I Think I'm An Adult Now

Well, it's official. We bought a house.
Finally.
Look familiar? It, too, is a 1922 Craftsman. Just like the house we're leaving.
We like our Craftmans. Craftsmen?

We saw this house on Wednesday, after it had been pending, then came up active again. We wrote up the offer that night, the seller countered and we accepted.

BAM! What's the time on that?!

It's a three bedroom (almost - we need a door downstairs to close off that area), two bath, with a one bedroom, one bathroom rental cottage in the backyard. The goal is for that to be Todd's office and our studio. But it's rented right now, which just means we don't have to get used to larger mortgage just yet. It will be a bit tight in the house until we ask the renter to leave (spring maybe?) but that's okay. Because it is a mere one block off of California Ave.

For those of you not from around here, California Ave is the main, downtown West Seattle street. Where it crosses at Alaska, that's call The Junction. That's where you want to live.

And now that's where we live.

Todd and I fell in love with it as soon as we walked inside. And as soon as I realized that oh my gosh, it has a walk in pantry, and on my gosh, it has a walk in master closet, it was a done deal. You just can't find old Craftsmans, even redone old Craftsmans, with a decent closet and a pantry. But this one has both. Sold!

We're anticipating moving in sometime during the last two weeks of September. Which gives us a month to get it somewhat up to speed before the wedding. Talk about cutting it close.

And related to cutting it close, you know that Todd and I are all about the signs. The signs control us. Well, we had said if we didn't have any decent offers, and didn't find a good house by September 7, we were done. We'd try again next year. And then lo' and behold, on September 2, everything falls into place. I was temped to email The Universe (because I have his email address now, and we're friends on Facebook - The Universe is hip like that) and ask just what did he think he was doing? Could he maybe have not of waited until the last minute? Sheesh!

But I see the beauty here. I see the learning experience. I'm no dummy.

I am, however, officially a homeowner.
Crazy.

She’s Wound Up Tighter Than a Pissed Off Rattlesnake

My horoscope for today.

From The Seattle Times:

Aries (March 21-April 19): Today is a 5 -- A puzzle you've been putting together finally starts to make sense. A little more work and you'll solve the mystery.

Really? It’s all going to make sense now?
Thank.Gawd.

Cause this funky little dance of sell for this price, buy for this price, put this much down, but you need this much for closing costs, but have this much money left over is going to give me a freakin’ heart attack.

Todd asked me this morning if I would be disappointed if we took the house off the market and just stopped this. He said maybe it’s just too much with all of the other stresses. And I asked him, “Are you stressed about the wedding? Really?”

And he sighed and said, "No."
I said, “Neither am I.”

It's just this house stuff. But it should be done soon. It has to be done by September 7. We’ve decided that if we have no acceptable offers, if we can’t find another place we like, we stop this madness cold turkey so we can really enjoy the last two months leading up to the wedding.

So we’ve got one week.

There are things happening. Trust me. But the funky little dance isn’t written down on paper yet. That’s the key. The signatures.

One week. Just a little bit longer….

…but man, my head hurts.

General Life Update

To answer the question that is on everyone’s mind – there are no new updates on the houses, the old or the new. We’re assuming the bank is still taking it’s sweet time approving our offer on the new one, and the old one hasn’t had a showing yet. But we are not deterred! Since our closing on the new house isn’t set until September 30th, we really don’t want the house to sell right away. Because then where would we live? If we get to September 15th and we still haven’t had any showings or offers, then I might panic. But it’s too soon for that.

Look at me, being all level headed and practical.

Todd’s stepdad was down last week, helping put up the new porch railing, when he came into the kitchen and said, “You know, you seem to be doing pretty well with everything that’s going on.”

I replied, “It’s the alcohol.”
Bob said, “Oh…that’ll do it…”

My therapist tells me I appear to be holding it together pretty well, too. I’m flattered. I really don’t FEEL that stressed – like crying at the drop of a hat, or screaming my head off for no reason stressed. I think my stress lives solely in my brain.

