Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
What a year
What a year!! JJ finished gr.3 with flying colours and is going into gr. 4 in September. And it will be a new school.. that's right we sold the house! Can you believe it... well sometimes I can't.
We had it listed again since Feb with real estate but no bites, quite a few showing, but the waterfront scared people off. There is no way to convince people we had no flooding problems unless they came during flood season.. and they just didn't. We decided to take it off MLS and sell it ourselves, that way we could lower the price to counter the fact we didn't have to pay a commission. We took it off on a Thursday, put up signs at the end of the road and in front of the house. Saturday we went to town and when we arrived home there were two vehicles in the door yard. A couple of guys wanted to see the house, so we showed them through. They loved the house, and said they wanted to buy it.. we had hear that before, last year when we tried to sell ourselves, but the couple couldn't get financing..so we didn't' put much stock in these two guys. Sunday they came back again to go through it more closely, Monday they called with an offer and came out later that night to sign a purchase of sale agreement. We were so happy!! But they needed financing... the waiting game was on.
Of course now we had to find a house to buy. I emailed a list of houses to view to our old agent, she called back to say that of the 22 houses I had on the list there was only 4 left to look at. We viewed them that week and narrowed it down to two houses, one on the north side, one on the south. I wanted the south side where we would be close to everything and the neighbourhoods were better. N wanted the north side because he thought the taxes etc, would be cheaper and he liked the north side. I just couldn't see him battling the bridge traffic and having to leave so early just to get to work, when the house on the south side would only take 5 minutes for him to get to work. It would be 2 minutes to the hospital for me, and the elementary school was only 10 houses away.
To top it all off, before all this house stuff happened, we had planned a trip to NS to visit N's mom that weekend so we had to make a decision and fast. We made an offer on Friday, left for NS and finished the back and forth offers while we were there. We got the house on the south side with enough money left over from the sale of our house to be able to do the necessary reno's that the new house needed. And they are extensive. We got the house 40 thousand below the average house in the area, and are redoing the windows, complete bathroom redo..top to bottom, kitchen cupboards and counter tops, flooring and lots of painting. We are also putting in a patio door in the dining room where the window is now, and a deck off of it.
The wait for financing for the guys buying our home was nail biting to say the least. It came down to the hour before the offer was to expire and they got a call from their mortgage broker saying the financing went through! We got the home inspection done for the house we were buying and it was really good, structure and bones of the house was fine. We were moving!!
The move went well, we hired a company to move us. I had done all the packing except for the baby barn stuff and to tell the truth I was worn out and my joints were killing me. I had everything packed in two weeks, too soon but I didn't' know how long it would take me to do all alone. We lived surrounded by boxes with only dishes and pots and pans, towels etc left out to pack on the day of the move. Six hours later on the day of the move and we were in our new house, once again surrounded by boxes. Of course I had the kitchen and bath room stuff all unpacked within an hour or so.. the two major rooms. We hired a contractor to come in and demo out the bath room a couple weeks after we moved in. The walls around the shower showed no wood rot at all which was surprising since it had broken tiles and a window in the middle of the shower area. Why do builders put windows there???? Any ways, with the bathroom down to the studs, the window area was insulated and borded up and a new three piece tub surround was installed . New flooring, wainscotting on the walls, sink and flush installed and voila a brand new bathroom. I had to paint everything, cause the contractor "doesn't do painting"... and I hate painting.. but after a couple of coats on everything, it was done and looked very nice!
The next room was the living room. It had an end wall that was panneling... I know so 80's eh.. but six coats later and it is done and brightened up the whole room. A week later and the contractor was back to do the windows..all of them. They look so nice! Last weekend we took advantage of the warm day and painted the outside of the house. A nice fresh coat of white and "tomato red" on the basement and end gables of the house. Talk about making a big difference. We are settled in, but there are a lot of boxes I can't unpack because we are missing the "nic nack" space for things. At the old house we had like 12 feet of book cases that was used for pictures and stuff. We have decided that we will have to install bookcases on that end wall next to the fireplace so we can have space for all our pictures and little nic nack stuff.
