Yeah, yeah, yeah....

My mom was giving me a hard time since it's been two whole weeks since my last blog. I haven't written because it's been stressful and I didn't want to bore or annoy anyone with the details. But since you guys apparently want to know, here ya go!

As you all know, we got the house that we bid on , and Pete and I are more and more excited to move in with each passing day! Unbeknownst to us, when we got pre-approved it was for having just that house and not the one we currently own. That meant that we had to get approved all over again, but this time for two mortgages (since our house just hit the market a week and a half ago and isn't sold yet). Since the housing market is pretty much in the tank we had to jump through a few hoops to get our financing together and pretty much couldn't spend a penny for about a week. For those of you who know me well, that's hard! I couldn't even get groceries!

Then we had inspection on the new house last week. They went VERY well, but getting the utilities turned on was a feat in itself. Since the house was winterized, they didn't want us to turn on the water. And since the water was off, the gas company wouldn't turn on the gas because then the hot water heater would explode. They didn't let me know they couldn't turn it on without water until after I canceled at the last minute with one of my kids to I could be at the house because they wanted someone there (We'll be there between 8 and 5, but it will actually be at the precise moment that you are busy). Then, our real estate agent Ben finally convinced the bank to let us turn on the water. I called to turn it on and it turned out that the previous tenants had a $535 unpaid water bill. They wanted a letter from the title company stating that they would pay the bill at closing. I got that, and when I drove down to the Water Utility company they said it wasn't right. This paragraph could continue to go on and on, but I'll spare you the re-frickin-diculous details. It seemed as though just as soon as we solved one problem, another one cropped up. Keep in mind they were all mild and fixable, but it was annoying as they just kept piling up. At the eleventh hour I managed to get all but the gas turned on for inspections. I'm so glad that ordeal is over.

Also, we're in the midst of selling our house. Every time a realtor calls, I have to pack up all the kids I watch and head over to the park or something so they can have the house to themselves while they're touring it. Thank goodness the weather is nice! I also have to keep the house impeccably clean. We've had a number of people tour the house, and we've had offers from two sets of buyers. Neither of them were all that great, so we're holding out since it's only been just over a week. We just countered one of them last night, so we'll see. I just want this stupid house to sell so I can relax and not worry about whether my bed is made or the wood floors are shiny enough.

To top off the stress list I'm NOT PREGNANT YET! What the hell? We've officially had three tries. Yeah, I know lots of women take longer on their first try. But I'm not one of them. This should be easy, right? I've done every last thing the stupid books say, and its just not working. To add insult to injury, EVERYONE around me is getting pregnant and they aren't even trying. It's seriously aggravating. Plus, I'm due to ovulate again in two weeks, and I'll be in Phoenix while Pete's in Albuquerque. So, that's at least another month before we can even try again. I do all the things you're supposed to do. I take pre-natal vitamins, I keep meticulous records of dates that different bodily functions are occurring (I'll spare you the details), I eat right, I gave up soda pop, I've seen the doctor for my physical. The whole shebangibang. Needless to say, I'm irritated. I know, I know... stress should be kept to a minimum...keep it fun and don't fixate on it...blah blah blah! Well, I wasn't even a little bit stressed for the first two tries, and I was only mildly irritated for the last one. I'm pretty sure I'm just wigging out because of a combination of things, and I'll be just fine once we're all moved in and our house is sold. I just wonder why I spent all those years on birth control!

Well, there you go. The tirade that I was going to spare my small but loyal audience is laid out for all to enjoy! Sorry, folks. It was nice to vent, though!

We got the house!

For those avid readers of my blog-y blog, you already know that I wanted to get a new house. Well, the house we wanted was foreclosed on, so it was super cheap. The only thing was that the bank was basically doing a silent auction for the house. If we bid on it, we wouldn't know if anyone else was bidding too, or how much. So, after much discussion, we decided to play it Price is Right style. We bid one dollar over the asking price. That way if some other yahoo bid the asking price we would beat them. And we did!

After a little bit of paperwork, Pete and I will be the proud owner of a three bedroom, two bath, two-car garage, 1,500 sq foot house! It closes on April 17th.

