House Countdown again

Yesterday I received the beginning of the documents to close our house. This is the Third attempt for us to buy a house this Spring/Summer. We should close by the 21st of August. I have my fingers crossed, have knocked on many pieces of wood, have said a prayer to God, Jesus, Mary, St Francis, Joan of Ark, Zeus, The Pope and the President, all hoping that this deal finally goes through and I can move out of the 5th Wheel and into a real house..

Nothing against trailers.. I am just soooo over Camping with the kids separated and the DH trying to get the over the air antenna to pick up Retro TV so he can watch Knight rider.. I mean.. REALLY. If they would play Dukes of Hazard and Chips and the Love Boat.. with some Fantasy Island thrown in, I would be right there with him, banging on stuff. But I just can't get all worked up over David HasselHoff and Kit, not to mention that the Incredible Hulk is on right after that and that the A team plays right before... Man shows really.

Anyhoooo.. back to the real estate. Below are some helpful suggestions if you find yourself in a simliar situation...

Some things I have learned in the process:

1. Don't sell your house before you have another home to purchase.. that was just a dumb idea.

*The reasoning.. no one but no one will take a contingent offer right now.. and we will be stronger buyers with cash in hand* Says the DH and our Agent.. Okay.. but the trade off? LIVING in a Motor home for over 60 days with Said DH, one of the Teenagers and Three Dogs.. One of whom is a 70+ lb Chocolate Lab.. ummm.. yeah.. in 214 sq feet.. Yeah.. that works.*

2. If you do decide to sell before you buy.. have a back up plan..
*see above*

3. Do not attempt to buy a short sale house unless it is for investment purposes and you have like 6 months to wait around for the bank to get back to you. *We put in an offer 1 day after our house sold in May.. we have yet to receive an acceptance letter from the bank*

4. Research the sellers. We got all the way to closing before finding out we were dealing with freaks. *this is apparently highly unusual*.. hmmm it is Real Estate..NOTHING surprises me anymore.

5. If you do find yourself living at your recreational property longer than anticipated.. try to NOT divorce your spouse.. *This is sometimes difficult, I know.. because we have been thinking about how NOT to move into another dwelling with each other at times during this process*

6. Make Sure that when you put in your THIRD offer for a THIRD property, you ask lots and lots of questions like we did.. here is a small sample:

a. Are they Crazy? Anyone on the Seller's side having problems mentally or
financially?

b. Are they able to complete the sale?

c. Are they employed? Stable? Crazy? Seriously, we want to know. Just tell us
now, instead of after we have ordered utilities, bribed all of our friends, hired a
horse transport, and generally scheduled time off of work, made all kinds of plans
and mentally decorated every single room in the house. ( Oh how I am grieving
for the loss of that kitchen and the pantry and the space..)

d. Can we just have them sign something stating they are not going to back out after
we sign papers and then not respond to anyone, including their own broker, agent
and our attorney? Please?

These are the questions we had to ask. It saddens me that it has spiraled into this place of not trusting a nice elderly lady and her family.

I am also really struggling to come to grips with the smaller house thing. I had visions of moving UP in a house, not downsizing.

If the house closes, this Blog will transition into one primarily focusing on Home Improvement, Gardening, Farm live and living in a small space while trying to create culinary treats.

It will also probably still contain crazy rants.. like today. That is all..

Ciao

Monday, Monday

It is HOT here.. Up here in the Pacific Northwest.. We don't DO 90 and over for extended periods of time.. so the last week has been inching up to that over 90 stuff.. and this weekend we had these crazy thunderstorms and heat and holy crap it was 70 on my way into work before 7am!

I was acclimated to Minnesota heat when I came back to the PNW.. and I wore a sweatshirt most of the rest of the summer here. Now I am acclimated back to the drizzly weather and we get this crazy heat.

I spent 5+ hours cleaning out the Funky Hoopty (The 5th wheel we bought to be our cabin at the property where we are living out of RV's at the time.. earlier post.)

I knew the trailer had A/C but Hubby had to vent the roof properly. I went to grill steak.. and we were out of Propane.. so I had to go over the Motor Home... since the 5th wheel had the A/C on for DH, Son and puppies.. so I go and fry and broil steaks in the NON A/C RV.. Hmmmmmm

But we got to all sit at the table, and the 5th Wheel is a big step up in Room for us... I will post pics of the new digs over the next Week.. I still have mucho laundry from the weekend to do tonight.. and propane to get, and items to move.. so I am now off to pick up the baby who is bound to be hot and fussy and cranky.. GREAT.. just like me..

Ciao

I love me a Friday

I love Friday. When you work the standard work week of five days, Monday through Friday, Friday is the end of the weekly journey at work.

I like my job. I love my time off.

