Life has been a little bit (lot bit) hectic lately, which hasn't left much room (or sanity) for blogging. While today is no exception, I wanted to post a quick blurb-y update.
We decided not to sell our house after all. The idea of selling and moving again was breaking the kids' hearts. They love this house, they love our property, and with everything they went through moving halfway across the country 18 months ago, we just decided it wasn't fair to them.
Besides that, Hubs' job is going to keep us here for a few more years (at least) anyway, so what's the point in selling a house we love, only to move into a rental we'll just have to tolerate, when we'll be here in Cheyenne anyway?
So that's the scoop. It may not be the wisest financial decision, in terms of the drilling and property value and whatnot, but we're letting future Mommy and Daddy deal with that.
Besides, once I'm a hot shot novelist, it shouldn't matter, right?
Right?!?
Guys?
Why are you laughing and walking away?!?
Showing posts with label Cheyenne. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cheyenne. Show all posts
Monday, December 22, 2014
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Not in on the joke
So life has been... a little nutso lately. In some ways, good. In other ways... well, see above.
As I discussed on here in a few previous posts, life has apparently had a sense of humor lately. Unfortunately, no one let me in on the joke.
First, the broken dishwasher saga really and truly turned into a saga. We just had it fixed this week for the FIFTH time. Yes. In the past seven weeks, my brand new dishwasher has worked for a total of about four days. I spent Thanksgiving hand washing dishes because the super-awesome customer service at B&B Appliance couldn't be bothered. I get it, they're probably super annoyed at us by now. But maybe if you fixed it the first damn time. Or the second... Or the third...
It got to the point where this past week we got our home builder involved. We only bought our appliances from this store because she convinced us of their stellar customer service and quick response time. We made it clear that has been anything but our experience, and reiterated what has been going on. She promised us (and yes, we got it in writing) that if this last time didn't fix it once and for all, she'd personally buy us a new dishwasher.
So we'll see what happens.
On top of that, Little One is sick again. For one, he has a double ear infection AGAIN (second time in under a month, poor dude). But the bigger issue is his tonsils. He has had overly-swollen tonsils for two years now, and no doctor, neither here nor back in Washington, took it seriously. I've taken him in to be seen several times, and every single time I was told that since he wasn't running a fever and they weren't impacting his ability to eat, breathe, or speak, they were fine for now.
Well, both ear infections he's had occurred without a fever. So clearly that's not necessarily a telling factor in my child's wellness.
And last week his tonsils suddenly poofed up so big that they were touching and he was talking like he had cotton shoved in his mouth. And he started snoring like a logger. And the right tonsil has this nasty vein running across it (I swear, it's like they're starting their own colony or something).
Finally, the doctor is taking me seriously.
Right now Little One is on uber-antibiotics to deal with the ear infection and to hopefully clear up whatever made his tonsils turn into monsters. Otherwise, it's looking like surgery. But, of course, we will have to make a separate appointment with a Ear, Nose, & Throat specialist. And because Wyoming has refused to acknowledge the Affordable Care Act, our insurance company is being... well, less than ideal.
So we're dealing with that.
There's really no stress like that of having a sick child. Especially when you're afraid he will stop breathing in his sleep.
In terms of work, my freelance writing has started taking off, though as they say, be careful what you wish for!
Two weeks ago I was hired to ghostwrite a two-part supernatural romance series. You know, fallen angels, ancient pacts, lost souls, the usual love story!
It's been a blast writing it so far. Much more fun than those medical articles I was doing for the difficult web clients. Who, by the way, pretty much fell into radio silence when I got sick last month.
(Did I forget to mention? I spent the first two weeks of November so sick with the flu that I couldn't get out of bed. It was the sickest I've been in years, and it was awful. Hubs got it after me, so he can attest that I wasn't just being a baby; it really was terrible.)
Anyway, so I haven't worked with those clients in awhile, and to be honest, I don't miss it. Writing this romance story has been so much less stressful, and has allowed be to exercise my creativity, rather than regurgitating dry medical data.
Well, this week I was invited to submit a proposal for another romance series, this one four parts. I was hesitant (hell, I'm still hesitant!) because the style of writing is much different than I'm used to, and the time frame is quite short. However, taking Tina Fey's advice, I went for it.
My proposal was accepted, and now it looks like I'll be ghostwriting two novel series! The first book of the current series is due by the end of January. The entirety of the second series (all four books) are due by the first week of February.
Suffice it to say I'm losing my mind a little bit. But in a good way. Mostly.
Finally, the biggest things we're dealing with right now is this little gem. Go ahead and take a sec to read it, I'll wait...
*twiddles thumbs*
*tries whistling*
*remembers can't whistle*
Oh you're back! So yeah, basically, powers beyond our control have essentially screwed us over. Like, big time.
After taking several days to process, we decided our plan of action was to try and sell our house before the drilling starts, because once it starts, the odds of someone wanting to buy right here drop significantly, to say the least.
If the house sells, we will rent a house in town for now, until we figure out where we are going to end up. Living in Cheyenne was never a long-term plan. It was only supposed to be for two or three years, and then we were going to find Hubs a new, fancy-schmancy job back in our beloved Seattle. However, his job here is really good, so it may keep us here longer than expected. Or not. We have no clue.
What we do know is that if we don't sell our house now, we will for sure be stuck here for several more years, until the drilling is done and property values increase enough to give us our value back.
If the house doesn't sell in the next month or so, we've accepted the fact that this means we're sticking it out here much longer than planned, and we'll just make the best of it at that point. We'll finish the basement, landscape the yard beautifully, develop the land more, build outbuildings, and basically make our 40 acres so damn desirable that the pump jacks won't deter buyers.
So besides spending my weekend working feverishly on my writing projects, finishing decorating for Christmas, attending my daughter's choir concert, and baking cookies, Hubs and I will be frantically getting our house ready to show. It went on the market last Thursday, and we have the photographer and countless local agents coming out on Tuesday to see the property. Gotta make it snazzy before then!
Because, you know, no pressure.
Like I said, life has a sense of humor. It'd just be nice to be in on the joke.
Friday, August 22, 2014
Everyone calm the f*ck down, mmmkay?
In my last post, I discussed the random challenge we were faced with in receiving two competing job offers in one day. Well, given my overly-caffeinated inability to focus coupled with my mental and emotional exhaustion, I apparently didn't explain the situation particularly well.
Because of this, and the blowback I have received regarding our "decision", let me clarify a few things:
No, we don't hate living here. We just love Seattle and the plan was always to move back in a few years anyway. It's not a waving-the-white-flag situation, so keep your "I told you so" to yourself.
No, it would not have been "selling [our] soul" had we taken the Seattle offer. We knew it wasn't perfect, and that it would have been career-limiting, but it would have gotten us back up there (which was our only reason for considering it). Also, no, I don't make my decisions based on [this individual's] opinions. But thanks anyway.
Financially speaking, it would have been challenging and borderline irresponsible to move back. Moving 1200 miles is friggin' expensive! U-Haul, gas, food, hotels, and oh yeah, buying or renting a house; it adds up. Also, while we would have been able to sell our house quickly, we would not have even made back our down payment since we haven't lived here very long. All of that was a major 'con'.
While our heart may be in Seattle, sometimes you have to be a grown up and consider the responsible choice. Staying here and taking the local offer is the better career move, as well as the financially responsible move. Facts don't lie.
 |
| What I know everyone is thinking when they say "I understand"... |
Yes, I would rather live in Seattle than Wyoming. Duh.
Yes, I can be a Seattle girl even if I live 1200 miles away. I will always love Seattle. It's an amazing city filled with incredible art, culture, music, food, and people. And coffee. (God, I miss good coffee.) The climate and geography are amazing. The perpetual green is beautiful. The ferris wheel is... well, terrifying for me, on account of hating heights. But still. Living sandwiched between the ocean and the Cascades is where my soul is fed. Seattle is an incredibly special place.
Yes, I was looking forward to coming back. I had already made plans to spend my birthday up in Victoria with my childhood bestest friend, having high tea at the Empress (delicious!), roaming the cute little shops and bakeries, and hitting up a few of the 8,000 Irish pubs down by the harbor. I was going to kidnap other bestest friend, Ginger Jesus, and their kids for Thanksgiving. I was planning the annual Halloween party with my mom. I was invested in this.
And yes, I was heartbroken when it didn't work out.
But I truly believe everything happens for a reason, and apparently staying put is what we're meant to do for now. Hub's new company will provide him the valuable experience, marketable title, and global platform to grow his career in ways the Seattle job could never have. So while I miss my family and friends terribly, I understand that things worked out for the better.
I'm sorry I let everyone down by dangling the carrot and then having to take it away.
But we will be back. That much is guaranteed.
And until then? We enjoy the journey and the experience. Next stop, Mt. Rushmore and Carhenge!
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Like sands through the hourglass...
Yep, these are the days of our lives... The crazy, out of left field days of our lives.
So here's what's been going on. As you know, a little over a year ago, The Husband was offered an outstanding job opportunity here in Wyoming, resulting in our big move from the greater Seattle area to Cheyenne. However, after getting down here and getting settled, it quickly became clear that the job was not what we had been promised. In fact, The Husband had been bold-faced lied to about the job: its future, its duties, even its title.
Over the course of the past year, Hubs was put in charge of a project that was doomed from the start (when the management company includes a clause in their contract stating they do not have to finish the project if they don't want to, that should be a red flag, but Husband's company's CFO signed it anyway). Since then, they cycled through four different project managers (none of whom had previous PM experience), pushed back the project three separate times (it's now slated to go live a full year after its original date), and had the management company remove 80% of the original project items from scope. Husband was the only one at his company technically skilled enough to handle the demands of the project, and therefore more and more duties and responsibilities were dumped on his plate.
On top of that, continually more duties and responsibilities of his core job were piled on as well. It became the go-to to expect Hubs to 'handle it', even when the time constraints made it truly impossible to do so. As the expectations exponentially grew, so to did the lack of respect or appreciation (or even basic civility). Hubs became the fall guy for everyone else's issues (particularly when the Payroll Department didn't feel like doing their jobs). Hubs' manager did absolutely nothing to ease the situation, not even bothering to show up to meetings or update himself on the status of the project. All of the warnings Hubs gave regarding the quality, integrity, and success of the project were ignored, even when all of them came true. And still no willingness from Hubs' manager to give Hubs the job title, pay grade, or even public recognition and respect befitting his massive responsibilities.
Finally, the tinderbox erupted. It became clear that Hubs not only had no future growth within the company, but there was a chance he would be left holding the bag when the project inevitably failed and created a PR, logistical, and corporate nightmare. Hubs and I both reached out to our networks and pursued job opportunities for him, both here and back in Seattle. Some leads went nowhere. Others seemed promising but resulted in bupkis. After our hellish summer of family health crises and vehicular drama, we became all the more aware of our need for a reprieve. Mentally and emotionally, we both were exhausted, and put it out to the universe that hey, we need a break!
Well, be careful what you wish for, my lovelies, because apparently when it rains, it pours!
Last week, Husband received a call from a contact back in Seattle, offering him a job position. It wasn't an ideal position, but it would have afforded us the opportunity to get back to our home turf. Some negotiations still needed to take place, so we knew we had a few days before anything was final. However, we were given verbal confirmation on several occasions that yes, this was going to happen, without a doubt.