It’s hard to tell what’s natural and comes with aging, or what is simply losing my mind. For instance, I lost a credit card. Never in my life, even as an irresponsible 20 something, have I ever lost something so important. And now, I’ve lost a credit card. I lost Jessica’s wedding invitation. I moved a box of tissues when we were taking photos for the listing and could not for the life of me find them after the shoot (an hour later, I found them behind my dresser. Wha..?)

I forgot to shampoo my hair one morning. Went straight to the conditioner. Then couldn’t figure out why my hair was so greasy later that day. And sometimes, I have to ask what day it is.

Funny. These are also symptoms of perimenopause. Wonder if the hot flashes and night sweats are signs of stress, too?

My therapist suggests I take a little time each day, just for me, just to let my brain have some quiet time. I’ve told you about my Tom therapy. That helps. Being able to decompress and download to Todd helps, too. Just to get everything off my mind at the end of the day.

And I feel like we’re in a lull right now. We can’t actively do anything to sell the house (except clean. And build a railing, but that’s finished now.) or buy the other house. So I’m in hyper wedding mode.

I have contacted my friend who is making the wedding cake and there will be a meeting next week about the details. The invitations are done, but those don’t need to be mailed until September. I’ll probably contact the caterer in September as well, to finalize the menu and all that fun stuff. Todd and I have been compiling music and sketching out the itinerary for the ceremony, so that makes us feel productive.

And Kim and I are going dress shopping on Sunday!

Speaking of Kim, I thought of her when I saw this LOL cat.


She’s already married, though, so it shouldn’t come to this.

Random Thoughts

I started taking prenatal vitamins. I call them my baby pills. Which makes Todd laugh and cringe at the same time. No, I’m not trying to get pregnant. Although I have this secret fear that taking prenatal vitamins makes my body pregnant. Todd assures me that’s not how it works.

I just want my hair and nails to be healthy and pretty.

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I’m also using moisturizing body wash now, in order to make my skin silky smooth and hydrated. My Big Ass Wedding Book told me to. And I must listen to The Big Ass Wedding Book.

Although, I’m not a body wash kinda gal. I was raised on soap and a wash cloth. The loofa is weird and I can’t keep a hold of it. And it just doesn’t feel like it’s getting me clean, especially after this particularly hot and stinky week. But my skin is smoother, and Todd says I smell good, so I guess it’s okay.

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Speaking of the wedding, I had a dream last night that it was the wedding day but everything was off. Todd was watching me get into my gown and I was thinking, “He’s not supposed to see me yet!” And my hair was down, but pulled back a little (not at all what I had in mind) and I didn’t have earrings but I thought, “Oh well. Who will notice?” Ha! Not at all like me. Then I couldn’t find my Schedule Enforcer, Julie, and was thinking maybe she didn’t even show up, and the hair and make up gal wasn’t there, so I was trying to put on enough eyeliner to do that smoky thing.

But I also noticed my dress was a smidge looser. That made me happy.

Eventually, I realized everything was awry because we had moved the wedding up. By a couple of months. Then everyone started leaving, but they were walking across my very long train (unlike my dress) and I was gathering up it in my arms yelling, “THIS IS A THOUSAND DOLLAR DRESS, PEOPLE! GET OFF MY TRAIN! YOU GUYS SUCK!”

Weird, no?

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And one other wedding note, due to timing issues, the part of the Best Lady will now be played by Kim (aka Kim-n-Tim-Milo). Not to worry, Jamie and I are a-okay.

Kim, however, is very enthusiastic and has made the mistake of telling me she welcomes my barrage of wedding emails. So she may end up quitting before the big day. We’ll just see how much she really loves this stuff.

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General life update: our house hasn’t sold (dammit!), we still haven’t heard back from the bank regarding the new house, and things with the boy are calm and pleasant. I’ve seen Kayleigh for maybe two hours total since Sunday. She’s been at her friend’s and then at rehearsal until 11:00pm. Quite the flourishing butterfly she is.

