Picking an orange or yellow
I know I haven't written since Penny died. It's been incredibly hard. We're still crying about her. I cried at the salon today when I was telling my stylist about all the changes that have been happening with Elaine and me, which included losing Penny. It just hasn't been the same without her. I really think the only way we're going to feel better is if we get another dog. And we kind of picked one out, but we don't want to start the adoption process just yet because we're buying a house.
Yes, we're buying a house. We close on Friday!
Welcome to this beautiful three bedroom, one and a half bathroom home on a quiet, tree lined street.
We got so lucky with this house. I'm sure you've heard the horror stories of people buying houses right now. One of my friends has been looking and has put in at least 6 offers only to be outbid or declined because someone else offered cash. We had been looking for about a month and it was an exhausting process because we live about an hour and a half from where we were looking. Elaine was skeptical about houses built before 1950 because of asbestos, lead paint and other hazards, but I hated all of the newer homes. There are also a lot of flipped houses out there that are just so generic, I just couldn't imagine ourselves in them. Another interesting thing we learned is that a lot of the Chicago suburbs require village inspections when you sell. When you do that, you can sell as-is, but the buyer has to assume the village repairs. And some of the places we liked had a lot to bring them up to code. My favorite ones were the "in-law arrangement" houses that turned out to actually be an illegal apartment. If you're going to convert your house to a duplex, you kind of have to get that ok'd with the municipality before you do it, but apparently the power company has no problem installing a second gas and electric meter without confirming that it's up to code. One that I really loved was one of those. It was super frustrating because the house had been sold in 2016, so you have to wonder how that managed to sell then with the illegal apartment and electric that was not up to code. We also fell in love with this house, but the neighborhood was pretty sketchy. We were seriously considering it, like going to go back for a second showing, but then there was a murder just down the street and Elaine drew the line there.
But we totally lucked out. This house belonged to the agent's grandmother who passed away in 2013. His grandparents were the only owners. They rented it for a few years after she passed away, but now were just wanting to sell it. It had very minimal village repairs and the town actually gives you 9 months to do them. Our inspector did find that most of the outlets were open ground and there were a few circuits that were tripped and he couldn't get them back on (which also meant he could test the stove and the power to the garage didn't work either), so we were able to negotiate a credit at closing to pay for that. The first estimate we got was less than the credit, so we have some money to repair and replace other things that our inspector thought looked like they were nearing the end of their lives. We got it for $5k less than asking price, which was what it appraised at. We had actually negotiated to go month-to-month until the end of June (our lease end April 30) and when the property management company sent over the new lease to sign, I had to call him because we actually will be out by then end of May instead.
So what prompted me to write tonight was a conversation I've been having over and over with Elaine ever since our offer was accepted. I did a tweet thread, but I can't share it because I have my Twitter private, so I'll copy/paste it.
Closing on our house on Friday
Fiancé: We need to pick paint colors. Here's @Pinterest my board. What do you like on here?Me: I don't mind most of these, but why do we need to pick an orange or a yellow if we're not painting anything orange or yellow.
F: It's an accent color
Me: But if we're not painting anything that color, why do we need to have that color selected?
Fiancé: Because we need a color palette. We'll use it in accessories.
Me: But what if we find something we like that's a similar color, but not that color? Are we not allowed to get it?
Fiancé: Not if it doesn't match.
Me: So if we like something and it matches, but it's not in that color palette, we could still get it?
F: Yes, but-
Me: Then why do we need to pick an orange or yellow if we're not painting something orange or yellow?
Fiancé: Because we need everything to be cohesive. I'm sick of all the mismatched décor.
Me: What if we find something we like that matches, but isn't quite that paint color we picked that we're not actually painting anything?
F: Well it doesn't have to be EXACTLY that color but-
Me: Then why do we need to pick that color if we're not painting anything that color?
*repeat over and over for the last 3 weeks*
I still don't understand. Can't we just carry the paint chips of the colors we're painting shit and when we see something, if it works with those colors we've chosen to paint, we can get it? I just don't understand why it's so important to pick an orange or yellow if we're not buying paint that color. If it works with our paint colors, it works. If it doesn't, it doesn't. WHY DO WE NEED TO PICK AN ORANGE OR YELLOW PAINT COLOR WHEN WE'RE NOT BUYING THAT COLOR PAINT?
My fiancé did spend most of the winter down the @DavidZylaStyle rabbit hole trying to find their "romantic color" or whatever. Like spent WAY too much time at home improvement and paint stores collecting paint chips. I get that people with #ASD like having rules, but I don't.
Imma buy that pillow even if it's not quite the right orange or yellow. I'm fine with bringing the paint chips for the wall colors and if it doesn't look terrible next to them, that's good enough for me. I just don't need to decide Gambol Gold is the only shade of yellow allowed.
As for everything else, things aren't too bad. Elaine is enjoying their job for the most part. It's definitely a great fit. Wedding stuff is mostly done, but there are a few things I'm lowkey panicking about that I need to get to, but I have the entire week off next week to tackle the décor stuff I'm worried about. We need to take another pass at our ceremony script. I picked my dress up from my friend's house and it still fits (it was questionable because I bought entirely too much Easter candy). I got my hair done today. We also both got our eyebrows threaded today and I got my upper lip as well. I do not recommend that. I've had a mustache since at least 6th grade, but I really wanted to take care of it for the wedding just in case it's visible in the photos. What's really funny is Elaine is actually not a fan. They actually told me they missed it. IYKYK.
The other thing worth writing about was getting a pod. It came on Monday and was picked up today. We spent both evenings loading it. Near the end of Monday I got hangry and definitely snapped at Elaine. Near the end of yesterday, I also snapped. I had brought a big rolling suitcase to put in the pod, but Elaine wanted to keep it hear and pack clothes in it. I yelled, "FINE! I'M DONE!" and shoved it down the sidewalk. I went to take a shower while Elaine finished up. Then while they were in the shower, I said, "I'm sorry I snapped." "It's ok," they replied. "You were a lot better than I expected you to be."
While we were getting our eyebrows done, PODS called Elaine to tell them that they didn't lock the pod properly. They were going to have to go to their storage facility and fix the lock since PODS doesn't have a key. I probably should have checked it this morning, but clearly I overestimated Elaine's ability to figure it out. Elaine really wanted me to go with them to take care of it, but I barely had time to drop them off before driving down to Kenosha to get my hair done, then pick up my dress from my friend's house and drop off a bunch of stuff with my dad. "You're going to have to go and figure it out. I can't do it today. I don't know what time I'll get home from Kenosha." Elaine proceeded to have a meltdown. We got home, I used the bathroom, got some soda to drink while I was gone and the last things I needed to load in my car. Elaine was eating an apple pie from Aldi at the kitchen counter. "You're going to figure it out,"I told them. "It's going to be ok."
"No it's not!"
But they did figure it out. And it was fine.
These two things most definitely convince me that in 8 days I will be marrying the right person.