This and that
In anticipation of the new puppy we're working with Crianza. She's always been a very good dog, and she's eager to learn, but she has some issues that need attention. Graham has been watching episodes of the Dog Whisperer and applying some of the techniques there to her, and she's responding beautifully. Crianza pays a little more attention these days to what we say, and she sits more carefully before she gets food or gets to go outside or waits for her leash. She still gets terribly excited about everything that goes on in the house, but she's also a lot easier to control. Lately, I've been working on having her come to me when her attention is distracted by something else (usually Graham).
I think that when the puppy comes, we may put Crianza back in school when the puppy goes to school. The hard part, of course, will be working with them individually, as they're going to be competing intensely for our attention.
In other news, I'm seriously revisiting the idea of home expansion. I briefly ran into my friend who helped me with my original home loan and then my refinance, and he suggested that I explore the idea a little given how low interest rates are right now. I plugged my mortgage numbers into a calculator and can shave about 30 percent off my monthly payment if I refinance. (Assuming, of course, that I qualify for the good rates, and it would add on five years to getting my house paid off.) I now need to look very carefully at how much it would cost to actually do the expansion, and then look to see if I qualify for a home construction loan and if so, how much the construction costs would cost me monthly.
And so far, 2009 has been a vast improvement over 2008.
I think that when the puppy comes, we may put Crianza back in school when the puppy goes to school. The hard part, of course, will be working with them individually, as they're going to be competing intensely for our attention.
In other news, I'm seriously revisiting the idea of home expansion. I briefly ran into my friend who helped me with my original home loan and then my refinance, and he suggested that I explore the idea a little given how low interest rates are right now. I plugged my mortgage numbers into a calculator and can shave about 30 percent off my monthly payment if I refinance. (Assuming, of course, that I qualify for the good rates, and it would add on five years to getting my house paid off.) I now need to look very carefully at how much it would cost to actually do the expansion, and then look to see if I qualify for a home construction loan and if so, how much the construction costs would cost me monthly.
And so far, 2009 has been a vast improvement over 2008.