Well, yesterday we were supposed to have received the official job offer. By then, we had discussed the situation with our families and a few closest friends, and everyone was incredibly excited about the prospect of having us move back to Seattle. As we awaited the job offer, Hubs received another interesting phone call. A local job prospect that he had interviewed twice with and then didn't hear back from finally called. The president of the company wanted to interview him that afternoon! He went in, and 30 minutes later they offered him the job.
So, now we were facing two competing job offers: one that wasn't great but would have brought us back to Seattle, and one that would have kept us here in Cheyenne for the foreseeable future, but was an awesome career opportunity. It was a genuinely mind-boggling situation that we had never predicted having to face, and we were at a loss.
Cue the DEFCON 1 levels of stress.
Being the slightly OCD, anal-retentive, Type A person I am in a challenging situation, I proceeded to make in-depth pro-con lists. We then took the kids out to dinner, both to celebrate Hubs' new opportunities and imminent escape from his hellish job, as well as to inform the kids of the difficult decision we were facing and get their input.
(Oldest son wanted to go back to Seattle, daughter was good either way, and little guy was sad at leaving his best friend Percy Jackson...)
By the end of the evening, we had pretty much come to our decision, but were still awaiting the official job offer from Seattle. By this morning it still hadn't come, and we found out that the CFO and HR manager of that company had decided it would be more fiscally advantageous to stick with local candidates whom they could hire for much cheaper (because they notoriously pay below market whenever possible).
So that was that. The decision was made for us (though, in truth, it was the decision we were leaning toward anyway).
Hubs starts his new job the day after Labor Day, and it couldn't have come at a more perfect time!
So here's what's been going on. As you know, a little over a year ago, The Husband was offered an outstanding job opportunity here in Wyoming, resulting in our big move from the greater Seattle area to Cheyenne. However, after getting down here and getting settled, it quickly became clear that the job was not what we had been promised. In fact, The Husband had been bold-faced lied to about the job: its future, its duties, even its title.
Over the course of the past year, Hubs was put in charge of a project that was doomed from the start (when the management company includes a clause in their contract stating they do not have to finish the project if they don't want to, that should be a red flag, but Husband's company's CFO signed it anyway). Since then, they cycled through four different project managers (none of whom had previous PM experience), pushed back the project three separate times (it's now slated to go live a full year after its original date), and had the management company remove 80% of the original project items from scope. Husband was the only one at his company technically skilled enough to handle the demands of the project, and therefore more and more duties and responsibilities were dumped on his plate.
On top of that, continually more duties and responsibilities of his core job were piled on as well. It became the go-to to expect Hubs to 'handle it', even when the time constraints made it truly impossible to do so. As the expectations exponentially grew, so to did the lack of respect or appreciation (or even basic civility). Hubs became the fall guy for everyone else's issues (particularly when the Payroll Department didn't feel like doing their jobs). Hubs' manager did absolutely nothing to ease the situation, not even bothering to show up to meetings or update himself on the status of the project. All of the warnings Hubs gave regarding the quality, integrity, and success of the project were ignored, even when all of them came true. And still no willingness from Hubs' manager to give Hubs the job title, pay grade, or even public recognition and respect befitting his massive responsibilities.
Finally, the tinderbox erupted. It became clear that Hubs not only had no future growth within the company, but there was a chance he would be left holding the bag when the project inevitably failed and created a PR, logistical, and corporate nightmare. Hubs and I both reached out to our networks and pursued job opportunities for him, both here and back in Seattle. Some leads went nowhere. Others seemed promising but resulted in bupkis. After our hellish summer of family health crises and vehicular drama, we became all the more aware of our need for a reprieve. Mentally and emotionally, we both were exhausted, and put it out to the universe that hey, we need a break!
Well, be careful what you wish for, my lovelies, because apparently when it rains, it pours!
Last week, Husband received a call from a contact back in Seattle, offering him a job position. It wasn't an ideal position, but it would have afforded us the opportunity to get back to our home turf. Some negotiations still needed to take place, so we knew we had a few days before anything was final. However, we were given verbal confirmation on several occasions that yes, this was going to happen, without a doubt.
Well, yesterday we were supposed to have received the official job offer. By then, we had discussed the situation with our families and a few closest friends, and everyone was incredibly excited about the prospect of having us move back to Seattle. As we awaited the job offer, Hubs received another interesting phone call. A local job prospect that he had interviewed twice with and then didn't hear back from finally called. The president of the company wanted to interview him that afternoon! He went in, and 30 minutes later they offered him the job.
So, now we were facing two competing job offers: one that wasn't great but would have brought us back to Seattle, and one that would have kept us here in Cheyenne for the foreseeable future, but was an awesome career opportunity. It was a genuinely mind-boggling situation that we had never predicted having to face, and we were at a loss.
Cue the DEFCON 1 levels of stress.
Being the slightly OCD, anal-retentive, Type A person I am in a challenging situation, I proceeded to make in-depth pro-con lists. We then took the kids out to dinner, both to celebrate Hubs' new opportunities and imminent escape from his hellish job, as well as to inform the kids of the difficult decision we were facing and get their input.
(Oldest son wanted to go back to Seattle, daughter was good either way, and little guy was sad at leaving his best friend Percy Jackson...)
By the end of the evening, we had pretty much come to our decision, but were still awaiting the official job offer from Seattle. By this morning it still hadn't come, and we found out that the CFO and HR manager of that company had decided it would be more fiscally advantageous to stick with local candidates whom they could hire for much cheaper (because they notoriously pay below market whenever possible).
So that was that. The decision was made for us (though, in truth, it was the decision we were leaning toward anyway).
Hubs starts his new job the day after Labor Day, and it couldn't have come at a more perfect time!
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Best places to camp in southeast Wyoming
Here is my latest Yahoo! article. I haven't been published much lately on account of being ridiculously busy and otherwise losing my mind. However, I'm trying to get back into it, especially now that my final quarter is winding down soon.
Hope you enjoy!
Hope you enjoy!
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Spring Break in Wyo: shooting ranges, Governors, and the threat of snow
What up blogosphere?!? I know my posts have been a little light as of late, but things have been insanely busy.
The last couple of weeks have been an utter whirlwind! Mostly in a good way, mind you. But still very whirly and windy.
First, I finished Winter Quarter. I don't feel like I finished as strong as I should have… but that's probably because I totally didn't finish as strong as I should have. My brain was done. I had all but completely checked out. I did what needed to be done, but in all honesty, not much more than that! I walked away with a 4.0 in psychology (I'm still trying to figure out how that happened), a 4.0 in sociology, and a measly 3.7 in Econ (and that's mostly because I totally crapped out on the last assignment, and I own that) (seriously, why make us do graphs for the first time in the final assignment?!?).
Next quarter I'm taking Intro to Communications (my final elective; I hope that's kinda like underwater basket weaving, minus the risk of drowning) and Management Strategy (the fancy name for my capstone, otherwise known has proving the culmination of your educational worth so they give you the degree). I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little nervous about that one. But only because there's like 18 different 10-page case study assignments to complete in a 10 week period… and I'm only mildly exaggerating. But I survived an over-full-time course load, I can handle a capstone right?…. Right?… RIGHT?!?!?
Sigh.
Anyway, while I was trying somewhat earnestly to finish my classes, I also complicated things for myself by flying back to Seattle to surprise my mom. My sister and I had been plotting for a few months to have me fly up for the Northwest Women's Show, which is something my mom and I (and occasionally my sister, when it didn't coincide with Comic Con) have attended every year for, oh, 13 years or so?
Suffice it to say, my mom was totally shocked and pleased with our diabolical little scheme, and we had a blast at the women's show!
The next day I had been planning on surprising my grandparents with a quick visit before jetting back out of town, but I decided to be responsible and finish my final Econ assignment instead. Call it kismet or luck or what have you, but had I decided to go up to Darrington, I would have been on Highway 530 the morning of the mudslide… that realization made me a bit queasy.
(For the latest on the mudslide, click here and here)
(And to donate to the Snohomish County Red Cross, click here)
Aside from my cancelled visit to my beloved grandpeople, I also had made lunch plans with my Soul Sista Kym. Unfortunately, her youngest daughter (otherwise known as BabyBaby) came down ill, so we had to cancel our lunch date.
So I didn't end up seeing anyone else besides my immediate family before I had to fly back, but it was still a great trip. And The Husband and I have a family road trip up there planned for this summer, so we'll get to see everyone then.
When I flew back to Wyo, I was joined by my sister (!!!) who took a week off of work to come down, visit for a bit, and see where the hell we left Western Washington for.
And I don't think she was… impressed with Cheyenne!
She's a bit of a hipster, so the non-ironic cowboy vibe of Southeastern Wyoming wasn't really her thing. But it was fun to have her here for a bit; we all miss her terribly!
One fun and random thing that happened while Katie was here was that my youngest wanted to take her to the Capitol Building. He's mildly obsessed with it; he thinks it is the single coolest building he's ever seen, and as such, he asks to go to it nearly every day. Having his Auntie Tatie here gave him a valid excuse for us to go!
As soon as we entered the main doorway, he took her hand and brought her to the President Lincoln memorial statue in the East Wing of the building. As we passed the main staircase and entered the East hallway, we walked past a very large man in a dark suit, and I noticed he had one of those coiled ear-pieces you see in the movies. I put two and two together, and I whispered to my sister that the Governor was probably in the building, since I'd never seen secret service-type dudes there before.
(And for the record, those dudes are pretty intimidating!)
Anyway, we got down to the Lincoln statue, and Monkey is telling his Auntie about how it's really cool because it's a big head, and it's gold, so it must be a superhero (natural assumption), when we hear a voice behind us say hello…
And then this happened…
We met Governor Mead!!!
Now, granted, I disagree with probably a good 80% of the man's politics… but it was still pretty awesome to meet him. I am able to separate different opinions on policy with a respect for the office itself; plus I'm a politics geek in general, so it made my day.
My older kids were super jealous that they missed out on account of that whole being-in-school thing, so I managed to arrange with (or possibly annoy!) Gov. Mead's staff for the kids to have a meeting with him later this week. I am having each of them prepare a question to ask him; they're both excited and I think a little nervous. I am somewhat of a politics wonk, so my children have grown to understand that this is a pretty cool opportunity for them. I'm sure there are more pictures to come!
Besides that, we explored the area a bit with my sister. We went up to Laramie one of the days; there is nothing in Laramie! We accidentally discovered Highway 287 from Laramie to Fort Collins, which was an absolutely beautiful drive… made all the better by jamming to kitschy '90s tunes (I told you, she's a hipster). We then spent the rest of that day dinking around Fort Collins, which I realized I actually really like (when I'm not stuck in a crappy apartment waiting for my house to be built!). Less cowboy, more hippie. My kind of place! Depending on where Hubs' career takes him, maybe we'll end up back down in that area at some point.
Katie flew home right as the kids' Spring Break started. We tried to pack in as much vacation revelry as one week (and Hubs' pesky work obligations) would allow. We went and saw the Lego Movie, which was ridiculously cute. We went out to eat a few times. We had the obligatory Harry Potter movie marathon, because it's just what we do. We went down to the Rocky Mountain Archery range in Fort Collins, where the kids (and us) learned how to shoot with a bow and arrow; it was very fun, but a little stressful trying to keep the 3-year-old from running out onto the shooting range when people were, you know, shooting very, very sharp arrows.
And we bought a travel trailer!!!
That's right, no more tent camping for me, bitches!
I'm actually totally cool with tent camping, but in this neck of the woods, there are many places that don't allow tents, either because of wind hazards, or because of, you know, the risk of being mauled by a bear. And weirdly enough, I prefer not being mauled by a bear. Crazy, huh?
