so sad

Well, we didn't really get out-bid this time.  This time the other offer was CASH.  Basically the same amount, but no financing required.  It really sucks.  There is just no way to compete with that.  Our realtor says that this is not that common, and that it is highly likely we won't have to deal with this situation again.  She also said she was really confident that we were going to get the house.  She was surprised to hear that we didn't. 

 

So- phooey.  Another broken heart over a house. 

 

We worked out our frustration last night after we heard by putting up our tile backsplash.  Now we just have to grout it and it will be done. 

Happy baby! and sitting on pins and needles

My co-worker had her baby this morning and both she and the baby girl are doing just fine.  Congrats to them!

 

Also, thought I'd keep you all in the loop regarding our house hunting.  We made an offer on a house today.  They will be looking at our offer and at least one other offer this evening.  It is such a roller coaster making these offers.  We've got to try to resign ourselves to the fact that we may not get it, but at the same time, we are so excited that we might. 

 

I'll let you know how it goes!

 

 

excitement and fear

I just found out that my co-worker who was due to have her baby on the 17th of July is currently in the hospital and they will be inducing labor. It isn't too serious of an issue, but not one I should probably publicize. I'm very excited for her and her husband to have a baby girl, but I'm also quite afraid of what her absence means for me (aren't we all a bit ego-centric?). She did a good job of writing up updates and issues for each of her projects, but we were going to meet today to go over them in the off chance that she gave birth early. We obviously didn't get to go over them.

I had a premonition this morning that today would be the day. I was riding the bus thinking about the fact that she could be leaving us any day now, and I thought...I bet I won't see her at all today b/c she goes into labor. Well, it pretty much came true.

I'm getting a few more projects added to my plate. This makes me nervous. I'm having a tough time keeping track of my own things let alone these new projects.

It sounds like she will have a baby girl either on thursday or friday...YEA!

p.s. Mikie says baby Carter is doing just great and gaining weight like a champ!

home improvement update phase 1

I say phase one because I caution you all that it is not quite complete yet. Yes, our kitchen has a new countertop, new faucet, new sink, new light, and new dishwasher, but we still haven't done the backsplash. I'll have to post new pictures when we get that done. You probably also haven't see that we painted the side walls the beige color. Looks good with the color of the countertop.


Here is the new light fixture we chose for above the sink. We used to have these two track lights that were not centered in the space, and were so screwed up that they wouldn't even point where you wanted them to. This marine theme light goes well with our location by the water. Sink and faucet are nothing special, but they look much better than the old ones. And the hand sprayer on the right actually works!

more home improvements

We had a new countertop made for our kitchen and we are planning to install it this weekend.  It is just a plastic laminate, but even so, much nicer than what we currently have.  We found color/pattern we like at one of those big box stores and then took it to a local place that had a much shorter turn-around time and a much cheaper price too.  one thing we didn't notice was that on the sample color chip, there was some text written small underneath the name.  It said "see larger sample".  We sort of didn't see that, and so now we have a countertop with a bit more of a pattern than we actually wanted.  It isn't that bad, but definitely not exactly what we had in mind.  I think we are going to change out the faucet at the same time -but keep the sink. 

 

Also, our dishwasher that likes to flood the kitchen (not really flood, more like dampen) will be taken away and a new one will go in its place.  yea for cleaner dishes and some peace of mind regarding the flooding.

 

Will be a busy weekend.  I'm sure we'll be looking at houses this weekend too!

back in the saddle

And the horse is at a gallop!

 

I have a short story I want to tell you all. It happened while I was in Chicago, and is really just a story about good luck.

 

Yesterday (was it only yesterday?)  I was walking to the eL in Rosemont, and I had taken off my cardigan b/c it was pretty warm even at 7:30 in the morning.  I put my cardigan over my bag, as I do with my sweaters and jackets all the time.  I got on the train and was about half way to downtown when I realized that I had dropped my sweater somewhere.  I didn't have my cardigan any more.  This is one of my nicer cardigans (BCBG, wool) and I was quite upset to realize I dropped it.  Around noon I went to Nordstrom Rack downtown and bought myself a new cardigan.  I really wasn't professional enough in my sleeveless shirt to give my presentation. 

 

I took the train back to Rosemont after my presentation, and my feet were hurting so bad, I seriously contemplated hiring a cab to drive me the 4 blocks to my hotel.  But, I'm really not that kind of a person (I like to tough it out), and I also figured that there might be a tiny tiny chance that my sweater had been laid by the side of the road and no one had taken it, and it hadn't been run over by a car.

 

I'm walking along (without my glasses on--I don't want to admit I need them), and I see something white in the grass.  I had just seen two other white things that I got all excited about and they turned out to be trash.  So I told myself to not get my hopes up, and that the white thing was just more trash.  It took me until I was right on top of the white "trash" to realize it was my sweater!  It hadn't been run over, and it looked to be in pretty good shape.  I let out a little "woo-hoo" and smiled all the way back to the hotel.  I think I even forgot about the blisters on my feet!

At the conference

I made it to the conference.  It is HOT here in Chicago.  I started to walk to the train station this morning in a long sleeve shirt (no jacket) and realized after walking about 100 feet that it wasn't going to cut it.  Good thing I brought more summery shirts!  

 

The conference is overwhelmingly huge and confusing.  But I already met a great contact that works at SPU and is interested in some of the work we've done and might be interested in collaborating.

 

yea!

chi-town

I made it to chicago this evening. I have to stay at a hotel out by the airport and take the train in tomorrow for the conference.  Should be an interesting experience.  I'm trying to think of it as an adventure.  Other than that news, Just a happy father's day to all the fathers out there, including my own!

