Mmm, yeah, right there feels good...

Right there in my checking account!! That's where I was stimulated economically today. Still think it is STUPID for the government to just throw money at us when there are so many better ways to apply aid in this nation (post-Katrina New Orleans, the forever war, etc), but now that it is there it will be nice as we continue this grand adventure called selling our house.

How is that going? We're finishing up these next couple nights, meeting with the realtor and I know he's already planning an open house Sunday. It's a pimpin house, peeps, come check it out and buy it!! Will be so glad when that is over!!

Also, just want to say Go Hillary! Mind you, I voted for Obama but I am so glad she stayed in the race because that's what democracy is about. The crime isn't that she stayed in so long, the crime is that the Republicans didn't have two good enough candidates to really go head to head with. I've learned so much about Obama because of Hillary and vice versa. I will support whichever of the Dems ends up with the nomination because I think they both have some amazing things to offer this country, but I can tell you I don't know much more about McCain than I did a couple months ago because he's not being pushed to reveal much about himself. I know that pundits will argue that it is a good thing, as the negative stuff hasn't hit him, but I believe for the sake of full disclosure that it is truly a disservice to the voting public.

Nothing else to chat about for now, so I will leave you with that...

Progress

So, it's been a week of hustling and bustling and we are doing really well with the move. Other than a couple of Dylan's toys that we left at the house for him to play with while we work, everything that is supposed to be at MIL's is and almost all that needs to be in storage is too. Today Dylan was supposed to be with my mom, but she ended up taking on a new account at work, the big wigs are in and she had to work all weekend. Somehow though, Dylan was amazingly good today. Jason and Paul got all new fascia up, crown molding in the master and replaced all the doors in the house. Seriously, like six months of work in a day. Holy moly. While they did that, I worked on packing the rest up and moving boxes and odds and ends to the storage unit. We are all the epitome of awesomeness, and I am rewarding myself with carbs tonight.

Unfortunately, it wasn't all sunshine and gumdrops. Yesterday I stepped outside to shake out the bedskirt and the door locked behind me. Click. Oh fudge. Dylan was inside watching TV and I was locked out. Jason had told me Dylan let him in the other day when he got locked out (if my life was a book and an English student were reading it, that passage would have been highlighted as FORESHADOWING) so I turned the knob and asked Dylan to open it. He burst into tears and stayed in that house howling until I got back in. I managed to flag down a neighbor to call Jason to come home (had to leave a message, though when I called 5 min later he was on his way home) and let me in and the whole time, while I knew Dylan was safe, I could just hear him crying and crying and it was pretty effen awful. The whole thing was prolly 15-20 and every second was hell. While petty thieves have no problem kicking down my door, I had no idea how to do so myself. In the future, I will bury a key in a corner of the yard or a flowerpot.

The house is looking so amazing that Jason wants to raise the price. Wait until the painter finishes, it will be pure awesomeness. I can't think of anything a buyer would have to do to it, it will be top dog in the neighborhood =)

Catching up with the Cumby's...

So I know you are all on the edge of your seats wondering what's going on and so I won't make you wait another second... we're moving in with Jason's parents next weekend. Not what you expected, right? Me neither, but I think it is great. We are not staying in this house while it sells, so we were planning to get a cheap-o one bedroom apartment and Karen and Paul offered essentially that (at no cost). We'll have our own section of the house that has a living room, a bedroom and a bathroom. They offered another room, but since they are starting some other construction I think they should keep it open for any of their stuff that suddenly needs a new home. It's funny, but in my quest to consume less, I think it is sort of cool to see what the real essentials in our lives are. So many things that I am going to pay to store that day to day don't even matter to me. Do you think that stash of Scrapbook Trends and Cards mags will make me cry at night while it is in storage? What about my George Foreman grill, my coffee maker (have I ever used that?) or my margarita glasses (still in their original packaging)? Don't worry, my scrap stash is so reduced now that I should be good with bringing what I need to make treasures while I am gone. Digi will def be doable as well. Sex will not be though, as my MIL pointed out. Not to say that we shouldn't, she just pointed out that by choosing to have Dylan in the same sleeping quarters that it will cramp our style. To which I say ew, living with your in-laws cramps your style so much more.

