Tentative Joy

Anyone who knows me will understand why I'm not jumping up and down and screaming and laughing as I tell you that we have a contract on the house.

!!!!!

Yes, I am SOOOOO excited, but I'm also now able to focus on a whole new set of worries--the inspection and appraisal.

That crappy day Sunday? It was punctuated with a spontaneous visit by a couple of house hunters who thought I was having an open house. I turned them away, but encouraged them to set up an appointment to see the house later that day. They came back about 2 hours later and stayed for about 1/2 hour (we were cussing them, actually, as we had been on THREE different walks that day and we were hot and worn out--Bucket just flat out refused to move at one point!)...Monica phoned around 9 or 9:30 that night to say that they wanted to make an offer. Woohoo.

To shorten an epic tale, they offered, we countered, they countered, and now we are set to sign on the 13th of September--a year and a day after we signed to get the house in the first place. Yep. It's quick. They needed to sign early to get the interest rate they locked down...but they've agreed to let us occupy the house for up to a week after signing in case Russell can't find a rental house for us quickly enough.

So you see, the stress is just beginning!! Still and all, I'm very happy that I will soon be in my honey's arms again!

...

Was (am) tired and grumpy. Was venting. No lies were told, although I do apologise for being a bit brusque about the whole thing.

The dogs are outside now. We'll see if the new boards hold. Or if I even put them in the right place.

Ironing's still not done. And the house stinks (guess why?). Time to get busy(er).

Babydoll

I want you to tell me again how f*(K*!g lucky I am to have the pups. I have not gotten to sleep past 7am EVER since you've left. Bucket WILL NOT shut up when I need to do something that doesn't involve him directly. The neighbours were over at 9:15 this morning to tell me that, despite my recent best efforts, the dogs had gone through the fence and were in her yard again. I was just trying to catch up on some ironing and laundry and clean the house (AGAIN) for our showing today, but NO! I had to drop everything to go get the damn dogs and then fix the fence, all the while listening to Bucket's incessant whining and yelping because he's inside and I'm out. Now I can't even let them out in the back yard without constant stress of wondering whether they've escaped.

I'm sorry, but I don't really feel all that lucky.

Frightening Observation

I turned on CNN Headline news just a bit ago, and was shocked to note that their new (well, I just noticed it) tag line is Need To Know News Network--or something to that effect. "Need To Know"is the flag that caught my eye. I may be mistaken, but isn't that phrase generally used when information is being withheld? If a relationship is on a "Need To Know" basis, it means that one side is only getting information that the other side deems neccessary--not ALL the information...

Think about it.

As Per Shanny's Request

Holy Jeebus, I had no idea it had been so long since I updated! Sorry, fans.
(hehehe)

So in the interim, I have decided there is a special place in Hell for all of those people who allow their dogs to roam freely in their yards (sans fencing). These little monsters consistently rile up my nutters and make walking in the neighbourhood a real nightmare. And it's always the nasty little yappy ones who come charging out at us while there pathetic owners stand idly by and say "Fluffy, come. Come, Fluffy. No, Fluffy, come...". Meanwhile, the dog is about to be mauled to death by one very psycho Delilah, who remains in that maddened state for at least the next three blocks.

*sigh*

Aside from frustrating walks with the dogs, not a lot going on. Someone wanted to come look at the house Friday evening, but A) I was on the way to dinner with some friends and B) it was 7:30 pm and as it was so late--on a Friday evening, I feel I must re-iterate--I had not counted on anyone wanting to come over...so the place was a bit mussed. So they didn't come over, as per my request, and we've never heard from them again. Whoops. No one came over the weekend, or the last two days. I'm going to call Monica tomorrow and find out what the hell is up.

Anyway. I've not slept well in ages, so I'm going to go now and try to change that. Need to get up early and walk the pups, as it's getting to be hot again. I'm sure Russell is laughing at me, as it's continually 100+ in Phoenix, but whatever.

I got my hair cut Saturday. It's damn cute, but Russell would probably say that it's short. Good thing it grows at the speed of light.

Happy now? It's not much, and I promise more (as always I do)...niters.

Outwitting the Storm.

It's a quarter after 7am and storming like gangbusters. I think the pups are a little leery of poopin in the rain. I've managed to con them into peeing, but have yet to witness "the business". Seems like as the sun fights more for rights, the rain slows more and more. Hopefully I can get them out there and done before work. I have actually considered calling in so that I can stay home a bit longer and make sure they go. Sad, hey? "Sorry boss, I'll be a little late today. My dogs won't poop."

They went three times out the back door and promptly sat down on the mat and cried to come in. I thought to try the side door of the garage--it's a bit more sheltered there with the fence and shrubs... Lo, they went out and immediately did the potty squat...apparently glad to do it, too. I'm so clever for figuring that out. (Hey, you have to take the small victories, too!)

It seems to have calmed down still more, so I think I'll try again to cajole them in to a business run...laters.

Yes!

The neighbour *was* tumbling rocks! It was a dryer, not a washer, but there were rocks involved. He does jiu-jitsu and was trying to soften up his ghi, which (he showed it to me) would have been about like donning 1/4 inch thick lead with an 80grit sandpaper laminate. So all day Saturday, he ran the back-yard dryer with the ghi and a bucketful of riverrock. As I was working in the yard a good portion of the day, it became something of a drone, and a comforting one at that. When the dryer periodically went off, I was jolted by the relative silence. What does that say about me and our society of constant noise and activity? Inactivity I don't think I ever fully appreciated, but peace and quiet used to be appreciated and and even valued. Now I have a pacifier full of rocks to keep my brain from chewing on matters too weighty.

