i'm going for a gold medal in couch surfing

Like most people in the world who own a tv, the hub and I like watching the Olympics. Sometimes I only make it through the opening ceremonies, like when Britton was little and demanded more attention.  But now, with so much coverage at night I'm finally able to pry the remote from Britton's hands and watch it myself. I love the swimming and the running, but my favorite hands down is gymnastics. Who could forget that magic Kerri Strug vault where she landed on some broken/sprained/injured ankle and Coach Bella carried her off the mat?  I'm too young to remember Mary Lou Retton (finally, too YOUNG for something!) but I do remember that vault.

 Somehow, even though my head knows better, I figure I could learn to swim well, run well, even play volleyball well. Not good mind you, but good enough. But gymnastics? It's past my demographic. Put it on the list of "Things Carrie Will Never Accomplish," along with moving to New York City and liking red wine.

Britton watched some of the gymnastics portions on Sunday, and wants to do it all badly.  "Flip me like the girls!  No, like them!"  To prevent Britton from attempting tumbling passes across the yard, the hub taught her how to do a backbend off of the couch, into a handstand, then flip her legs over her head.  She's now a pro at it!  She started doing her ballet positions this morning, and I know now that I will be stuck signing her up for ballet and gymnastics when every other fool is doing it, all because of the Olympics!  Now I just need to find a dance school that offers classes on Saturday morning.  But really, how awesome is it when your kid gets excited about learning something new?

Of course, if gymnastics doesn't work, there's always swimming......

a pre-birthday celebration

Britton's and PawPaw's birthdays fall mere days apart, so Memaw and PawPaw came over yesterday to give Britton her birthday presents. It also gave us a chance to give PawPaw his gifts too. We know how much PawPaw loves his grill, and our local Ace Hardware has a huge Weber section, so we got him some grill accessories and tools! Britton helped me wrap his gifts, and even cut the wrapping paper with her scissors. The tape was a whole other story, so suffice it to say, we got them wrapped, but we're now out of tape!

 Britton has to wait until Thursday for presents from us, so she was ready to get into her presents from Memaw and PawPaw. First on the list - a new scooter! She loved it and seemed to already know how to ride one. Turns out a boy in her class at school brings his scooter for "bike day," so she's seen him ride his scooter. Of course, it started raining while we were outside, and we had to bride Britton to come inside. She did not want to stop riding her scooter! She also got a loom set, a memory game, some clothes, and a new folding chair.

Before the rain...

The never-ending rain just meant we had to scoot inside.  Probably the only good thing about long hotel corridors!

idle hands...

We are still hurrying up to wait, wait out the never-ending mortgage process and waiting to get into our house.  So of course, to pass the time, I've been shopping for the house.  We changed our pillows for the family room, and hit up Pier 1 to get lighter and brighter pillows, though still in the same color scheme.

I've also had time to think about our new master bathroom. As it stands now, the master bathroom is a sea of blah white. The tiles on the floor are 4 inch white squares, the vanity is white formica, and the toilet is tiny. Functionally, it doesn't need changes because everything works. But aesthetically it doesn't cut it. So we're planning to have it remodeled this winter. Our must-haves? Take the shower unit out and put in real tile, new floor, new vanity, and a claw foot tub. I've always wanted a claw foot tub, and this is my chance! Also, the chimney runs through the bathroom, so I'm going to look into having the drywall removed and exposing the brick, if possible.

Of course, renovations would be months away, but I need to put my ornery mind to use!  And planning has always given me a sense of control.  I'm crossing my fingers we can close early, and I can go ahead and use this energy to paint!

everyone's an expert

We went to visit Memaw and PawPaw this weekend, after learning that the hotel was being taken over by not only a wedding, but also a family reunion. Ugh. At this point, dealing with "weekenders" is like being a senior living in the college dorms - you're over it. The drive to their place is beautiful. It's almost entirely back roads, and the ever-changing scenery makes the drive go quickly. Britton wanted her window down, and was downright excited about the wind! I grabbed my phone and took some pictures. And, as I'm apt to do in the car, I just went ahead and edited them.

At lunch with Memaw - her first banana split....

Taken last week in the car too (at a stoplight, I promise!)

And this afternoon, crashed out after some swimming.  I had a moment of deja vu, and then remembered in a flash her birth announcement picture.  Just shy of three years separates these moments...

