My Mom fell and broke her leg last night in their back yard. Luckily my Dad was there and was able to get her in to the emergency room. The leg was too swollen to cast last night so she spent the night in some pretty crazy pain at home and goes in today to have it re-looked at. They'll decide if they can set it and cast it without surgery this afternoon.
Not good, Mom. Not good.
10 most recent
Mon, Jul. 18th, 2011, 02:53 pm
My Mom.
Tue, Jul. 12th, 2011, 10:18 am
Physicists! Help me out!
There is a phenomenon in which two entities, traveling in opposite directions, on opposite sides of a fixed, solid object, are blocked from viewing the other entity by the fixed object because their respective traveling speeds are such that the fixed object is always directly in their line of sight.
WHAT IS THIS PHENOMENON CALLED?
/Science!
//Magnets: how do they work?
WHAT IS THIS PHENOMENON CALLED?
/Science!
//Magnets: how do they work?
Fri, Jul. 1st, 2011, 07:31 pm
Carrot Lover
I'll just leave this here, without further comment. Except for apologies to Quincy Jones.
Mon, Apr. 11th, 2011, 12:21 pm
In other news.
Not that anyone has noticed, but I deactivated my Facebook account.
It remains to be seen if I'll actually delete it, but for now, it's totally shuttered.
It remains to be seen if I'll actually delete it, but for now, it's totally shuttered.
Wed, Apr. 6th, 2011, 04:11 pm
Some Updates, Etc.
I feel like this is rapidly becoming the place that I go to write whiny posts, so before I get into all of today's whining, I wanted to say how much everyone's kindness and support has meant to us over the past year. It's been a very, very challenging year and your notes and words of support and encouragement have kept us going. So much so that it's sometimes difficult to quantify it or even express it because the thought of it is so overwhelming.
One of our major financials challenges was recently resolved, in that Claire got a job. We had hoped that would usher in a time of decompressing and being thankful and counting our blessings while we wait for someone to buy our house.
Three days after Claire received her official offer, we were informed that the home owner of the house we are renting is being transferred back to the United States and that our last day in the house is May 27. So we're back in the house hunting game again a lot sooner than we wanted to be. Moving costs money, plus now that we're here and happy in Del Ray, it's difficult to just pick up and move somewhere else. Which makes the finding and acquiring of a suitable homestead stressful. Will we have to pull Drew from his preschool? Will we be able to find a place and get moved before our last day in our current house?
We explored the option of buying a place, but there's no chance of getting a mortgage, and here's why: even though our credit is still very good (it hasn't been affected by our potential short sale--and that's another whole post in and of itself), any loan over $417,000 is considered a "jumbo" loan and requires a 30% down payment. The average listing price of properties in Alexandria is $518,000. That would make the down payment $155,400.00. As my father still says, "Not if you don't buy it."
Seriously? Who is getting approved for loans in the DC Metro area right now? Not us, that's for damned sure.
So now we're in the rental game. And it is very much a game. There are multiple rental applications on most properties, with ensuing bidding wars to boot. I met with our rental agent today and one of the houses we wanted to look at was already under contract, and the "winner" of that came in at $700 more per month than the asking price. $700 PER MONTH. These people are killing me. I didn't want to pay $2950 a month to rent a 3 bedroom house, but I sure as hell don't want to pay $3,600 a month for that same 3 bedroom house.
And that's the thing that kills me: The mortgage on a huge 4-bedroom $669,900 house that we went to an open house for over the weekend before I knew about the 30% thing, would only be around $3,200 a month, including PMI. And we still have great credit! We'd be house poor, but we could make that payment right now! And if we ever sell our house we'll be able to afford a lot more. But instead, I'm going to be forced to pay that much (or more) to *rent* a place.
It's very frustrating to think about.
One of our major financials challenges was recently resolved, in that Claire got a job. We had hoped that would usher in a time of decompressing and being thankful and counting our blessings while we wait for someone to buy our house.
Three days after Claire received her official offer, we were informed that the home owner of the house we are renting is being transferred back to the United States and that our last day in the house is May 27. So we're back in the house hunting game again a lot sooner than we wanted to be. Moving costs money, plus now that we're here and happy in Del Ray, it's difficult to just pick up and move somewhere else. Which makes the finding and acquiring of a suitable homestead stressful. Will we have to pull Drew from his preschool? Will we be able to find a place and get moved before our last day in our current house?