But I digress. The whole buying a trailer thing happened sort of randomly. We've been looking for a little over a month, just trying to gauge amenities, prices, etc, but we weren't planning on actually purchasing one until next year. We figured since we just bought a house, a bank wouldn't then turn around and give us a loan on a trailer too. But then Hubs was at our bank running errands, he and the teller were making small talk, and Hubs asked if they did auto or RV loans (it's a credit union, and not all credit unions do that). He explained how we were planning on getting one next year, the teller explained how they had really good interest rates right now, one thing led to another, and bada bing, bada boom, we own a trailer!
We don't actually pick it up until Thursday, because the dealership is de-winterizing it, installing the equalizer, and doing their inspections and whatnot (they threw a bunch of technical jargon at us, Hubs understood it, I… just nodded). Then first thing Thursday morning, we are bringing our Suburban in to get the trailer brakes installed, and then we're good to go!
And yes, we are so going camping this weekend!
(I just hope they change Sunday's forecast, since right now it is calling for snow…)
Sigh. Welcome to Wyoming...
 |
| See? This guy gets it. |
The last couple of weeks have been an utter whirlwind! Mostly in a good way, mind you. But still very whirly and windy.
First, I finished Winter Quarter. I don't feel like I finished as strong as I should have… but that's probably because I totally didn't finish as strong as I should have. My brain was done. I had all but completely checked out. I did what needed to be done, but in all honesty, not much more than that! I walked away with a 4.0 in psychology (I'm still trying to figure out how that happened), a 4.0 in sociology, and a measly 3.7 in Econ (and that's mostly because I totally crapped out on the last assignment, and I own that) (seriously, why make us do graphs for the first time in the final assignment?!?).
Next quarter I'm taking Intro to Communications (my final elective; I hope that's kinda like underwater basket weaving, minus the risk of drowning) and Management Strategy (the fancy name for my capstone, otherwise known has proving the culmination of your educational worth so they give you the degree). I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little nervous about that one. But only because there's like 18 different 10-page case study assignments to complete in a 10 week period… and I'm only mildly exaggerating. But I survived an over-full-time course load, I can handle a capstone right?…. Right?… RIGHT?!?!?
Anyway, while I was trying somewhat earnestly to finish my classes, I also complicated things for myself by flying back to Seattle to surprise my mom. My sister and I had been plotting for a few months to have me fly up for the Northwest Women's Show, which is something my mom and I (and occasionally my sister, when it didn't coincide with Comic Con) have attended every year for, oh, 13 years or so?
Suffice it to say, my mom was totally shocked and pleased with our diabolical little scheme, and we had a blast at the women's show!
The next day I had been planning on surprising my grandparents with a quick visit before jetting back out of town, but I decided to be responsible and finish my final Econ assignment instead. Call it kismet or luck or what have you, but had I decided to go up to Darrington, I would have been on Highway 530 the morning of the mudslide… that realization made me a bit queasy.
(For the latest on the mudslide, click here and here)
(And to donate to the Snohomish County Red Cross, click here)
Aside from my cancelled visit to my beloved grandpeople, I also had made lunch plans with my Soul Sista Kym. Unfortunately, her youngest daughter (otherwise known as BabyBaby) came down ill, so we had to cancel our lunch date.
So I didn't end up seeing anyone else besides my immediate family before I had to fly back, but it was still a great trip. And The Husband and I have a family road trip up there planned for this summer, so we'll get to see everyone then.
 |
| The Husband's perspective |
 |
| My perspective |
When I flew back to Wyo, I was joined by my sister (!!!) who took a week off of work to come down, visit for a bit, and see where the hell we left Western Washington for.
And I don't think she was… impressed with Cheyenne!
She's a bit of a hipster, so the non-ironic cowboy vibe of Southeastern Wyoming wasn't really her thing. But it was fun to have her here for a bit; we all miss her terribly!
One fun and random thing that happened while Katie was here was that my youngest wanted to take her to the Capitol Building. He's mildly obsessed with it; he thinks it is the single coolest building he's ever seen, and as such, he asks to go to it nearly every day. Having his Auntie Tatie here gave him a valid excuse for us to go!
As soon as we entered the main doorway, he took her hand and brought her to the President Lincoln memorial statue in the East Wing of the building. As we passed the main staircase and entered the East hallway, we walked past a very large man in a dark suit, and I noticed he had one of those coiled ear-pieces you see in the movies. I put two and two together, and I whispered to my sister that the Governor was probably in the building, since I'd never seen secret service-type dudes there before.
(And for the record, those dudes are pretty intimidating!)
Anyway, we got down to the Lincoln statue, and Monkey is telling his Auntie about how it's really cool because it's a big head, and it's gold, so it must be a superhero (natural assumption), when we hear a voice behind us say hello…
And then this happened…
We met Governor Mead!!!
Now, granted, I disagree with probably a good 80% of the man's politics… but it was still pretty awesome to meet him. I am able to separate different opinions on policy with a respect for the office itself; plus I'm a politics geek in general, so it made my day.
My older kids were super jealous that they missed out on account of that whole being-in-school thing, so I managed to arrange with (or possibly annoy!) Gov. Mead's staff for the kids to have a meeting with him later this week. I am having each of them prepare a question to ask him; they're both excited and I think a little nervous. I am somewhat of a politics wonk, so my children have grown to understand that this is a pretty cool opportunity for them. I'm sure there are more pictures to come!
Besides that, we explored the area a bit with my sister. We went up to Laramie one of the days; there is nothing in Laramie! We accidentally discovered Highway 287 from Laramie to Fort Collins, which was an absolutely beautiful drive… made all the better by jamming to kitschy '90s tunes (I told you, she's a hipster). We then spent the rest of that day dinking around Fort Collins, which I realized I actually really like (when I'm not stuck in a crappy apartment waiting for my house to be built!). Less cowboy, more hippie. My kind of place! Depending on where Hubs' career takes him, maybe we'll end up back down in that area at some point.
 |
| Some of the views along 287. Red rocks, rolling hills, and jagged mountains all in one 40 minute drive. |
Katie flew home right as the kids' Spring Break started. We tried to pack in as much vacation revelry as one week (and Hubs' pesky work obligations) would allow. We went and saw the Lego Movie, which was ridiculously cute. We went out to eat a few times. We had the obligatory Harry Potter movie marathon, because it's just what we do. We went down to the Rocky Mountain Archery range in Fort Collins, where the kids (and us) learned how to shoot with a bow and arrow; it was very fun, but a little stressful trying to keep the 3-year-old from running out onto the shooting range when people were, you know, shooting very, very sharp arrows.
And we bought a travel trailer!!!
 |
| Jayco White Hawk |
That's right, no more tent camping for me, bitches!
I'm actually totally cool with tent camping, but in this neck of the woods, there are many places that don't allow tents, either because of wind hazards, or because of, you know, the risk of being mauled by a bear. And weirdly enough, I prefer not being mauled by a bear. Crazy, huh?
But I digress. The whole buying a trailer thing happened sort of randomly. We've been looking for a little over a month, just trying to gauge amenities, prices, etc, but we weren't planning on actually purchasing one until next year. We figured since we just bought a house, a bank wouldn't then turn around and give us a loan on a trailer too. But then Hubs was at our bank running errands, he and the teller were making small talk, and Hubs asked if they did auto or RV loans (it's a credit union, and not all credit unions do that). He explained how we were planning on getting one next year, the teller explained how they had really good interest rates right now, one thing led to another, and bada bing, bada boom, we own a trailer!
We don't actually pick it up until Thursday, because the dealership is de-winterizing it, installing the equalizer, and doing their inspections and whatnot (they threw a bunch of technical jargon at us, Hubs understood it, I… just nodded). Then first thing Thursday morning, we are bringing our Suburban in to get the trailer brakes installed, and then we're good to go!
And yes, we are so going camping this weekend!
(I just hope they change Sunday's forecast, since right now it is calling for snow…)
Sigh. Welcome to Wyoming...
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Latest Yahoo! article
Here is an article I wrote a few months ago as part of a project for Yahoo! homes. I was actually beginning to lose hope about it being published, but apparently when they say "future project", they take it quite seriously. Anyway, here it is!
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Valentine's Day date night in Cheyenne
Here's a Yahoo! article I wrote discussing some date ideas in the Cheyenne, Wyo. area.
The Frontier City has more than you'd expect!
The Frontier City has more than you'd expect!
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Making a town your home
Part of the difficulty of moving to a new town (and especially to a new town in a whole new state) is having to acquaint yourself with what the area has to offer. I mentioned a few days ago how we went up to Vedauwoo to explore, and how making attachments and memories in a new area helps cement a bond and make it feel like home.
Luckily, it went well, and my hair is back to it's glorious, manageable, no-longer-looking-like-a-homeless-hippie self. After my mini glam session, I met up with The Husband and kids and stopped by the pet store in the mall.
Bad idea.
Terrible.
The worst.
So. Much. Cute.
Like, mind-boggling, heart-bursting, can-I-please-have-all-of-them kind of cute.
See, she gets it!
There was this adorable purebred husky puppy, 16 weeks old. One brown eye, one blue eye. She was gorgeous. She was also $999!
Then there was a purebred German Shepard puppy. He was gorgeous. $1299!!!
There were also purebred Golden Retriever pups. Also $1299.
In the smaller puppy section, there was this itty bitty black Chug (chihuahua-pug). He was only 9 weeks old. Couldn't have been more than two pounds. And I fell in love with him. But he was $800!
I didn't know dogs were so freaking expensive. And I'm not really a dog person either. But I think I've been converted.
Needless to say, I see a puppy in our future!
See?!?! Heart-exploding levels of cuteness. He must be mine. Oh yes, he must be mine.
Anyhoodle, after falling in love with dogs that I can't have right now, we roamed the mall for a bit so the kids could spend some of the Christmas money they got. And all I can say is, why the hell are Hex Bugs so popular?
Because they're a little creepy.
Especially when they go zipping across my kitchen floor and I just catch this glimpse in my peripheral vision and my heart jumps into my throat. I mean, despite the fact that I know that we don't have cockroaches, but there's always this split second where I panic slightly.
Ugh.
But my kids love Hex Bugs, and so as of yesterday they tripled their collection.
Yaaaaaayyyyyy…….
After that, we swung by and picked up my cousin so she could watch the kids while The Husband and I went on a date for our anniversary. We went to this restaurant called Poor Richard's. We've driven by it about a million times, and to be honest, the curb appeal isn't great. I had completely written it off as some skeezy dive. But then we were told time and again what a great place it was, so we decided to be brave and check it out.
And dayum!!!
So delicious!
Husband had a seafood sauté thing, and I had the vegetable primavera penne. Holy crapballs. It was crazy levels of yummy.
Very interesting atmosphere too. It kinda had an old English/pre-revolutionary war tavern vibe to it. Suffice it to say, I think we found our "place".
After that we went to see The Hunger Games: Catching Fire… which was awesome! Good day, good date night, good times had by all.
All in all, I'm starting to feel more at home here now. And it's nice.
(Of course, there was a concerning thing that happened when we dropped my cousin back off at home, and that put a slight damper on the evening. You know when you know too much, and it makes you worried for someone, but you know you can't get involved? Yeah.)
Well part of that isn't just exploring nature's offerings. It is also getting to know the businesses and locations within the town or city itself. Earlier this summer we visited the Capitol Building a couple of times, but our exploring was limited by the fact that we were living in Colorado, and were only in Cheyenne periodically. Now that we're up here for good, and now that the holiday chaos has subsided, we're beginning to get to know our new home town.
