FYI

For now, I'm posting over here. I don't yet if it's a permanent move. There are things I like and dislike about vox, so we'll see how it goes.

Fer Reals?

It looks like our search for a home is finally complete.

The property is half of a duplex that we saw this weekend for the second time. There was an offer ahead of us with a 48 hour contingency (meaning the potential buyers had to sell their house within 48 hours of the owners giving them notice that they had accepted a back-up offer). The other buyers weren't able to sell, so we moved into first place. Our only conditions were/are financing and a property inspection. Our mortgage broker just let the mister know that financing is in place. The property inspection has to be done and approved by us by October 11. There shouldn't be a problem with getting the inspection scheduled and I don't believe there's anything wrong with the property.

The details:
As mentioned, it's half of a duplex. There are two bedrooms and a den, one bath (with room to add a half bath at some point), a large living room with a nice stone-faced wood burning fireplace, a kitchen that has plenty of storage/counterspace and a dishwasher, a laundry room, tons of storage, a garage and a gorgeous backyard with a natural looking fish pond and three fruit trees (apple, pear & plum). It's in a nice, quiet, established neighborhood with lots of big trees. It's much closer to shopping than we are here and it's about 15 minutes to the commuter train. All the appliances are included and, although older, in pristine condition (fridge, stove, dishwasher, washer & dryer). The current owners are an older couple who have kept the place immaculate and the husband is a handyman who has done some nice tweaks to the place. He's hinted that he's leaving all the garden tools (including the lawnmower) in the cute little shed in the backyard. If not, we'll deal with it.

Lest you think the place is perfect, there is some updating to be done. The place needs paint and flooring, but not because it's in bad shape, it's just really dated. The current owners have owned and lived in the place for 16 years and they updated then but nothing since. Plus, as I said, they're an older couple - our tastes do not converge in any way that I can see.

I'm so glad we ended up in a house. No strata rules - I can be a crazy cat lady if I want (just kidding, but I'd like one more), we can have birdfeeders (the first place we offered on said no birdfeeders - wtf?), we can get another dog (although I doubt we will), I can put whatever plants I want wherever I want!

Photographs will be posted as soon as I can take some.

Two more cats?

Zip! Zap! Zing!

Eye surgery is done. Drops were put in my eyes at about 8 a.m. and they're still dialated. My next check-up is in six months and here's hoping I'll never have any future problems.

We had a nice time at Mum's. We didn't do anything really exciting but it was nice to get away from here for a few days. On Sunday we took a beautiful drive to go to Chili's in Issaquah but it was closed for a staff meeting. Lombardi's was open so we had a nice Italian dinner instead. Mum and I spent a few bucks at Target. Damn, that place is dangerous and it's probably a good thing they don't have them in Canada. The topper to the trip was when we were on our way home and just a couple miles from our destination. A bi-plane was flying over a large field. It was painted to look like the Red Baron's plane! It's too bad I didn't have my camera ready to go.

Speaking of cameras - I took a few shots of Kaylee and one of mum's cats (Callie). I hope there are a couple good photos. I'll process and post them soon.

Tomorrow's mission (ha!) is to see a few houses in Mission. For one of the houses this is a second viewing. Please, keep your extremties crossed.

Moving On

A long time friend of the mister's passed away yesterday. Long time readers may remember him; he's the friend who had a stroke a few years ago. J was diagnosed with lung cancer about a week ago (he smoked up until the stroke). They thought he'd have two to four months without chemo and about two years with. They were working on getting him strong enough for chemo, but it didn't work out that way. I feel so awful for his wife; they were married a long, long time. They have several children and grand-children so she has them to lean on. The service will be Friday or Saturday.

In other news, I had my last pre-surgery eye test today and I'm peeing highlighter yellow. I thought it was nuclear dye they'd inject but it was vegetable based.

We've also lost another bid on a house last weekend. We didn't have much hope for this one, but it was still disappointing. We're going to take a short break from looking and recoup.

Was it Something I Said?

Yet another contract bites the dust.

The seller and the president of the strata said that there wouldn't be a problem with the pets; that they would get us approval in writing. If they hadn't told us that we would have never put an offer in on this last townhome. BUT the treasurer said no. Fuckers.

We're going back to concentrating on houses. They're a bit more expensive but without strata fees to consider, and as long as the taxes aren't outrageous, we can afford a bit more.

Have you picked up on the fact that I'm tired of this shit?

The Second Time is a Charm!

We hope so, anyway.

We just signed the contract for the townhome we found this weekend. It's a bit different from the previous townhome: no formal dining room, not as updated (but in good shape), smaller (no basement), nicer complex and a much nicer backyard. It's also a bit more expensive but still within our range. It's not far from where we live now so the mister's commute will be about the same with no train involved. Oddly enough, for you who remember, it's around the corner from the apartment we lived in four/five years ago.

If we get it (the number of pets is an issue), we won't be closing until December or so. The current owners are in the process of looking for a place. We met the wife and she said they're moving because she wants a house. They have two small children (one is an infant) and I can certainly see wanting more room with a nice yard.

In other news, I'm typing this on my handy-dandy new keyboard (Microsoft Comfort Curve). My old one was filthy beyond endurance (although it was my own filth - eating at one's computer tends to make one's keyboard filthy. I like saying that - filthy filthy filthy!). We also bought a decent all-in-one printer (Epson Stylus CX3810). We had a nice Lexmark (it was free with my new PC a couple years ago) but Oliver decided he needed to remove the encoder (encoding?) strip. Silly beastie. In the interim we were using my ancient BubbleJet (BJC101 or something like that - I got it free with my original eMachine in 1999!). Anyway, the new one is just as nice and he can't get at the encoder strip.

This Ain't Happin', Man

We're not buying the townhome. We were finally able to review the minutes of the strata (HOA) meetings for the last five years. There have been roof/leak problems since before 2001. The roofs were redone in 2003 and there are still problems. Thanks, but no thanks.

So, we're disappointed of course, but we already have a few townhomes to see in Langley and Aldergove. It's odd but both the mister and I are feeling much more optimistic this time around.

I've kinda dropped the ball on keeping y'all updated on my eye issues: I had my initial appointment and the doc confirmed that I have diabetic retinopathy. I had another appointment to scan my eyeballs (OTC, OCT, something like that). I have another appointment on the 19th in which they inject nuclear dye into me for some more testing. My laser surgery is schedule for September 27.

Bonus points if you can tell me which movie my title comes from.