Thanksgiving

I realize its a bit early to do the year-end retrospective, but hey, its been one heck of a year and there is a lot to be thankful for. At the beginning of the year, I was hoping for a nice quiet year. Last year was filled with a lot, including Katie's diagnosis of hip dysplasia and her subsequent closed reduction/spica cast ordeal. This year, it was supposed to be a nice uneventful year. Not! The year started off with a bang when our tenants gave their notice. We soon discovered that to say they had trashed the house would be an extreme understatement. We spent from March to the end of June/early July putting in hundreds of hours scrubbing, scouring, fixing and repairing, and scrubbing some more. It was a nightmare. Then, there was paying two mortgages for six months. And did I mention I was also gestating a sweet little human being through the whole ordeal?? He arrived at the tail end of all the major projects. All this to say, it has been a CRAZY year, full of opportunities for stress around every corner. BUT! God has provided for us through it all, and we made it through relatively sane. ;) I am so grateful its all over, and we have a new year ahead of us! Hopefully this one won't be so eventful. Ha, ha!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!

BIG NEWS!!!

No, I am not in labor. But, today I just cashed the first check, courtesy of our tenant's insurance company, for the damages caused. They still owe some, but it sure feels good to have some money from them. We didn't charge them nearly what we should've, but we mainly wanted to recoup our out of pocket expenses without having big issues with trying to get payment.

And.........our not-a-rental-anymore house will officially go up on the market FOR SALE tomorrow!!!!! What a relief that will be!

Finally.....The Before and After Pictures!

Its Monday...

...and I am actually happy about that. After a crazy weekend of house painting, Monday seems a welcome reprieve from the weekend. I think I still have my sanity, but I could use some rest! To recap, we spend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the 'old house,' formally known as the Pit of Despair or the Rental House. We bought a sprayer (which is totally worth the money), and went to town painting the house. I shouldn't say we. I was more of the runner/helper/kid wrangler/landscaper/misc. type person. We had a lot of wonderful help, including my dad and a bunch of people from church. Oh, and our realtor came over and did some weedwacking! Yeah for our realtor! Thanks to all our helpers, we have succeeded in nearly finishing the entire house (pictures to come), mowing the lawn, doing some needed cleaning inside (light fixtures, etc.) and even one shed has been painted (except trim). I was also able to pull out all weeds, plant flowers, put down mulch, rearrange the bricks out front, and pick up a few more handfuls of broken glass. Phew! We are all exhausted, but very grateful for all the progress that was made, and for all the kind people who used their weekend to help us get 'r done!

Now is the time when I subject you to 286 pictures.....

On the left, you will note our lovely gray and red rental house. On the left, you can see an example of Jeff's new faux-finishing technique 'le Beverly Hill Billy.'

Next up we have a lovely shot of Jeff with his 'I can't believe I have the privilege of painting this house' look; on the right, our lovely model (in my childhood sunbonnet) is showing off the progression from 'le Beverly Hill Billy' to a new paint job.

Here is our trusty assistant extraordinaire, commonly known as Chappy. He and Jeff have a nice system going and they are kicking some house-painting-butt!

My yard sale HAUL!!!!! I stopped at one yard sale this morning. Do you know how hard it is to pass up yard sales?! But I was good, and only stopped at one. Boy, am I glad I did. I got all of the clothing shown above (4 pairs of shoes, 5 dresses, 12 outfits, and 5 other clothing items), all of which have no stains, and are name brand (even Gymb0ree) for...drumroll, please....$13 bucks! I am so thrilled I can't even stand it!



Here are a few embroidery projects I have going on. On the left is a project for a swap I am doing. It is going to be made into a tote bag, and is inspired by my swap partner's favorite artist. On the right is a tea towel I finished for my friend from high school who is getting married next week (!!!)


ERIN: If you are reading this, STOP HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We must not spoil the Super Secret Project Maxwell....just keep checking your mailbox!













