Archive | December, 2011

Books of 2011

30 Dec

Because I am 99% certain that I will not finish the book that I am currently reading by tomorrow night at midnight, I think it is safe to post my books completed in 2011 list.

Title Author Date Completed No. of Pages
1 Dead Until Dark Harris, Charlaine 01.01.11 292
2 Lick Your Neighbor Genoa, Chris 01.07.11 304
3 A Gate At the Stairs Moore, Lorrie 01.14.11 322
4 An Object of Beauty Martin, Steve 01.19.11 295
5 HELP! A Bear Is Eating Me Hansen, Mykle 01.20.11 132
6 Bad Mother Waldman, Ayelet 01.25.11 224
7 When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead: Useful Stories from a Persuasive Man Weintraub, Jerry 01.27.11 304
8 Betrayal Alvtegen, Karin 02.13.11 304
9 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix* Rowling, J.K. 02.18.11 870
10 Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Sausages Holt, Tom 02.18.11 378
11 Mr. Funny Pants Showalter, Michael 03.05.11 288
12 Stalking Susan Kramer, Julie 03.16.11 240
13 Half Baked Stevenson, Alexa 03.20.11 304
14 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince* Rowling, J.K. 03.22.11 652
15 Missing Alvtegen, Karin 03.25.11 289
16 Missing Mark Kramer, Julie 03.30.11 288
17 Two Kisses for Maddy Logelin, Matt 04.05.11 256
18 One of Our Thursdays is Missing Fforde, Jasper 04.15.11 362
19 I Drink For a Reason Cross, David 04.22.11 236
20 The Imperfectionists Rachman, Tom 04.30.11 269
21 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows* Rowling, J.K. 05.06.11 759
22 Heart of the Matter Giffin, Emily 05.10.11 352
23 Shame Alvtegen, Karin 05.14.11 343
24 The Interview Leigh, James 05.21.11 228
25 Shadow Alvtegen, Karin 06.05.11 320
26 Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? Moore, Lorrie 06.09.11 160
27 Hater Moody, Douglas 06.09.11 244
28 Strange Bedpersons Crusie, Jennifer 06.11.11 256
29 The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes Crusie, Jennifer 06.23.11 384
30 The Mysterious Benedict Society Stewart, Trenton Lee 06.24.11 485
31 Certain Girls Weiner, Jennifer 06.27.11 386
32 Best Friends Forever Weiner, Jennifer 07.02.11 368
33 What the Lady Wants Crusie, Jennifer 07.04.11 256
34 Maybe Next Time Crusie, Jennifer 07.08.11 342
35 The No Cry Sleep Solution Pantley, Elizabeth 07.10.11 208
36 Travels in the Scriptorium Auster, Paul 07.10.11 160
37 Gunn’s Golden Rules Gunn, Tim 07.17.11 255
38 Baby Led Weaning Rapley, Gill 07.18.11 226
39 Room Donoghue, Emma 07.21.11 321
40 Great House Krause, Nicole 08.02.11 291
41 Everything Matters! Currie Jr., Ron 08.12.11 302
42 The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey Stewart, Trenton Lee 08.21.11 440
43 A Game of Thrones Martin, George R. R. 09.05.11 807
44 The Redbreast Nesbo, Jo 09.13.11 368
45 Nemesis Nesbo, Jo 09.20.11 478
46 The Devil’s Star Nesbo, Jo 09.30.11 368
47 The Hunger Games Collins, Suzanne 10.04.11 374
48 Catching Fire Collins, Suzanne 10.08.11 391
49 The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma Stewart, Trenton Lee 10.08.11 391
50 Mockingjay Collins, Suzanne 10.10.11 391
51 The Redeemer Nesbo, Jo 10.21.11 561
52 Red Hook Road Waldman, Ayelet 10.30.11 373
53 The Search for WondLa DiTerlizzi, Tony 11.13.11 468
54 Little, Big Crowley, John 11.25.11 538
55 The Invention of Hugo Cabret Selznick, Brian 11.27.11 533
56 The Snowman Nesbo, Jo 12.04.11 400
57 The Leopard Nesbo, Jo 12.17.11 624
TOTAL: 20760

57 books.  Not too shabby!

Well.

28 Dec

We done bought a house!

We are under a purchase agreement and everything is signed and ready to go.  Crazy.