Yesterday, I had an appointment to get my hair cut. Any girl can tell you, getting your hair cut for the first time by a new stylist is one of the scariest things you can do!
 |
| Exactly |
Luckily, it went well, and my hair is back to it's glorious, manageable, no-longer-looking-like-a-homeless-hippie self. After my mini glam session, I met up with The Husband and kids and stopped by the pet store in the mall.
Bad idea.
Terrible.
The worst.
So. Much. Cute.
Like, mind-boggling, heart-bursting, can-I-please-have-all-of-them kind of cute.
There was this adorable purebred husky puppy, 16 weeks old. One brown eye, one blue eye. She was gorgeous. She was also $999!
Then there was a purebred German Shepard puppy. He was gorgeous. $1299!!!
There were also purebred Golden Retriever pups. Also $1299.
In the smaller puppy section, there was this itty bitty black Chug (chihuahua-pug). He was only 9 weeks old. Couldn't have been more than two pounds. And I fell in love with him. But he was $800!
I didn't know dogs were so freaking expensive. And I'm not really a dog person either. But I think I've been converted.
Needless to say, I see a puppy in our future!
Anyhoodle, after falling in love with dogs that I can't have right now, we roamed the mall for a bit so the kids could spend some of the Christmas money they got. And all I can say is, why the hell are Hex Bugs so popular?
Because they're a little creepy.
Especially when they go zipping across my kitchen floor and I just catch this glimpse in my peripheral vision and my heart jumps into my throat. I mean, despite the fact that I know that we don't have cockroaches, but there's always this split second where I panic slightly.
Ugh.
But my kids love Hex Bugs, and so as of yesterday they tripled their collection.
Yaaaaaayyyyyy…….
After that, we swung by and picked up my cousin so she could watch the kids while The Husband and I went on a date for our anniversary. We went to this restaurant called Poor Richard's. We've driven by it about a million times, and to be honest, the curb appeal isn't great. I had completely written it off as some skeezy dive. But then we were told time and again what a great place it was, so we decided to be brave and check it out.
And dayum!!!
So delicious!
Husband had a seafood sauté thing, and I had the vegetable primavera penne. Holy crapballs. It was crazy levels of yummy.
Very interesting atmosphere too. It kinda had an old English/pre-revolutionary war tavern vibe to it. Suffice it to say, I think we found our "place".
After that we went to see The Hunger Games: Catching Fire… which was awesome! Good day, good date night, good times had by all.
All in all, I'm starting to feel more at home here now. And it's nice.
(Of course, there was a concerning thing that happened when we dropped my cousin back off at home, and that put a slight damper on the evening. You know when you know too much, and it makes you worried for someone, but you know you can't get involved? Yeah.)
Friday, December 27, 2013
Christmas coma anyone?
Hey hey!
Happy Friday After Christmas!
I hope everyone's holiday was happy, safe, and blessed.
Mine was quite lovely. We didn't have the White Christmas I was hoping for, as the snow we got Christmas Eve morning was half-hearted at best, but it was wonderful nonetheless.
My house is still in post-Christmas shambles, but I'll work on it bit by bit. I refuse to feel any pressure, man. I'm just digging the vacation!
I've been done with fall quarter for almost a week now, and it's been absolutely divine. I always forget what it feels like to take a deep breath until school ends!
Of course, I'm already stressing over winter quarter and my increased class load, but I'm trying to ignore it for now and just enjoy my break. Plus, two of my three classes have low enrollment, so unless people start signing up fast, they may get cancelled, leaving me having to either scramble for two new electives, or delaying my graduation by a quarter. Which will… piss me off, to say the least.
But I'm letting Future Sarah deal with that!
Current Sarah has more important things to do!
Today's plan? Watch Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with the kids, make paper beads with my daughter, and do a thorough post-Christmas vacuuming. I also have a couple of Yahoo! articles to work on.
I also intend to work on organizing the basement more, making a Goodwill run, and doing some general cleaning. But all that will happen in good time.
For now?
Happy Friday After Christmas!
I hope everyone's holiday was happy, safe, and blessed.
Mine was quite lovely. We didn't have the White Christmas I was hoping for, as the snow we got Christmas Eve morning was half-hearted at best, but it was wonderful nonetheless.
My house is still in post-Christmas shambles, but I'll work on it bit by bit. I refuse to feel any pressure, man. I'm just digging the vacation!
I've been done with fall quarter for almost a week now, and it's been absolutely divine. I always forget what it feels like to take a deep breath until school ends!
Of course, I'm already stressing over winter quarter and my increased class load, but I'm trying to ignore it for now and just enjoy my break. Plus, two of my three classes have low enrollment, so unless people start signing up fast, they may get cancelled, leaving me having to either scramble for two new electives, or delaying my graduation by a quarter. Which will… piss me off, to say the least.
But I'm letting Future Sarah deal with that!
Current Sarah has more important things to do!
Today's plan? Watch Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with the kids, make paper beads with my daughter, and do a thorough post-Christmas vacuuming. I also have a couple of Yahoo! articles to work on.
I also intend to work on organizing the basement more, making a Goodwill run, and doing some general cleaning. But all that will happen in good time.
For now?
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Happy Birthday?
So…. My birthday is just days away.
The big 3-0.
I've got to be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about it.
Leading up until now, I was totally stoked. A new decade is always exciting, and maybe once I'm in my 30s I will start feeling like an actual grown up.
(Probably not. But it's a distant hope.)
But now that I'm standing on the precipice, I've become a little afraid of jumping.
I'm not sure why exactly. I'm not one of those girls who thinks it's all down hill after your 20s. I'm not yet worried about crow's feet or frown lines or what have you. I still feel young and vibrant (if not a little tired right now because life has been hectic).
I think my hesitation with 30 is that, for one, I feel like time is flying by at lightening speeds, and it's making me a little panicky. I don't want to miss anything. I don't want to look back and wonder where my life went. I want to experience and enjoy and appreciate where I'm at and what I'm doing. I want to live in the now with gratitude and an open heart, and sometimes I feel like time is going by too quickly to do that. And so the "holy crap I'm 30" concept is a little shocking in that manner.
Also, in keeping with the I-hope-I-feel-like-a-grown-up mentality, turning 30 has left me grappling with some, shall we say, "life choices". Apparently in your 30s is when you become fully aware and confident in who you are, and I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on that. But sometimes, being true to yourself leads to some uncomfortable encounters. And then that discomfort makes me second-guess myself. And then I feel like an uncertain kid again, instead of the rather fabulous almost-30-year-old that I am.
For one, as you know we just recently moved to Wyoming. Coming from the greater Seattle area, this has been quite a shock to the system! Recently, I've experienced some unpleasantness from a few of the local residents, and the only explanation I can come up with is my bumper stickers. They are, admittedly, fairly liberal. And the reactions I've received from some people? Alarming. I know who I am and I know what I believe in and why, and yet this unpleasantness has led me to question myself. Should I remove the bumper stickers? Should I try to blend in more in this extremely red state? Or should I face the discomfort and be myself, knowing that while it may make a few enemies, it will also allow me to make genuine friends, rather than friends with whom I cannot be myself.
Secondly, earlier this week I found myself in a really upsetting situation. Without getting too into the details, the basic gist is that I had to inform a close relative (the only one in this town) that I was uncomfortable with her on-off boyfriend coming over for Thanksgiving. There is a whole myriad of reasons, but it boils down to feeling uneasy with his unpredictable, unsavory, immature, and quite frankly, unsafe behavior. If you are incapable of being sober… ever… you're not welcome in my home and around my children. Especially after his most recent bout of asshole-itude. She may be willing to put up with it, but I'm not, nor do I have to. So a initiated the awkward conversation knowing that it would be uncomfortable, and possibly unpleasant. But I had no idea what it would turn into.
Suffice it to say, it was not pretty. There was no conversation, no discussion. She reacted instantly, and harshly. I was completely caught off guard. She said some incredibly awful things to me. She basically text-bombed me for almost three hours straight, taking every pot shot and low blow she could come up with, leaving me shaking and in tears. She then basically divorced me and my family.
All because I was honest with my feelings, and with what I was comfortable with in my home. Something I had every right to express. I was not mean, I did not call names or defame anyone's character (unlike her). I simply explained delicately, calmly, and rationally how I felt and why.
And apparently in her world, that means I'm incapable of love and an awful, heartless person.
Once again, I began questioning myself. Should I have said anything at all? Should I have kept my discomfort with her loser boyfriend to myself and just smiled and played nice, even if it meant ruining my Thanksgiving and exposing my children to potentially unpleasant or unsafe circumstances? Was I justified in expressing my feelings?
Having gained a little bit of time and clarity between now and the initial encounter, I do feel I did the right thing. I had to be true to myself, even though it produced an unexpected and unfortunate outcome. What kills me the most is that 1) I've been the one who's been there for her, supported her, rescued her, and stood up for her, and to have her forget that and turn on me so quickly stung, and 2) my children adore her, yet she is totally willing to write them off.
So, lesson learned.
Doing what is right for you is not always about doing what is easy. I guess this is all part and parcel of being a grown up?
Welcome to 30! Be prepared to know who you are. And to have people hate you for it.
The big 3-0.
I've got to be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about it.
Leading up until now, I was totally stoked. A new decade is always exciting, and maybe once I'm in my 30s I will start feeling like an actual grown up.
(Probably not. But it's a distant hope.)
But now that I'm standing on the precipice, I've become a little afraid of jumping.
I'm not sure why exactly. I'm not one of those girls who thinks it's all down hill after your 20s. I'm not yet worried about crow's feet or frown lines or what have you. I still feel young and vibrant (if not a little tired right now because life has been hectic).
I think my hesitation with 30 is that, for one, I feel like time is flying by at lightening speeds, and it's making me a little panicky. I don't want to miss anything. I don't want to look back and wonder where my life went. I want to experience and enjoy and appreciate where I'm at and what I'm doing. I want to live in the now with gratitude and an open heart, and sometimes I feel like time is going by too quickly to do that. And so the "holy crap I'm 30" concept is a little shocking in that manner.
Also, in keeping with the I-hope-I-feel-like-a-grown-up mentality, turning 30 has left me grappling with some, shall we say, "life choices". Apparently in your 30s is when you become fully aware and confident in who you are, and I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on that. But sometimes, being true to yourself leads to some uncomfortable encounters. And then that discomfort makes me second-guess myself. And then I feel like an uncertain kid again, instead of the rather fabulous almost-30-year-old that I am.
For one, as you know we just recently moved to Wyoming. Coming from the greater Seattle area, this has been quite a shock to the system! Recently, I've experienced some unpleasantness from a few of the local residents, and the only explanation I can come up with is my bumper stickers. They are, admittedly, fairly liberal. And the reactions I've received from some people? Alarming. I know who I am and I know what I believe in and why, and yet this unpleasantness has led me to question myself. Should I remove the bumper stickers? Should I try to blend in more in this extremely red state? Or should I face the discomfort and be myself, knowing that while it may make a few enemies, it will also allow me to make genuine friends, rather than friends with whom I cannot be myself.