Here is an apron I made for my friend Erin. She likes to cook, she appreciates handmade stuff, and she has a cool dog named Maxwell. Somehow this idea popped into my head and I just had to make it for her. So, I busted out the vintage rick-rack, some funky green fabric and my embroidery thread. I am really happy with it. I hope she likes it!

Crazy Times

We've spent the last two and a half months shoveling out the mess that was our rental house, all while advertising it, dealing with crazy Cr@igslist people, showing it, getting it inspected, etc.. Oh, and we tried to keep up on other stuff too, like feeding the kids and doing laundry and going to work (Jeff). After all that, we have decided to sell and it looks as though the house may be on the market as soon as today! I am relieved, and stressed too, but mostly relieved. Stressed because, hello! I am going to have a baby here in the next month and relieved because I will hopefully never have to clean broken glass and dog poop off my carpet again. Also, there is a little sadness thrown in as well. Maybe not sadness, but something. We put a LOT of work into that house. It has memories. But alas, it also has a mortgage, and needs constant maintenance, and has a big yard to mow. Until we become independantly wealthy, I think it best not to hold on to sentimental things that carry mortgages. Hello, rich uncle, are you reading this? Do you even exist?

Random Bits

1. I am getting huge. Cheepa needs a name already before he is born. Its getting close!
2. James told me today 'Mommy, its right in front of your nose!'
3. Katie says 'apple,' 'all done,' 'cheese,' and lots of other new words now. And she has such a cute little way of saying them.
4. Dad is making pulled pork for my b-day party on Saturday, and I know you probably don't give a rip, but I am getting excited!
5. I have only had to make 29 trips to the girls' room today. Just kidding. More like 28. That is the one thing I miss while being pregnant, my bladder.
6. We are putting the rental house on the market.
7. Ha! Threw that one in there, didn't I? I guess I am feeling a bit ornery tonight. We have decided that the good ol' rental house is going on the market. A combination of a declining rental market, a lot of stress, profit vs. loss analysis, etc., etc., has brought us to the point that we ready to get rid of it! We will be praying that it sells quickly, as we are going to be paying two mortgages til it does. As far as the lease we have/had lined up, we are still waiting to hear back from the guy. Ordinarily, I would assume we would never hear from them again, but this guy is just on his own time schedule, and he's one of those 'do you know who I am?' type of guys. I think he thinks we are at his beckon call and he can just start the lease whenever he darn well pleases. Anyway, when/if he calls, I think he will be very angry. But hey, he never came to sign the lease and we are not legally obligated to wait around for him to make up his mind. Now, if he would like to make an offer on the house that would be a different story. :)

Good News/Questionable News on the Rental Front

On the rental front, there are some things to update. First, we are officially 'done,' if I can say that! It seems impossible, but I do think we are done. I'll post pictures soon, so you can see the wonders of massive elbow grease and this newfangled thing called soap! And carpet, tile, flooring, paint, etc. In other good news, we had the rental inspection this morning, and drumroll please....it passed!!! We even endured exactly ONE HOUR of listening to the inspector drone on and on about his property in Montana and how he can't live there because his grandkids are here and how he went to Colorado in 1968. We did this in the interest of passing inspection and being friendly to the inspector who could pass or fail us pretty much. What's one more hour of our lives spent over there anyway, when we have already put in more than 350 hours of manual labor to whip it back into shape, right? As far as the lease goes, well, that's a whole 'nother ball of wax. We have (had?) someone lined up; they were going to sign the lease last Sunday, then Monday, then during the week, then they wanted to send the lease to their attorney. TWICE. Who then wanted us to change all the language that protects us as landlords. For example, he wanted us to change the language to allow the tenant to break the lease at any time without penalty. All they would have to do is give 60 days and be gone. We declined changing 95% of the attorney's issues, but the guy didn't seem too upset about it. However, when we did change the few items, he sent it back to his attorney. After much 'I'll call you on....' and then never calling, the latest is that the daughter is (allegedly, possibly) in the hospital, and he'll call us Sunday. Well, yesterday was Sunday, today is the first, and still no word. We are surprisingly not too stressed about it, and are seriously considering the possibility of putting it up for sale if this falls through. The way the market is it could be several more months before we find a tenant. Now don't y'all want to run out and buy your own rental property?!?! I have heard that it can work out very well, but so far tenant-from-hell plus costly (both time and money) repairs plus lost rent plus a really bad market are not adding up too well for us. And did I mention that I am supposed to give birth here NEXT month and we don't need this aggravation?!

