Well, waiting for a house offer is making us go back and forth on what we want.
We know we want to live close to the town. I want the kids to be able to ride their bikes to the pool or the park. And if we have soccer, baseball, track practice we are pretty close and don't have to drive in from the outskirts of the city.
But then we start thinking it would be better to live out on the edge of the city. That's where their elementary school is and the houses are nicer and newer. And it's not like it's that far to drive down Main Street.
We don't want to buy a huge house where we would have to pay attention to our spending, because we had our mortgage rise significantly. And it is so appealing to live small and actually think about paying off our mortgage. Maybe we should buy an older home that costs LESS than our current home. We don't need a fancy house and we're not scared of diversity. If we did this, we could also look into a small house in the Hocking Hills to invest in.
But then we don't plan on moving again. So maybe we should get what we want. Larger bedrooms, nice yard, safe neighborhood where we don't have to worry about the kids riding around on their bikes. And have a big mortgage, but one we could do if we budget out grocery and restaurants. And just save up for trips to Hocking Hills and not buy our own place.
Decisions, decisions. We are looking at all types of houses and neighborhoods and who knows where we'll end up. We just need that offer!
Monday, June 10, 2013
Sunday, May 19, 2013
The waiting game
5 days. It's only been on the market for 5 days. That is what I have to remind myself when I realize we have had NO SHOWINGS yet. I've had months of preparing Brett, preparing the house, looking at options online of where to go...and 5 days ago, we bit the bullet. And now we wait.
Luckily, I have a ton of other things to keep my mind off of it. 12 school days left with students. Yee-haw. 6 days left til the pool opens! Alyse is doing track 2 nights a week, Jackson starts baseball 2 nights a week, and he has soccer for one more week. Add that to my new daily workout routine and lots of meetings/planning for the next school year, and the Powells are very busy.
I am so ready for summer. Last year the kids and I made a big list of things to do around town. This year, we are going to travel more. Jackson is dying to visit Kentucky. No real reason, except it's COOL. Alyse wants to go to DC. They both want to go to museums. I'm not sure what we will actually do, but we will do some road trips. And we are joining the local pool again. I took a break from it last year, b/c it's a rundown pool with crotchety owners. But the kids missed seeing people they knew, so we will join this year. I'm looking forward to laying around and relaxing!
Luckily, I have a ton of other things to keep my mind off of it. 12 school days left with students. Yee-haw. 6 days left til the pool opens! Alyse is doing track 2 nights a week, Jackson starts baseball 2 nights a week, and he has soccer for one more week. Add that to my new daily workout routine and lots of meetings/planning for the next school year, and the Powells are very busy.
I am so ready for summer. Last year the kids and I made a big list of things to do around town. This year, we are going to travel more. Jackson is dying to visit Kentucky. No real reason, except it's COOL. Alyse wants to go to DC. They both want to go to museums. I'm not sure what we will actually do, but we will do some road trips. And we are joining the local pool again. I took a break from it last year, b/c it's a rundown pool with crotchety owners. But the kids missed seeing people they knew, so we will join this year. I'm looking forward to laying around and relaxing!
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Now the work begins
I met with a realtor this week over spring break. Good news is that he thinks our house can sell at an okay price--pretty much sell for what we paid 12 years ago. Of course, the dream is to earn lots of equity, but...that's okay. And our mortgage loan is obviously less than it was when we took it out, so we'll have a down payment on our next house.
And the work to get the house ready begins.
The 'musts' are new carpeting throughout and repainting the master/bed bath. The carpeting was not a surprise to us. We put in builder-grade carpet way back when and it is worn and stained in many places. A few rooms aren't too bad (Jackson's room, the hallway), but we are going to price out just changing it all so it is fresh. The master bedroom was not something we anticipated. We have it painted peach with white wood accents and a beachy theme. However, the realtor said "pink" is a hard sell. Gulp. It looks pink? So we will put in a neutral taupe there. Our master bedroom furniture is also huge and he recommended taking out one of our dressers to make the room look bigger. I consider my dresser a big waste of space, so I'm willing to sell/donate it. But it's heavy, so it will be a pain.
The 'strong suggestion' was to turn our front room back into the dining room it was supposed to be. We currently have bookshelves, a desk, and a rocking chair in there and call it our office. The realtor envisioned a funky chandelier, dining room table, and sconces and mirror on the wall. Since it's the first room you walk into, he said if it looks classy, it gives the whole house a different feel. We have a nice-ish kitchen table set with dark wood in our breakfast area that we could put in the front room. And I'm sure Chuck could find us a small kitchen table to put back in the breakfast nook. The challenge will be figuring out what to do with the bookshelves and desk. Brett doesn't want to junk up the crawl space with them and he also doesn't want to rent a storage unit again.
The other little things he suggested was washing the walls in the foyer, taking Old English to all of the trim, installing a new kitchen sink b/c ours looks old, and touching up paint in front room.