And I’ve been having crackers or a bagel for breakfast, noodles for lunch and pasta for dinner for too many days in a row. I need some vegetables.

And it's darn near chilly today. Thank goodness.

What Would Happen If I Actually Stood Still?

Gawd help me, we made an offer on a house.
Actually, I made an offer on a master bedroom closet. Trust me. It’s totally worth it.

It’s a custom closet, complete with little shoe racks that you stand your shoes up on (My babies will love it!) and pull out shelves and little cubbies for your socks. There’s a vanity IN THE CLOSET with a sink and a cabinet and I can get ready in the morning IN THE CLOSET, surrounded by my shoes. I may just sleep in there.

Okay, the house that is attached to this closet is really nice, too.

We’ve been house hunting off and on for about year. You know this. We’ve blogged about it. But last week, a house that we’d been stalking for a couple of months finally dropped into our price range. So we pounced. And whadya know, the sellers actually accepted our offer. Huh. It’s a short sale, so we won’t know anything for a few weeks (funny, huh? Short sales take so much longer….weird) but man alive, I’m learning some grown up stuff. The mind boggles.

To add to the fun, we sat down with our agent on Saturday and filled out all the paperwork to list our house (well, Todd’s house really. But he’ll correct me and say “our” house. So okay fine, OUR house. But it’s still Todd’s house. I didn’t sign anything).

We filled in all the cute little boxes that say how great the house is (soaking tub, bath off master, high-speed internet, carport-attached) and signed and initialed a bunch of papers. It was all very exciting.

And I will say the question that asks “Has this property ever been involved in a fire, flood, earthquake, yada yada yada” was THE MOST fun to answer. We needed an extra sheet of paper.

Oh, but then it was all very nauseating because our agent said she wanted to list it on Thursday.

THIS Thursday. Five days from now Thursday.

Um…then we should get to cleaning, yes?

And we did. At 6:30am on Sunday. Todd was awakened early (by my snoring. Sorry sweetie.) so he got up, and that woke me and then my mind started racing (see: panicking) about everything that had to be done, so I just went ahead and got started. We were muy productive. We two trips to storage, each in our respective cars, we cleared out the office, we cleared out the bedroom and closet.

We finally came to a stop at 6pm so we could clean up, take Kayleigh to rehearsal and then go out for a much needed margarita.

So, this week is about cleaning. Deep, deep cleaning. Like, wiping down the baseboards and doors and walls and the inside of the fridge and the windows. And taking my wedding dress to the seamstress for hemming. And rehearsals. And counseling appointments. And movie meetings. And movie shoots. And listing a house. And waiting to hear back about the new house. And tae kwon do. And belt tests! And baby showers (yay, Nichole!!)

Ack.
What day is it?

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This post brought to you by wine and chocolate. Because I see a lot of it in the near future. Tropical honeymoon be damned.

Weekend Update

A brief recap of our long, holiday weekend.

Friday, I made the trek to Ballard for the much anticipated pedicure, followed by some errands and a trip to Goodwill. When in Ballard….

That afternoon, Todd and I met up with our real estate agent to look at a couple more houses, one of which may be just the break we’ve been looking for. But it’s too soon to talk it about or get our hopes up.

Unfortunately, our hopes are up because we spent a few hours at Home Depot on Saturday pricing stoves, refrigerators, cabinets, countertops, flooring, tile, front doors and other fun house stuff. There may be a spreadsheet. I’m not at liberty to say, really.

Sunday was the day to try on The Dress. I picked up Stephanie and Isabella and we headed off to I Do Bridal, where Jamie was waiting for us. There was much oohing and ahhing as The Dress fit P E R E C T L Y. I’ll need to have it hemmed up a couple of inches and have a bustle put on, but other than that…..like a glove. Despite being bloated! (I love my uterus!)

To celebrate The Dress fitting perfectly, we went out for crepes afterwards. I’m bettin’ that dress don’t fit so perfect anymore. Ack.