And on the drive, I was showing the hub the pictures, and I mentioned that nowadays, you can be an expert at anything.  Not even ten years ago, I had to drop off film to be developed, just hoping there was a good shot in the pile.  Now I can edit photos taken on my phone.  Apps give us access to filters and effects that professional photographers had exclusively. 

Not only photos - every house we viewed during our house search the hub and I found online.  We searched the real estate sites, and sent a list of prospects to our realtor.  No longer do house hunters have to sit by and hope their realtor finds a gem - now we can find it for ourselves.

I don't recommend it, but I still do it.  Googling your medical symptoms.  Heck yes, I've checked WebMD to see if something is worrisome or nothing.  I've checked message boards and websites for advice on all things baby, consumer reports on major purchases, and reviews on books and movies.  Why ask one person's opinion when I can have the world's?

It's crazy how much technology we have at our fingertips on a daily basis, how much information is so readily available to us.  Growing up we had a set of encyclopedias, outdated the minute they are printed.  But it's how I wrote most reports for school growing up, because other than the library, it's all we had.  If I can be an "expert" photographer or "expert" realtor, of course, expert in the sense of the finished project, but not the methods - what will Britton have?  Our kids really will have it all.

an inspection, a painting, and swimming (in that order)

After Steve the Home Inspector crawled out of the attic to tell us that the house was completely free of mold and any major issues, Karl the Realtor managed to snap a photo of me, the hub, and Britton and our overjoyed reactions.

 Not really. Britton wasn't there. That's some random neighborhood kid trying to get in on our elation. 

We are full steam ahead, folks! Once I can get myself to Target and Pier 1 and Lowe's and load up my car with pillows, throws, curtains, curtain rods, vodka, we will be set! Of course, there's the issue of where to store all this stuff until we close, but I'm choosing to ignore that.

And my beautiful painting by Melissa Riker (see it at her blog The Happier Homemaker) arrived this evening!  I didn't get a picture of it myself because as soon as I unwrapped it to drool over it, I wrapped it right back up.  Britton and Sadie Dog cannot be trusted around nice things, and I was not going to have anything happen to it!  I'm dropping it off at Jo-Ann's for framing (coupon in hand) and it will hang in our new foyer.

Let me tell you the story of this painting - the hub and I took a Disney cruise about five years ago.  We saw a painting hanging in the gallery, for an art auction they were having on the ship.  We asked the art director how much the bidding was starting at, and when he replied it was starting at $3,000, we lost all hope and left.  But before getting too far, I turned around and quickly took a picture of the painting.  When I saw that Melissa had an Etsy shop full of beautiful paintings (see for yourself), I instantly thought of this one.  I sent her an email with the picture of the painting and she said she could do it.  Let me tell you, she did it.

Photo from The Happier Homemaker

In non-house-related news, we finally figured out that for Britton to truly enjoy the hotel pool, she needed independence.  The hub bought her a life vest, and yesterday Britton swam in the pool all by herself.  Yes, we are ignoring the fact that we could have been doing this for all five weeks we've been here!  Today she did it again and some older gents swimming laps complimented her on her doggy paddle.  She was so proud of herself, and we are so proud she took that leap.

designing my little heart out

If I channel all my energy into what the house will look like, I don't have to think about our house inspection tomorrow morning.  I know how hard it was to mentally move out of the last house, so I don't know why I'm putting myself in the same position again, but I am. When I scheduled the home inspection, Carla asked me how soon I wanted it. I told her as soon as possible, so that I didn't have to wait to fall in love with the house.

 Too late.

 The hub and I drive by it on his lunch break every day. We don't stop, and we don't lurk (too much), and we spend the drive back talking about what we're going to do to it. Because our last two houses were new construction, and we could never justify changing them. This house we get to make OURS. And remember those curtains from Pier 1 for the living room? They don't exist in Pennsylvania, so my mom in Virginia and my mother-in-law in Ohio each tracked down two panels for me! I'm so excited, because dang it all I really really really wanted those curtains. Note to Pier 1: get some online shopping already! And you know how I found them? I was checking out a tutorial on making your own built-in bookcases with IKEA Billy bookcases, and they were in the tutorial:

Yes, I am making my own built-in bookcases. If the hub will help me. Anywho, here are my design boards for Britton's room and the master bedroom. Britton's room won't change, other than the wall color (from green to pink) and curtain color (from pink to purple). The paint is "Pink Peony" by Benjamin Moore.