We had our real-estate agent, Ben Levine (who is amazing by the way), come over and do a market analysis of our home by looking up homes that sold in the area over the past year and comparing them to our home and its amenities. Now, keep in mind that we bought this house for $96K just over a year ago. It was crap and we spruced it up quite a bit. After touring our house and doing his homework, he thinks we can list it for $129,900. He also said that while there are a zillion houses on the west side at this price point, ours pretty much stands alone in this area because we're in a desirable location. While my neighborhood is kinda in the campus ghetto, the key word there is campus. There are a lot of po folks such as myself who want to live near school. They are my target market. Apparently, my house should sell pretty fast. This area hasn't really been effected by the dump in the housing market. The house next door sold before it even hit the market two weeks ago. Let's hope mine does the same!

That said, if you know anyone in the Albuquerque area looking for a two bedroom, two bath, two-story house in the campus ghetto that's in pretty good condition, you should send them our way. Better yet, they can contact our selling agent, Ben. He is really a really nice guy, and he knows his shtuff. I'll post a link to our listing once our house hits the market this Sunday evening.

Here are some pictures that I've taken throughout our time in the house. I'd put updated ones, but my camera is broken. Show your friends!








Keep in mind I've stained the fence since this picture was taken.

Wish us luck in our new adventure selling our home!!!

New Job/House (maybe)

I was driving home yesterday, and the street I normally drive on was under construction. I was diverted to a nearby residential area where I saw a house for sale with an open house sign out front. I drove past it thinking how cute it was (and more importantly how it had a garage). When i got home, I told Pete about it and asked if he wanted to go look at it just for fun. He agreed it would be fun. We were bored. The house was cute enough, but nothing special. We talked to the real estate guy and told him that we were thinking we would probably move within the next year or so. We just chit-chatted about what was out there in the price range we were looking for (180,000ish). Nothing that he had at hand seemed really all that great, so he gave us his card and recommended a website for nm homes.

I went home and started perusing the houses when lo and behold, the exact house I'm looking for leapt up at me....and for well below our budget. It was a three bedroom, two bath with a two car garage in a well-established and decent part of town. The layout looked really nice and open, and nobody was living there. I showed Pete, and once again we decided to go do a drive-by just for fun. We seriously weren't looking for a home at all.


We went and peeked into the windows and OH MY GOODNESS. It is exactly the house we are looking for, only well below our budget. We wanted something with a really good layout, but with crappy out of date stuff in it so it would be cheap and we could fix it up. Besides, we probably would have ripped out the newer stuff in the house anyways. We might at well get some equity out of the deal. Check out that orange kitchen! HOT! Now we are seriously considering the move. Our mortgage will only go up a couple hundred dollars, if that. Which brings us to part two of this lovely blog...Pete's new job.

Pete will be graduating in May with his MBA. It's already been established that there's really no way for Pete to get promoted unless somebody dies, so he's been looking around for something new. Well, he applied for one of these said jobs on Sunday night, and Monday morning got an enthusiastic call back. They did a phone interview, and said they'd like to meet with him in person this week. They told him that he is pretty much everything they are looking for and more. Hopefully he'll get the job, because it'll mean a $10-15k raise. Woo-hoo!

I wasn't really looking forward to staying in Albuquerque. It's all right and everything, I just have no family here which sucks. I already spent 4 years in the military isolated from family, and I don't particularly want to do it again voluntary. However, Pete LOVES it here. I figure I'll stick it out for a while, but it would royally suck to have no family around with little kids (as I'm sure Erica can relate to). Where am I supposed to dump the kids at a moment's notice so I can go regain my sanity? Sheesh.

A picture's worth a thousand words

1. Go to www.photobucket.com (don't sign in)
2. Type in your answer to the question in the "search" box
3. Copy the html of your favorite picture and paste for the answer

Question #1
What's your first name?



#2
What is your relationship status?


#3
What is your favorite color?


#4
Who is your celebrity crush?

#5

What band are you listening to right now?


#6
What is your favorite movie?


#7
Who is your favorite character from said favorite movie?


#8
Name an alcoholic beverage.


#9
Where is your dream vacation to?


#10
What is your favorite dessert?


#11
What do you want to be when you grow up?
I typed in "Mommy" and this came up!

#12

What do you love most in life?


#13
Name one word to describe yourself.


#14
What is you future mode of transportation?


#15
Favorite food?


#16
What's your middle name?
I don't have one.