This weekend is the annual family reunion weekend. Which means that it won't be the sleep filled, relax by the fire with a glass of wine, stare at my cute husband while he fiddles with the fire, kind of weekend.

Instead, it will be a weekend filled with sharing an RV with my sister, her boyfriend, the baby and my teenager. It will be filled with Jello Shots, Captain and Dr. Pepper, potluck and Horse shoe tournaments. It will also be filled with long grass, fires, grilled oysters, duck dashes and raffles. It might be filled with a couple of brawls.. (They are a bit redneck), and several hangovers. It will also be filled with laughter, babies, kids crying, back slapping and trash talk over "throwing the shoes".. or as one of my most favorite cousin puts it.. "throwing the hornnnnssss".

I have some messed up family members.. but boy howdy are they fun, entertaining and would give you the shirt off of their back.. literally.. if you needed to wipe up a spill or something.

I promise to take some photos.. I am bringing both the little Nikon and the big Lumix and hope to stay sober enough at least for a few hours to snap some family memories.

Here are a couple of photos from past reunions....
Sister pre-baby with her other baby Booker.. He is much bigger than Sissy.. and we think he is pretty cool
Because someone dared him to do it.. and Doc doesn't take a dare lightly..


Favorite cousins son.. who is now 16.. and this kid will be famous.. He is the most comedic kid with the best timing I have ever known.. They call him Derf..LOL.. and Chainsaw... and B... and a host of other nicknames.. He races dirtbikes like my son.. but he is much faster and has a lot more guts that the P does. I like him almost as much as my own boys.. He totally cracks me up.

Till Next week.. enjoy your family and weekend and I hope someone out there will get to have a small fire and a nice glass of wine.. and sleep in and stare at their cute other half.. while I go tend to the reunion.

Ciao...

Round Two of Real Estate

We are officially "signed around" on a second Purchase and Sale agreement. This house is the second try. We sold our house back in May of this year in only 16 days, which we really did not anticipate. (This turned out to be a bummer and an adventure)

We have been living in our 24ft MotorHome since June 6th and it is really starting to wear on me, and my man, and Bubba, my teenager that is living in the tent. The three dogs are still okay, although there are times I think they really are contemplating running off into the forest and leaving us, hoping to find someone that will take them to a place that has more than one room.

Ahhhhhh Home Sweet Home.. Aint she a beauty???

This houses Myself, The Husband, One of the teenagers, and three lovely pooches.

Seen Here:
Bella - Our Jack Russell Child.. She is confused.. Sometimes she knows she is a dog.. and other times she is convinced that she is the actual baby of the family and demands the same level of respect that I did as a child.. I mean I was the Baby.. and I demanded RESPECT for MY position as Daddy's girl, the baby and the getter-of-my-way-at-all-times person.

And then there is Husbands Dog:
Mack.. affectionately called Mack Daddy.. cause all the girl dogs love him.. and he loves to Mack on them.. Seriously.. He does.. and what a handsome dude he is.. We think he is a bit Majestic.. although I am convinced he is related to Houdini.. since he practices the art of escape daily.. he is a hound.. and HOUNDS must follow their NOSES.. wherever it takes them.. even if it is to the neighbors sliding glass door.

I have saved the best pooch for Last.. That is because she is my dog.. my perfect dog.. The most wonderful dog in the entire world.. and NO.. I don't play favorites
She is my Sissy.. I rescued her from mean people when she was 7 months old.. during a really really bad and tragic time in my life and we are best buds.. she is super cool and she can run really really fast when she wants to. She is also a bit mischievous.. like someone else I know.. but not personally or anything..

The other cast members in the drama that is unfolding this summer out at our recreational property are the Husband.. who I think is pretty darn cute:Also.. my Bubba.. my 14year old teenager that is filled with that teenage angst:


I just want to squeeze him.. Man I love this kid.. He is my baby doll.

The other son, whom I miss like crazy.. is Here:He is a total goofball college student. here he is giving us the rundown on his Mad Skills.. this is when he still had long hair. I need a new picture of son.. I will take some at the family Reunion this weekend. I plan on Taking Many Many pictures this weekend with both my cheapo little Nikon and my Super cool Ass Panasonic Lumix.

My eldest Teenager whom I adore and miss like crazy is being cared for by his auntie and the cutest child in the universe next to my boys.. My niece.. shown here.. cuz she is so cute I could just gobble her up!
She is my little Bug.. and ohhhh how I love this child.

There are more cast members, but this is already too long of a post and I have lost most people's interest back at the motor home.. But it has made me smile a bit to post these pictures and write about those I love..

Ciao for Now

I love this picture.. Our Terror.. (hmm sorry, I mean Jack Russell) and her bestest friend in the whole world.. our beloved Hunting Hound.. (hmm sorry, I mean Beagle).
Mac and Bella.. ahhh sweet puppy love.