And in the master, we are painting the walls "Wheeling Neutral" by Benjamin Moore (we painted our first house in this color) and putting in navy curtains with white sheers. The bedding is Pottery Barn "Sienna Paisley" and has navy in it.  We've had that bedding for two years now, and let me tell you - I don't get tired of it.  It always makes me think of Christmas.  The furniture and wall pictures will stay the same.

we found a house!

I know, I know. Deja vu all over again. But we bucked up after our initial fail (or, as I call it, "when our luck ran out") and made our realtor earn his commission. The hub and I saw this house on Friday, and we were blown away. I didn't even compare it to the "one that got away" because it was by far better. In every way. Of course, it costs more, but beggars can't be choosers people! I went ahead and checked out a couple more houses on Saturday, and they didn't even begin to compare to the one we saw Friday. So, we put in an offer. And not even three hours later, our offer was accepted!

The kitchen has been completely updated, and I love the bead board and butcher block island.  The kitchen/breakfast nook/family room area is my favorite part of the house.  It just felt like home when we were in it.

This sells it! Two doors flanked by two large windows, completely open to the backyard, which is both huge and flat...

So, we're ready to be in this house.  Now we're just getting downright antsy, even though we have three more weeks until closing. So, I'm channeling my energy into decorating, so that all decisions can be made before a moving van even shows up. Painting is the first thing that needs to be done, before all the furniture gets moved in. And we want to get moved in as soon as possible after closing. Having all the paint picked will make that a much faster process, and Lord knows the paint aisle of Ace Hardware at 10:00 p.m. on a Monday night is not when you want to make these decisions!  Like you know from previous posts, we're going with grey instead of tan as a background, with white trim.  The kitchen has white cabinets, grey backsplash, and a black granite countertop, so apparently these home sellers are clairvoyant!

 The Family Room...

Formal Living Room on left (curtains from Pier1 and "Nantucket Fog" by Benjamin Moore), hall and foyer color ("Cape Hatteras Sand" by Benjamin Moore) in middle, Dining Room on right (curtains from Lowes)

never give up

Heck no I don't own this.  Photo courtesy of http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/22-reasons-to-never-give-up/

Remember my last post where the storm of all things ornery was raining down on me?  Well, the hail showed up too.  We lost the house we had under contract.  Actually, to be honest and accurate, we terminated the contract.  Last weekend we had a home inspection completed, and there was some mold in the attic.  Even though it's pretty common here, especially in older homes, we had the home inspector test it anyways just to be sure.

It came back positive for toxic black mold.  We called a mold remediator to check it out and see what could be done, and this is where it gets wonky.  The hub and I were driving to the house to meet the mold guy and we got stuck in construction traffic.  No big deal - I called the mold guy and left a voicemail that we were running late.  Well, we show up 15 minutes late, and the mold guy is gone.  Apparently he has already visually inspected the mold and it "doesn't look like a problem," even though he took no samples.  When I called him to ask if he could swing back by the house, and show us the extent of the mold issues and actually have a conversation with us about it, he said no.  When I asked if I would at least get his report, he told me that since he was working for the sellers, they would have to get it for me.  Hmmmm, working for the sellers, but I was the one who called him to come out in the first place.

His report stated the mold wasn't a big deal and could be remediated.  Soffit vents blah blah blah.  And that's all fine and good, except he never tested the mold.  And we did.  So we're going with our guts that say to run, do not walk, do not pass go, do not collect $100, RUN away from anything that causes asthma and respiratory issues.  The sellers gave us a hard time about it, even going so far as to write me an email from my LinkedIn profile to say that we were overreacting.  If I weren't so shocked by that complete lack of decorum, I'd be pissed.  Because who is this guy to assume that this was an easy decision, that we wanted to walk away from the only house we liked enough to try to buy, that I wasn't crying over losing out on the house and forcing myself to mentally move out all the ideas I had and plans I had made?

BUT WE ARE NOT GIVING UP!  No sir.  I thought if I wrote it in all caps, then I'd believe it too.  But truth is, I'm not exactly in my happy place.  Four weeks in a hotel are wearing on me, and they are wearing on Britton, and we're all-too-aware that we just wasted two weeks on a house we can't buy.  Britton functions best in her routine, and she's been without her real routine.  It's led to nights where the hub and I spend hours putting her back to bed, where not even taking away her new bike prevents her from getting back up.  And the hub and I are short with each other, because we're both tired of it all.  We need a real home.  The soonest we could move into a house would be a month, and we'd have to write an offer tomorrow.  