#17
If you could be any where in the world where would you be?

#18

Favorite cartoon character?

#19

What's something funny?


#20
Something you can't live without is?

The election results are in!

I knew it...


BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I thought these were neat...

Survey Says!

1. What is a difference between the last two people you kissed?
One is my dog, and one is my cat. Gaucho hates Izzy, but tolerates her because he loves me.

2. Do you believe that there is always room in your heart for your first love?
I guess. I haven't seen him in about ten years. I know there's room for him in my hope chest, though! All my serious boyfriends get a freezer bag full of space where I keep love letters, special memento's, and the like. He drew me a lot of cute pictures, and my corsage from the prom is in there, too.

3. Where is the next place you will travel to?
The Caribbean with Pete in may! Woohoo!

4. Why did you kiss the last person you kissed?
Because I thought I was going to drive to the Grand Canyon right after my last kid went home today, and I wanted to kiss him goodbye before I left. Turns out I'm not going, though, because the road is all snowy and yucky.

5. Have you ever worn the opposite sexes underwear?
Sure. Pete's boxers are quite comfy, and I sometimes wear them as PJ's.

6. Have you cried today at all?
Nope.

7. What were you doing at 8:00 this morning?
In the shower washing my hair.

8. When was the last time you cried?
That depends. The last time I legitimately had a good cry was when Ciera left. However, since the birth control went kaput, I've been a super-girlie wimp and will steam up at the first sign of anything emotional, triumphant, or heartfelt. Usually a television commercial or something good that happens on the news like a kitten being saved from the jaws of a shark.
9. Do you say sexy a lot?
No, but i say "flippen" a lot.

10. When was the last time you had a sleepover?
It's been too long, and I think this questionnaire may have inspired me to have one.

11. Do you have any gay friends?
A couple a few.

12. What is something you currently want?
I'm pretty sure everyone and their mother knows what it is I want. I never stop yapping about it.

13. When did you last throw up?
Actually, I haven't thrown up for a while, but I had a kid throw up all over the place today. He puked all down the front of his shirt, pants, and shoes. Then he spit out what was left in his mouth into his hand, looked at me, and said "french fries." Classic. I've also been puked on, but that's another kid story that I won't delve into right now.

14. Do you want to get married & have children one day?
Heck no! : )

15. Do you still think about your exes?
Occasionally. I'm on good terms with them all, but I haven't seen any of them in ages. They sometimes pop up in dreams, which is weird. Nothing gross or anything, I'll just bump into them, or they'll serve as a character in whatever the plot is. My dreams vary from first person to third person randomly throughout the dream, and almost always have some kind of plot.

16. How old were you when you had your first kiss?
My first steamy kiss was in eighth grade at Charlene McDermott's birthday party. We were all holed up in her bedroom, and her mom made herself scarce while we all played Truth or Dare and spin the bottle. The boy I kissed was a twin, and I'm not sure which one it was, Justin or Jason. The best part is, that my best friend (still to this day), Laura, was there too, and the exact same thing happened to her. We may or may not have kissed the same boy for our first kiss on the same day at the same party.

17. If you could, would you date a jock?
I could date a jock. So... what the frick is the question?

18. Ever made out in a pool?
Oh, yes.

20. Have you ever gambled in a casino?
Heck yes! I always give myself a budget, which is usually something like $25. Once I lose that, I'm done. However, if I win I can keep going, but I can never go beyond spending the original $25.

21. Do you like to have long hair or short hair?
I look retarded with short hair. Long with layers all the way!

22. What is your favorite place you have traveled?
Believe it or not, Gulf Port, Mississippi was pretty awesome. It wouldn't have been so great if I was just there for a weekend or something, but I was stationed there for a few months and spent lots of time there having fun with friends. It was faaantastic.

23. Do you like ice cream?
Yes, but not too much or my tummy will hurt.

24. What is your favorite color?
Green.

25. What was the last thing you bought?
A taco salad and some french fries at the zoo, which was promptly thrown up all over the place.

26. Where do you keep your money?
In the hands of the person who just sold me the random thing that I didn't really need, but I really wanted. That seems to happen to me all the time! Good thing Pete is a miser or we'd be flat broke.