After crepes, I took Stephanie and Isabella home, and, so as not to tempt my fiancé, I hung my wedding dress in Stephanie’s closet. In my ex-boyfriend’s girlfriend’s closet. Stephanie likes to say we are so “new millennium”.

Back in January, Todd and I were talking about our wedding party and how we’re happy to only have two people standing up there with us. Todd rattled off the names of the men he could possibly have, if we were doing a large wedding party, and I rattled off three names, then hit a wall. I don’t have too many close girlfriends. But then Stephanie’s name popped into my head, so I looked at Todd and said, “How fantastic would it be to have Stephanie up there with me?!” Heads = exploding.

Anyway, the rest of Sunday was very domestic. Grocery shopping, cooking dinner, making s’mores, then doing a little more purging of some random boxes and filers. Just when I think we’re finished and have cleared out every box or bag of papers, we find another one. It’s job security, really. Keeps me busy.

And welcome to Monday.

When’s the next holiday? September?
Crap.

Random Thoughts

Foot season is upon us. People are starting to wear flip flops and sandals to work.

And I am not at all happy about this.

I do not like feet. They’re right up there with birds. Once I get to know the feet and if the feet are clean (no wirey hair or toe jam), then I can accept the feet and maybe even touch the feet. Maybe.

I have a pedicure tomorrow. So my feet look pretty. I don’t much like my feet either. Maybe it’s just the toes. I don’t know. But it takes a lot of gumption to get a pedicure. Don’t like people touching my feet.

So there.

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We had a beautiful couple of days this week, but now we’re back to 50 degrees and rain. Rumor has it, this weekend will be sunny and warm. Which is nice because…..

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I’m sleeping in tomorrow, then going to get a little breakfast on Alki, then have a mani and a pedi, then a few cocktails at happy hour with Jamie, then it’s time for my birthday party. I couldn’t take my actual birthday off (see: -2 hours vacation time in the bank) so I’ll do my dip in lake me on Saturday.

**********

We’re back to looking at houses again. A few have popped up on the market that have gotten us excited, but then after looking at them, I just get depressed. One house was unacceptable because the beams in the ceiling we low enough that Todd would smack his head on them. Fantastic.

Our real estate agent has now added 7 foot ceiling requirements to her search for us.

Speaking of giants, did we tell you that Tyler is 5’9”? And I’m 5’2”?
Yeah, how intimidating can I possibly be, as I’m pointing my finger up at him?

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Astrological Forecasts for 04/14/2009

Aries (March 21-April 19): Today is a 7 -- One thing after another doesn't go as you expected. There are detours and other complications at every turn. In this situation, it's OK to procrastinate. Wait until tomorrow.

Oh, okay. This is why we didn’t get to go to the aquarium (DMV took two and a half hours), didn’t get to ride the water taxi (the sign said they don’t accept FlexPasses, even though their website says they do, and the times were confusing because we forgot there was a Mariner’s game) and therefore, didn’t get to eat dinner on the waterfront (no way in hell are we driving downtown at 5pm to look for a parking spot under Aurora).

We ended up having dinner at the Bamboo Bar & Grill on Alki. Which was fine. Just not anywhere near the original plan.

I did get a very hot bath later and was asleep by 9:30pm. So, the day ended on a high note.

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And now my day is almost done. We’ve got some last minute food and drink shopping for the party this evening, then movie/pizza night. I think Bolt is on tap. I don’t have very high hopes for the entire movie, but the preview of the little hamster in his plastic ball, saying “I have a ball” is just freakin’ hysterical. I’ll watch the whole movie just for that line.

Okay, time to finish up and get out of here.

Happy, happy weekend!

Busy, busy, busy....

Busy weekend, busy at work, busy weekend coming up. Life is just flying by.

Friday night:

Had a football party at Todd's. Go 'Hawks! The margaritas and good company definitely helped my crappy day.

Saturday:

Rough day. No one in the Downing household slept very well on Friday night, for a variety of reasons, so we were all pretty pooped on Saturday.

