Adventures in Home Owning

Well after several more hiccups, we are home owners. Project one: landscaping. Here are the before and after pictures!
BEFORE:

AFTER: We installed a mailbox, ripped out all the old plants and put in new ones. Now we just need the new house numbers and some shutters.

This fall will involve working on the grass and getting the shutters painted and installed. Then we're on to the inside of the house!

Adventures in House Buying

It's been a while since I posted anything. I've been incredibly busy with lots of stuff. The main thing that's keeping me busy is the fact that I've been teaching lessons 5 days a week, there also seems to be something going on for most of my days off. The other thing that is occupying my life right now is trying to close on this house. Actually, the main thing it's doing is adding to my stress. Why you ask? You might be sorry you asked.... here's the story.

Hubby and I decide, hey, we're going to be in Michigan for a while (5-6 more years) and the government has this thing called the Federal Housing Tax Credit. Basically, as first time homebuyers, we can earn a tax credit of 10% of the price of our house, up to $8000. This is not a tax deduction, it's a credit, which means we would get a check. This credit made buying a house not only appealing, but much more within reach for us.

We find a fabulous realtor. Joan Fletcher  is awesome. She took us to house after house after house. Even when we found a house that we could have been happy with, she took us to just one more. And then one more. And we made an offer on a house. Instead of letting us get suckered into paying too much, she helped us find another one, a better one. So we found the house we really wanted. A great house. We can see ourselves here for a while. We didn't really have to compromise much either. It just felt like the right place.

So case closed, right? Nope. We decide to change brokers so we can deal with a local broker. Even though our bank is fairly local, their broker is in Rhode Island. So we get a new broker who seems like a good guy. He has to work with an underwriter. Underwriter was apparently born without a brain. Doesn't like how we make money. Basically, they end up asking us for every piece of financial information they could come up with, and then some. College transcripts and diplomas, even! I had to give them a letter saying that my husband is allowed to use the funds in our joint accounts and that he's not expected to pay it back. Also had to get a letter from employers saying that we're not expected to pay back salaries! (Isn't that a given???) More than that, the problem was that the underwriter asked for one. piece. at. a. time. Over several weeks. We got them everything they asked for when they asked for it. If they could have asked for everything at the same time, the process would have been much shorter.

A little background on the house. It's an estate. Mom died about two years ago and sister #1 became executor of the estate. Sister #1 doesn't pay the taxes, doesn't take care of the estate. Apparently she also took quite a bit of money out of the estate that was owed to other people too. Judge says, okay, you aren't doing your job taking care of the estate, Sister #2 is now the executor. Sister #2 lives in Wisconsin. She makes some improvements on the house, gets things together, puts house up for sale. Sister #2 is under contract on house with us. 

Our original closing date was April 23rd. Underwriters take too long, so it's moved back to April 29th. In that period of time, Sister #1 comes back into the picture. She decides she wants to make sure she gets the money she's owed from the estate (even though she took the money out of the estate when she was the executor) so she puts a LIEN on the house. She throws a fit and comes to terms with Sister #2 and respective lawyers that Sister #1 (even though she's not the executor) will sign for the house at closing. Seems strange to me, but I just want the house. So we're now in Probate.

As if things weren't slow enough, the Probate judge who needs to sign the paperwork to allow all of this to happen.... it out of town. Not back until May 3rd. Okay. So May 3rd rolls around. We can't just have the judge sign off, there has to be a hearing. Hearing is today May 6th. Hopefully, we will know something this evening.

Just to throw a crazy twist into an already crazy situation, Sister #1 is the treasurer of the county we live in. An elected official. Who didn't pay taxes on a house she was responsible for.

So here we are 2 weeks past the closing date on our purchase agreement. We have to be out of our apartment by May 30th. If we don't close by May 30th, we don't get the tax credit (without which, we probably wouldn't have ever decided to look for a house). I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for a week to move. We've really got about 2 weeks to get this deal done. I don't know if it's going to happen.

So now you're up-to-date.

Vote for BooBoo

One more reminder to Vote for BooBoo. Here's the deal:
BooBoo was painted for a Beautiful Horses of Pennsylvania exhibit. The painting was priced at $1k+ and sadly we don't get a complimentary print. :(

However, there is a contest now that all the paintings are complete. If BooBoo wins the contest, he will win his own Cafe Press shop and be on tshirts, notecards, tote bags, etc. Now THAT I can afford.

All you have to do is go here and scroll to the bottom. Put in your name and email address. You won't even get put on an email list. Just select "no" that you don't want to receive the newsletter. And tell your friends!!! 

 

Voting ends April 30th!!!

Vote for BooBoo!

Changing seasons

Summer is on its way here in the Great Lakes. The grass at my apartment complex has finally been mowed. (It was a jungle out there!) The horses all have spring fever. The sun is shining and the birds are singing this morning. But for me, the changing season is not about weather. I gauge the time of year on sports season. I may have mentioned before that I can get behind almost any sport (except MLB).

So how does my year of sports shake out? Well here it is:

October-May is hockey season. We're currently enjoying the start of hockey playoffs. Let's go Pens!

July is the Tour de France. The whole month. It's my favorite month of the year. Period. I'm looking forward to Lance bringing home number eight. And I hope Contador gets stuck in the Pyranees.

In August, we get to enjoy the Little League World Series. Forget MLB, LLWS is where it's at.

