General update and thigns to do
I'm getting behind in so many things so its list time again. Some how, posting my list-of-things-to-do here makes me more productive because I feel I must be accountable if others see it. So it's at the bottom of this post and I'll strike through as I get them done. Some seem trivial or silly to break them down into such small steps, but since being sick and having all the stress of this moving goign on, I have been a horrible non-productive lump.
But first an update:
The Subpoena----I found out that I was being subpoena'ed because i was a wittness to the shooting that happened behind my garage (yes....my neighborhood is so lovely *drips sarcasm*). Apparently there was a drug deal going down in the parking lot behind my house (at the bar). One dude whipped out a gun and shot the seller in an attempt to rob him. This was back in May. (remember the post about rolling off the bed onto the floor and Miranda not being scared but wanting to see the CSI crew?). So anyway....lots of people who were there were trying to claim it was a random drive by. I guess they were trying to hide the fact that it was a drug deal (this was told to me by others...i couldn't testify to this since I didn't wittness that part) and they also didn't want the shooter to get in trouble. My part was to testify that it was indeed NOT a drive by and that whomever started shooting was in that parking lot crowd, not randomly driving by. I could testify to that part because I was awake and heard the loud partying going on before the shots, and I can verify that there were ZERO car sounds before and immediately after the shots. THe car sounds didn't start up until the shooting stopped, the screaming started and people had time to run to their cars, start them up and then pull away. So, I didn't see any faces, couldn't point out individuals but could only verify the sounds I heard. This was scary enough though because the shooter and all their friends were claiming it was a random drive-by and thus I was going to be calling them out as lying. The shooter had been out on bond and then was rearrested for selling crack and carrying a loaded gun in his pants in August only a couple blocks from my house. THen 2 weeks before being subpoena'ed, he was sitting outside my house. Needless to say, I was VERY scared to testify, but I was going to. Then THANK GODDESS, he chickened out at the last minute and took a plea, so I didn't have to testify! He is serving 5 years. This makes me feel much better, but the bar is still a problem. When we first moved here, it wasn't a problem. It was a small after-work-have-a-drink mom and pop type place. Quiet and decent. But then (according to neighborhood gossip), the owner died and left it to his child and spouse (don't know if the child was the wife or hubby), and then after a while, the husband/wife got divorced. The wife got the bar in the divorce and she moved in her new thug-type friends. The bar went though a transition period of sometimes being a country-type place and sometimes being a ganster-place. Now its all bad. We are so tired of it all.
The move - Yes, we are moving. THANK GODDESS again (see above). This will be my 4th house purchase and I swear I've never had such trouble. This even included comparing my first time where the seller went in the hospital for mental break downs and then refused to sell the house AT the closing. Even comapring that, this has been hard.
house 1: There was a house we had always loved, but since I can't sell our current house first, it was out of our budget since we would have two mortgages for a while. We drooled over it but then moved on.
house 2: We found a house we liked in the T. school district. We liked it but were a week too late at bidding. IT went under contract. Then, we waited it out since we liked that one lots. I heard rumor that the bidders were backing out (some story about tons of hidden damage.....turned out to be inaccurate). Once the bidders backed out, we looked at it again to confirm that the rumor about damage wasn't true and we put in a bid. Turns out by then, it was a bidding war. I was so sure it was the perfect house for us. It was roomy, a good yard, a good school district and two HUGE garages that we had plans for. Although we had the higher bid, someone swooped in with cash so we were denied. I was heartbroken since I had sooooo wanted this house. After a week, we jumped back on the horse and began a new search.
house 3: We found another place.. I wasn't thrilled with the house but I loved the area and the price was WAY resonable. It was close to the bike trail, had a YS address (which is VERY desirable for resale value in this area) and had lots of yard to garden, drum, fire spin...etc. It was in the G school district which was rated excellent so we made an offer and it was accepted. We went through the inspection process and it passed inspection but failed the well test. I researched the heck out of it, and told them how to get a temporary quick-fix to pass the well test and then we intended on drilling a new well or recasing the existing one once we moved in. I pulled money out of my 401K to do this. G school district allowed us to enroll Miranda by showing them we had a house under contract. I started using the house as the bus stop (driving M to the house and picking her up there each day). Since we were pretty certain that this would happen (we already knew we were approved on our end and it was just paperwork now) I went ahead and started packing. Since occupancy would happen at closing instead of the standard 30 days, we went ahead with the packing. I packed away about half of our stuff (and all winter clothes, extra blankets, etc). Then, on the DAY before closing, the bank called. Turns out the selling realtor (not ours....Our realtor is EXCELLENT) had not been honest with disclosing some basics about the type of house it was. Modular houses have different criteria that the underwriters must approve. so the DAY before closing, although our finances were fine, the transaction was denied. I was floored. I tried to figure out some way to get it ok'ed...I offered to put 10K down, pay points, etc)....they said no. It had nothing to do with our end and everything to do with the fact that they had no comps (comparable houses that have sold in that area) and never will because of the type of house it was. THe only way they will sell that house is cash. I felt really bad for the seller because she is a little old lady in a nursing home who was trying to sell it to pay the nursin home. I felt bad for her too and was so angry at the selling realtor. Since there was nothing else we could do, we had to give up on that one. Thankfully, we got our earnest money back, but we lost almost $1000 by the time we paid all the inspections and appraisal fees.