A lot has happened since I last updated.  Obviously.  We did the following:
12/13: talked to our realtor
12/17: went out and looked at houses (cut short by a sick Rowan who was headachey and nauseous due to what turned out to be strep throat!)
12/18: switched mortgage people
12/21: got turned down by one mortgage person AND pre-approved by the new one — within an hour of each other (the first person was bad at her job and did not seem to understand the idea of a seller paying closing costs and the new guy is AMAZING and not only understands the market but has all kinds of ideas about how we can pay off the mortgage more quickly, which is great)
12/22: looked at houses again and made an offer that night
12/23: countered and figured everything out
12/26: had an inspection and signed the final counter-offer

Today, we got the finalized purchase agreement contract and everything is moving forward.  We will close on 2/16.

We have this tendency to…..move rather quickly once we make up our minds to do something.  Both Steve and I are that way.  Though, I must say that this moved more quickly than I thought it would.  Not that that is bad, just that we now have a lot to do in the coming days/weeks.

The house is in the neighborhood that we want and it probably doubles our usable square footage.  It’s a nice 4 bedroom rambler in excellent condition.  Hardwood floors upstairs, finished basement with brand new carpet in the basement.  Tons of storage.  A nice kitchen.  A fenced in yard.  A brand new roof.  We’re incredibly excited.

So, this process has kind of overtaken everything else these last few weeks.  It has been a roller coaster, especially considering the nightmare of the first (bad) mortgage person.  She made me feel like we were completely incapable of doing this even though, as Steve said, we have the three C’s – credit, capability (to pay), and character – that banks look for.  She really irritated me and I am glad we’ve moved ahead with this other guy.  So long, lady!

Christmas was really nice, as well, though again, it was kind of overshadowed by the house process.  Everything is overshadowed by that.

Here are some pictures, since I can’t think of anything else to say (plus, I need to stop my lunch hour and get back to work):


Living room of new house


Kitchen/into dining room. I do not like the linoleum floor, but that is something that can easily be replaced. Steve knows how to lay tile!


Bathroom.


Rowan’s room. The room that stood out to me on the online listing that made me say, “OH, I WANT THAT HOUSE!”

And then we went ahead and GOT THAT HOUSE.


Downstairs family room. The basement also has a bedroom (that will be used as a playroom), a finished office, a second bathroom, and a huge room that looks like it can be used as a closet for all our off-season clothes.


I love the expressions on everyone’s faces here. So funny.


Dad and the grandkids!


Family!


Little girl.

on houses

21 Dec

First, things are moving incredibly quickly on our house hunt.  Steve and I are the kind of people who, well, once we decide to do something, we just DO it.  We were having some issues with the mortgage person who we initially talked to, and thought that maybe we couldn’t  move ahead.  There was some drama last week and some me getting mad at Steve because I was going on the information that was given to me (by someone who, it seems, didn’t quite know what they were doing).  Anyhow, that has all resolved.  We looked at houses on Saturday and are looking again tomorrow night.  We talked to a NEW mortgage guy and got pre-approved for what we want to spend and if everything looks good to us tomorrow, we will MAYBE be making an offer.

Crazy.

Second.  Have you ever noticed that some bloggers have REALLY nice houses?  I read a lot of blogs, because, well, I am like a little voyeur and feel like if people put their lives out there then it is okay for me to read it.  I also am the kind of person who likes to look in windows when I am riding in a car at night and people have their lights on and blinds open.  What?  That is normal, right? Anyhow, bloggers like Dooce.  Her house is amazing!  Blogging must be really really lucrative for those people.  Good for them.  But, it makes me a little teeny bit jealous.  We’ll just be happy to get a little lot of something to call home in Minneapolis.

 

 

12 Dec

Well.

Things are pretty much back to normal on the sick baby front.  No more lumpy neck.  No more waking up in the night, howling.  So, that is good.  Things are also pretty much back to “normal” (whatever that means) in every other front.  We are so boring.

Boring is probably okay.  Whenever I wish things were more interesting, it seems like BAD THINGS HAPPEN.  So, I will take the status quo.

We met a new little friend for Katja this weekend!  Our friends Coral and Abby had their daughter on 11/29 and we got to meet her on Saturday.  She is just perfect and adorable.  It was fun to get to hold a new baby again, though I had forgotten how new babies scare me because they aren’t as “sturdy” as older babies.  This is why I usually don’t like to hold newborns, except my own.