At any rate. The Open House came (and I went to the mall and bought myself 3 skirts and a shirt for $66! What a bargain!) and strangers again wandered around in our home and passed judgement. Monica The Realtor wasn't too excited about any of them, so I'm still waiting for that fabulous moment of "They want to make an offer..." What music that will be!

The pups are still at boarding--I'm going after work to pick them up. I should probably schedule us for some bathtime tonight. They will surely need it after a weekend in the country...I'm loathe to mess up the nice clean bathroom, but dog smells have even less of a place in a house for sale than a few errant dog hairs. My back aches just thinking about it, but it's far less trouble to bathe them at home than to load them up and drive down to the dog wash again. Perhaps in our new house we can build a similar grooming station. A girl can dream.

Anyway. It's Monday. How is it that we keep looking forward when all there is is more work and more work and more work? This 8-5 business is not going out of style anytime soon, at least not for yours truly. Okay, style is perhaps a poor choice of words. It won't become any less of an option for me anytime soon. Sure, the hours may change, but the bottom line remains that when it's all said and done, I will have spent the bulk of my life doing meaningless crap for someone else's benefit. How is that right? How does that fit in with my ideals? And what the hell can I do to change it?

whoa. not sure where that came from. chalk it up to the angsty "Kerri needs to see her man" side of things. everything is better when you have someone with whom to share it. even melancholy.

soon. soon.

Rock Washing

No, I'm not referring to some new hip method of doing laundry. Nor is it some eco-friendly variation on that loathesome chore. I'm referring to the fact that there is a washing machine in our neighbour's back yard, and it sounds as though it is full of rocks. Maybe it's a dryer, I don't know. The bottom line is that it's NOISY! I'm dying for them to make an appearance so I can ask them what is going on.

It's 2:30 and I'm on break. I've just come in from doing some mowing and then vacuuming up the clippings. Much better effect than just sweeping. I've also hooked up the sprinkler in the front because it never fails that when I mow the grass just ceases to look as green. I'm loathe to water in the middle of the day like this, but if I want get get all of the front yard and back yard done in time to pull in the intstuments of waste and get the lawn dried out before we Open tomorrow, I figured I'd best get started.

I stink.

We had a showing today at noon, so I had to do a lot of half-ass cleaning for that...now I have to go back and re-do some of that work. Bah. Still need to mop the floors and vacuum and just generally clean. Oh, and light a ton of candles and hook up some Plug-Ins. The inside smell comes and goes, but it is maskable if I work at it. What about what died in the back yard?? That's another story. I swear it smells like sewage out there. The dogs were a bit nutty the other day, sniffing at the boards on the deck--I suspect that a mouse or toad or other smallish critter has crawled under there and died. Great. What timing.

My pesto's done...I'm off to eat.

5Aug2005

Today is Thursday, and the pups have been sent to boarding school so that momma can have a nice, peaceful weekend...of cleaning! The 3rd installment of Open House is this Sunday, so I've set to getting the place ready. I dropped the pups off after work tonight, played for a bit, and then went out to deadhead the hydrangeas and pull some sundry weeds. I also got the sprinkler going, so that we'll have a nice green lawn this weekend. We got a little rain night before last, and it's supposed to rain again, but I figured I'd get some water in the ground while the pups are gone--just in case the weather man turns out to be wrong *cough*--neverrightanyway--*cough*. So that was a new bit of excitement for me--hauling out the hose and tearing the $4 sprinkler out of the box. It all seems to be going well, aside from the fact that the hose hookup is leaky like a bugger, so I have a bucket under the faucet to prevent flooding.

I have some laundry to attend, and the sprinkler to move, and then I think I'll go to bed early and read a bit. I was up until 2am last night on the game--but I hit the level cap, so it's all good! I am now a l33t d00dee. Except that, thank heaven, I have no idea how to type "l33t 5p34k". Anyway, it was fun to hit the cap; now I can help out my lower level friends, *or* hang out with all the higher-ups in the Guild. :) Yah, I'm a huge geek. I'm okay with that. I have plenty of time to get a life.

I hereby promise a much more intelligent post sometime over the weekend.

And HI to my newest added reader, Chris in Dallas! Don't forget to post your comments, man! Hellos to the missus and James. :)

Time, she does fly...

It's Sunday evening already, and I'm never sure how that happens exactly. The weekdays are roughly equivalent to two-point-five weekend days--at least in my universe. I did get a lot done this weekend, in addition to many hours of WoW time, but it's never enough. Never enough.

It's Big Trash day tomorrow (or sometime this week, at any rate, since they are always several days week for the Big Trash pickup), so I did some yard work. I finally broke down and bought some hedge and pruning shears. The bushes were looking...well...bushy. I should have borrowed the electric ones from Ken (next door neigbour), but I feel pretty awkward doing that. They were 15 bucks or something, so it's managable. I trimmed a bit here and there--what I could stand, anyway. It was miserably hot, so I worked in approximately 20 minute invervals. It looks better. Not great, just better.

I also had to buy some concrete pavers and 1x4s to strategically place along the fence in the hedge to keep the dogs from taking advantage of the rotten wood and errant branches...Apparently Delilah found a way through yesterday! The doorbell rang and there's the other neighbour timidly telling me that my dog is in her yard. Thank goodness the little yappy dog that visits from time to time wasn't there! *shudder*

I'm tired. Goodnight. Hope you had a good weekend and have a good week.