JTOK Chatter > 2014 > Page 21

Year: 2014

Please keep every appendage crossed for us!

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(This should have been posted on June 15 but it’s been crazy so I forgot about it.)

We have had a few showings lately (for sale and rental) so had our fingers crossed that SOMETHING would work out. Part of us wished we’d get a good rental so maybe the house prices would go back up in a few years and we could sell for a profit (or at least without having to have a short sale) but then part of us wished we’d just sell the damn thing so we could cut our losses and stop being stressed about it all the time.

So imagine our surprise when…we got an offer! For sale! HOLY CRAP. Of course, we had imagined we’d be excited about ANY sale offer, but honestly, we were a little gobsmacked with the offer—it was for $7,000 BELOW listing, which was already a pretty rock-bottom price. Plus they wanted almost $6,000 in closing costs, an $1,100 stainless refrigerator, and occupancy with pets prior to closing at a low daily rate plus no deposits of any kind…

My first instinct (after the ball of stress immediately appeared in my stomach) was UMMMM, NO. Did they really think they could get all that because they know we’re desperate to sell? There’s no way I’m giving them most of what they asked for. But after talking with Roger and discussing things, we ended up only countering with a few minor changes (a small price increase, a decent rental rate and deposit, and a cleaning addendum). We were kind of screwed with the refrigerator issue because they wanted prior possession—and since they’d technically be renting, we needed to have a fridge in the house. We also wanted to take up our fridge and we’d need one in the meantime… AND worst case, if this deal falls through and we end up having to rent it, we’d need a fridge. So there’s more money down the toilet for this damn house. We figure we’ve put in about $10-11,000 in the past three years (shed, deck, stainless appliances, wood floor), not counting all the other minor upgrades we’ve done since we bought it. Just to make ZERO of it back since the housing market is in the toilet (when all is said and done, we’re technically set to lose about $37,000 on it—though with the short sale hopefully none of that will actually have to come out of pocket). But, as Roger said, it was stuff we needed to have done to even get people interested (pretty much every comment on the showings were about the floor and deck).

So now we wait to see if our mortgage company accepts the short sale offer.

Fingers crossed. Toes crossed. Arms crossed. And anything else crossed would be appreciated…

TiVo friend visit

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A TiVo friend was in the area so he came over for a visit with his wife and two of his kids. Tom and I had met him before in 2008 at a big TiVo meet but we wanted the boys to meet. 🙂

The kids all had fun in the police car, except it was a little crowded so the threesome didn’t last too long. 🙂

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His son, Josh, is one month younger than Owen. By now you shouldn’t be surprised at size differences. 🙂

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Refrigerator #3

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We’re taking our awesome refrigerator with us, so (long story) we had to replace it in case we got renters. This is the third refrigerator we’ve bought in three years. 🙂

Katie didn’t like the door being off—at first. She was confused yet surely thinking about how she could escape.

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Then she realized she could play with the buttons!

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It looks nice, but we hate it (compared to our AWESOME one).

Owenisms 46

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Owen: Daddy’s late.
Me: Yes.
Owen: Does he have a meeting?
Me: Yes.
Owen: Maybe it’s where they’re all sitting in a circle holding hands?
Me: Maybe. 🙂

Tom was pouring rum to make a drink and Owen wanted to smell it.
Ugh. It smells like medicine!

Tom: Owen, tell mama to suck it up.
Owen: Mama, don’t suck it.

At bedtime, I asked Owen if he had to poop. He grabbed at his crotch and said “FIRING UP!”

Me: Do you want some cheese?
Owen: Yes, I’d like a string of cheese.

Happy Father’s Day

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Our kids are so very very lucky to have you as their dad! You’re amazing!

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And of course, to my own dad, who I love more than anything…except I blame his rule on not becoming a grandpa before he was 50 on scaring me so badly he didn’t get grandkids until he was 60! 🙂

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And to my stepdad, David, who has a heart of gold and is a great addition to our family! And I just realized I don’t have a pic of just the two of us!

Owen’s first party without mom and dad!

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So awhile back we got an invite to a birthday party from a kid NOT in Owen’s class. I asked Owen and turns out he’s in a pre-K class in the building next door and sometimes they play together. It was actually the weekend of our garage sale so I RSVPed no, and the mom sent back this:

Okay. Thanks for letting us know. Kenrick really enjoys playing with Owen. Kenrick always tells me how nice your son is to him. Have a good day.

Awwww, sweet, right? Then later, I got this:

Kenrick really wants him to be there, would you like to drop him off at the party? And I don’t mind picking up your son and bringing him back to your home. I will make sure he will be safe and have a good time. I sound pushy but my son really enjoys Owen’s company. It will make him very happy.

We weren’t sure what we were going to do but man did that make us feel good. I mean, we know Owen is a nice kid, but to hear such gushing comments from another mom that hasn’t even met him? Ahhhh. So I talked to Owen’s teacher to see if I could get any scoop (like if the whole class was invited) and she just got the scoop that the parents were indeed nice and she’d trust Owen to go. Cool. So we RSVPd yes.