Secondly, earlier this week I found myself in a really upsetting situation. Without getting too into the details, the basic gist is that I had to inform a close relative (the only one in this town) that I was uncomfortable with her on-off boyfriend coming over for Thanksgiving. There is a whole myriad of reasons, but it boils down to feeling uneasy with his unpredictable, unsavory, immature, and quite frankly, unsafe behavior. If you are incapable of being sober… ever… you're not welcome in my home and around my children. Especially after his most recent bout of asshole-itude. She may be willing to put up with it, but I'm not, nor do I have to. So a initiated the awkward conversation knowing that it would be uncomfortable, and possibly unpleasant. But I had no idea what it would turn into.
Suffice it to say, it was not pretty. There was no conversation, no discussion. She reacted instantly, and harshly. I was completely caught off guard. She said some incredibly awful things to me. She basically text-bombed me for almost three hours straight, taking every pot shot and low blow she could come up with, leaving me shaking and in tears. She then basically divorced me and my family.
All because I was honest with my feelings, and with what I was comfortable with in my home. Something I had every right to express. I was not mean, I did not call names or defame anyone's character (unlike her). I simply explained delicately, calmly, and rationally how I felt and why.
And apparently in her world, that means I'm incapable of love and an awful, heartless person.
Once again, I began questioning myself. Should I have said anything at all? Should I have kept my discomfort with her loser boyfriend to myself and just smiled and played nice, even if it meant ruining my Thanksgiving and exposing my children to potentially unpleasant or unsafe circumstances? Was I justified in expressing my feelings?
Having gained a little bit of time and clarity between now and the initial encounter, I do feel I did the right thing. I had to be true to myself, even though it produced an unexpected and unfortunate outcome. What kills me the most is that 1) I've been the one who's been there for her, supported her, rescued her, and stood up for her, and to have her forget that and turn on me so quickly stung, and 2) my children adore her, yet she is totally willing to write them off.
So, lesson learned.
Doing what is right for you is not always about doing what is easy. I guess this is all part and parcel of being a grown up?
Welcome to 30! Be prepared to know who you are. And to have people hate you for it.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Head colds and rocking chairs
I'm sick again.
I don't know what the deal is, but I've just been walloped the last few weeks with one illness after another. I assume my current levels of stress and lack of sleep probably have something to do with it. But if this is the way cold and flu season is stacking up, I'm totally screwed!
Fall quarter is just around the corner for me, and I'm experiencing this weird combination of being excited and nauseatingly stressed about it. On the one hand, I'm the nerd that likes school and learning and challenging myself academically. On the other hand, I have enough going on right now that adding one more thing makes my brain hurt.
But I just need to keep plugging away at it. So close to being done, can't crap out now.
On the plus side, potty training has been going well. Monkey is managing to stay dry most of the time, and likes the reward of getting to pick out what color M&M he wants after a successful "go". Poops are still a solely-in-the-diaper thing, but I figure I'll address one battle at a time.
The end of the diaper era is nigh!
We went up to see the house this weekend. Seeing as how we live so far away right now, I'm not up in Cheyenne very often, and therefore hadn't seen the house in person in probably three weeks or so. It was very cool! The drywall is up, and most of the mudding and taping was done. The siding had also been started too. It looks so much more like an actual house now, rather than just some generic construction site, it was hard not to get all giddy about it. We're a month (ish) away from realizing our dream!
My favorite part of the house so far? As random as it sounds, it's the front porch.
It's huge! And it's just so pretty. And the way it is situated, it's almost totally blocked from the wind, so we'll actually be able to sit out there and enjoy it.
I'm very much looking forward to sitting on my giant porch in my cute little rocking chair with a cup o' tea and a good book. Because clearly I'm almost-30 going on almost-70...
So I'm trying a new recipe tonight, and I'm a little concerned. It's the first meal that has sounded good to me in a few days. And that's the issue. See, when I'm sick, my tastes are usually pretty out of whack, so the fact that this recipe sounds really yummy to me makes me worried that it will actually taste like the feet of 18 dead frogs. (Nice visual, eh?)
We'll see. If it's yummy, I'll share it on here. If not, we'll just pretend we never had this conversation.
I don't know what the deal is, but I've just been walloped the last few weeks with one illness after another. I assume my current levels of stress and lack of sleep probably have something to do with it. But if this is the way cold and flu season is stacking up, I'm totally screwed!
 |
| Clearly the next logical option... |
Fall quarter is just around the corner for me, and I'm experiencing this weird combination of being excited and nauseatingly stressed about it. On the one hand, I'm the nerd that likes school and learning and challenging myself academically. On the other hand, I have enough going on right now that adding one more thing makes my brain hurt.
But I just need to keep plugging away at it. So close to being done, can't crap out now.
On the plus side, potty training has been going well. Monkey is managing to stay dry most of the time, and likes the reward of getting to pick out what color M&M he wants after a successful "go". Poops are still a solely-in-the-diaper thing, but I figure I'll address one battle at a time.
The end of the diaper era is nigh!
We went up to see the house this weekend. Seeing as how we live so far away right now, I'm not up in Cheyenne very often, and therefore hadn't seen the house in person in probably three weeks or so. It was very cool! The drywall is up, and most of the mudding and taping was done. The siding had also been started too. It looks so much more like an actual house now, rather than just some generic construction site, it was hard not to get all giddy about it. We're a month (ish) away from realizing our dream!
My favorite part of the house so far? As random as it sounds, it's the front porch.
It's huge! And it's just so pretty. And the way it is situated, it's almost totally blocked from the wind, so we'll actually be able to sit out there and enjoy it.
I'm very much looking forward to sitting on my giant porch in my cute little rocking chair with a cup o' tea and a good book. Because clearly I'm almost-30 going on almost-70...
 |
| Exactly |
So I'm trying a new recipe tonight, and I'm a little concerned. It's the first meal that has sounded good to me in a few days. And that's the issue. See, when I'm sick, my tastes are usually pretty out of whack, so the fact that this recipe sounds really yummy to me makes me worried that it will actually taste like the feet of 18 dead frogs. (Nice visual, eh?)
We'll see. If it's yummy, I'll share it on here. If not, we'll just pretend we never had this conversation.
Friday, September 27, 2013
TGIF and other nonsense
It's Friday!
The weekend is officially here, and I am officially stoked.
I love weekends. I live for weekends.
Especially right now, when life is incredibly busy and going to get even more so in the coming weeks.
First, with our insane commuting schedule living so far away from Cheyenne. It's inconvenient, to say the least. Needless to say, we're all looking forward to the house being done and our lives resuming some semblance of a normal schedule.
Second, I start school in a couple of weeks, so once again I will be plunged into the chaos of earning a degree whilst running a household and raising three children and all that brouhaha. But only three quarters left, so I just need to buckle down for...9 more months...
It's depressing when I put it that way...
And third, we're moving soon. Again. Moving is one of the most stressful events in a person's life. And we will have done it twice in four months. Just thinking about that makes my eye twitch.
But we did get good news on the house! I think I mentioned before about how our builders had a very different timeframe than us when it came to the house being done. They had been planning on the end of November. Our purchase contract states our closing date is at the end of October. Slightly big difference, yes?
Well, once this came to light there was a flurry of *slightly intense* conversations between us, our real estate agent, and the builders. The builders came back with a promise that we'd be in no later than the middle of November. Considering our lease ends November 15, that was cutting it a little close, but what can we do?
But then we got a text yesterday from the builder saying that the carpet order came in, so now all the materials are in and ready to go. She said it looks like we're on track for the end of October after all!
Granted, given all the hiccups and headaches we've had so far, I'm not holding my breath on that.
But still. Having that be feasible?
Totally cool with me!
So yes, right now weekends are my solace, my peace, my zen. It's the only time of the week for the foreseeable future that I can do what I want, and according to the schedule that works for me.
TGIF baby!
The weekend is officially here, and I am officially stoked.
I love weekends. I live for weekends.
Especially right now, when life is incredibly busy and going to get even more so in the coming weeks.
First, with our insane commuting schedule living so far away from Cheyenne. It's inconvenient, to say the least. Needless to say, we're all looking forward to the house being done and our lives resuming some semblance of a normal schedule.
Second, I start school in a couple of weeks, so once again I will be plunged into the chaos of earning a degree whilst running a household and raising three children and all that brouhaha. But only three quarters left, so I just need to buckle down for...9 more months...
It's depressing when I put it that way...
And third, we're moving soon. Again. Moving is one of the most stressful events in a person's life. And we will have done it twice in four months. Just thinking about that makes my eye twitch.
But we did get good news on the house! I think I mentioned before about how our builders had a very different timeframe than us when it came to the house being done. They had been planning on the end of November. Our purchase contract states our closing date is at the end of October. Slightly big difference, yes?
Well, once this came to light there was a flurry of *slightly intense* conversations between us, our real estate agent, and the builders. The builders came back with a promise that we'd be in no later than the middle of November. Considering our lease ends November 15, that was cutting it a little close, but what can we do?
But then we got a text yesterday from the builder saying that the carpet order came in, so now all the materials are in and ready to go. She said it looks like we're on track for the end of October after all!
Granted, given all the hiccups and headaches we've had so far, I'm not holding my breath on that.
But still. Having that be feasible?
Totally cool with me!
So yes, right now weekends are my solace, my peace, my zen. It's the only time of the week for the foreseeable future that I can do what I want, and according to the schedule that works for me.
TGIF baby!
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| Good luck not having this song stuck in your head all weekend now! |
Friday, September 20, 2013
Sociology of Marvin the Martian
My textbooks came today.
*dunh dunh dunh*
Yep. Fall quarter is officially just around the corner. Slightly over three weeks away.
I can feel it lurking, staring at me, daring me to once again maintain my 3.9 GPA and my sanity simultaneously.
It's not an easy feat, and thus far I've done... well, not too bad overall. Oceanography nearly killed me, but that was awhile ago, and the scars are finally beginning to fade.
Too dramatic, you say?
I assure you, it's not. That class was brutal. I swear it left me with a limp.
Anyway, this is my LAST fall quarter ever! Well, unless I go to grad school. But right now the thought makes me gag slightly, so I'll put a pin in it until... indefinitely...
So yes, Last Fall Quarter.
This is quite possibly my last "not scary" quarter. Winter will be when I laughingly try to juggle an extra course load, and Spring is when I'll be doing my utterly terrifying degree capstone.
This quarter I'm taking Intro to Philosophy, because I love nothing more than blithering on about metaphysical nonsense, and Sociology of the Family, because it genuinely sounded interesting (and the other sociology class I wanted ended up being canceled for this quarter, so plan B).
My main stress for this quarter (besides the "new class" jitters) is the fact that I will be moving right in the middle of it. Which means that I'll need to arrange internet service before we're even in the house, because I will absolutely not be able to wait two weeks or, god forbid, have to attempt dial-up or DSL! It also means that I'll have to do all of my assignments while also packing, loading, and unpacking my entire life, once again.
Le sigh.
I swear, somewhere inside my brain is a tiny little sadist...
*dunh dunh dunh*
Yep. Fall quarter is officially just around the corner. Slightly over three weeks away.
I can feel it lurking, staring at me, daring me to once again maintain my 3.9 GPA and my sanity simultaneously.
It's not an easy feat, and thus far I've done... well, not too bad overall. Oceanography nearly killed me, but that was awhile ago, and the scars are finally beginning to fade.
Too dramatic, you say?
I assure you, it's not. That class was brutal. I swear it left me with a limp.
Anyway, this is my LAST fall quarter ever! Well, unless I go to grad school. But right now the thought makes me gag slightly, so I'll put a pin in it until... indefinitely...
So yes, Last Fall Quarter.
This is quite possibly my last "not scary" quarter. Winter will be when I laughingly try to juggle an extra course load, and Spring is when I'll be doing my utterly terrifying degree capstone.
