Letchwork State Park

This weekend marks the end of Bryan's two glorious weeks off from school. Last week we went to Florida (blog about that to be done soon). This week has been lots of lounging around and just taking it easy.

Today was a beautiful 75 degrees and sunny, so I decided to take Bryan to Letchworth State Park, about an hour drive from here. We hiked around, ate lunch, saw some beautiful scenery, and just had an all-around good day (which started with breakfast at Ezzy's, our favorite neighborhood diner).

From Letchworth

From Letchworth

From Letchworth

From Letchworth

It was late by the time we got home (about 9pm). Ladies, feast your eyes on what happened next.

From Letchworth

Yes, this is my beloved voluntarily cleaning out the fridge (wiping it down, the whole 9 yards!). He just "wanted to do it, and I'll mop the floors too." I did not ask him to do this, nor did I even mention that these chores needed to be done. I bet you're all sad that he's already taken! :)

Let's Make a Deal

Bryan and I were talking last week about how much we liked Let's Make a Deal. Maybe that is one game show they should resurrect. None of these stupid new-fangled primetime "game shows." Who in their RIGHT MIND wants to watch an HOUR of BINGO on TV???

If they brought back Let's Make a Deal, what do you think the loser prizes would be now? I don't think a donkey would cut it anymore. And what ever happened with those donkeys anyway. Did someone really take home a donkey?

Thanks to the wonder of the internet, I just discovered the the GSN cable network currently broadcasts episodes of the classic Let's Make A Deal each weekday at 10:00 A.M. ET and late night at 2:00 A.M. & 2:30 A.M. It's a good thing I don't have a channel as wonderful as GSN, or I would never get anything done. I love game shows, especially old ones. I also just learned that the costumes were the idea of the audience, and not originally part of the show. People started to bring signs and funny hats to attract Mr. Hall's attention. It spiraled from there to the outlandish costumes they used to wear.

Anyway, the real point of this blogging episode is that no one seems to want to make a deal with us. On Monday the offer on my house fell through. I guess the husband lost his job, so they could no longer afford my house. We should have another offer coming in either Friday or Monday from another, so we'll see if that actually happens. Also, the deal fell through on the condo we were going to buy. The inspection "found" a faulty breaker (it popped FOUR times in the hour we were there, and got really hot. The scummy owner declared "that has never ever happened before." Right. Even my inspector said he had to be lying. The guy refuses to fix the breaker, or even get an estimate to fix it. Now, regardless of him being a jerk or not, this is a HUGE fire hazard that even he shouldn't want to live with. There also is a flue pipe that isn't properly connected and has asbestos tape on it. Estimate to fix - $315. The seller refuses to put a dollar into it, so we told him to take his condo and shove it (well, we would have liked to say it that way). Now we are out at least the $275 inspection and whatever attorney fees we have racked up to date with the offer...at least $200. But I guess that is all better than getting a place with issues. Back to the drawing board. We found another condo that we love, but the taxes are $3,864 with a $253 a month HOA. That's $575 before we even paid for the unit! For now we are thinking about just renting and deciding what we want to do when we are back to a two income family.

Nothing like a wasted day

My work laptop froze today. Sure, that sucked, but what was even worse was that the proposal I had been working on ALL day was gone. Poof. No trace anywhere, even in a full system search. It turns out my computer ineptness bit me in the behind. The document was linked from another document. I saved it, but it turns out that unless you re-open that saved copy, you are working on some cyberspace version that doesn't really exist. So all the times I clicked on the save icon were for naught, and I have to start over tomorrow. Sigh.

In other depressing news, the condo we were all set to close on has now fallen apart. We are looking into suing for the lawyer fees and inspection fees that we had to outlay, but we are probably just out the money. It sucks that the jerk seller did this to us. All because he refuses to fix two issues that came up in the inspection because he is a cheapskate. He already hated us for making him pay the $50 for the HOA documents (duh, of course we need to READ what the restrictions are!) and $50 for a carbon monoxide detector (it's required by NY state, don't get mad at us!). Back to the drawing board. Can't wait for the vacation to Florida on Saturday. We are both SO excited for a real vacation! (even if I will be working part of it).

Lots to be grateful for

Sometimes, when life is crazy and stressful, I think I get so overwhelmed in the "to-do" list that I forget all of the great things in my life. Buying and selling a house is one of the most stressful things one can do, but in the midst of it I am truly a lucky girl. Just a small sampling of those things I have to be grateful for:

- A mom who loves us enough to put together packages to make us smile...familiar treats from home, my favorite coffee, some new stylin' duds, and some coin so we can enjoy a relaxing vacation. We love you mom!
- A job with a fantastic group of people and the flexibility to work abnormal hours (early, late, normal, weekend, whatever) that fit my work rhythms better and allow me to spend time with Bryan when he has free time (which can be during the afternoon or morning sometimes)
- A boyfriend who, without saying a word, does all of the chores I reallllly don't want to do (like being the brave one to go vacuum up the flea power in the flea infested room....yuck!). He also is always grateful when I do something nice for him, always complimentary about my cooking (even if it sucks), patient with me as I learn tennis, and always is just a sweet guy
- Friends who let you come over with your pets while you are putting yucky poison in your house, buy you lunch, and let you swim in their pool, all the while feeling like they are the lucky ones since you are hanging out with their kids while they go see a movie
- A roommate who puts up with endless cleaning for house showing without complaining and who is willing to stick with us when we change the deal she signed up for
- The ability to go on a vacation! In 2 weeks we are going to Florida, and some days that is all that is keeping us going right now with all of the house/school stress. I am grateful for parents who help us out so we can take vacations without worrying about finances, and I am grateful for a job where I can work from anywhere, including Florida for a few days.

For those of you following the house saga, we are closing on the condo September 21st. The inspection was today, and most things were fine except for a small issue with the electricity that the owner was fine with fixing. My house has a contingent offer, but we still have regular showings, so we are hoping for a better, non-contingent offer.