring them with us.
The Bad News: Our tax refund, which we planned to use for most of our clean up of the new house, is currently being held until we send the IRS some information. Because they won't tell us over the phone what they need, we have to wait for a letter. It's been 8 weeks since we filed our taxes. Not cool.
The Good News: We should be getting back most, if not all, of our earnest money. Not as much as the tax return, but still it's money.
The Good News: Dad is coming back to town tomorrow.
The Bad News: He has to go almost immediately to report to his new job. Just a tiny, short visit.
The Bad News: The car died on Josh this evening before he headed off to work. Don't know if it will start for him in the morning.
The Good News: We have a large, shiny, vehicular target to site our guns on.
The Bad News: I have a lot of things to do around this house -- cleaning, packing, sorting, scrubbing, etc.
The Good News: I can get off the computer and do some of that stuff tonight. And I think I may actually do that.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Gila Valley Temple
Josh and I took the kids to the Open House for the Gila Valley Temple today. The temple is located about three hours away near several small towns that were built by LDS pioneers long ago. One of the small towns is Thatcher, hometown to our former prophet Spencer W. Kimball.
The temple was beautiful.
The kids enjoyed being able to walk through the temple. They each liked different parts of the temple. Emma's favorite room was the Baptistry. Abby's favorite was the Celestial Room. Matt's favorite room was the Sealing Room.
In five days Josh and I will celebrate our 11th anniversary. We were married for Time and Eternity in the Denver Temple. And now our family is sealed together forever.
All in all, it was a good day. A long drive, but a good day.
The temple was beautiful.
The kids enjoyed being able to walk through the temple. They each liked different parts of the temple. Emma's favorite room was the Baptistry. Abby's favorite was the Celestial Room. Matt's favorite room was the Sealing Room.
In five days Josh and I will celebrate our 11th anniversary. We were married for Time and Eternity in the Denver Temple. And now our family is sealed together forever.
All in all, it was a good day. A long drive, but a good day.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
The Bloggest Loser -- Week Two
Last week Josh won the week in weight loss percentage. We've got to be careful, girls. His body can drop pounds like nobody's business. He'll win if we let him. (It's okay if you win, Honey. I love you.)
So, ----> check your percentage for this week. Remember your original weight because you'll need that for future weigh ins, but for now your Start Weight will be your Current Weight from last week and your Current Weight this week will be whatever you weighed in at this weekend. Get it?
I lost nothing this week. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Zip.
I'd be upset, but I'm still trying to recover from this week!! I ate better (except for yesterday's trip to the Chinese Buffet -- oh, but it was good) and I exercised. But my stress level was so high, I don't know if I could have lost any weight without a Bob or Jillian to be here and kick my butt. And without a second me to take care of everything that needed to be done.
"Let me e'splain. No. There is too much. Let me sum up." (Name that movie.) Emma had a huge research paper and project due yesterday. The teacher told us Monday. 3rd grade + Research Project = MAJOR PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT. She also had rehearsals for the talent show auditions that were also yesterday. Dad came to town. (The secret is out..... he got a job in Ajo, AZ, for the Border Patrol. He reports May 10, and Mom and Dad got a contract on their house in Great Falls last night. Things are happening fast for them.) Dad came to town a day earlier than I expected, so I was out running around with kids when he got into town and things just seemed to go downhill from there.
Friday was not your typical "Freaky Friday." It was "Freakin' Friday." It started around midnight when Dad finally got home from being stranded in the desert for a couple of hours. Then we slept. Then we all woke up and discovered that the game board Emma had made for her project had gotten into some water and was ruined. Then I fixed it from scratch in 17 minutes. The girls were late for school. As I checked them in we discovered that we had forgotten all the game pieces for her project. The second I parked in the school parking lot for the second time that morning I realized the girls had forgotten their lunches. I went home and tried to do school with Matt before the girls' lunch periods, but he didn't want to, so he sat in time out for about 20 minutes. The mortgage people called wanting more info and said closing will hopefully be next Wednesday. We finally did a little school. I took the girls their lunches. I got back and finished school with Matt. Then we waited for Dad, his buddy Ron, and Jabon to fix Dad's truck. We went to lunch. We went to Emma's audition (she rocked, btw). We went to the store. We went to Tara's house for dinner. I began making guacamole. I went to take a pit out of an avocado and chopped into the tip of my finger. It bled. Tara fixed me. I nearly fainted. A few times. We had dinner. Finally, we played some Rockband.