This quarter I'm taking Intro to Philosophy, because I love nothing more than blithering on about metaphysical nonsense, and Sociology of the Family, because it genuinely sounded interesting (and the other sociology class I wanted ended up being canceled for this quarter, so plan B).
My main stress for this quarter (besides the "new class" jitters) is the fact that I will be moving right in the middle of it. Which means that I'll need to arrange internet service before we're even in the house, because I will absolutely not be able to wait two weeks or, god forbid, have to attempt dial-up or DSL! It also means that I'll have to do all of my assignments while also packing, loading, and unpacking my entire life, once again.
Le sigh.
I swear, somewhere inside my brain is a tiny little sadist...
 |
| Or just him... |
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Good news Thursday
 |
| That's an understatement! |
Sweet Baby Jesus, today has been a good day. I feel a little uncomfortable getting too excited about it, because I have that superstitious side of my brain that feels like if you openly acknowledge something good, then it will end up going away.
But after such a long string of struggles and obstacles and bad news and letdowns, today was a breath of fresh air.
So first of all, our new mortgage guy did our official credit pull yesterday in order to start our financing paperwork. I was a little nervous, because he said he would call us first thing this morning to give us the update on it, and he didn't call...
But it turns out that he was just busy with a couple of closings today. Phew!
The Husband spoke with him early this afternoon, and our credit is... well... quite wonderful! Not only did our scores jump up fairly significantly since the first mortgage guy pulled our credit in May, but that stupid credit reporting that gave us so much grief a couple weeks back is GONE BABY GONE!
My guess is it fell off due to its age.
You know, just like it was supposed to. Just like we told the previous mortgage guy it was supposed to. Just like we told the collections company itself that it was supposed to.
So suck it, Alaska!
Muhaha.
 |
| I think they already did... |
So the new mortgage guy has several more closings tomorrow (lucky bastards), so it looks like we will have to wait until next week to sign our disclosures and lock in an interest rate. But our paperwork is good to go. Which is an indescribable relief.
Then after that little tidbit of fabulous news, I spoke with our builder. I had been trying to get in touch with her to see if she had ordered the carpet we picked out last week, and she's a tough lady to get ahold of. But I did, and while she hasn't ordered the carpet yet (apparently she's doing it tomorrow), everything else is ordered and we are totally on track to be done by the end of October!
She also said that the only potential snafu is the well. The well water has to pass very strict regulations (apparently some of the strictest in the country... which I guess is good for water quality) and it takes at least two weeks to complete the process. If they pass the first test, we're good to go. If they don't, however, it can be as long as six more weeks to get it re-tested.
It's like a government regulated Punxsutawney Phil.
Anyway, if the well fails, that pushes back our closing date several weeks, which sucks in an unbelievable way and totally screws us over.
BUT!!!
Being the blessed soul that she is (or decided to be today, anyway), our builder said that in the unlikely chance that the well fails the particulates test and has to be retested, we can go ahead and still move in and just wait until our new closing date! She knows had badly we hate our apartment and how badly we want to be in the house, and I guess she felt sorry enough for us to grant us early occupancy.
And I'm more than willing to take her pity if it means getting in my house on time! So that was excellent to hear.
And then, to make a good day even better, we found out that The Husband is getting a 2% raise! I mean, nothing life changing by any means, but more is more, and we're more than happy to take it!
So, like I said, today was a good day.
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
A case of the stressed out blahs
So I'm a bit of a stressball right now. And I can see that it is completely ridiculous on my part to be worrying about things that aren't even on the horizon for several months, but I'm feeling under the weather today, and I guess that has made me more susceptible to stressing out about random nonsense.
The kids brought home a lovely cold-y/flu-y thing from school towards the end of last week, and apparently today is my turn.
I'm just so lucky I could swoon!
No really, my head is really fuzzy and if I stand for too long I start to get a little dizzy and, well, swoon-y.
It's been a fun day so far, let me tell ya! What with the splitting headache that makes me feel like someone is stabbing dull steak knives into my brain. Or the waves of nausea that make me feel like I'm trapped in a skiff on super choppy waters. Or the weak, floppy feeling I have, where just the effort to brush my teeth or blow-dry my hair left me needing to lay down for a bit.
Oh yeah, and the utter lack of an attention span!
(Well, I guess the attention span thing may actually be pretty normal...)
But I digress. So I feel like crap today. And it's an absolutely gorgeous day outside. And I can't go enjoy these last delicious days of summer because of the I-feel-like-death-on-a-stick situation I find myself in.
So the next logical choice?
Well, have an overwhelming desire to bake brownies, for one. And anyone who knows me knows that I hate baking outside of Christmastime, so clearly I'm not well in the head!
And also?
Start worrying about the fact that you have to take three classes winter quarter, instead of the usual two.
Yeah...
You know, because winter quarter doesn't start until the middle of January. As in, 2014. As in, four and a half months away.
Let me explain.
This is my last year of school before I graduate with my degree in business management and get that little piece of paper that says "Yay you, you're smart!"
I officially have three quarters left, and I could not be more excited about it! It's taken me, oh, about a bajillion years (choosing what you want to be when you grow up is difficult, okay?) but I'm finally here. The end is nigh!
But for whatever reason, my classes worked out kind of wonky, so I have seven classes left. Which means that I either extend my timeframe and take my business capstone in the summer, or I buckle down and take three classes at once in order to be done on time.
I'm opting for the three classes option.
It's far from ideal. After all, the two classes that constitute a full-time load are generally difficult enough, the idea of juggling three is certainly daunting. Each class generally requires at least 10-15 hours of work per week. And that's not counting the extra time required for research and writing papers and taking tests and all that. Those 10-15 hours are just for the reading assignments (the average is a minimum of 50 pages per week per class), the discussion question responses, and the peer responses.
The three classes that quarter are all going to be lower-level electives, so I'm going to try and take classes that are a little gentler on my sanity, but you can't really predict how that winds up, because there is so much variation between instructors. It's a total crapshoot.
So why not just bump the capstone back, you say?
Well, for one, because I want to be done as quickly as possible. And for two, because thanks to a little-publicized policy change that our lovely former president George W. Bush instituted, undergrads can only borrow so much for their degree, regardless of school.
So if you attend a community college? You can afford to go to school for probably ten years before you hit your cap.
If you attend a higher quality school? You barely squeeze in under the cut off.
And for those attending, say, an Ivy League school? Fahgettaboutit!
(Then again, aren't all Ivy League-ers rich to begin with? So like they're borrowing for their education, amiright?!?)
Anyhoodle, so yeah, because I'm squarely in the independent middle class, and because I'm attending a higher quality school, my loan limits will be reached spring quarter. Which means I'm squeezing in three classes winter quarter. And I'll still have to pay a bit out of pocket for the third class.
But it's still cheaper than paying for the capstone completely out of pocket.
That course is freaking expensive!!!
The kids brought home a lovely cold-y/flu-y thing from school towards the end of last week, and apparently today is my turn.
I'm just so lucky I could swoon!
No really, my head is really fuzzy and if I stand for too long I start to get a little dizzy and, well, swoon-y.
It's been a fun day so far, let me tell ya! What with the splitting headache that makes me feel like someone is stabbing dull steak knives into my brain. Or the waves of nausea that make me feel like I'm trapped in a skiff on super choppy waters. Or the weak, floppy feeling I have, where just the effort to brush my teeth or blow-dry my hair left me needing to lay down for a bit.
Oh yeah, and the utter lack of an attention span!
(Well, I guess the attention span thing may actually be pretty normal...)
But I digress. So I feel like crap today. And it's an absolutely gorgeous day outside. And I can't go enjoy these last delicious days of summer because of the I-feel-like-death-on-a-stick situation I find myself in.
So the next logical choice?
Well, have an overwhelming desire to bake brownies, for one. And anyone who knows me knows that I hate baking outside of Christmastime, so clearly I'm not well in the head!
And also?
Start worrying about the fact that you have to take three classes winter quarter, instead of the usual two.
Yeah...
You know, because winter quarter doesn't start until the middle of January. As in, 2014. As in, four and a half months away.
Let me explain.
This is my last year of school before I graduate with my degree in business management and get that little piece of paper that says "Yay you, you're smart!"
I officially have three quarters left, and I could not be more excited about it! It's taken me, oh, about a bajillion years (choosing what you want to be when you grow up is difficult, okay?) but I'm finally here. The end is nigh!
But for whatever reason, my classes worked out kind of wonky, so I have seven classes left. Which means that I either extend my timeframe and take my business capstone in the summer, or I buckle down and take three classes at once in order to be done on time.
I'm opting for the three classes option.
It's far from ideal. After all, the two classes that constitute a full-time load are generally difficult enough, the idea of juggling three is certainly daunting. Each class generally requires at least 10-15 hours of work per week. And that's not counting the extra time required for research and writing papers and taking tests and all that. Those 10-15 hours are just for the reading assignments (the average is a minimum of 50 pages per week per class), the discussion question responses, and the peer responses.
The three classes that quarter are all going to be lower-level electives, so I'm going to try and take classes that are a little gentler on my sanity, but you can't really predict how that winds up, because there is so much variation between instructors. It's a total crapshoot.
So why not just bump the capstone back, you say?
Well, for one, because I want to be done as quickly as possible. And for two, because thanks to a little-publicized policy change that our lovely former president George W. Bush instituted, undergrads can only borrow so much for their degree, regardless of school.
So if you attend a community college? You can afford to go to school for probably ten years before you hit your cap.
If you attend a higher quality school? You barely squeeze in under the cut off.
And for those attending, say, an Ivy League school? Fahgettaboutit!
(Then again, aren't all Ivy League-ers rich to begin with? So like they're borrowing for their education, amiright?!?)
Anyhoodle, so yeah, because I'm squarely in the independent middle class, and because I'm attending a higher quality school, my loan limits will be reached spring quarter. Which means I'm squeezing in three classes winter quarter. And I'll still have to pay a bit out of pocket for the third class.
But it's still cheaper than paying for the capstone completely out of pocket.
That course is freaking expensive!!!
Friday, August 30, 2013
Accomplishing things is exhausting
Oy vey.
Hi internets! I'm back!
This week has been... well, just as tiring and stressful as I'd expected.
BUT!!!!!
We got so much house stuff done yesterday, and it looks like we are on track on be done and close on time! Two months and counting...
(Fingers crossed)
We did our framing walk through yesterday, and picked out where all of our electrical outlets, phone and cable jacks, light switches, light fixtures, propane hookups, etc will go. It was... productive, though slightly frustrating.
But not as frustrating as the rest of the afternoon went.
After the framing walk through, we went with the builders to the cabinet place to pick out our cabinets and counter tops, and that's when things went a bit pear shaped.
As with every home builder, ours obviously have a profit margin built into the cost of everything, and they therefore want you to stick within a certain budget so as to not compromise that profit. However, our builders' budget for certain things is incredibly unrealistic (we're pretty sure they just pulled numbers out of their butts without basing them on realistic, current prices).
On top of that, they are really pushy about their tastes (and it just so happens that their preferences in cabinets, carpet, flooring, and so forth, are also what they get the best deals on, and therefore make the most money on).
However, their tastes are so not my tastes, and we've gone a few rounds in the process of making that clear. The cabinets and flooring they kept pushing on me are blonde oak. As in, totally 1994.
Ick.
I prefer darker, more updated wood, thank you very much.
We also preferred the shaker style cabinet doors over their preference for the arched, raised panel doors. It's a far more modern, updated look, and will make our kitchen up-to-date for much longer.