September begins the NFL season. Of course I'm talking about the Pittsburgh Steelers. Unfortunately, it's a short season, ending in January or very early February.

Then in October, it's back to hockey season. Occasionally, we can throw in the Olympics in either February or August. And golf season is pretty much year round. And if you don't know how I feel about golf, read my previous post.

Spring and summer are also horse show season, but you never see that on TV. Hopefully I'll get to a few this year. Not holding my breath though.

Enjoy the weather!

Oh Tiger....

Are you a fan of golf? My guess is you might take a look at the results and maybe watch the final pair on Sunday, but that's probably the extent of it. I am a fan of golf. I am not a fan of golf in the same way that I am a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. I think it's hard to compare the two to be honest. But it is safe to say yes, I am a fan of golf.

Why am I a fan of golf? It probably started when I met my husband. He was on the high school golf team and I walked the course with him once. He helps me understand the intricacies of the game. It's hard to like and follow any game that you can not understand. Tiger has brought a lot to the game too. For me, it's impossible not to become infatuated with someone who has clearly demonstrated super human athletic ability. That kind of ability comes only from 1000% dedication to the sport. I can get behind almost any sport if I know what's going on. I'm simply a SPORTS FAN. (Except MLB... they make a $h!t ton of money and complain a lot... and then there's the steroids...)

I started golfing recently. I'm not good enough yet to say that I play golf. I'm certainly not a golfer. I got my own clubs two summers ago. I like to hit wiffle golf balls out back in the courtyard and go to the driving range. I'm not consistent enough yet to hit the course. But I'm quite excited about it. Golf is hard. It's especially hard when I'm used to being good at things. But when you play (or attempt to play) the game, you begin to understand what kind of dedication it takes to be that good. But come on... I played golf at my wedding!

Unfortunately, when you have been labeled with that super human ability I mentioned earlier, humility and modesty begin to crumble away. It's easy to say that someone has talent, money and fame and that's more than most people have so be happy with it. But truly, the material things are not what makes someone a complete person or a happy person. Clearly there was something going on with Tiger that fame and fortune could not fix. I'm not making excuses for his actions. He has personal issues that are obviously going to be played out in public... it's the price he pays for his fame and fortune. You can't forget, but maybe forgive. Besides... has it ever been our place to judge?

If you have watched ESPN or any kind of news lately, you probably know the Masters starts today. And Tiger is making his comeback today. It will be interesting to watch how he plays. I predict he will show some humility and potentially less ferocity. I believe he understands more than anyone what his personal decisions have done to his professional career. That said, his indiscretions have been separate from golf. He has not disrespected the game. He has not used steroids, he has not cheated or broken the rules. He has disgraced himself personally, and that is something he and his family will have to live with and deal with.

And I respect those who feel differently about Tiger. But I also hope that those people can be respectful in expressing their opinions. Besides, you just sound ignorant and close minded when you rant like that.

Nike's new Tiger commercial

I'm going to go watch Masters coverage.

top 10 reasons to move out of your apartment

10. The neighbors are terrible cooks. The smell permeates every apartment in the building.

9. There are kids next door. They are often unhappy. Very very unhappy. 

8. The upstairs neighbors walk like elephants. 

7. You know that sound before the emergency broadcast comes on? That's the sound the often-broken buzzer makes. Constantly.

6. Your dog thinks the utility carts at the complex are demon spawn.

5. No yard for doggies to run. :(

4. No one cleans up after their dog... ew.

3. You live across the street from the ghetto. 

2. The elephants upstairs tend to... "get busy" at 3:00 in the morning. LOUDLY. 

1. YOU'RE BUYING A HOUSE (Who needs an apartment when you have a house?)

Spring Fever

We've had a patch of ugliness lately. Rain, cold, mud.... just plain undesirable weather conditions. Today was so warm that Yogi and I went to the barn to take BooBoo's sheet off this morning. Yogi loves being at the barn. He likes that he can be off leash and run around with the other dogs. The resident dog is Bulldog. Her name is technically Diva, but we all know her as Bulldog. She's an English Bulldog who's bark is definitely worse than her bite.

So Yogi and I went for a long walk on the bridle path. He was so good. I think next week, I may try to get him to walk along with me as I take BooBoo on a trail ride. BooBoo loves dogs. Yogi just likes sniffing stuff. He was  caught off guard when the cow next door let out a serious MOO. I think it was his first time hearing a cow. He was perplexed.

If I can ever get the pics off my phone and onto my computer, I'll post them.

Speaking of spring fever.... if you're a horse person or even a dog person, you know it's time for shedding. Seriously, there's a lot of hair flying around here! I have two products that I can't live without for shedding season. For the horse, THIS is where it's at. The Epona Shed Flower. It's a simple thing, but worth $50 in my book. It's actually less than $5.

So for the dog, the Shed Flower is not quite as effective. The Furminator gets a lot of hype, and let me just say, it's so worth it. It's around $50 depending on the size of the dog, but all those ads are accurate. I have lots of friends who are skeptical about it, but I let them try it once and they are hooked. They too find that it's worth the money. Yogi looks like a million bucks when he's done. And the vet keeps asking me what I do to keep his coat looking so nice. Nothing. I just bathe him with Tresemme once a month and Furminate (yes we verberized it) him about once a week. It's fabulous.

In the meantime, I'm trying to get my horse ready to show this year. Look for updates on that and my journey back to competitive riding coming up soon!