We explored the option of buying a place, but there's no chance of getting a mortgage, and here's why: even though our credit is still very good (it hasn't been affected by our potential short sale--and that's another whole post in and of itself), any loan over $417,000 is considered a "jumbo" loan and requires a 30% down payment. The average listing price of properties in Alexandria is $518,000. That would make the down payment $155,400.00. As my father still says, "Not if you don't buy it."
Seriously? Who is getting approved for loans in the DC Metro area right now? Not us, that's for damned sure.
So now we're in the rental game. And it is very much a game. There are multiple rental applications on most properties, with ensuing bidding wars to boot. I met with our rental agent today and one of the houses we wanted to look at was already under contract, and the "winner" of that came in at $700 more per month than the asking price. $700 PER MONTH. These people are killing me. I didn't want to pay $2950 a month to rent a 3 bedroom house, but I sure as hell don't want to pay $3,600 a month for that same 3 bedroom house.
And that's the thing that kills me: The mortgage on a huge 4-bedroom $669,900 house that we went to an open house for over the weekend before I knew about the 30% thing, would only be around $3,200 a month, including PMI. And we still have great credit! We'd be house poor, but we could make that payment right now! And if we ever sell our house we'll be able to afford a lot more. But instead, I'm going to be forced to pay that much (or more) to *rent* a place.
It's very frustrating to think about.
Fri, Mar. 25th, 2011, 02:58 pm
Claire got a job! Claire got a job! Claire got a job!
Claire got a job! Claire got a job! Claire got a job!
She's going to be an attorney advisor to the General Counsel for the Secretary of Transportation.
BIG TIME! THANK GOD!
Claire got a job!
/now we just need someone to buy our house...BUT CLAIRE GOT A JOB!!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!
She's going to be an attorney advisor to the General Counsel for the Secretary of Transportation.
BIG TIME! THANK GOD!
Claire got a job!
/now we just need someone to buy our house...BUT CLAIRE GOT A JOB!!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!
Thu, Mar. 17th, 2011, 10:02 am
Something bit me.
On Tuesday, I worked from home so the windows guys could be in the house doing their thing. I spent most of the time in the basement because they were working on almost all of the first floor windows. The air was off because they were disrupting lead paint, etc. and we didn't want that dust circulated throughout the house. Anyway, the basement was chilly and I was wrapped up in a sweatshirt and a blanket.
And I was not alone in the sweatshirt and/or blanket. Something bit me. And bit me. And bit me. And bit me. Maybe somethings. It's like they were trying to get into my armpit but just couldn't, so they kept biting right around it.
I went to Urgent Care yesterday just in case, but they weren't really that helpful. The first guy who looked at me postulated eczema, then maybe contact dermatitis, then went for a second opinion from someone who came right in and said, "You've been chewed on!" They told me take some benadryl and rub some cortisone on them and see what happens.
They itch SO MUCH. I know for certain that my least favorite emotion is "itchy." (Some of you will get that.)
Click if you want to see the bites!
( Ouch! )
And I was not alone in the sweatshirt and/or blanket. Something bit me. And bit me. And bit me. And bit me. Maybe somethings. It's like they were trying to get into my armpit but just couldn't, so they kept biting right around it.
I went to Urgent Care yesterday just in case, but they weren't really that helpful. The first guy who looked at me postulated eczema, then maybe contact dermatitis, then went for a second opinion from someone who came right in and said, "You've been chewed on!" They told me take some benadryl and rub some cortisone on them and see what happens.
They itch SO MUCH. I know for certain that my least favorite emotion is "itchy." (Some of you will get that.)
Click if you want to see the bites!
( Ouch! )
Tue, Mar. 15th, 2011, 09:13 am
Coffee. Or a substance something like it.
This is how I make coffee. I start with fresh beans. If you like sweet coffee, this is the kind to buy: Biggby’s Creme Brulee. Seriously, do yourself a favor and get some. When we can afford them, we buy them. Right now, we’re using Dunkin’ Donuts regular blend that we bought at Costco in a five-pound bag.
We have the Krups Pro Grinder-Brewer, which Seaves bought for me for Christmas two years ago. It’s fantastic. It makes a really good cup of coffee, and you can adjust a bunch of different things from how fine the beans are ground to how strong the cup is.
Once the coffee is brewed, here’s how I transform it from coffee, which I don’t really like that much, into Sweet Deliciousness of the Gods, which I cannot go a morning without. Into a 20-oz Thermos coffee cup I pour:
- Two big squeezes of organic blue agave
- A three count pour of half & half
- A splash of gourmet caramel syrup
- 1/3 of a package of Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows (Saturdays only)
I then fill up the cup with the freshly brewed coffee, stir, and I am set for the day.
