Real Estate Hell

Well, as you know we got an offer a couple of days ago . . . or was it yesterday. Honestly, the past 24 hours have felt endless! I know I kept some of you hanging by going all day today and not posting any outcomes. That is because it took ALL DAY to get some news from my agent. I truly don't know WHAT I was thinking when I started house shopping. I completely lost my mind. This is the most stressful, unpleasant ordeal - EVER.

I'm not going to bore you with all the frustrating details. Let's just say that I'm not happy with real estate agents right now. And to think I used to want to be one. Ick the thought of it gives me shivers right now. I'm sure these evil feelings toward agents will go away with time, but right now, if you're an agent, don't come near me.

So I just faxed the signed contract to my agent. It's not even close to the way I demanded it. But as usual, I backed down and gave in. I just can't take the pressure and the future regrets if I didn't go for it.

And now the hell really begins. First I have to endure the 7 - 10 days of waiting for the inspections. Provided all that goes well, then we will have approximately 2 weeks to pack up the entire house. I still think this is an impossible task for Karlo and I do in that time frame. Karlo thinks anything is possible and to him, it's no big deal. To me, it's the end of the world.

I am overwhelmed with the generosity that friends have already poured out. Tina wants to help us move and Lisa has even offered to let us LIVE with her. Yes, me and Karlo and the two stinky hounds. In case you all don't know Lisa, the woman is an angel with a saint's heart.

I'm still not sure exactly where we will live during our period of transition. We will probably start at Dad's. Any excuse to continue on my cleaning rampage in his house. He won't be able to stop me if I live there!

I plan to continue to write semi-daily blog entries (despite the fact that we may be homeless). For sure my stories will get more interesting over these next few months.

Time to go, American Idol is starting. Thanks for listening.

News for Today

Two big pieces of news for today . . . First, The Police are officially coming to Hartford! This means I get a second chance at tickets. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise not getting tickets for Fenway. Oh please Lord, let me get them this time!!!!

Second piece of news . . . I guess our real estate agent was right about the purple bedroom. We had our first showing on Saturday since the repainting and we got an offer yesterday! Now I can't get too excited just yet. The offer came in $20,000 under asking price and they want to close in 3 weeks. Hello!!!! 3 weeks? Are they nuts. It would take at least 7 days to complete the inspections, leaving us 2 weeks to pack up a 2,700 square foot house. And did I mention we need to schedule professional pool table movers? Oh and did I also mention, WE HAVE NO PLACE TO GO?

Hmmmm, this is sure to be an exciting week. Hopefully we will get some sort of word on the counter offer today. And the Police tickets go on sale on Thursday. Let's hope this is a good luck week for me!

Early Idol Pick

Do any of you guys (besides JoAnne) watch American Idol?? If so, I'm curious who your favorites are. If not, what are you waiting for? I've been addicted since the very beginning. I just can NOT believe some of the undiscovered talent out there. How on earth can kids sing so good without training? Makes me sick.

Anyway, I'm making my early Idol prediction. If this is truly a singing contest and not a beauty contest, this chick has it in the bag. Boy can she sing. Check her out:

De-purpleification

Yes, that's a new word. It's my blog and I can make up words if I want to . . .

So are you intrigued what I will talk about with that title? It seems our purple bedroom was a little too over-the-top for most common, unimaginative folks. Our real estate agent gave us the advice that we should probably tone it down. So we took the advice. Seeing as we finished the major project at my cousin's place, then finished Dad's kitchen, we found ourselves without a home improvement project . . . and we couldn't have THAT.

Last weekend we started the process of removing the purple. This was a multi-step process and it took us all week. First we repainted the very loud dark purple trim. We did the door trims in white and the chair railing in the same green as the baseboards. That was a hell project because it took tons of coats. Next was the ceiling. We returned it to the standard white. Then came the walls. That was a bit of a disaster. First I picked the wrong color and it was too light. I HATED it. But I took Lisa's advice and recycled some other old paint we had. That seemed to do the trick. Thanks Lisa!

So tell me . . . here's the old purple room.



And here's the new more boring room. Is this one better for the masses?




Now we are all ready. We had a showing this morning and I can't wait to see if this will make a difference.

The Joy of Job Lots

I was talking to Tina yesterday and she mentioned that she just went to Ocean State Job Lots for the first time! She told me what a ball she had and all the bargains she found. I couldn't believe that yesterday was her first time there. Karlo and I are addicted to that place. When we are bored we go and browse around. We always end up spending too much money on things we don't need, but it's just plain fun.

So if any of you have not yet experienced Job Lots, you gotta go. You never know what you may find there. Karlo loves to shop for tools and "guy things." They have great deals on pet stuff including toys, beds, treats, leashes, etc. I recently found a bunch of Physicians Formula make-up at incredible prices. And I scooped up my favorite pair of suede Lands End slippers for $8. If you need an area rug, that's the place to be. And come Spring they will have a large assortment of gardening things and outdoor furniture. I'm telling you, you can almost never go and NOT find some irresistible bargains.

If you haven't already been there and you go because of me, be sure to tell me what you bought!

Happy bargain shopping!

Introducing "California Christina"

For all of those that know "California Sue" . . . I would like to introduce her daughter Christina. Isn't she cute? Sue has reported that Christina is doing well. She is learning how to crawl, despite her awkward lunges and face plants. She also loves Happy, the family cat. Too bad Happy doesn't share the same feelings back. Shouldn't a cat named Happy be happy about the new baby? I guess not!

So who does Christina look like? I still can't figure it out. Here's her parents:

Sad and Depressing

I'm not a happy camper today. I tried for an hour to buy tickets online for the Police concert. I am convinced that they sold 90% of the tickets during their pre-sales events. Since I didn't pay the $100 for the pre-sales privileges, I was left out in the cold. :-(

I tried every ticket price, in any available seat, on both concert dates. I even tried MSG tickets and I HATE NYC, but was willing to go. No worries there, I couldn't get those tickets either. So sad. So it seems my dream will never be lived out. Well, not unless I want to spend between $500 - $1,000 for tickets.

I figured Karlo would be happy at this bad news, but he surprised me. What a guy . . . he actually offered to still take me to Boston that night. He said we can walk around the parking lot, buy me a t-shirt and still hear them play. I was in shock when he suggested that! That made me so happy. So that is what we will do. We will spend the day in Boston and when the concert starts and the crowds are gone, we will sneak over to Fenway, get me a shirt, I'll hear the distant sound of Sting's voice, and then boogie on out of the city before the millions of people pour out of the stadium. Works for me!

This just in . . . . CA Sue also suggested that I scalp tickets. She wants public credit for her idea! So everyone out there listening . . . if I get to see the Police this summer, I have Sue to thank.