I am a moron.

The reason the amount on the letter from the bank and the amount in the online mortgage calculator differed by about $35k is that the bank didn't take into account my down payment. They didn't look at my bank statements and determine how much I could put down (the way college financial aid apps do, which is my only previous ( Read more... )

ETA: I am stupidI have been "looking for a house" for six years now. Somerville is the longest relationship of my life by almost six years, and I knew by the two-year mark that I wanted to get married. Unfortunately, the ring is too damn expensive and the wedding is too damn expensive and I'm going to be the mistress with no legal claim forever ( Read more... )

Does anyone have a lightbox-style fly trap that I could borrow, like right this fucking minute? Seriously. When I left the house this morning, there were maybe 4 or 5 flies in the kitchen. When I got home tonight -- after a fucking 12-hour day at work, mind you -- my kitchen and dining room were full of flies. There could easily be 100 flies in ( Read more... )

Dear Dr. LJ ( Read more... )

I just spent $15 at Target on a combination croquet and bocce set. My yard is too small for croquet, but it's just the right size for bocce! Best 15 bucks I've spent in awhile.

(via bwilder: Cities and Ambition. Read it, then come back. I'll wait ( Read more... )

I put the "Moroccan" in quotes because it, like all of my vague wavings in the direction of ethnic cuisine, doesn't even pretend to be authentic. But it has dried apricots, mint, cumin, and chickpeas in it, so ( Read more... )

NSTAR is finally instituting a green power program in Massachusetts! You can elect to get half or all of your electricity from wind power. They haven't confirmed a price yet, but they're guessing that it will cost an average of $4-7 extra a month. For me, and for most of you, that's nothing, really. Woot ( Read more... )

The lettuce seeds I planted a little over a week ago have sprouted and are now teeny little arugula-tasting seedlings. I need to get a shallower, wider planter for the next round -- it's stupid to fill up such a deep pot with soil for something with such a shallow root system ( Read more... )

Upon coming home today, I noticed a silver trailer in the other driveway and broken bits of what looked like my back porch lined up along the wall. Uh-oh...

Turns out the landlord decided to re-do the back porch, which was sagging. In theory, this is nice. In practice? Fucking tell me first! My future tomato bed (and current chard bed, if the ( Read more... )