I Guess I Wasn't Missing a Thing

I haven't watched TV, or the news, in a couple months. Zero. Zip. Zilch. The only thing playing on our TV has been a few kids videos. This morning, I turned it on to see if the world was still spinning, and guess what I saw?!? A Texas woman was on national TV with her twins. The catch? Two baby daddies. Yep. She was apparently a mighty busy girl and managed to defy odds and conceive twins by two separate men. Turns out I haven't been missing anything by not watching TV.

In other news, get it, NEWS...we are cautiously optimistic that we will have a signed lease this weekend. I say cautiously because you never really know until you have the check in hand. But we don't anticipate these people flaking out. They have been to see the house 5 or 6 times now. Last week, we ended up with three very interested parties in two days. One couple was very nice, articulate, and bankrupt. Yeah. That credit check does tell all, folks. (they had told us a little about it, but there was more.) Another family was very interested, and the guys sister lives across the street from our rental, but they decided they couldn't afford it after all. By the way, both of these couples tried to talk us down on the rent. I am thinking that's a big sign of when people can't really afford it, because our house is the lowest on the market in our township right now, but there are others for more money that are not in as nice of shape. The third party is the one that we have offered the lease to, and they are coming Sunday to sign the paperwork. The nice thing is that it is only one person, and two dogs. We were not going to allow pets at first but it is a fact that a great deal of people lie and have them anyway. This way, we have a deposit up front, and can hopefully find a responsible pet owner. This lady is a dog trainer, so one can hope that her dogs are well trained. It has to be better than the last tenant, with their 5 kids, contraband dog and a lack of cleaning supplies, right?!?

It wasn't 16 Barbies....

....or a partridge in a pear tree. Rather, it was a pair of women's sunglasses clogging the toilet (besides, or course, the rocks and the ball).

Just when you think....

Just when you think there are no more surprises...

Jeff found two large-ish rocks and a bouncy ball lodged in the toilet he was reinstalling. And the problem is, the toilet is still flushing slow. How the heck do you get stuff out like that? And what will we find? 16 barbies and a partridge in a pear tree?

Hello out there....

After another full weekend spent at....you guessed it....the rental, our list of 'to-do's' is finally getting very short. However, we have the added ISSUE of being told that the township has decided to mandate that we replace our perfectly fine stainless steel chimney liner with a new welded stainless steel chimney liner, to the tune of about $1200. I want to scream. And cry. Anyone want to a buy a house? :) I can't wait till I have my life back, and I can blog about fun and bizarre things (not like how I cleaned out the vanity at the rental this weekend and found that although there was a perfectly nice toilet right next to it, they managed to deposit both the Numeros Uno and Dos INSIDE THE VANITY CABINET! What the heck!)

Anywho, this week is hopefully the week I will plant my much anticipated garden. Its been raining, so that's why I say hopefully. My seedlings are busting at the seams and need to be planted. It is also the week I plan on relocated our pesky groundhog to some greener pastures, far away from my house. He'll have to find somewhere else to forage this summer, because if I catch him in my garden it ain't gonna be pretty. Have you ever seen a ginormous pregnant lady chasing an evil groundhog out of her garden? Me neither, and I don't want to. This years plan includes:

• Rutgers tomatoes
• Cherry tomatoes (can't remember the variety)
  
