Unclosed

We didn't close on Thursday. Our agent called Wednesday night at 9:50 PM. We could not imagine who was calling so late, other than family, and they would only call so late if something was wrong, so my pulse was already elevated when I picked up. As the story goes, the buyer's lender called at 9PM the night before we were set to close to say that a receipt from the federal government (something about taxes) was insufficient proof of payment and that they required a copy of the canceled check. The receipt was submitted several days ago as proof of payment. She cannot control when the check is deposited or when the bank decides to process it. You asked her to show proof of payment and she did. If a receipt wasn't good enough, why didn't you say so several days ago when she submitted it?!! Why did you wait until less than 24 hours to go, and well after normal business hours in any US time zone, to speak up?

At the time (Wednesday night), we were told that the only thing holding it up was the canceled check. Once that was submitted, we would be ready to close. A copy of the check was submitted Friday morning. We were hopeful for a Monday closing. Instead, the lender (allegedly) said, "Okay, we can now send it to the underwriters. Not sure how long that will take. We do have other clients to take care of." Excuse me?! Either this is the most irresponsible lender on the planet who has no respect for anyone else's time and needs, or we're not getting the whole story (or the whole truth). At this point, I don't know or care which, I just want to close, preferably before the March mortgage payment is due!

Did I mention that we already had the utilities set to be turned off on Thursday? And that temps had the possibility of getting below freezing again, though things were expected to be warm over the weekend. We really don't want to go through the time and hassle (and extra fees) to have them turned back on, but we can't afford to risk the pipes bursting! Just such a royal PITA. Plus, if it gets pushed off into March, we'll be gone for a few days, making it that much harder to schedule and that much later into the month.

Our agent called this afternoon to say that closing is now scheduled for Wednesday at 2 PM. I'll believe it when I see it. At this point, I won't fully believe it until I walk out of the lawyer's office holding the papers that say we no longer own that house. Third time's the charm, right? (Knock wood.) Keep your fingers crossed, please.

Currently feeling: please let us close Wednesday

Winter Wonderland - February 2010

It is quite the winter wonderland outside today! Snow started falling Friday afternoon. We had about 2 inches in under 90 minutes, which is insane for around here. We picked up Luke from school a little early, trying to avoid the rush of people being let go early from work, and hunkered down for a weekend of being confined to the house. Well, not really. We had no intention of leaving the house by car. We weren't going to let that stop us from playing in the snow!

Luke started on the deck, as he wasn't sure about getting down in the yard.



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But we did finally coax him down, with a little help from Daddy.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing
We had one happy kid by the time we came in!


You can see in that second photo after the video that the snow was still falling, and it continued to do so for several hours. By the time Luke was in bed, we had this!


That is about 3.5 inches (9 cm) of snow! All those footprints Luke made on the deck in the video now looked like this.


Not much to some of you, but typical snowfall for Atlanta (on the rare occasions that we have it) is 1-2 inches (3-5 cm), so not only is this well above the typical amount, it is also our second snowfall of the winter, which is very unusual. By the light of morning, it looked like a fairy tale outside! Here are some comparison shots of the front of the house:


I like these shots, too. Everything looks frosted, like something out of a movie.


Both the roof and the yard were several inches deep with snow.


And for everyone wondering why Atlanta and the rest of The South freaks out about snow, it's because temps don't get cold enough most of the winter to keep the snow from melting. The roads are too warm! So the first couple of hours of snowfall make the roads wet until they finally get cold enough to start sticking. Then temps fall below freezing overnight, and we're left with a nice layer of ice under all that snow that you just can't see until it's too late (and either your car is in the ditch, or your bum is on the ground). Like this, which is ice under the snow on our deck and the street in front of our house.