So after going around and around on that, they finally backed off, and we ordered the doors we wanted, which made me happy. However, they won't include the hardware- the drawer pulls and door handles.
Really?!?
So we will have to do that on our own later on. Which is dumb. But whatevs.
The irony of the cabinet door kerfuffle?
The cabinet guy came in when we were just finishing up discussing it all, and the builders mentioned to him they need to order some cabinets for another house they're building, and he recommended the doors we had just ordered!
And his reasoning?
Because they're a more updated, modern look and more desirable to buyers!
So that little piece of vindication was nice.
After that I had to pick up the kids from school, so The Husband went with one of the builders to Lowe's to start picking out tile and fixtures and whatnot, and after collecting the younglings I met up with them.
After much debate (and more forcing of opinions), we finally chose tile for the laundry room, both bathroom floors, and our shower. We also gave her our choices for the wood flooring and countertops, and then had to go through the process of picking out a new carpet choice because apparently the cost of the padding was supposed to also be included in the carpet allowance (despite me having asked and her reassuring me that they do the padding separately and the whole allowance just goes to carpet)(grumblegrumble).
This was the point where the builder had to go, and I was perfectly okay with that because I was feeling quite frazzled by the carpet snafu. If I'm paying this much for a house, I'm sure as hell not going to settle for cheap ass carpet that's all thin and scraggly and will wear out within a month.
And that was looking like what was going to happen, until the most lovely Lowe's employee ever came to our rescue.
She took into account our builder's contractor discount, she found a carpet that is nice and thick and was on sale at the moment and that had the color we wanted, and she finagled the numbers around until both the squishy carpet and the pad were exactly within budget.
Suffice it to say, she saved me from a mental breakdown!
Thank you Bridgette at the Cheyenne Lowe's. You're my hero!
After that whole saga was dealt with, it was then off to pick out our lighting and fixtures package. The fixtures were easy peasy. Oil rubbed bronze, slightly victorian look. Donesies!
Sensing a theme yet?
Hi internets! I'm back!
This week has been... well, just as tiring and stressful as I'd expected.
BUT!!!!!
We got so much house stuff done yesterday, and it looks like we are on track on be done and close on time! Two months and counting...
(Fingers crossed)
We did our framing walk through yesterday, and picked out where all of our electrical outlets, phone and cable jacks, light switches, light fixtures, propane hookups, etc will go. It was... productive, though slightly frustrating.
But not as frustrating as the rest of the afternoon went.
After the framing walk through, we went with the builders to the cabinet place to pick out our cabinets and counter tops, and that's when things went a bit pear shaped.
As with every home builder, ours obviously have a profit margin built into the cost of everything, and they therefore want you to stick within a certain budget so as to not compromise that profit. However, our builders' budget for certain things is incredibly unrealistic (we're pretty sure they just pulled numbers out of their butts without basing them on realistic, current prices).
On top of that, they are really pushy about their tastes (and it just so happens that their preferences in cabinets, carpet, flooring, and so forth, are also what they get the best deals on, and therefore make the most money on).
However, their tastes are so not my tastes, and we've gone a few rounds in the process of making that clear. The cabinets and flooring they kept pushing on me are blonde oak. As in, totally 1994.
 |
| She was pushing for something like these... |
I prefer darker, more updated wood, thank you very much.
We also preferred the shaker style cabinet doors over their preference for the arched, raised panel doors. It's a far more modern, updated look, and will make our kitchen up-to-date for much longer.
 |
| We chose these, only a bit darker... |
So after going around and around on that, they finally backed off, and we ordered the doors we wanted, which made me happy. However, they won't include the hardware- the drawer pulls and door handles.
Really?!?
So we will have to do that on our own later on. Which is dumb. But whatevs.
The irony of the cabinet door kerfuffle?
The cabinet guy came in when we were just finishing up discussing it all, and the builders mentioned to him they need to order some cabinets for another house they're building, and he recommended the doors we had just ordered!
And his reasoning?
Because they're a more updated, modern look and more desirable to buyers!
So that little piece of vindication was nice.
After that I had to pick up the kids from school, so The Husband went with one of the builders to Lowe's to start picking out tile and fixtures and whatnot, and after collecting the younglings I met up with them.
After much debate (and more forcing of opinions), we finally chose tile for the laundry room, both bathroom floors, and our shower. We also gave her our choices for the wood flooring and countertops, and then had to go through the process of picking out a new carpet choice because apparently the cost of the padding was supposed to also be included in the carpet allowance (despite me having asked and her reassuring me that they do the padding separately and the whole allowance just goes to carpet)(grumblegrumble).
This was the point where the builder had to go, and I was perfectly okay with that because I was feeling quite frazzled by the carpet snafu. If I'm paying this much for a house, I'm sure as hell not going to settle for cheap ass carpet that's all thin and scraggly and will wear out within a month.
And that was looking like what was going to happen, until the most lovely Lowe's employee ever came to our rescue.
She took into account our builder's contractor discount, she found a carpet that is nice and thick and was on sale at the moment and that had the color we wanted, and she finagled the numbers around until both the squishy carpet and the pad were exactly within budget.
Suffice it to say, she saved me from a mental breakdown!
Thank you Bridgette at the Cheyenne Lowe's. You're my hero!
After that whole saga was dealt with, it was then off to pick out our lighting and fixtures package. The fixtures were easy peasy. Oil rubbed bronze, slightly victorian look. Donesies!
 |
| Bathroom fixtures |
 |
| Bathroom faucets |
 |
| Kitchen faucet |
And it only continued once we moved onto the lighting fixtures. Two 60" ceiling fans, five dome lights, two bathroom light bars, two sconces, two hanging light fixtures, two hanging bar lights, and five exterior lights later, we had a definite (though originally unintended) theme.
Modern, clean, updated, though also classic. Oil rubbed bronze with warm glass. And the sconces have the leaded glass with the pop of color, that will compliment our front door, as well as the lamp I keep in the entry way.
I only hope that when all is said and done, it actually looks good. Because your brain can only handle so many decisions in a four hour period. After that it turns into spaghetti.
And I don't know if spaghetti has been known for it's design choices...
Sunday, August 25, 2013
There isn't enough caffeine in the world...
Life has been a bit... stressful... over the last couple of weeks. And this week it's going to get a whole lot more so (but in more of a good way).
So I mentioned about a week and a half ago about the absolute shit day I was having. I'd been feeling ill, our apartment had come under assault by a airborne chunk of concrete, and then to top it all off, it was looking like our mortgage was going to fall through because of some stupid seven-and-a-half-year-old medical debt that was less than half of a percentage of the purchase price of the house we are building.
We have also disputed this debt in the past, the credit bureaus themselves have disputed the debt, and I also have a payment stub from seven years ago showing that one of the debts they have listed was already paid in full! So clearly things are not on the up and up.
We tried contacting the company holding the debt, and they were, well, awful, to put it mildly. They not only wanted the entire amount of the debt listed (despite the fact that part of it was paid years ago and the credit bureaus dispute that rest is even ours), but they also wanted to tack on other debt that they claimed they had of ours (even though it didn't show up on our credit and they admitted they couldn't prove it was ours in the first place). On top of that, they refused to give us anything in writing saying the debt would have been paid off and they refused to remove it from our credit even if we paid the entire amount of NOT OUR debt.
Shady, shady, shady.
We actually looked up this company, and apparently, this is what they do. They have been sued many times because of it. They buy old debts from other, more legit collection companies, they pool the debts into one big group, then assign them randomly to people. They don't actually pay off the debts with the money they collect, they don't follow collection regulations, and the fact that they are still in business is mind-boggling to me.
So we called the mortgage guy we had been working with and told him what was going on, thinking he would be understanding and be willing to work around this hiccup. Especially since we have such a large down payment ready to go.
Nope.
He refused to move forward on our mortgage without that final debt being removed from our credit. Never mind the fact that it is over seven years old and shouldn't even be on our credit anymore anyway. Never mind the fact that I had records of paying the debt they were claiming we owed. Never mind the fact that we had records of the credit bureaus trying to remove this debt from our credit and this company refusing. And never mind the fact that this company is involved in illegal collection practices, hadn't contacted us over these supposedly important debts, and the amount they claimed we owed would have in no way impacted our ability to pay our bills.
Dude was just an ass. Plain and simple.
So after a day or two of feeling really down, watching our dreams crumble over something that should never have been an issue in the first place (I mean, we already bought one house for crissake, and this debt would have been on there then, and it didn't matter!), we decided to rally.
I'm not a quitter. I never have been.
If there is a way to make it work, by God I'm going to find it.
So I did!
We contacted our previous mortgage broker in Washington and explained the situation to him, and he actually laughed out loud at how ridiculous it all was! He said that no, this debt should never have mattered in the first place, given its age AND the documented history of trying to address it. He said that any mortgage broker worth their salt knows that this particular collection agency is a total scam and is generally just ignored. He said that if he were our broker, he could 99.99% guarantee us the mortgage.
Unfortunately, he's not licensed in Wyoming.
Le sigh.
But we found someone in the same parent company that is! And he also thought the crap we had been put through was insane. And he also guaranteed us it wouldn't be an issue and that he could get the mortgage through underwriting without a hitch. And he said that given how good our credit is, we qualify for the best government loans available, which means lower interest rates, which is pretty sweet.
So we are back on track.
We fired the douchebag mortgage guy, and our real estate agent, Mike, has even ceased recommending people to him because of all this. Mike said this guy used to be really good and go out of his way for his mortgage customers, but lately he's been all about the money, charging higher interest rates for no reason other than the added profit, not being willing to work around any hiccup in someone's credit (even though almost all people have a hiccup or two), not answering or returning phone calls, and just being an arrogant jerk in general. Mike said our situation with him was the last straw. If this guy wasn't even able to help someone with as good of credit and as much of a down payment as we have, he doesn't deserve Mike's business.
I concur!
So we got that settled. I will still be a little nervous, because nothing is ever certain until it is complete. So until we have signed papers and have those keys in our hands, I'll be a little antsy. But we can resume being excited about our house. And that's a good feeling.
So that was why the past couple of weeks have been stressful.
This coming week is a whole other, albeit more tolerable, ball game.
The kids start school on Tuesday. They will be attending the school that is just down the road from our future house, which will be super convenient once we're living there.
Until then, however? Logistical nightmare.
Right now we live almost an hour away. And we have to plan for morning traffic heading north. The plan for the next couple of months is for The Husband to take the kids to school on his way to work, and then pick them up after school and bring them home when he's done. The hour and a half between school getting out and Husband's work being done, the kids will hang out in his office and do homework.
This is the most sensible plan, though it isn't the most desirable. We decided it doesn't make sense for both of us to be driving back and forth from Fort Collins to Cheyenne every day. The gas budget would absolutely explode!!!
BUT...
This week? The Husband is in meetings all week for a huge conversion they're working on at the hospital.
Which means that I have to take the kids and pick them up all week. I was originally planning on going for the open house and the first day of school, obviously, but now it's an all week thing. And I weep for my gas consumption!
We decided that I'd just plan ahead, bring snacks and toys and all the necessary provisions, and we'd all drive together in the morning, drop The Husband off at work on the way to the school, and then me and Monkey would just hang out in Cheyenne all day.
All. Freaking. Day.
Cheyenne's great and all. But there's only so much to do! And I'll have eight hours every day to kill. I think we will be spending a lot of time at the many parks in town.
BUT!
