SAYING GOODBYE!!!

So – the deal is done. Our house is sold. It did not happen the way we expected…at all.

If someone had told me during the first 4 weeks our house was on the market without any showings that we would have 11 showings in 1 week, I would have thought it IMPOSSIBLE!

We thought me met the buyers for our house at park – the couple we called “the miracle couple.” I still think they are, but not because they are the ones that bought our house.

We were offered 7K below our asking price by a (totally different)“dream couple” according to our realtor. They are Iraq war vets (we found out later) and had their financing all ready and wanted an immediate move in date because their last deal fell through on the sellor’s fault. Which means of course, there was no contingency. We did not want them to by the house we wanted our miracle couple to by the house.

So we played hardball and informed our realtor “NOPE, we are not taking anything less than full asking price. It is what it is – we just can’t, financially.”

Our realtor laughs nervously and approaches the reply with, “ I REALLY don’t think that’s your best strategy.”

Since we didn’t care if they bought it or not, our replay again was, “It is what it is.”

Little did we know he would call back in no less than 20 minutes to say they accepted the bid…IF we cleaned the gutters, left the washer and dryer, trimmed a gigantic tree limb, and fixed a portion of the roof professionally.

WHATEVER!! Well, we did concede on the first two, but again, we didn’t care if they bought our house because we really wanted that other couple to buy the house. We said absolutely not on the other two. We were actually trying to unhinge them to back off. Well, again in 20 minutes they accepted the offer.

Well, we had this perfectly good offer, albeit the VERY HIGH realtor’s commission, or we had this cuter than cute couple that we found at the park who were waiting to hear if she got a job to make their decision final, even though their financing was totally in order without it. They wanted to cover their bases.

So what else could we do? We gave the “park miracle couple” until 10 AM the next morning to tell us one way or the other. They sent a cute email saying they couldn’t decide that quickly and wished us the best of luck. Here is part of the miracle - If it had not been for them, we would NEVER have had the nerve to ask for full price, or to negotiate NOT doing a couple of pricey things to the house.

So that is that – we move out of here QUICK. November 8^th – for a closing date of November 15^th. The house we are building hasn’t even broken ground yet. But that is JUST fine because we will be essentially broke after selling this cute house of ours (because of the horrible housing market.) Brian’s parents have graciously offered to let us live there and save some money.

Still I see the miracle in it all – In a buyers market we sold the house in 1 ½ months – and out of the house 2 weeks later. That is 2 months exactly from the date we bought our “house to be built.” AND we got full asking price…before the end of October – no contingency. This was exactly my prayer!!! I am SOOOOO grateful I must say!

TOP 10 realities about selling a house with 3 small kids

1. You learn quickly how far back you have to stuff things under the couch for them not to be seen (in our house – we keep diapers and wipes under the couch for convenience)
2. You learn that with 3 kids you must literally RUN while cleaning the house to get everything done in time – running shoes and exercise outfit a MUST!
3. You browse the Weekly Mortgage Analysis like the Weekly Target Ads
4. You stop making regular dinners because people always want to see the house during dinnertime. Snacks in the car can suffice if they have to.
5. When the kids get home from school, you put their backpack right in the minivan, along with all the other things that don’t exactly have a PLACE for.
6. If you run out of time and realize that the kids bedding is soiled, you spray a bunch of febreeze, grit your teeth, make the bed as is, and vow to change it as soon as you get home.
7. Sweeping outside actually becomes a regular chore
8. If someone makes an appointment and doesn’t show, after all that effort, you begin thinking of very colorful names to call those people.
9. After constantly removing Shampoo and soap from sight in the bathroom for showings, you find yourself bathing frequently with soap and shampoo stashed away in a far off closet – and you grit your teeth and bathe soapless and shampooless….or you have with a very wet floor..
10. If you run out of time to clean and the prospective buyers are on there way, you find that hampers and washers and dryers can hide just about anything.

8

8 TV Shows I love to watch:
Well, these are shows I WATCH, not that I really LOVE all of them. I put them in order of what's on right now. I got through Thursday, I think.

1. Dancing with the Stars
2. The Office
3. Heroes
4. Desperate Housewives (I know, I got hooked)
5. Extreme Home Makeover
6. Brothers and Sisters
7. SNL (only now that they are doing political satire do I think it worthy of being watched. It wasn’t funny before)
8. I will put one I stopped watching – Oprah. It wasn’t doing it for me anymore.

8 Favorite Restaurants:

1. Any Brazillian Grill (if we happen to have hundreds of dollars to burn)
2. Cafe Rio (sniff . . . alas, only on trips to Utah)
3. Red Lobster – Can we say COCONUT SHRIMP?!?
4. Texas Roadhouse – the BEST ribs – YUM!
5. The Melting Pot – REALLY expensive – but 3 straight hours of good eating!
6. Cheesecake Factory (man, salads there are good times)
7. This really good Mexican place in Saint George Utah right up on the side of the mini-mountain. Hermitas? Man that place is good!
8. Emerals restaurant – I would love to go when I am not full.