Then a cruel twist of fate :house 2 went BACK on the market but now we were NOT willing to buy it because Miranda loved this new school and they have been so helpful with her special needs. She made friends immediately and everyone has been really nice to her. Our search had to start again but was now limited to only the G district (whereas before we were willing to take districts T, G, YS, or SE).
At this same time, the rates dropped and other factors caused our approved amount to jump and House 1 came down in price. Although House 1 had sat on the market for a year, no one had bought it. We JUMPED at house 1 since it was now in our range. And when the realtor called, it went under contract the DAY BEFORE. Seriously! The thing sat for year with no nibbles and THEN the day before we call on it, it gets snatched up. I told Gary that was it, I was flat out REFUSING to decide on another house while Mercury was in retrograde. I told the school what was going on and they said that as long as we had another house under contract within a month, they woudlnt' worry about how to handle the fact that Miranda was going to their school but not living in their district (because of her special needs, she has always been denied open enrollment). So Gary agreed (reluctantly) that we could look at other houses but not make a decision until Mercury straightened out. This whole process now has been from April to September.
During the look-but-dont-decide time we saw houses 4 though 9. Some were definate NO and some were possibilities. THen came house 10. Our realtor was jumping up and down about this one. He was so proud of himself for finding what he called such a perfect fit for such strange customers. lol. We looked and as soon as Mercury straightened out, we decided on House 10 with House 9 and then House 7 as back-up plans.
House 10.................. It is in the G district a few miles north of House 3. So not only is it the same district, but Miranda will even be on the same bus that she started on. (as soon as house 3 fell though, we stopped using it as the bus stop and I started driving her to school each day). It is further from the bike trail and its smaller but its a much better house. It is a sturdy older ranch with a full basement. The basement and double oversized garage provides enough storage space and computer workshop space for Gary, that it will seem bigger. The glorious thing is that its very rural and there are NO neighbors. The three lots surround it are part of a land trust and CAN NEVER BE DEVELOPED! So we will NEVER have close neighbors. THe realtor was so excited. He kept saying how we could have all our Pagan drumming circles and rituals with privacy and not having to worry about what the neighbors think. The neighbor across the street has their house sitting so far back a country lane, that late night drumming won't bother them either. The entire house is surrounded by large Oaks, Walunts and a few Maples. The front has young Cedars lining the road. The house blends into the woods. Its awesome. The lots on either side are land trust and completly wild and wooded. THe rear lot is land trust and has some trees and wild grasses. Behind that is corn field. It doesn't need much work since the guy who owned it spared no expense in fixing it up. The floors are new (real hard wood, not laminate), the attic has a RIDICULOUS amount of insullation, there is a Cuno system (a 3 filter reverse osmosis system for drinking water), the garage is very roomy and well built. The outside of the house is painted Cedar shakes instead of standard siding. I had hoped for a master bathroom, but the other plusses of this one cancel out my disappointment of only 1 bath. So we've done another ~1K of inspections and appraisials. The bank is moving faster on this one and hopefully, we will have a closing date in teh next couple weeks. I'm still refusing to get attached and excited since this has been such a roller coaster, but I will be excited about that yard once things are finalized.
In other news, I have finally joined facebook. You won't be able to look me up directly , as I faked a last name. I have issues with putting my real last name on there. I really dont' want people from my past looking me up. I know I can hide stuff, but I dont' want friend requests from people in my past and then me having to deny them. My ex BF was a scary guy and I don't even want him having a clue where I live or what my new last name is. SO I made one up. I am keeping my LJ for more personal things were I can be myself more and using facebook mostly for quick updates and the silly games. So if anyone wants to friend me on face book, comment here and I'll email you my facebook name. I play Cafe World, Farmville, Yoville, and Mafia. I desperately need a few neighbors on Cafe World and some more people in my mafia, so let me know if your interested.
ok: things to do:
1. Miranda to school
2. find email from M and reply
3. Two loads of laundry
4. Dishes
5. Clean rest of kitchen
6. Clean bathroom
7. Call and reschedule dentist appt
8. Call brian about Sunrise art
9. Call Dee tonight about rent check
10. Study new HASP format and make list of questions for P and L. (I've been procrasinating hard on this one and MUST do it)
11. Get Miranda from school
12. Respond to computer club guy and get him the worksheet from the class I taught
13. Clean and organize work space for upcomming QAPP
14. Make a dent in mess in bedroom
15. add to this as I think of things.
