Real Estate Journey

Selling a house can be a real bitch (pardon my French). We have been riding a roller coaster for the last two weeks and I am ready to get off the ride! Two weeks ago, someone made an offer on our house--a really low offer, so of course we countered, then they countered, so we agreed. Then last week when we seemed to be moving along swimmingly, we get word that the people may not buy our house because of personal issues. They wanted us to wait a week. Okay, so we agree to that, and because of that, a couple of potential buyers passed us by because there was a contract for our house. Okay, so now we are up to today. The deal is still on, the house has been inspected, but now they want us to shell out $4000.00 for what seem to be minor repairs. Handyman stuff, in my opinion. My husband is livid. He would rather get out of this deal, than have to put any more money into this house we are selling. I really don't want to scratch this deal, but I kind of see my husband's point of view. Why so much money, just to get them buy the house--which we are selling at a huge loss, by the way. I don't know. I want to be finished with all of it, but I want to have some money left when we get to our new house so that we will be able to get the things we need. It's a buyers market all right. We are feeling abused!

Ugh, I've Got the Common Cold!

Yuck! I hate getting a cold. This particular cold is pretty virulent. I stayed in bed all day yesterday, which is such an insult to me. I HATE being sick! I had to go to the grocery store today because the kids have to have something to eat, and I was one of "those" people at the store. You know the ones. They are hacking and choking and snotting all over the place. They are the ones you try to steer clear of and roll your eyes at when you are at the store. I probably looked as bad as I sounded. My eyes were watering and I had this horrible tickle on my left tonsil that would not be appeased. I wanted to look at the baked goods because I thought the girls might like a little treat, but that darn tickley tonsil made me have a coughing fit so bad I though I was going to pass out. I had to get out of that place as quickly as I could. This cold is so bad, Zicam (which usually works for me) didn't help, and I actually took some Vicks NyQuil pills of my husband's that I found in the drawer. At least the Vicks helped me sleep--I think. I'm not sure any of the cold remedies (except for Zicam that you use right when you feel the first tickle in your throat) really work, I sure wish they did though. I hate being slowed down. I think I'll go take a nap with a box of tissues.

Tatiana Del Toro--Something's Gonna Happen

Uh-oh. I have a bad feeling about how the Tatiana Del Toro "Drama Queen of Ameican Idol" is going to turn out. She seems so unpredictable, and now that she was not chosen for the top 12, I'm not sure she can cope with that rejection. I actually think she is a pretty good singer, but oy, the drama! Perhaps she will be one of the "wild card" picks for the top twelve. She certainly was entertaining, and I hope that she doesn't do anything crazy.

Bonnie Hunt on The View

I have the habit of watching "The View" at 11:00 and then "The Bonnie Hunt Show" at 12:00 everyday. Sometimes the opinions and the arguing and the silliness that goes on on "The View" bothers me, but it is always entertaining. I love Bonnie Hunt and have been enjoying her new talk show almost everyday since it began airing on September 8, 2008. She makes me laugh and seems like a genuinely gracious and giving person. Since she is from the Midwest like I am, I feel like she is an old friend. I hope her appearance on "The View" today will be funny and interesting. I have been reading the message boards about "The Bonnie Hunt Show" and have decided that there are some people out there who just love to see other people fail, and who love to criticize. They are quite mean spirited in some of the posts about Bonnie and her show. At any rate, I like her and think she is one television and movie personality who deserves success and is using here celebrity to make the world a little better.

Happy President's Day!

Don't you think President's Day is a little bit odd? When I was a kid it was only known as George Washington's Birthday. We got the day off from school, and sometimes the day would off would also be my birthday. I felt like George and I had a common bond; his birthday being on February 22nd and mine being on February 20th. I also felt a common bold with Abraham Lincoln, but he didn't have a special celebration for his birthday on February 12th. Anyway, President's Day is interestingly odd because now they have lumped all presidents in together on this one day. I wonder what old George would think about that! At any rate, I decided to bake a cherry pie in honor of our nation's first president. Enjoy your day. No mail today!

Update on "Mouse in the House" post:

My stealthy little Jack Russell hunted down that little critter, and with a little help from me (in my rubber garden boots and pjs) and a yardstick, she quickly and (hopefully) painlessly sent the mouse to the great beyond; perhaps lunch for one of the many hawks around here since I quickly tossed that fellow off the end of the porch and into the yard. Phew!

Way to Make My Day!

Not to brag today, but I got quite a compliment when I was out running my errands. Just a week and a half before my 45th birthday, I get a young guy giving me a compliment. Here's how it went. I was walking up to the hopping and very chic Rite-Aid store in our little town and there was a young, pretty nice looking, fellow unloading his truck in front of the store. I have on my very favorite ensemble of my dark Lucky Brand jeans, and a comfortable Lucky Brand shirt, and I am just walking up to the store. That young man kept staring at me; I looked behind me but there was nobody there. He stopped and said, "Man, I love your walk!" I look around again, and giggle and say, "Thanks." I'm not sure what to make of the whole thing. I have been trying to work on my posture, and I have been having some trouble with my left knee, so. . . maybe my walk is something to see. Perhaps he was kidding, I don't know, but at the rate I'm going, I'm going to take it as a compliment that my 45 year old gait is a good thing. Thanks, for making me smile and giggle today, delivery boy, uh man!