Todd and I began the day by looking at a house that is owned by Steve's girlfriend.

[chirp chirp]

Weird, you say? Nah. Not really. It's only weird because it's not weird. Know what I mean?

We met both her and Steve at her house then walked around the corner to the house that was for sale. It was very cute and in some ways perfect. But in a few ways, not so much. So we chatted with them for a bit afterward and had some good laughs standing out on the sidewalk in the sun. Steve and Todd have a few similarities so they banter back and forth pretty well. It was nice to see.

That afternoon, we went to Doug & Ann's engagement party. This was supposed to be at a park, but weather wasn't looking too stable, so they moved it to a restaurant/game room/pool hall. The kids were in game heaven and I kicked butt at pool. Apparently I don't need jack-n-cokes to win four games in a row!

After the party, we ran some errands, which included swinging by my apartment to pick up some more clothes. I had every intention (once again) of planting my heels in and staying at my apartment Saturday night, then going back to West Seattle on Sunday. But, as we know, I tend to get all caught up in the hugs and the fun, so I decided to stay with Todd Saturday night as well.

And the kids were going to their uncle's to play games so that left me and Todd....alone. For hours. Hee hee.

We went out to dinner and then swung by the Corner Pocket to play some more pool and watch football on the big screens. And I declared that the Corner Pocket could very well become my next Lock-n-Keel. Except I won't throw up in the Corner Pocket. Promise.

Sunday:

I took a giant step in the relationship. I left Todd's to go have lunch with a friend at Greenlake. Then went back to Todd's. Just like it was an average day. Like I was living there.

And I didn't panic once. NOT ONCE!

After lunch, Todd, Kayleigh and I went school shopping. Bought some supplies and some clothes. And boy howdy, did the mom in me ooze out! I was holding the pants up to her to see if they'd fit. I made her put on a button down over her t-shirt because she hates going into dressing rooms. I bit my tongue when she held a pair of jeans up and exclaimed that she loved them, even though my first thought was, "We wore those in the 80's and they were ugly then and please don't have them in her size." No, no. If she likes them, she likes them and I am not going to be one of those moms who gives their kids a hard time about what they wear. Within reason. No g-strings sticking up out of the jeans. I mean, really.

After shopping, back to the house for MORE CLEANING!

Today's task: Todd's room.

This time, I took before pics. But we're not entirely finished, so you'll have to wait until next weekend for the before/after pics. We didn't get started until around 5, so Todd worked one corner while I worked on the closet.

His waist size has decreased by a few numbers in the last year, so I got rid of his big pants and tidied up what was left over. I may have even consolidated things in order to maybe, um, make room. You know, in case new stuff needs to be put in there. Somewhere down the line. One of these days.

Ahem.

Where was I?

Right! We worked into the wee hours (7pm) then re-heated some pizza and watched some movies. Of course! Cars (by Pixar) and Raising Arizona ("I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!"), which Todd and I both fell asleep during. Pooped we were.

Monday:

Up somewhat early to look at houses. But first, Home Depot.

Ah, the smell of lumber in the morning. Love Home Depot!

We picked up a towel rack for the half bath (because the towel just gets thrown on the countertop and you KNOW Rae-rae can't handle a towel just thrown on the countertop) and a second towel rack for Todd's bathroom. Because some chick has been hanging out there a lot and she's leaving her towels over the shower curtain rod and they're just in the way. So, now she has her own towel rack.

Not panicking. Not at all.

After Home Depot, the houses. Ack. The seemingly-perfect-but-oh-my-gawd-what-were-they-thinking-with-that houses. It is amazing what people will do to a house to get you to buy it. Yes, the marble countertops are pretty and yes, it's a brand new front door, but do you really think I can't smell the smoke in here? Are you going to knock off money so that I can get the carpet replaced? And what are you thinking with that fake wainscoting? You simply glued wood to the drywall. That doesn't count. And by the way, I know you just painted a piece of wood and nailed it above the fireplace. That is not a mantle. You couldn't even sand down the end of the board? Sheesh.