Repeat melt and re-freeze cycle for a few days, and the entire city shuts down. We don't have the equipment necessary to treat all of the roads, and I know that Friday night, even the sections that were treated were refreezing. It was a zoo out there! Even my friends in snow country say snow is fine but ice is not. We virtually never have one without the other because it doesn't get cold enough here. Most of the time, I am perfectly happy that it's not that cold! But when it snows, it's a nightmare for anyone trying to drive. I don't even bother trying; not sure if I'm more afraid of my lack of ice driving skills or the other idiots out there.

It sure is fun to play in, though!


Luke and DH made a couple of attempts at a snowman, but the snow was not very cooperative. It kept collapsing instead of compacting. It had been heavy and wet Friday, but I guess temps got cold enough overnight to dry it out a good bit.


We did end up with a Snow Luke, though, as his gloves got wet and snow started freezing to them.


And Luke had his first attempt at a snow angel.

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We thought it would show up better on the black asphalt of our driveway, but the snow wasn't quite deep enough, and it was very icy underneath, so it didn't turn out very well. Still, Luke thought it was fun enough to attempt it a few more times.

And DH did finally manage a couple of baby snowmen, just for Luke!


All in all, quite the enjoyable afternoon! I'm glad we went out in it before lunch, since most of the snow you see in the yard (like the photo of Luke and his tracks through the snow) was gone by evening due to the sun. There's still plenty of snow on the bushes and the houses, but most of the yards are clear. Technically the roads and driveways are clear of snow as well. They're just soaking wet and puddled, and temps are supposed to be in the 20s tonight. Looks like we'll be iced in most of tomorrow as well, at least until the highs kick in. It's supposed to be 45 and sunny on Sunday. Hopefully, the pavement will dry so that the roads are safe come Monday.

Currently feeling: flakey

New Blog Look

With my formatting all wacky lately, I decided to go ahead and pick a new template. Is it working okay for everyone? Look okay? I had to delete and redo several of my widgets (still working on that), but overall, I'm okay with it. Still looking for the perfect template, but this one will do for now.

Currently feeling: decorative

Where did my formatting go?

I've been contemplating changing my blog template for a little while. Even done some window shopping, but I haven't decided on one yet. However, my formatting seems to have gone wonky recently. The date of the post is no longer showing up, and the font sizes seem to be mostly gone (they look fine in the sidebar but not the body). The time posted and comment link is also not where it should be (now at the top instead of at bottom near the labels). Most irritating! It's too late and I'm too tired right now to try and fix it. May be redecorating sooner than expected. I just wish they'd stop breaking things that were working just fine!

Currently feeling: grumpy

Unrefrigerated

A week ago, on Sunday, January 31, I pulled a perfectly thawed pizza out of our freezer. Now I have to say, it baked up beautifully, but when removing something from the freezer, I don't think it is too much to ask that it be, you know, frozen! I was hoping it was something like forgetting to close the door all the way or something, but by Monday morning, the ice was melting and the temperature inside the refrigerator was about 55F (13C) instead of the expected 36F (2C). It was only 43F (6C) outside! Definitely not good. Upon inspection of the manufacturing plate inside, I realized that the refrigerator was made in 1999 and is by far the oldest appliance in the kitchen. I had been intending to replace it with a stainless steel (or stainless looking) one in the next couple of years, but not right now! Not less than 3 months after moving, right after Christmas, and before we close the sale of our old house. ::head desk::

I called a repair company, but they couldn't come out same day. "Would you like to make an appointment for Tuesday?" Yes, please, the earliest one you have. "Your appointment time is between 8AM and 5PM." Helpful, thanks. Could you possibly be less specific? Good thing I work from home! Phillip arrived around 10 AM to take a look and immediately diagnosed it as a bad thermostat. Not exactly cheap to repair, but only about 20-25% the cost of the new refrigerator I was looking at, so we'll go with it. Except that Phillip didn't have the part on his truck. "I used it on a repair last week, and they haven't restocked my truck yet." He called it in to dispatch, and there was another guy in the area who did have the part. They would add us to his list and he would swing by "sometime today." He pulled into our driveway around 4:30 (since we were now at the bottom of his list), but he didn't come to the door. In fact, it was almost 20 minutes before he knocked.