N is suppose to start the kitchen demo next weekend, that will be a messy pain in the butt, even though it will look spectactular when its done. Then it will be more painting for me, the walls in the kitchen a neutral light colour and one wall by the table for accent, a creamy light brown to go with the new counter tops. I will be happy when its all done. Down the road we will be finishing a couple rooms in the basement, like a bedroom for JJ since he wants one down there for when he is older and goes to college,, and a family room. All in time I guess.
We had it listed again since Feb with real estate but no bites, quite a few showing, but the waterfront scared people off. There is no way to convince people we had no flooding problems unless they came during flood season.. and they just didn't. We decided to take it off MLS and sell it ourselves, that way we could lower the price to counter the fact we didn't have to pay a commission. We took it off on a Thursday, put up signs at the end of the road and in front of the house. Saturday we went to town and when we arrived home there were two vehicles in the door yard. A couple of guys wanted to see the house, so we showed them through. They loved the house, and said they wanted to buy it.. we had hear that before, last year when we tried to sell ourselves, but the couple couldn't get financing..so we didn't' put much stock in these two guys. Sunday they came back again to go through it more closely, Monday they called with an offer and came out later that night to sign a purchase of sale agreement. We were so happy!! But they needed financing... the waiting game was on.
Of course now we had to find a house to buy. I emailed a list of houses to view to our old agent, she called back to say that of the 22 houses I had on the list there was only 4 left to look at. We viewed them that week and narrowed it down to two houses, one on the north side, one on the south. I wanted the south side where we would be close to everything and the neighbourhoods were better. N wanted the north side because he thought the taxes etc, would be cheaper and he liked the north side. I just couldn't see him battling the bridge traffic and having to leave so early just to get to work, when the house on the south side would only take 5 minutes for him to get to work. It would be 2 minutes to the hospital for me, and the elementary school was only 10 houses away.
To top it all off, before all this house stuff happened, we had planned a trip to NS to visit N's mom that weekend so we had to make a decision and fast. We made an offer on Friday, left for NS and finished the back and forth offers while we were there. We got the house on the south side with enough money left over from the sale of our house to be able to do the necessary reno's that the new house needed. And they are extensive. We got the house 40 thousand below the average house in the area, and are redoing the windows, complete bathroom redo..top to bottom, kitchen cupboards and counter tops, flooring and lots of painting. We are also putting in a patio door in the dining room where the window is now, and a deck off of it.
The wait for financing for the guys buying our home was nail biting to say the least. It came down to the hour before the offer was to expire and they got a call from their mortgage broker saying the financing went through! We got the home inspection done for the house we were buying and it was really good, structure and bones of the house was fine. We were moving!!
The move went well, we hired a company to move us. I had done all the packing except for the baby barn stuff and to tell the truth I was worn out and my joints were killing me. I had everything packed in two weeks, too soon but I didn't' know how long it would take me to do all alone. We lived surrounded by boxes with only dishes and pots and pans, towels etc left out to pack on the day of the move. Six hours later on the day of the move and we were in our new house, once again surrounded by boxes. Of course I had the kitchen and bath room stuff all unpacked within an hour or so.. the two major rooms. We hired a contractor to come in and demo out the bath room a couple weeks after we moved in. The walls around the shower showed no wood rot at all which was surprising since it had broken tiles and a window in the middle of the shower area. Why do builders put windows there???? Any ways, with the bathroom down to the studs, the window area was insulated and borded up and a new three piece tub surround was installed . New flooring, wainscotting on the walls, sink and flush installed and voila a brand new bathroom. I had to paint everything, cause the contractor "doesn't do painting"... and I hate painting.. but after a couple of coats on everything, it was done and looked very nice!