Which we just might do....... to be continued.......

define home

It's been that kind of week, and it's only Tuesday. The hub drove back to Texas to watch the movers pack up our entire house. It's the only house I haven't been able to say good bye to, haven't been able to sneak a kiss somewhere on an empty wall, and it's hitting me that my home is sitting there all alone and empty. It's one thing to want to leave a state, but it doesn't mean I wanted to leave my house.

 These feelings are only expounded by continuing to live in a hotel. We have no roots. And anyone will tell you - rootless isn't strong. I've been cranky, downright cranky, and I can no longer stand running into everything and everyone in these tiny rooms. I don't do "temporary" well, and it shows. Britton is tired of this too. She rides her bike in a damn parking lot. She runs after her ball in the same grass where everyone takes their pets to go to the bathroom. You can only stay in a pool for so long before it is no longer entertaining. I overestimated how much I thought I could make it work by just pretending we were on vacation.

 Britton spent the last two days with Memaw and PawPaw, which is always a welcome distraction for her. It gets her in the company of her favorite people, out in the country where she can be free. Memaw returned Britton this morning, and I had to finish a title opinion, so Britton had to go to school. She didn't want to. She even talked me into treating her to lunch before I dropped her off. I'm a sucker when my daughter says she wants to have lunch with me...

It's the kind of week where Britton drew all over Sadie with a pink marker because she was trying to trace Sadie's paws on paper. And I figure it's not worth the hassle of giving Sadie a bath.

The kind of week where Britton brings up her bumble bee costume, and her sheer excitement that it was indeed in her closet was intoxicating. After our glorious lunch together, she threw a fit at me leaving her at school. The kind of fit I haven't seen in a long time, where I stood outside her classroom waiting to make sure she was okay. Where I had to have the director check on her, for fear that if she saw me she wouldn't make the mistake of letting go this time.

 On our drive home, I mentioned that tomorrow is "yellow shirt day" at her school, and she says she wants to wear her bumble bee shirt. That turns into a quizzical look, wherein she says, "Or maybe my bumble bee costume, but we don't have my costume? We don't have my costume Mommy? Because it's too small, but I'm big, and my costume is big too." "Yes, we have that costume Britton. We'll get it when we get home."

happy 4th of july

We celebrated our Independence Day with pool time, bike riding, and of course ice cream.  Or, if you're Britton, an ice cream cone with rainbow sprinkles, then a cherry ice once you've already ordered the cone.  Hopefully the other hotel guests keep the fireworks to a minimum because we are beat.  Stay safe!

more fun than paperwork? painting!

The hubs and I are finalizing our paint colors for our new [to us] house.  Ever since seeing an article in "Better Homes and Gardens" about grey paint, I've been hooked.  I've always decorated in a coastal/beachy theme, and the truth is I'm ready to move away from that.  Not completely away, but less "Nags Head beach house" and more "lake house meets Pottery Barn."  

Our new family room has light carpeting, and is bordered in white wainscoting.  One wall is completely lined in bookcases, which will promptly be painted white as soon as I get the keys in my hand.  We are painting the family room grey, but wouldn't you know it - there are 500 greys.  I think we've narrowed it down to:

"Winter Gates" by Benjamin Moore

"Winter Gates" in a room...

photo from http://www.decorpad.com/photo.htm?photoId=91151

And "Storm"

photo from http://yournestdesign.blogspot.com/2011/11/questions-from-readers-answered.html

I asked Britton what color she wanted her room, and the answer was not-so-surprisingly PINK.  After the nursery fiasco of picking a too-bright pink, I'm going with subtle.  We're using the same white bed, white dresser, and pink/purple/green quilt.  Since I have to leave all my curtains with the old house and can't use my pink gingham curtains, we're going with lavender gingham curtains this time around so as not to have too much pink.

"Pink Peony"

"Pink Elephant"

All other colors are up in the air!  The kitchen needs a backsplash, so we're waiting until we finalize that before deciding on a paint color.  And the dining room and living room are already a beautiful blue (much like "Beach Glass" from Benjamin Moore) so the color already works for us.  I'm just going to have to be patient (so unlikely, I know) and wait to get into the house to see what will work.