"The computer says I have that part on my truck, but I don't see it anywhere. We'll have to order it. It should arrive Monday, so I can come back Tuesday to install it." Excuse me? You want me to go another *week* without a refrigerator? I could buy a new one and have it delivered before then. "I guess I can put it down as an emergency repair." They were going to ship the part directly to our house, but they weren't sure if it would arrive by Friday. They booked us another very specific appointment time [note sarcasm] for Saturday, but we were to call and cancel on Friday if we didn't have the part.

I don't think I had ever realized exactly how critical a refrigerator was until I didn't have one for a week. Of course, I knew it would hamper my ability to cook (something I don't usually do much of, but I was doing so well in January getting back in the groove), but I didn't think about the fact that I use it for the filtered water I drink most often. The tap water is okay (better here than at the old house, actually), but it wasn't cold enough from the tap (plus no ice), and I kept forgetting to fill up some bottles or something and sit them outside. It was a very long and thirsty week!

Ironically, the part actually arrived on Thursday, but they were already booked for Friday, so we still had to wait for Saturday for the repair to happen. It was Phillip who returned to install it, and bless him, he put us first on his list. I'm not even sure he was in the house for 30 minutes. We let it sit the rest of the day to chill down and make sure it was working before attempting to restock.

Most everything in the refrigerator and freezer had to be thrown out, though we did eat a fair bit of the frozen stuff (like spaghetti sauce) as it defrosted outside (temps never above 45F/7C) over the course of the week. Three kitchen garbage bags full of food gone, including 2 pounds of pork tenderloin, a pound of ground beef, and about 6 pounds of chicken breasts that I had in the freezer that I had stockpiled when they were on sale. There just wasn't time to cook it all, or anywhere to store the leftovers even if I did. All the dairy, cheese, eggs, produce, most of the condiments, all the frozen veggies, and all the frozen Luke foods like pizzas and fish sticks, all trashed. It was very disheartening. About the only things that survived were the nuts, pancake syrup, jelly, and flour (don't use it often, so I keep it cold to deter bugs). We restocked with the essentials at the grocery store today (milk, juice, butter, eggs, cheddar cheese, mayo, small frozen pizzas, fish sticks, 2 packs of chicken breasts). We'll add the rest (salad dressing, other condiments, frozen veggies, other cheeses, etc) a few at a time over the coming weeks until we're back full again. I think we will single-handedly keep Kroger in the black this month.

Currently feeling: tired of groceries

The Magic Word: A Conversation With Luke

While waiting in line for a balloon animal:

Other Kid: Can I get one for my little sister?
Clown: What's the magic word?
Other Kid: [just looks at her] Can I get one for my sister?
Luke: [tugs on DH's sleeve] Daddy, what's the magic word?
DH: You have to say please.
Luke: Daddy, please, what's the magic word?

Currently feeling: loving it

January 2010 Round Up

Click mosaic to biggify. Created using Big Huge Labs Mosaic Maker.

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
I read a book! Trust me, no one is more shocked than I. Finished Heat Wave, by Richard Castle, the spin-off novel from the TV show. Far from the best book I've ever read, and I don't recommend it for anyone not already watching the show and familiar with the characters.

What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month?
*TV Time: Dollhouse (what the heck just happened?! and the finale, sniff), plus the other usual suspects
*New Films: The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (don't bother), Inkheart (okay; kept more to the spirit of the book than the letter), Jumper (nice concept, not good execution)
*Old Favorites: Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, A Bug's Life, Speed, Hello Dolly!, Apollo 13, The Count of Monte Cristo, Toy Story, The Lion King, Lilo & Stitch

What special days did I celebrate and how?
MIL's birthday was early this month, complete with cards and a phone call as I recall. Not much else, really.