But first an update:
The Subpoena----I found out that I was being subpoena'ed because i was a wittness to the shooting that happened behind my garage (yes....my neighborhood is so lovely *drips sarcasm*). Apparently there was a drug deal going down in the parking lot behind my house (at the bar). One dude whipped out a gun and shot the seller in an attempt to rob him. This was back in May. (remember the post about rolling off the bed onto the floor and Miranda not being scared but wanting to see the CSI crew?). So anyway....lots of people who were there were trying to claim it was a random drive by. I guess they were trying to hide the fact that it was a drug deal (this was told to me by others...i couldn't testify to this since I didn't wittness that part) and they also didn't want the shooter to get in trouble. My part was to testify that it was indeed NOT a drive by and that whomever started shooting was in that parking lot crowd, not randomly driving by. I could testify to that part because I was awake and heard the loud partying going on before the shots, and I can verify that there were ZERO car sounds before and immediately after the shots. THe car sounds didn't start up until the shooting stopped, the screaming started and people had time to run to their cars, start them up and then pull away. So, I didn't see any faces, couldn't point out individuals but could only verify the sounds I heard. This was scary enough though because the shooter and all their friends were claiming it was a random drive-by and thus I was going to be calling them out as lying. The shooter had been out on bond and then was rearrested for selling crack and carrying a loaded gun in his pants in August only a couple blocks from my house. THen 2 weeks before being subpoena'ed, he was sitting outside my house. Needless to say, I was VERY scared to testify, but I was going to. Then THANK GODDESS, he chickened out at the last minute and took a plea, so I didn't have to testify! He is serving 5 years. This makes me feel much better, but the bar is still a problem. When we first moved here, it wasn't a problem. It was a small after-work-have-a-drink mom and pop type place. Quiet and decent. But then (according to neighborhood gossip), the owner died and left it to his child and spouse (don't know if the child was the wife or hubby), and then after a while, the husband/wife got divorced. The wife got the bar in the divorce and she moved in her new thug-type friends. The bar went though a transition period of sometimes being a country-type place and sometimes being a ganster-place. Now its all bad. We are so tired of it all.
The move - Yes, we are moving. THANK GODDESS again (see above). This will be my 4th house purchase and I swear I've never had such trouble. This even included comparing my first time where the seller went in the hospital for mental break downs and then refused to sell the house AT the closing. Even comapring that, this has been hard.
house 1: There was a house we had always loved, but since I can't sell our current house first, it was out of our budget since we would have two mortgages for a while. We drooled over it but then moved on.
house 2: We found a house we liked in the T. school district. We liked it but were a week too late at bidding. IT went under contract. Then, we waited it out since we liked that one lots. I heard rumor that the bidders were backing out (some story about tons of hidden damage.....turned out to be inaccurate). Once the bidders backed out, we looked at it again to confirm that the rumor about damage wasn't true and we put in a bid. Turns out by then, it was a bidding war. I was so sure it was the perfect house for us. It was roomy, a good yard, a good school district and two HUGE garages that we had plans for. Although we had the higher bid, someone swooped in with cash so we were denied. I was heartbroken since I had sooooo wanted this house. After a week, we jumped back on the horse and began a new search.
house 3: We found another place.. I wasn't thrilled with the house but I loved the area and the price was WAY resonable. It was close to the bike trail, had a YS address (which is VERY desirable for resale value in this area) and had lots of yard to garden, drum, fire spin...etc. It was in the G school district which was rated excellent so we made an offer and it was accepted. We went through the inspection process and it passed inspection but failed the well test. I researched the heck out of it, and told them how to get a temporary quick-fix to pass the well test and then we intended on drilling a new well or recasing the existing one once we moved in. I pulled money out of my 401K to do this. G school district allowed us to enroll Miranda by showing them we had a house under contract. I started using the house as the bus stop (driving M to the house and picking her up there each day). Since we were pretty certain that this would happen (we already knew we were approved on our end and it was just paperwork now) I went ahead and started packing. Since occupancy would happen at closing instead of the standard 30 days, we went ahead with the packing. I packed away about half of our stuff (and all winter clothes, extra blankets, etc). Then, on the DAY before closing, the bank called. Turns out the selling realtor (not ours....Our realtor is EXCELLENT) had not been honest with disclosing some basics about the type of house it was. Modular houses have different criteria that the underwriters must approve. so the DAY before closing, although our finances were fine, the transaction was denied. I was floored. I tried to figure out some way to get it ok'ed...I offered to put 10K down, pay points, etc)....they said no. It had nothing to do with our end and everything to do with the fact that they had no comps (comparable houses that have sold in that area) and never will because of the type of house it was. THe only way they will sell that house is cash. I felt really bad for the seller because she is a little old lady in a nursing home who was trying to sell it to pay the nursin home. I felt bad for her too and was so angry at the selling realtor. Since there was nothing else we could do, we had to give up on that one. Thankfully, we got our earnest money back, but we lost almost $1000 by the time we paid all the inspections and appraisal fees.