Hard Times In My Hometown, Elkhart, Indiana

My poor, poor (literally, these days) hometown of Elkhart, Indiana, population 52,000+! It has the dubious distinction of having the nation's highest unemployment rate. The last number I saw had the unemployment rate at 15.3 %. It just makes my heart hurt for the folks who are trying to live their lives there. In it's heyday, Elkhart was known as the "RV capitol of the world" Most of the campers and other RV's you see on the roads have been made at companies like Coachmen, and Jayco. These were once the backbone of Elkhart. My parents and brother still live there. My parents are currently taking their yearly respite from the winter weather in Elkhart, but when they return in the middle of March, will there be anything left? My brother, so far, has not been laid off, but his industry is one that supplies wood components to RV companies. How long his job hangs in there any one's guess. President Obama is having a town hall meeting at my Alma mater, Concord High School. I hope lots of people get answers and reassurance from him. I hope all the politicians who are working on the stimulus plan can just, for one moment in history, stop worrying about their political party and just help the people they are supposed to be working for. It seems to me that many of the senators who are fighting against this thing my not realize that while the bickering continues, real peoples' lives are falling apart. My own life, while not a dire as some, is getting a little split in the seam because of this financial mess. Our issue is housing and college tuition. We have an immediate need for housing and we will be forced to use our children's college money to purchase a home. It makes me sick, but we have no other choice. What are we all supposed to do? Americans need help and hope. Let's hope President Obama can get his message across while he is in Elkhart today.

Cheerios Cereal Promotes Emasculation

I just ran across a video of Bill O'Reilly interviewing a fellow named Marc Rudov. They were debating a Cheerios commercial that has been running on national television. They claimed that it is a new commercial, but I have been seeing it for months now. Anyway, the commercial is the one where the husband asks the wife if she is eating Cheerios because she wants to lose weight. She seems to be seething beneath her fake politeness, and does end up making the husband look like a stupid idiot. I, personally, do not like the commercial. I think the woman is horrible and actually quite a b***h. The man is really no better because he stupidly implies that she is overweight. They both seem a little passive-aggressive. The commercial doesn't put the best light on either sex, but lately I have observed the trend in commercials and sitcoms to make men out to be weak, and stupid. I have already pointed that out in an earlier post about the Campbells Soup "Num Yummy" mess. I can't quite figure out why this ridiculing of men is happening, but this guy, Marc Rudov sort takes things a bit too far. He has a website, http://www.blogger.com/www.TheNoNonsenseMan.com that is dedicated to convincing others that we live in a "Gynocracy". Mr. Rudov has written a couple of books about how a man should treat a woman, but just the title of the first one is off-putting. He also has a page that is called the Femme Fishbowl that is kind of nasty, so I'm not really sure I understand what Mr. Rudov is trying to accomplish. He calls himself "Mr. Nononsense" and a "Relationship Coach", but just skimming through his website made me wonder what kind of underlying hatred of women he really has. The tone of his website (he wants all men to boycott Valentine's Day) and his tone on Bill O'Reilly's show was negative and anti-women. I do agree with him on this, something is going on with the ads and television shows that seem to get some sort of glee out of making men look stupid--a bit of a double standard perhap? Anyway, please check this website out and let me know your thoughts.

Acai Berry and Total Cleanse

Okay, so I have decided to try out the much touted Oprah Winfrey and Rachel Ray diet which requires taking acai berry supplements along with colon cleansing supplements. It always seems like these products are such a scam, and I have to say, I believe the stuff the two TV personalities are pushing is a scam. Actually, I need to correct that, I think the business practices of the Nature's Best Acai Berry supplement and Total Cleanse is a scam. When I started researching the effectiveness of acai supplements, what I ran into was a lot of offers for me to get a "free" 14-day trial of the stuff. "Free" actually means $4.99 and enrollment in a monthly $50.00 charge for the supplement whether you want or need it or not. I'm not interested in all that sort of rubbish. All I want is to try the stuff and see if it works. I know how those so-called free offers work, so I didn't fall for it. I chose to just order what I wanted from ebay. That way, if it works, great--I can get more when I need or want it. If it doesn't, I'm a fool for trying it paying one time for something that does not work. So, if you are interested in the acai berry supplement and colon cleansing supplement, my advice would be not to order it from the "free" offer websites; just order it from ebay or some other source. I am curious to see if the stuff can actually make a difference. I will keep you updated here as soon as my items arrive and I start using them.

Sleepwalking... Uh Sleepdancing

Good Morning! This is cool, so I thought I would share.


See what I mean?

Eeeeeek! There's a Mouse in the House!

Well, it finally happened. Those telltale signs of the sneaky little varmint finally appeared in my house. I have been chasing and trapping and repelling mice in my garage since it first started to get cold. I trapped two in a glue trap, and tried to seal up all the gaps I could see in the garage. I also put out peppermint pouches since peppermint is supposed to be repulsive to mice. Things in the garage seemed to be better. No more little black mouse pellets. No more chewed cardboard. No more mice. Well, duh! The brothers of the two I trapped decided to move into the house where food is plentiful and it is much warmer. Thanks to my Jack Russell Terrier, I was able to find out where the mouse (mice?) came in. The only problem is, how do I get the stinker out? Jack Russell Terriers are really good at chasing down and capturing little critters; that is what they are bred for, but chasing down and capturing a mouse in a house with slippery wooden floors is a different game altogether. Poor little pup is going to pace herself into the ground until the pest is eradicated. For now, I have filled in the gap behind the refrigerator and set out a couple of glue traps at the entrance/exit of the mouse's route. Hopefully, with a little luck, quick Jack Russell feet, and some super sticky glue, the creature will be outta here before everyone returns home this evening!