What gifts did I give and/or receive?
Um, uh, er....

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
I finally started getting over my terrible cold/sinus infection/bronchitis thing a few days into the new year. Took me almost all month to really feel completely well. Luke got sick one night, but we have no idea from what or why. It was really strange.

What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?
Nothing? I know, we're sad. Between everyone being sick at some point and having such a hectic November and December, plus the extra tiredness from L still not sleeping well, we really just chilled most of the month. My parents did come and visit, but it was all very low key.

What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month?
I was a cooking fiend this month! I tried four new recipes: rice pudding (nope), pork tenderloin (yum), roast (worth trying again), and triple chip cookies (nope). I also made my first attempt at taking leftovers from one meal (pork tenderloin) and making something else from it (pork fried rice, using a fried rice recipe I already know). Didn't love it (we both prefer shrimp fried rice to pork), but I'm still proud of myself for attempting it. We also tried a new Chinese place. It was pretty good. There are a couple of others in the area as well, so we'll try those, too, and then decide who our "regular" supplier will be.

What special or unusual purchases did I make?
Oh, all sorts of random things for the new house, like curtain rods for Luke's room and rug pads for new rugs (one installed, one not), a small step ladder and a new step stool. Dropped a pretty penny and Lowe's, not including the things Mom bought for me (thanks, Mom!). And we've barely put a dent in the list. ::sigh:: But if all goes well, we should be closing on our old house by mid-February, so that will help free up some funds for home improvement projects.

What were this month's disappointments?
Luke is not sleeping in his own room, and progressing (regressing?) to not even wanting to go to the bathroom alone. That's really the main thing. Oh, and my project from %$#@ that was supposed to complete by Jan 31 has now been pushed out again to 2/15, and as of Jan 29, even that date is looking uncertain. It's the project that won't die!!

What were my accomplishments this month?
101 List: I didn't actually accomplish any individual items, but I did a few things to contribute towards on-going goals (like trying new recipes).



I cooked more this month than I probably have in the last 4 months combined (excluding Christmas, when we had 3 cooks here). Four new recipes already mentioned, plus the pork fried rice, plus chicken casserole, hamburger noodles, taco soup, spaghetti, and probably a couple of other things that I'm forgetting right now. (I know that doesn't seem like much to many of you, but believe me, that is huge for me.) We also ordered pizza and Chinese for delivery. Combined with a couple of leftover nights, that means we averaged eating at home 3-4 nights a week, which is just unheard of for us. Hopefully it's the start of a new trend, both of eating at home and having things in our life be stable enough to do so.

What were Luke's accomplishments this month?


I was hoping to be able to say that Luke was sleeping in his room normally by the end of this month, but that is not the case. We have managed to get the lamp turned back off, though, which is helping him only wake once a night instead of 2-3 times like it had been. We're working on getting him to fall asleep in his room by himself, without the light or one of us in there with him. After we manage that, perhaps we can progress to going back to sleep by himself when he wakes in the 1-3 AM time frame. Hey, a girl can dream.

Luke also has a new Pre-K teacher and assistant at school. I actually thought the transition would be a little rougher, but it seems to be going okay. We've had some home behavior issues that may or may not be related to the switch. Hard to say, really. He is doing great in his Kelsey class, according to his teacher for that. Moving ever closer to being able to read and write, just not *quite* there. I actually think he is closer than he is letting on, he's just afraid to be wrong. I can't imagine where he gets that from (::cough::husband::cough::).

Anything else noteworthy to record?
Snow! And it was below freezing for the better part of 2 weeks (causing us a nearly $500 gas bill!!), so the snow stayed and stayed for days (and so did the ice underneath it on the roads). Water mains were breaking everywhere, there were innumerable accidents. It was awful. I am so glad I don't live somewhere that conditions like that are normal!

Monthly Round Up courtesy of Katie the Scrapbook Lady.

Currently feeling: ready for some warmth