So, the houses sucked.

Onward.

Back to the homestead for more cleaning. Five hours of cleaning. It was a smidge painful at times for Todd, running across mementos and keepsakes, but he was strong and determined and stated more than once that it was time to move on. I kept the piles separated (Goodwill, give to someone, trash), loaded up my car with donations and provided lots of hugs. We ended up clearing off one whole wall of boxes, and although we declared ourselves done for the day, I strayed to the other wall. I just couldn't stop. Just one more box. One more! But Todd's stomach told us it was time to get some food so we headed out for dinner.

And it was then I made the comment that I needed to go to Target to buy something to wear to work on Tuesday. Because I just didn't want to go home.

Luckily, I had a t-shirt with me that would go well enough with the skirt I had worn on Friday so no run to Target was necessary. Which is good because then we wouldn't gotten home in time for the season premiere of Gossip Girl!

Jessica doesn't stay with me anymore. I can blog about Gossip Girl all I want.

After laughing at and mocking Gossip Girl, the very productive Downings (and Marsh) went to bed.

Whew!

Are you as tired as I am?

And here we are, another week. Ah, but a short week! And you know...I don't think I have anything planned for the evenings. Well, laundry tonight, but that's about it.

Whatever will I do with myself?

Weekend Update - GO! GO! GO!

Rumor has it that Todd isn't too motivated this morning to blog, so maybe I can get this done before him. Hee hee.

Friday night - FOOTBALL. Yeah baby! Seahawks won their first preseason game against the Vikings and we had a small, but nice, crowd to yell at the TV with. And Trish and I now have every intention of making food and being the hostesses with mostestess every Sunday for the games. This big plan was decided after a couple glasses of wine, so we may need to reevaluate.

Saturday morning consisted of a full on breakfast of pancakes, eggs and bacon, then a mad dash to Ikea for organizing gear. In and out in 45 minutes. A new world record, I'm sure. We came home with drawer organizers, bins for the office, and cargo nets for all of Kayleigh's stuff animals, which are now hanging above her bed. I personally would be afraid those things would fall on me in the middle of the night, but she's young and daring, so we'll see how it goes.

The afternoon was extremely productive, until we had to run off to dinner and "Crazy For You", a play done by Todd's theater group, Twelfth Night Productions where I got to see my man in true form as the cool popular guy. After the show, the cast was milling about, chatting with people and one after one I would hear, "TODD!" in a very high, screechy female voice. Quite popular with the ladies, he is. As a matter of fact, even last weekend when we were in Bellingham, I heard that familiar screech. In the consignment store where we were shopping. I said to no one in particular, "It's a good thing I'm not a jealous woman. This could get ugly."

And Sunday began early with a last minute dash to meet our real estate agent (after stopping for much needed caffeine, of course) to view a house. A very cool-retreat-like-would-accommodate-a-pool-table house. After that, there was more organizing and cleaning (I'm infectious, I tell ya!), then dinner, then Blazing Saddles (which, yes you guessed it, I had never seen) and a glass of wine. What a lovely way to wrap up a fun weekend.

Again, I had every intention of coming home yesterday afternoon, but for some reason, I just wasn't able to tear myself away from the big, burly man hugs, so it turned into a full weekend visit. A good sign, since I'll be spending seven straight days with the Downing clan here in a few days, doncha think?

And, Happy Monday, what did I find when I emerged from the bathroom this morning?

A latte and a croissant from The Best Boyfriend Ever (herein known as TBBE).

[insert big ol' mushy grin here]

Whew! Done!
What's the time on that, Bob?

Same Rant, Different Day

Apparently there just aren't enough condos in Ballard. So, let's take the bowling alley that's been around for 50 years and tear it down. Who bowls anymore, anyway?

Sunset Bowl has been sold to Avalon Ballard LLC, a real-estate developer. More condos.

I had a whole long rant posted, but what's the point. You know all this.

It just freakin' sucks.