But, of course, remember that Owen has been a little more attached to us lately and always wants to know where we are when he’s awake…so we weren’t quite sure what might actually happen. So we talked to him about it, explaining how daddy would drop him off and then Kenrick’s mom would bring him home, and if he needed us for anything, we’d come get him immediately. He seemed okay with it, but then out of the blue would ask things like “What if I get hurt?” (we told him she’s a mommy and would know how to help him and she would call us to come get him) and “Do they have a bathroom?” (we assured him they would). And he asked us a few times if we were going to be there (we said no). I did call her and talk to her to warn her of all this and she was cool.

So, fast forward to the party and Owen was very excited. They had said we could bring him early (because the birthday boy wanted to show Owen his dinosaur collection) so we did…and Tom said he didn’t even look back after they got there! About the time he should have been coming home, I got a phone call from the mom asking if it was okay to take Owen to the pool with them because the boys were having such a great time! We said sure! (He didn’t have a suit with him, so just went in his shorts.) She finally brought him home about 3:00! So he was gone for like five hours! And didn’t have one issue! And the mom said he was just THE most polite boy and so well-behaved. Yay Owen!

It’s garage sale time again! Yippee.

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I know, I know…every time we have one I say I’ll never have another…but I can’t stand the thought of losing out on some cash so we inevitably have another when it’s time to move.

It didn’t seem like quite as much work this time, though—maybe because we’d already pre-sorted lots of stuff while getting the house ready to list. It was still work getting it priced and set up, of course—and things got hot and sweaty more than once—but it just felt like less work overall. (It also helped that a mommy friend came over to help me get started—I had just been STUCK.)

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We had advertised the hours as 7a-2p with NO early birds, so of course the first people showed up about 6:15.

Tom: Sorry, we don’t open until 7.
Earlybird: Can I just look around?
Tom: Sorry, we’re not selling anything until 7.
Earlybird: But I have to be to work at 7!
Tom: Sorry.

Guess who then said they’d be back at 7? 🙄 I think we turned away three people. We gave up at 6:50 because the street was full.

The haggling wasn’t TOO bad—I actually expected it to be worse—except someone wanted a discount on the very first item that I knew would go quick. Nope, sorry. (It sold full price about 30 seconds later.) And the people who would hold out an item to you asking how much it is when the price tag is right in plain sight. Or the people who just hand you money trying to shield the tag just hoping you’ll take the money. Or the people who asked for a bag for stuff they were carrying, then tried to bury other little stuff underneath. Or the lady who asked “How much for the whole bin of clothes?” And I said “Well let’s count them and then I’ll give you a deal. I can’t give you a fair price otherwise.” And she refused and said she just wanted a price. So I said $30 (there was probably 50 pieces in there and they were $1 each). She looked at me like I was crazy. Oh well. I don’t have time to deal with stupid crap like that. And I know it doesn’t make sense, but I’d rather donate it then take the pittance I’m sure she wanted to pay—which she never even offered anything! Frustrating.

The only other bad thing was the weather sucked. It was humid from the get go, but at least it was overcast. But about 10 or so the clouds disappeared and it was hot. as. hell. You could stand in the garage to get out of the sun, but then there was no air movement. If you stood outside to hopefully catch a breeze, you were in the blazing sun.

And as usual, some of the things that sold/didn’t sell just baffle me. An old swimsuit of mine that I put out on a lark sold…but a ton of kids’ toys didn’t. A St. Augustine koozie sold…but a Little Tikes slide didn’t.

Even though we said we’d go until 2, it was dead at 12:30 so about 1 we started packing up boxes to take to the donation center and we were all done by 2! The back of my car was FULL with about four huge boxes and a huge lawn waste garbage bag of kid clothes. There was even stuff in Owen’s car seat! I think that was worth at least six days of #40bagsin40days. 🙂

Class Pizza Party

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The last day of school meant a pizza party! And chips and pretzels and cookies and fruit and veggies and cupcakes!

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We got to take his name home. 🙂

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It was bittersweet leaving…I LOVE(D) Miss Ashley and really hated to have to leave. She is someone I could really see being friends with afterwards…which we likely would be, except we’re moving.

Owen picked Mexican!

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When Tom came home, Owen said he wanted to go out to eat! Since it was HOT and I didn’t have anything planned AND we needed to run to Home Depot and/or Lowes, we said okay and asked where he wanted to go.

His immediate response was the place with the TV, which means the sushi place. He says “I loooooove sushi. I will eat it again.” While that sounded great, we knew he likely wouldn’t actually eat it (though he would try another piece) so we asked if he maybe wanted Mexican for Taco Wednesday. Oh yes, he liked that idea, too. So he thought a minute then picked Mexican.

I thought he’d actually get a quesadilla because he has had one before and really liked it and has talked about wanting to try one again…but he decided on a taco. I forgot to request no lettuce, so I had to pick that off. And he wasn’t thrilled with the white cheese, but he ate it. And he even tried a bite of my rice and said it was pretty good so I put some on his plate—he only ate about two bites, but I was still impressed!

That said, he wasn’t overly thrilled with the taco, because I’m sure the meat was seasoned way more than he was used to (at home, it’s just plain ground beef). But he ate most of it. But was also eying Katie’s remaining PB&J crusts…which he eagerly finished.

So overall, a win.