The next room was the living room. It had an end wall that was panneling... I know so 80's eh.. but six coats later and it is done and brightened up the whole room. A week later and the contractor was back to do the windows..all of them. They look so nice! Last weekend we took advantage of the warm day and painted the outside of the house. A nice fresh coat of white and "tomato red" on the basement and end gables of the house. Talk about making a big difference. We are settled in, but there are a lot of boxes I can't unpack because we are missing the "nic nack" space for things. At the old house we had like 12 feet of book cases that was used for pictures and stuff. We have decided that we will have to install bookcases on that end wall next to the fireplace so we can have space for all our pictures and little nic nack stuff.
N is suppose to start the kitchen demo next weekend, that will be a messy pain in the butt, even though it will look spectactular when its done. Then it will be more painting for me, the walls in the kitchen a neutral light colour and one wall by the table for accent, a creamy light brown to go with the new counter tops. I will be happy when its all done. Down the road we will be finishing a couple rooms in the basement, like a bedroom for JJ since he wants one down there for when he is older and goes to college,, and a family room. All in time I guess.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Brandy's gone
I fought so hard to bring her back from being sick last year, but looking back, I did it for me, not for her. I was being selfish because I didn't want to face life without her in it. She is now 17 and her health is getting worse than ever. We have to pick her up and put her on the bed because jumping is just not possible for her, her joints hurt her so much. She is barely eating anything, some days she doesn't eat at all and will sleep most of the day, only going out to use the bath room once or twice. She is throwing up at least once a day and that's not a good sign. The Vet says its time to let her go...
Got back from the Vets office a couple of hours ago, it was a horrible experience. They had a hard time to find a vein and ended up poking her twice to get a central line in. She kept looking up at me, unable to hear my calm voice trying to reassure her that everything was ok. Tears pouring down my cheeks, and when the needle went into the central line she stared at me . I had to hold her for half an hour while the seditive took effect. I sat there hugging and crying her big brown eyes struggling to stay open. Then the Vet came in and gave her the final dose,,, I sobbed as her life slipped away from her and away from me. Seventeen years of being a wonderful, funny, loving dog... gone in a matter of minutes. Now all I have left is her memories and her collar.
Mindy is no longer banished to the upstairs living room. She ran down the stairs, her little stumpy tail stuck straight out all defensive like, waiting for a fight with Brandy. She runs to our bedroom where Brandy use to sleep, she stands up on her hind legs her front paws on the dogie gate trying to see the bed and see Brandy... but she isn't there... she looks up at me wondering where she is.. She whines at the gate, she knows something is wrong but not quite sure what has happened. Life is going to be emptier without Brandy in it...
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
This Fog
Some days I feel like I'm loosing my mind... I have always been a big multitasker, great for jobs, bosses love you...lol mostly because they can keep piling on the work and you will do everything in your power to get it done. The bad side is the more they pile on, the more they think you can do and then you end up a big stress ball trying to do EVERYTHING!! But thats me, try to do it all, and then of course the old attage, if you want something done right, do it yourself.. yeah, thats me. Having OCD doesn't really help either because your so compulsive about getting things done and a certain way.
So now I seem to be in this fog I can't get out of. Its strange really, I will have a thought, go into a room for something, get there and stand and look around, cause I have no idea of what it was I went there for in the first place. The thought is gone! I will turn around walk out, go do something else and then the thought hits me again, the one I had the first time I was in the room.. and so I chuckle to myself and go do what I was going to do. Does that make sense..lol Or I will find myself picking up a dirty dish and walking to the fridge instead of the dish washer... I struggle for words sometimes, they are right there at the tip of my tongue, I can almost see them, but they won't make it to my brain.
I have to make lists, I even wrote out a list of chores to do around the house so I would remember to do them. I write stuff on the calander that I want to do that day or it wouldn't get done. But it seems this is just the way its going to be.. lists and fog...