That's next weekend, so today I got a storage unit, need to be getting boxes, packing boxes and prepping up. I need to find a painter because mine sucks. There's heavy trash on Thursday, so a lot needs to be dismantled and put out. Lots (and lots!) of little jobs around the house that will need to be done. Dylan will be at my mom's all day tomorrow so we can get a head start. Then there will be a wave of relief as we are done, the for sale sign goes up and we sit and wait. Our realtor is super cool and optimistic, so hopefully this will end sooner rather than later. Then comes the real fun, picking our next home =) In that time as well, we will be doing swimming and gymnastics lessons, starting Mothers' Day out in prep for preschool, celebrating Dylan's birthday at Little Gym, and so many other things. In May, Jason's parents will be out of town one weekend and we will be out two. Hopefully we can not get on their last nerve. Heather, hope you're up for some sleepovers =)

Yeah, so, I am moving in with my parents-ish. What could be cooler than that to brag to the world wide web about?

Randomness pt 2

First things first, I meant to come on here and ask this earlier, but which do you think is meaner - politician's wives having to stand alongside their cheating mate while he does the walk of shame...



or American Idol making the newest castoff sing after they've just found out?



It was just a random thought I had last week while Rami was pouring her eyes out over being kicked off and preparing to torture my ears one last time. I didn't feel badly for her, she's a karaoke brat, but I did think it is still a sort of cruel tradition. Plus, the song gets all phlegmy since they are crying, so it sounds like shizz. Just saying.

Moving along, Jason and I have made the grand decision to sell this house and move on to greener pastures. Wowsa! It was funny, I've been thinking of it for awhile but I thought the economy was too bad and then I didn't think Jason would be on board, but we got to talking last weekend while we were driving home from the river and when we decided to casually house hunt on Saturday we were hooked.

Let me say this: I know why there are so many foreclosures and I know this from personal and non personal experience. Americans need to frickin live within their own means!! What the heck makes so many people think they are entitled to the most awesome house on the block when they are stretching it as it is? I'm not sad, we're going to likely benefit from little snots buying a house they couldn't afford and hoping the taxes wouldn't catch up, that they'd have that awesome job when the adjustible rate adjusted or from greedy builders who thought they could quickly build and sell ten homes on a block and lost all their money by #8, leaving a shell of a house in its place. I get that there are people not in this position who are losing houses, and trust me when I say I know about predatory mortgage sellers. I worked on the level of predatory check card and credit card sales and that brings me enough shame. But a huge chunk of these people got what their family and friends saw coming. Again, I know this from experience and since you know my house hasn't been repo'd, you can assume I am family or friend. Bleh. But it will likely benefit us, because not only are awesome houses going cheap in places, but the govt is debating giving a $7K credit to those who buy foreclosed homes:
http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2008/04/be_careful_what.html

I'll keep you all updated on the house selling process as we go. Jason is chatting with his mom, the somewhat retired realtor, tonight and we will call the active one she is referring us to as well as our old pal Shane the mortgage guy who got us set up with this one almost five years ago. We have some work we need to do in the process as well and we need to fight a tax appraisal as well that somehow thinks we're a mansion when we're a little chicken shack. Keep your fingers crossed that this process is easier said than done...

I C U P

So...Heather very strongly asked me to put up a new blog entry and since Dylan looks adorable and we love Meg and her reputation, we shall do just that. For the record, absolutely no hard feelings -- we even paid to be in Meg's gymnastics class so we can make sure to see them (and jump on things) every Tuesday until June 2. She's really rather cute when she isn't in your purse or cutting things you like.

Let's talk about pee.



Specifically, the urine of a child who would love to funnel apple juice into his gut constantly. Jason has been wanting to push this again, we go in waves of me saying "We can't push him, it will backfire" to small victories with Jason pushing back to business as usual. He was pushing it last night and so I wanted to work on it today. Can't do much when we aren't at home, but as soon as we got home the diaper was off. I immediately got pee in a potty. Well hallelujah, maybe I do believe in the power of prayer! But then he pees on the rug. Knows it isn't cool and says "uh oh!" holds the rest and is brought to the bathroom and finishes there. That's a good lesson for him, so I am encouraged. There are no consequences when peeing your diaper, aka super sponge, but the rug isn't cool. It almost got on your Mickey! But then he peed on the cabinet in the bathroom, doing the same thing as before. Listen to the urge, man!

Just as I was typing that I heard him peeing on the rug and various toys. I know he has to get used to listening for the urge, but clearly I need to get all toys, books, and valuable to higher ground. His Little People plane simply didn't deserve that... Maybe this is the right way and we'll keep at it, but we are accepting any tried and true potty advice right now. "They'll do it when they're ready" is NOT an acceptable answer...