Most of the weekend was kind of a blur.  Rowan and I picked out ornaments on Saturday, after the baby visit, and then she broke one right when we got home.  I was SO tired and crabby and just lost it on her (yelling wise).  Poor Rowan.  We break at least one ornament every year, so I don’t know why I got all bent out of shape.  I did apologize to her, because while I was mad because she shouldn’t have been fiddling with them and we JUST BOUGHT THEM, it was not okay of me to lose my shit like that.  I’m the parent.  PLUS, she comes by this honestly.  My sister’s nickname for me is “M.D. – Master of Disaster”, for my clumsiness and ability to spill/break things/what-have-you.

We did save Saturday (post-yelling) by eating a nice family dinner (roasted pork loin – YUM) and playing Yahtzee together.

Yesterday, I made it to the gym for the first time since before Thanksgiving.  That was…..pretty awful.  I am out of shape.  UGH.  New year’s resolution:  GET BACK INTO THE GYM HABIT.  I wanted to take a walk today during my lunch hour, but that won’t happen now because one of my co-workers went home sick, so I have to provide coverage and then eat a hurried lunch.  Oh well.

Steve and I do want to start getting back to the gym during the week, but it is HARD.  Can’t tonight, because I’m tired.  Can’t tomorrow, because we’re meeting with A REALTOR and I need to make cupcakes for a work thing on Thursday.  Can’t Wednesday, because I will get home from work late (Rowan has after school program, which runs late, which makes me get home late, too) and will be rushing to get things done, PLUS I need to frost the cupcakes.  Can’t Thursday because of the after school program.  Can’t Friday, because I am always too tired on Fridays to do anything.

That sounds like a bunch of excuses, and it IS a bunch of excuses.  But, they’re kind of valid.  I will go both Saturday and Sunday, though, and will hopefully get in another time during the week next week.  I have Friday, the 23rd off, and maybe I will go in that morning.  Maybe?

It is very exciting to be meeting with our realtor on Tuesday.  I have known this woman since I was 16 or something like that.  She used to date my brother’s best friend and she is very good at her job.  There are already houses that I really want, LIKE NOW.  But, I need to keep my expectations in check.  I am very used to just getting my way and having things work out the way that I want them to….and, that may not happen in this process.  I also need to contact the loan person to let her know that we have the money that we need for a down payment, so that we can get our official pre-approval letter.  CRAZY.  And scary.  Yet, people do this all the time, so hard can it really be?  It is maybe more scary to think of the permanence of it all, as when I buy a house, I intend for that to be IT. None of this starter home nonsense.  I just want a home.

I have had too much caffeine today and my mind and fingers are all over the map.

Katja update, and some other things.

5 Dec

I realize that I have not updated since my dramatic posts last week.  My apologies.  I took Katja in to her clinic on Friday for a follow-up and everything looked just fantastic.  Her little swollen lymph node is less swollen, and she seems to be mostly back to her normal, adorable self.

I am so relieved, of course, and so happy that she is doing well.

We went to my aunt’s house on Saturday for our annual gingerbread extravaganza.  Our 14th annual event!  Hard to believe that we have been doing this since 1998, when I was a freshman in college and my cousin Will was a mere 3 months old.  Rowan has been going to these since 2002, and Katja joined this year.  Crazy!  It was really fun, though I didn’t really try as hard as I have in the past.  Having to wrangle a baby will prevent one from being able to decorate to one’s full ability…or, at least that is my excuse.

Yesterday, my aunt texted me (and, I am assuming, all of my family) to let us know that my uncle’s friend was in the ICU. Apparently, he felt crappy on Friday and went in to the doctor, still felt bad on Saturday and went in to Urgent Care, was admitted to the hospital that day and his organs started shutting down!  What the heck!?  He was on life support and later she texted to say that he was being taken off life support after his sister arrived from Las Vegas….  I am not sure if that meant that he was taken off because he was better or taken off because there was nothing more they could do.  How do things like that even happen?  I cannot wrap my brain around that – you’re fine one day and dead the next.

And this is why I worry, you see?  My mortality scares me.

But, but, other than that, things are pretty good.  I only had one minor meltdown yesterday, and that was in relation to money and me stressing about this whole buying a house concept because I think we need x amount of dollars and Steve telling me that I don’t need to worry that much because hopefully we can get closing costs paid for and then we’ll only need y amount.  Which is true.  But, I just want lots of money and we don’t have that.  Does anyone?

Oh, and I guess that I also got a little frustrated when Katja decided to wake up at 9 and play until midnight.  Thankfully, Steve took the night shift and mama got to sleep.

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