So now I seem to be in this fog I can't get out of. Its strange really, I will have a thought, go into a room for something, get there and stand and look around, cause I have no idea of what it was I went there for in the first place. The thought is gone! I will turn around walk out, go do something else and then the thought hits me again, the one I had the first time I was in the room.. and so I chuckle to myself and go do what I was going to do. Does that make sense..lol Or I will find myself picking up a dirty dish and walking to the fridge instead of the dish washer... I struggle for words sometimes, they are right there at the tip of my tongue, I can almost see them, but they won't make it to my brain.
I have to make lists, I even wrote out a list of chores to do around the house so I would remember to do them. I write stuff on the calander that I want to do that day or it wouldn't get done. But it seems this is just the way its going to be.. lists and fog...
Monday, June 08, 2009
Another Summer!
I'd like to say that I'm hopping for a nice warm, sunny summer.. but the real truth is I'm torn on this. Now that being said, I will explain...lol
I want it to be hot, hot, with sunshine everyday so we can use the pool which we just got filled today. It keeps Jacob and I busy, splashing each other, having swimming races, silly stuff like that. And its great exercise for someone with painful joints cause it isn't jarring movements in water.
On the other side of this dilemma is the fact that those of us with Lupus aren't suppose to expose ourselves to the sun. Personally I break out in sores from the sunshine. They get itchy, I dig at them, which only makes them worse.. but its like a mosquito bite itchy, it just doesn't stop! So its kind of hard to dawn a bathing suit and get into a pool without being in the sun, especially when you use the sun to heat the water in the pool....lol Is the dilemma clear now....lol
Its a double edge sword. Like most things with this disease, we are limited by our bodies. We have to weigh out the pros and cons and make an informed decision as to what we will do. After much thought, its going to be a pool party everyday because I want to have fun. I'm tired of not being able to do a lot of things that I use to enjoy, like certain foods I can't eat anymore, not being able to have a drink of alcohol, not being able to smoke, not being able to work, not being able to physically do things like,,get down on my knees and wash the baseboards in the house, or even to run.. not that I was ever a jogger...lol but if someone is chasing me, they wouldn't have a problem catching me now a days...lol
Limits, those are the things that the disease puts on us, they aren't something that we put on ourselves. And if I tend to think about them too much, I get really pissed off. So sometimes I ignore my body, I do what I want with no limits attached.. of course the consequences of my actions I will have to deal with later on,, but sometimes we just have to go about our job of living, living the best we can with what we have been given.. for me, its enjoying the sunshine and fun in the pool. I hope everyone has fun living this summer!
I want it to be hot, hot, with sunshine everyday so we can use the pool which we just got filled today. It keeps Jacob and I busy, splashing each other, having swimming races, silly stuff like that. And its great exercise for someone with painful joints cause it isn't jarring movements in water.
On the other side of this dilemma is the fact that those of us with Lupus aren't suppose to expose ourselves to the sun. Personally I break out in sores from the sunshine. They get itchy, I dig at them, which only makes them worse.. but its like a mosquito bite itchy, it just doesn't stop! So its kind of hard to dawn a bathing suit and get into a pool without being in the sun, especially when you use the sun to heat the water in the pool....lol Is the dilemma clear now....lol
Its a double edge sword. Like most things with this disease, we are limited by our bodies. We have to weigh out the pros and cons and make an informed decision as to what we will do. After much thought, its going to be a pool party everyday because I want to have fun. I'm tired of not being able to do a lot of things that I use to enjoy, like certain foods I can't eat anymore, not being able to have a drink of alcohol, not being able to smoke, not being able to work, not being able to physically do things like,,get down on my knees and wash the baseboards in the house, or even to run.. not that I was ever a jogger...lol but if someone is chasing me, they wouldn't have a problem catching me now a days...lol
Limits, those are the things that the disease puts on us, they aren't something that we put on ourselves. And if I tend to think about them too much, I get really pissed off. So sometimes I ignore my body, I do what I want with no limits attached.. of course the consequences of my actions I will have to deal with later on,, but sometimes we just have to go about our job of living, living the best we can with what we have been given.. for me, its enjoying the sunshine and fun in the pool. I hope everyone has fun living this summer!
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