• Yellow Pear tomatoes
• Green Zebra tomatoes
• Orange Banana paste tomatoes
• Poblanos
• Anaheim chiles
• Some sort of roasting chiles
• Red Belgian bell peppers
• Green bell peppers
• Eggplant, if I can ever get some to sprout
• Tomatillos
• Cosack Pineapple Ground Cherries
• Cucumbers
• Jack-Be-Little Pumpkins
• Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans
• Purple podded pole beans
• Christmas Limas
• Black Turtle bush beans
• Sunflowers
• Basil
• Cilantro
• Dill (already outside)
• Purple Dragon Carrots (already outside)
• Chioggia Beets (already outside)
• Green Onions (already outside)

And to think this is the abbreviated 'I'm pregnant and due in July so I probably shouldn't go too overboard' list. There was so much other stuff I wanted to plant, but that'll have to wait till next year when I can double the size of my garden and reach down to pull weeds without bumping into a human being inside my ever-growing belly. (which, by the way, is garnering a lot of 'wow-you-really-popped-out' comments lately)

Math: My Specialty

Anyone reading this who knows me fairly well knows that math is actually NOT my specialty. Faaaar from it. But I can bust out a little algebra every now and then when I need to. Here are a few equations I have just figured out:

The Pit of Despair = Stress, stress, and more stress

Prolonged time working on the P.O.D. = Prolonged stress

Prolonged Stress = Lost Sanity, exhaustion

Lost Sanity = Not Good

So maybe this isn't math after all. Its more like proofs in Geometry. Sort of. My point is that we are exhausted, tired, exhausted, tired, and basically never want to see the rental again! My sanity has gone somewhere and I can only hope it returns someday. On top of that, the kids are way past sick of going to the house too. They are tired, cranky, and starting to do what kids do best in that type of situation: act out. And, if you remember from my cheesy equations above, Jeff and I are not exactly feeling chipper ourselves. At this point I could pretty much crawl under a rock and cry. But then I would hear 'Mommy, I need water. Mommy, come wipe my buns.' and I would no longer be able to sit and wail. I would have to get up and get going. Which is what I have been doing. There is light at the end of the tunnel; its just not close enough, dang it!

And to add a bit of 'excitement' to my already exhausting day yesterday, right before bed the kids were playing outside for a few minutes. James came running around the corner screaming, with blood all over. Let me tell you, head wounds bleed a lot. And I do not handle exhaustion + head wounds very well. In trying to jump up and peek over the wall (like Jeff does), James pulled a loose brick down and it fell on his head. Fortunately, it wasn't as bad as it appeared, but it took me quite a while to come down off the adrenaline. In fact, I went out and organized my garage and cleaned up the backyard to try and distract myself from the drama of it all. And then I sat down and ate a big chunk of contraband watermelon all by myself. And guess what? First thing this morning, James asked me for the watermelon. How does that little stinker even know I had it?! I hid it in a shopping bag and smuggled it in. Little turkey.

You had me at hell

How Not To Impress A Possible Landlord: A Primer

• Make sure not to use any punctuation, capitalization, spell check, or proof-reading. See example below:

hell to whom it may concern, my name is ***** and i ran into your ad on craigslist about your 3 bedroom house for rent. i'm very familiar with the area and would like to schedule an appointment. my cell is *** thank you

• When potential landlord calls you on the phone, answer it, tell them you can't talk right now, and that you'll call them right back. Then wait an hour or two before calling them back. Or don't call back at all.
  
• When speaking with potential landlord, mention that you have to get out of your current place, like, yesterday or last week for that matter. You're potential landlord will never, ever put two and two together that you are getting evicted.
• Mention to your potential landlord that you have to leave because the owner is getting foreclosed and 'there's a lot of other stuff going on.' No one will ever suspect that your landlord is getting foreclosed because you didn't pay your rent for the last 6 months.
• Say 'my credit is not that great. I haven't actually checked it, but I know its bad. But my ex-spouse ruined my credit.' That excuse is so clever that everyone uses it!
• Tell potential landlord that you always try to pay your bills on time. You might even throw in there that you've only ever bounced 62 checks in your lifetime.
  