Then a cruel twist of fate :house 2 went BACK on the market but now we were NOT willing to buy it because Miranda loved this new school and they have been so helpful with her special needs. She made friends immediately and everyone has been really nice to her. Our search had to start again but was now limited to only the G district (whereas before we were willing to take districts T, G, YS, or SE).
At this same time, the rates dropped and other factors caused our approved amount to jump and House 1 came down in price. Although House 1 had sat on the market for a year, no one had bought it. We JUMPED at house 1 since it was now in our range. And when the realtor called, it went under contract the DAY BEFORE. Seriously! The thing sat for year with no nibbles and THEN the day before we call on it, it gets snatched up. I told Gary that was it, I was flat out REFUSING to decide on another house while Mercury was in retrograde. I told the school what was going on and they said that as long as we had another house under contract within a month, they woudlnt' worry about how to handle the fact that Miranda was going to their school but not living in their district (because of her special needs, she has always been denied open enrollment). So Gary agreed (reluctantly) that we could look at other houses but not make a decision until Mercury straightened out. This whole process now has been from April to September.
During the look-but-dont-decide time we saw houses 4 though 9. Some were definate NO and some were possibilities. THen came house 10. Our realtor was jumping up and down about this one. He was so proud of himself for finding what he called such a perfect fit for such strange customers. lol. We looked and as soon as Mercury straightened out, we decided on House 10 with House 9 and then House 7 as back-up plans.
House 10.................. It is in the G district a few miles north of House 3. So not only is it the same district, but Miranda will even be on the same bus that she started on. (as soon as house 3 fell though, we stopped using it as the bus stop and I started driving her to school each day). It is further from the bike trail and its smaller but its a much better house. It is a sturdy older ranch with a full basement. The basement and double oversized garage provides enough storage space and computer workshop space for Gary, that it will seem bigger. The glorious thing is that its very rural and there are NO neighbors. The three lots surround it are part of a land trust and CAN NEVER BE DEVELOPED! So we will NEVER have close neighbors. THe realtor was so excited. He kept saying how we could have all our Pagan drumming circles and rituals with privacy and not having to worry about what the neighbors think. The neighbor across the street has their house sitting so far back a country lane, that late night drumming won't bother them either. The entire house is surrounded by large Oaks, Walunts and a few Maples. The front has young Cedars lining the road. The house blends into the woods. Its awesome. The lots on either side are land trust and completly wild and wooded. THe rear lot is land trust and has some trees and wild grasses. Behind that is corn field. It doesn't need much work since the guy who owned it spared no expense in fixing it up. The floors are new (real hard wood, not laminate), the attic has a RIDICULOUS amount of insullation, there is a Cuno system (a 3 filter reverse osmosis system for drinking water), the garage is very roomy and well built. The outside of the house is painted Cedar shakes instead of standard siding. I had hoped for a master bathroom, but the other plusses of this one cancel out my disappointment of only 1 bath. So we've done another ~1K of inspections and appraisials. The bank is moving faster on this one and hopefully, we will have a closing date in teh next couple weeks. I'm still refusing to get attached and excited since this has been such a roller coaster, but I will be excited about that yard once things are finalized.
In other news, I have finally joined facebook. You won't be able to look me up directly , as I faked a last name. I have issues with putting my real last name on there. I really dont' want people from my past looking me up. I know I can hide stuff, but I dont' want friend requests from people in my past and then me having to deny them. My ex BF was a scary guy and I don't even want him having a clue where I live or what my new last name is. SO I made one up. I am keeping my LJ for more personal things were I can be myself more and using facebook mostly for quick updates and the silly games. So if anyone wants to friend me on face book, comment here and I'll email you my facebook name. I play Cafe World, Farmville, Yoville, and Mafia. I desperately need a few neighbors on Cafe World and some more people in my mafia, so let me know if your interested.
ok: things to do:
1. Miranda to school
2. find email from M and reply
3. Two loads of laundry
4. Dishes
5. Clean rest of kitchen
6. Clean bathroom
7. Call and reschedule dentist appt
8. Call brian about Sunrise art
9. Call Dee tonight about rent check
10. Study new HASP format and make list of questions for P and L. (I've been procrasinating hard on this one and MUST do it)
11. Get Miranda from school
12. Respond to computer club guy and get him the worksheet from the class I taught
13. Clean and organize work space for upcomming QAPP
14. Make a dent in mess in bedroom
15. add to this as I think of things.