So, yesterday wasn't the best day. It pretty much summed up the way I've been feeling all week. If I can get through this weekend better than I did last weekend, I may actually have a good start to next week.
On to The Biggest Loser. I just love this show. I was so moved by the stories of the people in Texas at the 5k. Both of my parents have Type II Diabetes. I know I'm at risk. Ironically, they were living in Texas when they were both diagnosed. And at the weigh in, I actually was feeling so bad for the underdogs: Daris, Mike, and Ashley. It's not that I wanted Yellow or Grey to go home, I just wanted the individuals to do really well. I wanted Daris to win the challenge since he was working so hard by himself. We'll see what next week brings, eh?
Now tell me. How'd you do? Don't forget your weight loss percentage and tell me how your week went. Inquiring minds want to know!
So, ----> check your percentage for this week. Remember your original weight because you'll need that for future weigh ins, but for now your Start Weight will be your Current Weight from last week and your Current Weight this week will be whatever you weighed in at this weekend. Get it?
I lost nothing this week. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Zip.
I'd be upset, but I'm still trying to recover from this week!! I ate better (except for yesterday's trip to the Chinese Buffet -- oh, but it was good) and I exercised. But my stress level was so high, I don't know if I could have lost any weight without a Bob or Jillian to be here and kick my butt. And without a second me to take care of everything that needed to be done.
"Let me e'splain. No. There is too much. Let me sum up." (Name that movie.) Emma had a huge research paper and project due yesterday. The teacher told us Monday. 3rd grade + Research Project = MAJOR PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT. She also had rehearsals for the talent show auditions that were also yesterday. Dad came to town. (The secret is out..... he got a job in Ajo, AZ, for the Border Patrol. He reports May 10, and Mom and Dad got a contract on their house in Great Falls last night. Things are happening fast for them.) Dad came to town a day earlier than I expected, so I was out running around with kids when he got into town and things just seemed to go downhill from there.
Friday was not your typical "Freaky Friday." It was "Freakin' Friday." It started around midnight when Dad finally got home from being stranded in the desert for a couple of hours. Then we slept. Then we all woke up and discovered that the game board Emma had made for her project had gotten into some water and was ruined. Then I fixed it from scratch in 17 minutes. The girls were late for school. As I checked them in we discovered that we had forgotten all the game pieces for her project. The second I parked in the school parking lot for the second time that morning I realized the girls had forgotten their lunches. I went home and tried to do school with Matt before the girls' lunch periods, but he didn't want to, so he sat in time out for about 20 minutes. The mortgage people called wanting more info and said closing will hopefully be next Wednesday. We finally did a little school. I took the girls their lunches. I got back and finished school with Matt. Then we waited for Dad, his buddy Ron, and Jabon to fix Dad's truck. We went to lunch. We went to Emma's audition (she rocked, btw). We went to the store. We went to Tara's house for dinner. I began making guacamole. I went to take a pit out of an avocado and chopped into the tip of my finger. It bled. Tara fixed me. I nearly fainted. A few times. We had dinner. Finally, we played some Rockband.
So, yesterday wasn't the best day. It pretty much summed up the way I've been feeling all week. If I can get through this weekend better than I did last weekend, I may actually have a good start to next week.
On to The Biggest Loser. I just love this show. I was so moved by the stories of the people in Texas at the 5k. Both of my parents have Type II Diabetes. I know I'm at risk. Ironically, they were living in Texas when they were both diagnosed. And at the weigh in, I actually was feeling so bad for the underdogs: Daris, Mike, and Ashley. It's not that I wanted Yellow or Grey to go home, I just wanted the individuals to do really well. I wanted Daris to win the challenge since he was working so hard by himself. We'll see what next week brings, eh?
Now tell me. How'd you do? Don't forget your weight loss percentage and tell me how your week went. Inquiring minds want to know!
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