8 Things That Happened Yesterday:
(not very exciting since it was Sunday, but hey – this is what went down)

1. Cleaned the house like a maniac after church to get ready for two showings
2. Went to Brian’s brother’s house and family with parents to spend the day – keep the kids away from the house while we had the showings.
3. I showed the miracle family (see previous post) the house at 5 – was so nervous I was shaking.
4. We – at my bro in laws - did the Sunday Crossword Puzzle “Dan in Real Life” Style (almost)
5. Practiced the Primary Program with the Primary Kids
6. Took a disappointingly cold bath
7. Watched my Sunday shows while I read the paper
8. Ate some really good white chili soup that my sister in law made

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To:

1. The Day AFTER the Ward Halloween Party the Primary is in charge of.
2. Getting a house contract signed with the miracle family
3. The digging of the foundation of our new house
4. Thanksgiving
5. Twilight the movie to come out
6. Getting negotiations with Julie Tupler finished to an agreement we are happy with.
7. Our cruise to the Bahamas in March or April (going to those time share things DO pay off!)
8. Saving some money as we live with my in-laws.

8 Things On My WishList:

1. A really good Camera
2. Hardwood floors
3. Some good regular shoes to wear this winter
4. Some Chocolate fudge protein bars and Omega 3’s
5. Getting rest of my allergies treated with NAET – I have to wait til next calendar year with insurance
6. A big container of Cashews – HEAVEN!
7. Some REALLY good chocolate
8. Finished Basement

8 People I'm tagging:

1. You
2. you
3. you
4. you
5. you
6. you
7. you
8. you

TOO PERSONAL? WHO CARES?!?!?

READ AT YOUR OWN RISK:

So some people may think this is too personal to share on a blog. Well, if you can’t put what you want to share on a blog, what freedom DO you have?

So I think what happened today was a miracle. Plain and Simple.

Let me say first of all – the housing market SUCKS more than you can ever know unless you have your house up on the market. We have already switched realtor’s after 4 weeks with ZILCH. We have already lowered the price 20K – OUCH!! Now it is lower than we paid – OUCH AGAIN!! So before today – only 1 person had come to look at our house, and the realtor of those people won’t call our realtor for feedback. Like I said – SUCKS!!

The stats are in - for Northern IL you can expect your house to be on the market 10 - 12 months AVERAGE - NO CAN DO!!!!!

So after working my hand and heart to the bones with my calling (can I say that? Oh well) – preparing for the Primary turned Ward Halloween Party, and "doing what we should" type of thing - I felt fully confident that my specific prayer pleading "CONTRACT ON OUR HOUSE BY THE END OF THE MONTH" (seemingly impossible) would be filled. I just had no idea how that heck that would happen.

Do we have a contract – NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But here is what happened:

After taking Kyli for shots, voting early, and doing visiting teaching, I went to the park with the kids. A girl was there with her mom, and her son. She was asking about apartments. I asked, “Are you looking to rent or to buy?” One question led to another and soon we exchanged phone numbers and information.

They have no realtor but were just driving around and after NO LUCK the mom suggested, “Why don’t we go to the park. People always know about stuff at the park.” So there they were waiting for divine intervention, and there was I waiting for the same. She ended the conversation by telling me she thought this was Destiny that she met me. It sounds so HOKEY when I type it. But it was a cool moment.

When do you want to move in? “Nov. 1^st” She says. UM – can we say answer to the “CONTRACT BY THE END OF THE MONTH” Prayer? Can we get ANY CLOSER???

She and her husband are living with her parents while they look for a house – can we say “NO CONTINGENCY!!!”

Can we say – SAVING MONEY WITHOUT GOING THROUGH A REALTOR? Let’s put it this way – we were going to have to PAY out of pocket to leave this place – all our equity – SE VA! NO MORE! - that is if we go through a realtor….after having the price butchered.

So they are coming Sunday. Keep fingers crossed. We may walk out of here with a smidgeon left for part of a teensy weensy down payment on the house we’re building (along with money saved by living at our beloved in-laws…again)

SO DO MIRACLES HAPPEN? UM – to ME after no sign of ANY life in the housing market – and to go to GOLDEN CONTACT – YEAH, they do!!!!!! Even amidst economic turnmoil everywhere you look!

The hurricane spews forth TOOTHPASTE!?!

The Hurricanes continues unabounded. Onlookers ask – will this Category 5 ever decrease in intensity??

TODAY –

Cute little guy this morning starts my day out on one of those notes – DIAPER SUPER SATURATED. I curse myself for not potty training the kid yet. PJs wet, bed wet.

No biggie. After getting cute little boy dressed, he refuses to eat what I make for breakfast and wants his own version. Whatever.

Then I happen to catch a glance of a red marker in his hand. That’s nice – I think to myself. He wanted to color. I ask him what he is drawing on. “NOTHING!” which sounds like “NOSSING!” I see BRIGHT RED MARKER STREAKS all over the CARPET – ALL THE WAY DOWN THE HALLWAY. The cute little blessing gets a time out – a VERY EXTENDED time out as I clean up the marker for about 25 minutes.

