*Note: Amy is working on a re-design for me so excuse the mess if things look wonky when viewing older entries!
My Weekend: A Photo Essay
Verbena in hanging baskets.
Double Impatiens in a ceramic pot.
Petunias and an assortment of other annuals that haven't bloomed yet in a clay pot. (This is supposed to be a "nectar garden" that will attract butterflies and hummingbirds.)
Superbells in tequila sunrise and deep yellow and Hawaiian Blue Eyes in window boxes.
Fresh strawberries, grapes and pineapple in a bowl.
It's been awhile. I'm sorry for neglecting you, pink and brown blog o' mine.
I've officially moved into my new home but I'm still mostly living out of boxes and bags. We moved in two weeks ago and I've spent the majority of those two weeks trying to get used to the reality that I am a homeowner. I have purchased a truck load of new furniture that is being ordered and therefore, I am sleeping on my old mattress in the floor and I have no dresser. I've also been remodeling my bathroom.
I was very persistent in my decision to remodel my bathroom. The previous owners had painted the walls bright yellow with very dark poop green leaves stamped all over it. Stamps just aren't my thing so I painted it a light and airy turquoise blue and installed white wainscoting on the bottom half. It makes me feel as if I am on vacation.
Things are picking up in the continuing saga of my online dating experiment. A man, named Seth, winked at me and we've been emailing one another like mad ever since. Next Saturday, we meet!
Speaking of online dating, the gentleman with the brutally honest profile never responded to my e-mail. I guess he didn't find my sarcasm funny. Although, he still pops up on my list of those who have viewed me every now and then so perhaps it's just taking him longer to compose his response.
I am happy. I think that's the point. I feel very fortunate at this point in my life. I know that I will not always feel that way. I'm certain that circumstances will happen that will make me feel overwhelmed or completely defeated. That's just life. I cannot take this moment for granted. Tomorrow, I may wake up to find half of my roof caving in. Tomorrow, my son may start to show signs of a horrid disease. Tomorrow, I may not even be here anymore. I realize those are extreme examples, but shit happens all the time to people who were blissfully happy just a short 24 hours earlier.
My life isn't completely perfect either. My weight still brings me down and is something that I am forever thinking about and feeling bad about. However, for now, I'm able to look at the big picture and realize that I'm a very blessed woman.
To put closure on the whole house buying saga, I found a house that I fell in love with immediately. I made an offer on it and after a counter-offer and a counter-offer to the counter-offer, I am going to be a homeowner in one short month. Let the packing commence!
Just as I suspected, the homeowners counter-offered. I kept that whole sense of panic all weekend and by Monday morning, had made up my mind to decline any offer they came back with. So, when they did ... I did.
I've continued looking at properties all week and I am exhausted. It is fun, to walk through people's homes and see how they decorate, for about the first three or four houses you see. After that, it just becomes a draining chore. Tonight, we looked at five houses. I think I found one that will be perfect and non-panic inducing. I am taking my parents and my son to view it again tomorrow night.
I'm finding it difficult to get too excited over any of this. The idea of packing, moving, unpacking, contracts to be signed, inspections and appraisals and all of that pure shit leaves me less than ecstatic. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd say I'm actually dreading it all. Is this normal? Shouldn't I be excited about owning a house?
Wow. After I posted that entry, panic set in about this whole house buying plan. I guess writing about it made it concrete. I've been in a full blown panic ever since.
I'm questioning myself. Did I make the right choice? Do I really want to live out in this particular area of town? Do I really like this house enough to call it my home? Is my son going to be happy there? Will the neighbors be nice? Do I really want the responsibility that comes with owning a house? Can I do this???
*Deep breath*
Since my divorce in 1997, I've lived in a townhouse apartment. I love it here. I like that every winter, when a mouse finds it's way into my apartment from the jungle behind my house, all I have to do is call my landlord. Within hours, the maintenance man shows up with a nifty electrical mouse trap. My only job is to check to see if the light is on. If the light is on, it means we have successfully caught the mouse. Then, I make another phone call and my maintenance man comes back out and disposes of the mouse for me. It's all very clean and princess-like from my end. This is just one of the many things I like about living here. There are no lawns to be mowed, flowers to be planted, toilets to repair, etc. No doubt, my life here is easy.
Yet, I thought about my son who is ten and all of the benefits of owning a home for both of us and decided that it's time to move on to bigger and better things.
I've decided to purchase a house.
At the moment, everything feels very surreal and I feel like an adult for perhaps the first time in my adult life. I was approved for a home loan this past Tuesday. On Wednesday, I called my realtor. By Thursday, we looked at several different houses and I found one that I really loved.
Yesterday, she called to tell me that it had a contract on it already and so we went to look at four other houses that I had picked out. I fell in love with the last one we saw, which was also the very first one I bookmarked online several weeks ago when I was just toying with the idea of becoming a homeowner.
Last night, my realtor and I made an offer. Now, I just wait to see if they accept it or what they come back with. I feel like I am standing still while everything else around me is moving at warp speed. I told my realtor last night that I kind of went about this half-heartedly. My line of thinking was basically, "What the hell, I'll do it."
Honestly, I didn't think I would get approved (my credit history isn't the greatest in the world but it turns out it isn't as bad as I thought it was either) or figured it would take me months to find something I really love. A week later, here I am, waiting for my phone to ring.
On a related note, here's a helpful hint for those who may be selling their homes: If you know a realtor is going to be showing your home at a certain time and you decide to be there (which isn't the brightest idea in the world. Viewing someone's home while they are there is like attending a funeral), don't stand in the kitchen making yourself a sandwich. No matter how nice or quaint your home might be, the buyer will feel uncomfortable and will not really look at your home. And if the buyer does take a peek in the kitchen, don't immediately start whistling to yourself as you spread the mayo on your sandwich. Go take a walk outside or go sit in your car.
Self-Made Man 