27. What was the weather like today?
Partially cloudy, breezy, cold, early springish.

28. Where are your mom and dad?
Peoria and Mesa, AZ.

29. What did you want for Christmas?
World Peace.

30. Last vacation destination you went to?
Phoenix for a little birthday cake, shopping, and a whole lotta Bingo!

31. Do you want to cut your hair?
No way, it's just getting long.

32. Do you like to eat ice?
No, but i used to love the crushed Ice from the Chow Hall in Gulf Port. For some reason that ice machine made it just right.

33. What is your favorite place to shop?
I couldn't possibly name just one. It really depends on my budget and what I'm shopping for. Is this a trick question?

34. When do you go to sleep?
Usually between 10 and 11pm.

35. Who was the last person of the opposite sex that you talked to?
Kai's dad, Eric.

36. Would you ever consider moving to another state to be with the one you love?
Yes. We're considering it now, in fact.

37. Do you like sushi?
I LOVE SUSHI! Especially volcano rolls and Philly rolls. They are so decadent! I can't stand sushi that has really, really huge pieces of raw fish, though. I don't like the slimy, mucous ball feeling in my mouth. It has to be in a roll, and it can't be ginormous. Texture is key.

38. Do you lie?
I never lie, but sometimes I change perspectives.

39. Do you have empty bottles of alcohol hidden somewhere?
Why would I hide the empty ones? I toss those ones out, I hold on to the ones that still have liquor in them. Fumes just don't get you hammered the way the real stuff does. (I stole Raven's answer. Excellent!)

40. Are you over the age of 25?
Unfortunately. Blasted Father Time is creeping up on me.

41. Are you typically a jealous person?
No, but once I had a dream where I found Pete and my sister Katie making out in his truck. I opened the truck door, yanked Katie out by her shirt, and proceeded sucker-punching the crap out of her face until Pete pulled me off her. I woke up and hit Pete.

42. Own bright colored underwear?
Pretty much all of my underwear are brightly colored, if you must know. Including the tinkerbelle chonies I bought at Disneyland after getting drenched on one of the rides. It was something like October, and I was freezing. I bought some sweatpants and asked if they sold undies too. I was soaked to the skin. They said they only sold kids' undies, so I bought the size 10's in kids. They fit me then, and still do, believe it or not. I'm so proud. Those ar like my superhero undies (kinda like the ones from Calvin and Hobbes that he feels all powerful in).

43. Who is the last person to text you?
Tanya, Kai's Mom

44. What was the best movie you have seen in the past two weeks?
Pan's Labyrinth. I've already seen it multiple times, but Pete rented it to do a paper on so I watched it again. So good. Not appropriate for kids, just so you know.

45. Are you going to have a good night?
I guess. I dunno. Nothing special planed.

46. Do you have strange dreams?
Always, but they're usually pretty fun. I love the ones where I can fly. I have to get a running start first. One time I dreamt I was Superman. I saved Lois Lane, and then dropped her off at my Jr. High School field because I had some other heroic deeds to do. Also, I have a lot of dreams in the same geographic places. There was this one lot on a corner that I'd never seen and assumed I made up in my head that was a repetitive one, and then one day while I was driving around I found it. In real life I found the place from my dream. There were very specific landmarks, and they were all there. It was trippy.

47. When was the last time you did the dishes?
Last night.

48. Do you trust all of your friends?
Sure. I'm one of those people who pretty much trusts everyone until they give me a reason not to.

49. What are you listening to?
The humm of my computer, and Izzy sniffing and chewing her Nylabone.

50. Have you ever had your heart broken?
Actually, no not really. I usually do the heart stomping.

51. What is something you learned today?
I learned what taco salad and french fries look like after being digested for 5 minutes.

52. Are you happy?
Heck yes, but I'd be happier if I had a bun in my oven. If I get pregnant in the next couple months, I decided that for Halloween I'd be an oven with the door open and a cinnamon bun on my belly. It'll be flippen' AWESOME.

53. What did you do today?
Watched kids, went to the aquarium, went on the train over to the zoo, cleaned up puke, took the train back, drove home, naptime, did laundry, called Dan to let him know I didn't want to drive in the snow by myself, changed diapers, gave Kai a bath, surfed the net, and now this.

54. Would you have sex with the person you are with?
I don't see how we can have a baby any other way without spending a lot of money. So, yes.