I come to get him out of the bathroom where he served his time out – knowing I might find something since I had heard some interesting noises.

TOOTHPASTE EVERYWHERE!!!

“MOMMY, I brushed my teeth!!” Oh little hurricane! Toothpaste is on the toilet, the bathtub ledge, on the floor, all over the toothbrush handle, and all over the bathtub boat. We are out of toilet paper, so I suggest he use a Kleenex and help me clean up the mess.

We go to get more toilet paper, diapers, and wipes – which we are totally out of. As I go to strap in the kids in the mini-van, I smell THE NASTY.

OH NO – CAN WE NEVER get out of the house?!?!

I luckily find a stray diaper in one of the diaper bags – SAVED!!!

I then send him out to the car while I lock up the house. I come to the car and while I am strapping him a quick motion catches the corner of my eye. I see water GUSHING out the back of my seat. I understand while Tyler is telling me we need a “newspaper” – to clean up the water bottle that Tyler had opened and then dropped on my seat. Sorry Kyli - we need to borrow that baby blanket!

As we unload the items we bought, I hear....NOTHING.........Something is TERRIBLY WRONG!!! I go to find Tyler quietly unwrapping my sacred freshly bought dark chocolate Ferrero Rochers!! OUT OF THE KITCHEN!! CASTIGADO!!!

UGH!!!! I AM EXHAUSTED and its only 12:30 P.M.!!!!

We MUST have 3 heads?!?!?!??!

So as we are in the process of building our house, the question from my mouth that issues forth is

"Are these TV hook ups going to be compatible with ANALOGUE TVs with a DIGITAL CONVERTER?"

I see about 10 pairs of eyes staring blankly at me. TOTAL silence. I thought maybe I sprouted another eye , three heads, or that my skin had turned some shade of neon orange.

"....You mean like...Dish? Yeah that will be compatible" says our realtor.

"No," say I, "I mean like just REGULAR TV. Nothing fancy - just the normal channels."

Again 10 pairs of eyes staring blankly at me. I felt like I was in one of those Super Mario Brothers Warp Zones.

"...Oh, you mean like Comcast!" Says the building manager with a look of relief she had figured out my question.

Brian and I say in unison, "No, we mean like channel 2,5,7,9,and 32. The basic channels."

SILENCE continues. 10 pairs of eyes with the deer in the headlights look. Finally after about 30 seconds of agony - they because they couldn't figure out what I was talking about, and us because we thought it was so ridiculous that no one knows what NO FRILLS TV is and that no one had apparently ever asked them that question that was building in the neighborhood.

Are we the last people on earth to know no HGTV, Food Network, Biography channel, TLC, History Channel and the like? Are we the ONLY people left that do not have cable? How is it that when I talked with the electrical supervisor on the construction crew that even HE did not know the answer. He asked me as well, "You mean like Comcast right?"

HONESTLY!!!!

HURRICANE WAYNE - a one house hurricane

That’s right – we have storm surges over here on the Wayne shores.

Lets call this Hurricane T. Wayne….no, no….Hurricane Tyler W….

Gusts of destruction everywhere I look.

5:00 PM The hurricane wakes from his nap, gets attention from his progenitors

5:05 PM The hurricane dumps out the box of toys all over the living room

5:06 PM The hurricane takes lids off all the markets and paints his toe nails, fingernails, his arm, the tip of his nose, and my personal favorite – his corduroy covered rear end.

5:07 PM Hurricane needs some gulf stream-like nourishment to enhance his power – tries to pour grapenuts into his bowl, somehow missed totally the bowl and grapenuts scatter quickly all over the kitchen and living room floor, all the kitchen chairs, and of course, the table. Can we say WALKING HAZARD – the grapenuts, that is..

5:10 PM Hurricane finds his way into progenitors quarters – gets the computer mouse, and takes out the batteries. His new favorite game. Puts them in his pocket…and he’s OFF!

5:11 PM Hurricane Wayne spews forth much waste – diaper needs to be changed.

5:14 PM Hurricane Wayne plays car by baby sister and accidentally crashes into her – leaving chaos and crying in his wake. Gets a time out.

5:17 Hurricane Wayne goes into room looking for a book, dumps out the ENTIRE 3 shelf books case full of at least 150 books in pursuit. We will never know if he found what he was looking for, the there is a 3 foot storm surge of books in that area of the room.

5:20 Hurricane Wayne decides he wants to watch a show – takes out a large portion of the kids DVDs and VHS (yes, we STILL use those sometimes). Carries around the one he wants and holds it incorrectly – leaving a nice filmy coating all over the DVD.

5:24 After being told NO for a show, Hurricane T. Wayne goes into the family room and dumps out the cars. Who can keep up with this?

5:25 Mom goes to the computer to check something and DARN IT – where are those batteries for the mouse.

5:26 The enraging pursuit begins to find the batteries and STOP THE INSANITY!!!!

If anyone wants to ever know what we moms do in a day – is it really hard to see how just ONE child can be time consuming. Multiply that by the number of kids you have – you can see why we need a brake. We are on RED ALERT status from the moment our beloved hurricanes make landfall from their peaceful slumber!!