 

 

pittsburgh fiasco

I was just in Pittsburgh for a few days for a conference. I was hoping to get out of the hotel to see the city, but I only got out once to go to the drugstore and get cold medicine. I already had a cold before I went, but I think I caught something else while I was there. My boss and some other attendees had the same symptoms. It is really dragging me down! I worked a half day at home today just to try and get some more rest. I think I may do a half day at work tomorrow. I've got to get better because...

I leave again on Sunday for Chicago for another conference where I have another paper presentation. This is alot of traveling in a short amount of time.

The fiasco referred to in the title partially addresses my sicky feelings, but also because I missed my flight on the way there. The flight left at 6 am (I don't want to travel at that time again for work if I can help it!). And we woke up at 5:30am b/c the alarm hadn't gone off/wasn't turned on/something like that. I rushed to the airport and got confirmed on a noon flight to Dallas, but I was standby for my Dallas to pittsburgh flight. So, I decided to chance it and at least get to dallas, and hopefully not have to spend the night at the airport there. I did get lucky and got a seat to pittsburgh that night, and got to the hotel around 1am. I like to think it was all the positive thoughts I was having on my Seattle to dallas flight that got me on that second plane. It was much better to sleep in the hotel that night than in the airport!

And I didn't have any internet access while I was gone--which explains the absence. The hotel's business center internet access was down.

So long story--I'm still feeling yucky, tired, congested, nauseous, and I leave again on Sunday.

this made me laugh (maybe it will for you too)

I had a really funny experience this morning. However, I didn't realize it was funny until about 2 hours later.

 

So, I went to the doctor this morning.  They took me to the scale, as always, and weighed me.  While I was being weighed, the nurse asked me how old I was.  For a moment I couldn't remember, and then a number came into my head and I said it.  I told the nurse I was 28.  I felt 28 and that number just felt right.  And then I didn't think another bit about it until 2 hours later.

 

(2 hours later at work) I was filling out a pilot survey, and got to the part where you check a box if you are in a certain age category.  I looked at the categories, and suddenly realized that I had told the nurse I was 2 years younger than I actually am.  I'm 30.  I obviously haven't accepted it yet.  I can't believe I told the nurse I was 28.  She probably looked at my chart and was confused..."but this woman was 29 the last time she was here--how can she be 28 now?"    She didn't say anything to me though.

 

I almost wanted to call the doc's office and correct my error.  I'm sure they already realized my mistake. 

 

I'm a little embarrassed.  But my co-workers got a big kick out of it when I told them my realization.

10 offers update

We didn't get the house.  In fact, it went for more than 55K over the asking price.  Talk about ridiculous.  You are right, Ann.  The right house (at the right price) is out there --we just have to find it.

10 offers

Well, we put an offer on a house today.  Their review date was today at 3.  I just talked to our agent and she said that the sellers received 10 offers.  Probably 9 other people fell in love with this house as much as we did.  We probably don't stand a chance.  I just want to see how high it went.  We'll know for sure later tonight whether we've been denied or not, but it is just incredible to me that the house will surely sell for more than 30K over it's asking.

 

That's why I've been so sparse lately--oh that and being sick.  But the house hunting has sort of taken over my thoughts and free time. 

sleep on it and big news

I've developed a new rule for looking at houses. We must "sleep on it" before we make a move on anything.  After finding a house on each of both saturday and sunday and thinking each evening that we might make an offer...we woke up each morning and decided to re-think our excitement about the houses. 

 

So tonight we'll go out and do some more drive-bys.  Thanks Ann, for your advice.  We definitely need to take our time.  We are going to keep looking until we find something we stay excited about.

 

And....

 

Mikie had her baby boy on Sunday morning.  She said he is a beautiful baby boy, and they named him Carter.  And, she said that labor wasn't as bad as people make it out to be. 

 

Congratulations, Mikie and Dave!

and

Welcome, Carter! 

down time

I think I need some down time.  This house buying stuff is really stressful.  Especially when houses are selling on average within a week and with multiple offers.  And my brain is trying to wrap itself around the mortgage information, and at the same time figure out what we need to do to sell our condo "for sale by owner" (fsbo).    Now is the time when I need to make a serious list. 

 

I can say that this morning has been quite nice so far.  I got up and put receipts into quicken, and then we went to the swedish pancake breakfast.  It was good as always.  However, we got some bad news when we were there.  They won't be having another one until september!!!!!!    I guess I'll have to perfect my home-made swedish pancakes, then. 

 

Alright, time for my sunday morning nap.  (the occasional guilty pleasure I indulge in)

busy weekend

tonight is the baseball game (thank goodness it stopped raining!)
tomorrow, see houses with agent, go to co-worker's baby shower
Sunday--breathe and go to open houses.

We really seem to be moving forward on this house thing...I'll keep you updated on the status.

moving into the 21st century (finally)!

News Flash-- We finally have a cell phone!  I know, you thought we would never give in, didn't you?  Well, it is hard to turn down when your sister buys it for you as a birthday gift (thanks Jodi!)

 

One key point.  It is a "joint" phone.  Technically it is not mine or David's.  It is mine AND David's.  So, the fun part about calling it is that you never know exactly who you are going to get.  More than likely, I'll have it most of the time, but we will definitely both use it. 

 

Here is what David has to say about our new phone: 

"We have officially joined the 21st century!  Or do we have to trade in our TV rabbit ears and dial-up modem to catch up with the rest of the world?"  

 

And there it is.  We are moving into the 21st century, albeit at a snail's pace.