The trusses for the roof of our house began going up on Friday! Which means the framing will be done very shortly! Which means we will get to meet with the builder to do our framing walk through and pick out everything for the house!
Cabinets. Countertops. Flooring. Finishes. Appliances.
I'm hoping we will get to do that this week.
Because, really?!? Otherwise it's going to be a long, boring week...
So I mentioned about a week and a half ago about the absolute shit day I was having. I'd been feeling ill, our apartment had come under assault by a airborne chunk of concrete, and then to top it all off, it was looking like our mortgage was going to fall through because of some stupid seven-and-a-half-year-old medical debt that was less than half of a percentage of the purchase price of the house we are building.
We have also disputed this debt in the past, the credit bureaus themselves have disputed the debt, and I also have a payment stub from seven years ago showing that one of the debts they have listed was already paid in full! So clearly things are not on the up and up.
We tried contacting the company holding the debt, and they were, well, awful, to put it mildly. They not only wanted the entire amount of the debt listed (despite the fact that part of it was paid years ago and the credit bureaus dispute that rest is even ours), but they also wanted to tack on other debt that they claimed they had of ours (even though it didn't show up on our credit and they admitted they couldn't prove it was ours in the first place). On top of that, they refused to give us anything in writing saying the debt would have been paid off and they refused to remove it from our credit even if we paid the entire amount of NOT OUR debt.
Shady, shady, shady.
We actually looked up this company, and apparently, this is what they do. They have been sued many times because of it. They buy old debts from other, more legit collection companies, they pool the debts into one big group, then assign them randomly to people. They don't actually pay off the debts with the money they collect, they don't follow collection regulations, and the fact that they are still in business is mind-boggling to me.
So we called the mortgage guy we had been working with and told him what was going on, thinking he would be understanding and be willing to work around this hiccup. Especially since we have such a large down payment ready to go.
Nope.
He refused to move forward on our mortgage without that final debt being removed from our credit. Never mind the fact that it is over seven years old and shouldn't even be on our credit anymore anyway. Never mind the fact that I had records of paying the debt they were claiming we owed. Never mind the fact that we had records of the credit bureaus trying to remove this debt from our credit and this company refusing. And never mind the fact that this company is involved in illegal collection practices, hadn't contacted us over these supposedly important debts, and the amount they claimed we owed would have in no way impacted our ability to pay our bills.
Dude was just an ass. Plain and simple.
So after a day or two of feeling really down, watching our dreams crumble over something that should never have been an issue in the first place (I mean, we already bought one house for crissake, and this debt would have been on there then, and it didn't matter!), we decided to rally.I'm not a quitter. I never have been.
If there is a way to make it work, by God I'm going to find it.
So I did!
We contacted our previous mortgage broker in Washington and explained the situation to him, and he actually laughed out loud at how ridiculous it all was! He said that no, this debt should never have mattered in the first place, given its age AND the documented history of trying to address it. He said that any mortgage broker worth their salt knows that this particular collection agency is a total scam and is generally just ignored. He said that if he were our broker, he could 99.99% guarantee us the mortgage.
Unfortunately, he's not licensed in Wyoming.
Le sigh.
But we found someone in the same parent company that is! And he also thought the crap we had been put through was insane. And he also guaranteed us it wouldn't be an issue and that he could get the mortgage through underwriting without a hitch. And he said that given how good our credit is, we qualify for the best government loans available, which means lower interest rates, which is pretty sweet.
So we are back on track.
We fired the douchebag mortgage guy, and our real estate agent, Mike, has even ceased recommending people to him because of all this. Mike said this guy used to be really good and go out of his way for his mortgage customers, but lately he's been all about the money, charging higher interest rates for no reason other than the added profit, not being willing to work around any hiccup in someone's credit (even though almost all people have a hiccup or two), not answering or returning phone calls, and just being an arrogant jerk in general. Mike said our situation with him was the last straw. If this guy wasn't even able to help someone with as good of credit and as much of a down payment as we have, he doesn't deserve Mike's business.
I concur!
So we got that settled. I will still be a little nervous, because nothing is ever certain until it is complete. So until we have signed papers and have those keys in our hands, I'll be a little antsy. But we can resume being excited about our house. And that's a good feeling.So that was why the past couple of weeks have been stressful.
This coming week is a whole other, albeit more tolerable, ball game.
The kids start school on Tuesday. They will be attending the school that is just down the road from our future house, which will be super convenient once we're living there.
Until then, however? Logistical nightmare.
Right now we live almost an hour away. And we have to plan for morning traffic heading north. The plan for the next couple of months is for The Husband to take the kids to school on his way to work, and then pick them up after school and bring them home when he's done. The hour and a half between school getting out and Husband's work being done, the kids will hang out in his office and do homework.
This is the most sensible plan, though it isn't the most desirable. We decided it doesn't make sense for both of us to be driving back and forth from Fort Collins to Cheyenne every day. The gas budget would absolutely explode!!!
BUT...
This week? The Husband is in meetings all week for a huge conversion they're working on at the hospital.
Which means that I have to take the kids and pick them up all week. I was originally planning on going for the open house and the first day of school, obviously, but now it's an all week thing. And I weep for my gas consumption!
We decided that I'd just plan ahead, bring snacks and toys and all the necessary provisions, and we'd all drive together in the morning, drop The Husband off at work on the way to the school, and then me and Monkey would just hang out in Cheyenne all day.
All. Freaking. Day.
Cheyenne's great and all. But there's only so much to do! And I'll have eight hours every day to kill. I think we will be spending a lot of time at the many parks in town.
BUT!
The trusses for the roof of our house began going up on Friday! Which means the framing will be done very shortly! Which means we will get to meet with the builder to do our framing walk through and pick out everything for the house!
Cabinets. Countertops. Flooring. Finishes. Appliances.
I'm hoping we will get to do that this week.
Because, really?!? Otherwise it's going to be a long, boring week...
 |
| Apparently Louis C.K. hasn't spend much time in Cheyenne... |
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Seriously?!?
So I've been having... well... a rough day, today.
To say the least.
You know those days when things go pear-shaped the second your foot hits the floor?
Well take three or four of those, roll them into one 12-hour period, and you've got my day.
First, I'm sick. I have some lovely flu-y bug, I didn't sleep a wink last night, and I feel like utter crap.
Second, there is a potential for our mortgage to not make it through underwriting. Turns out we have one last remaining medical debt on our credit. This medical debt isn't huge, it is over 7 years old, and we didn't know it was there until just recently. So you'd think that, when we made the effort to call and get the debt cleared up, the holders of the account would be willing to work with us, right?
Nope.
Not only do they flat out refuse to deal with us, nor can they even prove the debt is ours, but they even threatened to add other debts to our account that don't show up on our credit.
Let me reiterate.
They cannot prove the debt is ours. And they threatened to stick us with more debt. Debt that isn't on our credit and doesn't even trace back to us in the first place.
Oh yeah, and they refuse to do anything in writing, so even if we paid all of it off today, they wouldn't give us written confirmation we had done so. We'd have to take their word for it.
Not only is that shady, I'm not even sure how legal it is.
Needless to say, I'm looking into it and seeing what our rights are, because my gut tells me something isn't right about this.
On top of this, while I was sitting here this morning Google-ing consumer rights and whatnot, the groundskeepers of our apartment complex were mowing the lawn outside our apartment. I heard the grinding of the lawnmower hitting something, and the next thing I know, the window of my sunroom shattered into a bazillion pieces.
Like, full on exploded.
Clearly it scared the living bejeezus out of me, leaving me really shaken up.
Turns out a hunk of concrete about 5 inches long and 4 inches thick was catapulted through the window by the blades of the lawnmower.
And the dude didn't even stop!!! He just kept truckin' along, either unaware or unconcerned about what it was he had just ran over.
I immediately called the apartment complex office and told them what happened, and they sent the maintenance guys out to help clean up the mess. They are apparently also going to rip into the supervisor of the landscaping company they hire.
The bigger issue, though, is that my children had just asked to play the XBOX, which is located directly in front of the window that was shattered. Had I not told them to wait until after lunch, they would have gotten seriously injured, or possibly worse. It's not something I can really think too deeply on, or I get all shaky again.
So I spent all afternoon cleaning up shards of glass from the shelves that were in front of the window. Shelves that contained the kitchen stuff that doesn't actually fit into the pathetically small kitchen in this apartment. So I had to send every mixing bowl, casserole dish, measuring cup, and so forth, through the dishwasher for a good rinse to clear off the sand-like glass particles. I then had to gingerly sort through the boxes of books and spare bedding that also managed to have glass land in them.
Oh the joys of an apartment that is too small to actually unpack everything into.
All I wanted to do today was lay on the couch, watch trashy reality TV, and drink tea. Suffice it to say, that didn't work out.
To say the least.
You know those days when things go pear-shaped the second your foot hits the floor?
Well take three or four of those, roll them into one 12-hour period, and you've got my day.
First, I'm sick. I have some lovely flu-y bug, I didn't sleep a wink last night, and I feel like utter crap.
Second, there is a potential for our mortgage to not make it through underwriting. Turns out we have one last remaining medical debt on our credit. This medical debt isn't huge, it is over 7 years old, and we didn't know it was there until just recently. So you'd think that, when we made the effort to call and get the debt cleared up, the holders of the account would be willing to work with us, right?
Nope.
Not only do they flat out refuse to deal with us, nor can they even prove the debt is ours, but they even threatened to add other debts to our account that don't show up on our credit.
Let me reiterate.
They cannot prove the debt is ours. And they threatened to stick us with more debt. Debt that isn't on our credit and doesn't even trace back to us in the first place.
Oh yeah, and they refuse to do anything in writing, so even if we paid all of it off today, they wouldn't give us written confirmation we had done so. We'd have to take their word for it.
Not only is that shady, I'm not even sure how legal it is.
Needless to say, I'm looking into it and seeing what our rights are, because my gut tells me something isn't right about this.
On top of this, while I was sitting here this morning Google-ing consumer rights and whatnot, the groundskeepers of our apartment complex were mowing the lawn outside our apartment. I heard the grinding of the lawnmower hitting something, and the next thing I know, the window of my sunroom shattered into a bazillion pieces.
Like, full on exploded.
Clearly it scared the living bejeezus out of me, leaving me really shaken up.
Turns out a hunk of concrete about 5 inches long and 4 inches thick was catapulted through the window by the blades of the lawnmower.
And the dude didn't even stop!!! He just kept truckin' along, either unaware or unconcerned about what it was he had just ran over.
I immediately called the apartment complex office and told them what happened, and they sent the maintenance guys out to help clean up the mess. They are apparently also going to rip into the supervisor of the landscaping company they hire.
The bigger issue, though, is that my children had just asked to play the XBOX, which is located directly in front of the window that was shattered. Had I not told them to wait until after lunch, they would have gotten seriously injured, or possibly worse. It's not something I can really think too deeply on, or I get all shaky again.
So I spent all afternoon cleaning up shards of glass from the shelves that were in front of the window. Shelves that contained the kitchen stuff that doesn't actually fit into the pathetically small kitchen in this apartment. So I had to send every mixing bowl, casserole dish, measuring cup, and so forth, through the dishwasher for a good rinse to clear off the sand-like glass particles. I then had to gingerly sort through the boxes of books and spare bedding that also managed to have glass land in them.
Oh the joys of an apartment that is too small to actually unpack everything into.
All I wanted to do today was lay on the couch, watch trashy reality TV, and drink tea. Suffice it to say, that didn't work out.
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