35 months old

I can't believe that in one month Britton will be three years old!  I've heard that the "terrible twos" are actually the "terrible threes" and I completely and utterly believe that.  Britton has started having episodes of downright tantrums, where she's fine one minute, then throwing herself down and screaming the next.  Honestly, sometimes I just look at her and it sets her off.  I keep telling myself it's a developmental stage, because if not I'll just soothe myself with Benadryl whiskey shots and rock in the corner while repeating "I'm not a bad mommy, I'm not a bad mommy..."

Luckily, it's not most of the time.  And I am happy to report that Britton has adjusted amazingly well to her new school.  She happily lets me leave her in the mornings, and is all smiles when I pick her up.  She's the oldest in her classroom, and I think that helps, because she gets to do things the younger kids struggle with.  She's eating well, and loves any physical activity (basketball, biking, swimming) that involves being outdoors.  

We're still having issues with her staying in bed, though it has gotten much better.  If she does get up, it's usually only once, and she just has to be put back into bed without fuss.  Some nights, like tonight, it's three or four times.  So tonight I told her that if she got back up she couldn't take her new bike to "bike day" at school tomorrow.  So far, so good.  And it's not like I want to be "mean mommy," but she's now at an age where consequences mean something.  

Speaking of new bikes....Here is Britton's new Disney princess bike!  We went after school to pick it out, and rode it all over the hotel parking lot today.  She loves the bike, the helmet not so much.  I got a great deal on it, and when I got it to the check out, it turned out to be the only one they had.  Lucky me - already assembled!

Likes: ice cream, singing, the pool, Memaw and PawPaw's golf cart, anything Dora, anything Tinkerbell, anything pink

Dislikes:  when Sadie won't listen to her/snuggle with her/just give in already, staying in the car a long time, not being heard

Books:  "Berenstain Bears Go to School,"  "Berenstain Bears Messy Room,"  "Dora's Chilly Day" by Kiki Thorp, "Knuffle Bunny Too" by Mo Willems (these books are hilarious!), and "Nighty Night" by Margaret Wild and Kerry Argent

seems I love mortgage paperwork

Sorely disappointed in the lack of affordable quality rentals in the area, the hubs and I gave ourselves one week to find a house. Our new location isn't huge geographically, and the available houses in our price range totaled 26. Narrowing the 26 houses down to about 10, knowing we could eliminate some purely on style (or lack of), yard (or lack of), and convenience/proximity to work (or lack of), we called our realtor and got to looking.

 Funny story about our realtor - he isn't the realtor we were assigned by the relocation company. No, that realtor was useless. So last weekend, the hubs, me, and Britton are in the pool, and we're talking about renting versus buying. A lady who is doing laps looks over at us and says, "Do you have a realtor?" We told her yes, but not really because our realtor has called us once about a month ago and we haven't heard from her since. She tells us her husband is a realtor in the area and gives us all his info. We tell her thanks, but figure we're just being polite because at this point we're still thinking we're renting.

 That night we decide to give ourselves the week to look. And who should happen to leave his card and a note at the front desk for us? That's right - random swimming woman's husband. We call him up and get set up on some viewings. And let me tell you what - Karl the Realtor was awesome. Hands-off, not pushy, never mentioned losing commission when I requested showings on houses $100,000 below our budget. But, even with Karl's awesomeness, I was losing hope. Because the beautiful updated houses I saw had no yards. NO YARDS. A deal-breaker for anyone with a kid and a dog, and I was not interested in any houses that perched over cliffs. I knew that the yard was a no-comprise for me.

 But then, as fate would have it, I happened to go look at a house the hubs had discovered online and sent to Karl...

I'm intrigued, because I love the curb appeal and mature landscaping.  And I had seen pictures online of the inside, which showed a beautiful, updated, well-kept home.  But you can see the hill out front - I figure the back yard is a cliff.  So many realtors are just downright deceptive in their pictures!

As I'm trying to remember the phone number to the last townhouse rental place I spoke with, Karl suggests I go look at the backyard first.  No need to waste time inside if the backyard doesn't measure up.  And I see this...

The only house I toured where I didn't have to go down a staircase from the back deck to reach the yard.  An almost completely flat half acre yard - something I wasn't aware even existed where we were looking.  The next day we set up a second showing so the hubs could see it.  

And our offer was accepted on Friday!  We close (hopefully, because I can't handle the hotel one more day) on July 27th.  More pictures of the inside to come!