• Set up an appointment, then choose one of the following options: a) don't show, b) show up 37 minutes late, or c) change it to another day at the last minute because you're stuck working late at the candy factory and you don't know when you'll get out.
• After changing your appointment to another day, call again at the last minute and thank the potential landlord for their 'hospitality,' and then say that you aren't coming because there is no way you'll ever get approved to rent another house.

Thus concludes our session, 'How Not to Impress a Possible Landlord.' I hope you have found it to be informative, and can use the information wisely. Thank you.

Like a Box of Chocolates

You never know what you're gonna get.

About a week ago, I told Jeff that I would bet money that the attic of the rental was filled with stuff. He didn't think so. He figured they never bothered to go up there. I wasn't convinced. Well. Let me tell you. The attic was full. Of lots and lots of stuff. Boxes and boxes of videos. Family pictures. Christmas decorations. Winter gear. Craft supplies. A coffee pot. Personal information. Books. You name it, we probably have it shoved somewhere in a box. I am sure glad we didn't leave access to the storage space upstairs.

In other news, I was told by my midwife this morning that its already time to start coming in every two weeks. This means we are getting closer and closer to the arrival of Cheepa! Dang. We better come up with a name one of these days. :) I don't really feel like going in every two weeks already, but what can you do. It'll be here before I know it!

Progress After All

I think we've had our nose to the grindstone so much lately that we haven't noticed how far we've come in the last 21 days. There is still a lot to do, but most of the big things are done. I loaded up some new pictures today and realized we are making progress after all!!!! And, it doesn't stink anymore. Hallelujah!! (PS. Don't pay any mind to the random captions)

Paint Does Wonders

In a Nutshell

-Tuesday Night: Emergency Visit to pediatrician for Katie; all is well now.
-Wednesday Night: Spent messing around with the circuit breaker trying to figure out why our power was going in and out, flickering like a disco and causing strange noises.
-Thursday Night: Repeat of Wednesday night, with the added bonus of Jeff replacing the main switch, much to my disapproval, a late night call to PECO, two middle-of-the-night calls from PECO, and a 2:30am visit from the PECO guy. Added bonus: Jeff showed him what was going on, and what he had done to try and fix it, all in his footy pajamas.
-Friday Morning: They came out and fixed the power! Wahoo! Had to get my lovely glucose test done. Not fun. And they didn't have my paper work and I was scared they would send me home after drinking the nasty orange potion-of-nastiness. Fortunately, it all came through OK.

And, on top of all that, we've been working at the rental trying to get everything fixed up. There is just so much to do, and now we are getting down to the wire. Needless to say, we are exhausted.

If you've made it this far, here's some fun pictures of Katie saying 'cheese.' She takes it very seriously. Hopefully tomorrow I'll post a video of the rabid robin that has been attacking out truck since Saturday. Really.

Do Not Fear!

For those of you fans of the 'Running James Commentary,' here's a link to past James commentary. It was getting too long, and besides, I needed more room for the wonderful baby ticker Linda showed me!

In other news, still crazy on the rental front. The people we were hopeful about, well, not so hopeful now. Still working to clean it up. Its coming along. Paint does wonders. Floor to go in soon. We need renters!

And I just got back from a two hour visit to the pediatrician. Katie had a 104.4 degree fever. She has an ear infection and a 'croupy' cough. Poor thing.

Scientific Phenomena

I've discovered a strange and little known fact of the scientific world. Do you know the key to keeping ants, bugs, cockroaches, mice and other nasty critters out of your house? You guessed it! Keep your house so absolutely filthy that even the roaches can't stomach it.

After a week of scouring and scrubbing and ripping out flooring, we have not seen signs of any bugs, mice, or other nasty beasts, except in the shed. And that I can live with!