It seems like a lot, but it's all doable. My goal is to get our house on the market by May 1. Brett thinks that is way too soon. We'll see what happens!
And the work to get the house ready begins.
The 'musts' are new carpeting throughout and repainting the master/bed bath. The carpeting was not a surprise to us. We put in builder-grade carpet way back when and it is worn and stained in many places. A few rooms aren't too bad (Jackson's room, the hallway), but we are going to price out just changing it all so it is fresh. The master bedroom was not something we anticipated. We have it painted peach with white wood accents and a beachy theme. However, the realtor said "pink" is a hard sell. Gulp. It looks pink? So we will put in a neutral taupe there. Our master bedroom furniture is also huge and he recommended taking out one of our dressers to make the room look bigger. I consider my dresser a big waste of space, so I'm willing to sell/donate it. But it's heavy, so it will be a pain.
The 'strong suggestion' was to turn our front room back into the dining room it was supposed to be. We currently have bookshelves, a desk, and a rocking chair in there and call it our office. The realtor envisioned a funky chandelier, dining room table, and sconces and mirror on the wall. Since it's the first room you walk into, he said if it looks classy, it gives the whole house a different feel. We have a nice-ish kitchen table set with dark wood in our breakfast area that we could put in the front room. And I'm sure Chuck could find us a small kitchen table to put back in the breakfast nook. The challenge will be figuring out what to do with the bookshelves and desk. Brett doesn't want to junk up the crawl space with them and he also doesn't want to rent a storage unit again.
The other little things he suggested was washing the walls in the foyer, taking Old English to all of the trim, installing a new kitchen sink b/c ours looks old, and touching up paint in front room.
It seems like a lot, but it's all doable. My goal is to get our house on the market by May 1. Brett thinks that is way too soon. We'll see what happens!
Monday, April 1, 2013
Might really happen
I have a secret...shhh...Brett and I are thinking about moving. It's a secret because Brett does NOT want to talk about it, think about it, make plans, help get the house ready, did I mention talk about it? :) I will talk about it...just not with Brett around!
I don't know if it's because I'm turning 40 this year or I just realized that I've never in my life lived in a house as long as I've been in this one, but I feel very restless. Kacey quote: "We are 40 now! Is the house we bought at age 27 what we want to stay in forever? What are we waiting for...moving at 50 when the kids move out?" So with that plus the market turning around, Brett agreed to look into moving. But the thought of it gives him a lot of anxiety, so we agreed that I will meet with a realtor and do the planning things and he will stay out of my way. Might sound crazy, but it works for us!
We have 2 destinations in mind. One is Reynoldsburg. That's where the kids go to school and we have a lot of contacts, in terms of people and activities. Plus I work there, so the kids and I are on the same schedule and I know a lot of their teachers. It is ideal on many levels. However, there are not many neighborhoods that are appealing to us. And the city of Reynoldsburg does not have a lot of entertainment/restaurant options that we like. So we find ourselves going to Gahanna on the weekends.
Which leads to the question, should we move there? There are a lot of houses for sale that we like, but they are in contract already. Which really is a good thing--houses are moving there. The schools are good and it is closer to everything and everyone. (except my job) But it would mean a new parks/rec dept for sports, new school for kids...etc.
Pros and cons to both, but as of 10:04 a.m. 4/1/2013 we are leaning towards Gahanna. I meet with a realtor on Wednesday to see what he thinks about what we need to do to sell our house. One thing that I KNOW is that Brett can't stand having a house for sale. So hopefully, we can move it fast. Exciting (scary) times.
I don't know if it's because I'm turning 40 this year or I just realized that I've never in my life lived in a house as long as I've been in this one, but I feel very restless. Kacey quote: "We are 40 now! Is the house we bought at age 27 what we want to stay in forever? What are we waiting for...moving at 50 when the kids move out?" So with that plus the market turning around, Brett agreed to look into moving. But the thought of it gives him a lot of anxiety, so we agreed that I will meet with a realtor and do the planning things and he will stay out of my way. Might sound crazy, but it works for us!
We have 2 destinations in mind. One is Reynoldsburg. That's where the kids go to school and we have a lot of contacts, in terms of people and activities. Plus I work there, so the kids and I are on the same schedule and I know a lot of their teachers. It is ideal on many levels. However, there are not many neighborhoods that are appealing to us. And the city of Reynoldsburg does not have a lot of entertainment/restaurant options that we like. So we find ourselves going to Gahanna on the weekends.
Which leads to the question, should we move there? There are a lot of houses for sale that we like, but they are in contract already. Which really is a good thing--houses are moving there. The schools are good and it is closer to everything and everyone. (except my job) But it would mean a new parks/rec dept for sports, new school for kids...etc.
Pros and cons to both, but as of 10:04 a.m. 4/1/2013 we are leaning towards Gahanna. I meet with a realtor on Wednesday to see what he thinks about what we need to do to sell our house. One thing that I KNOW is that Brett can't stand having a house for sale. So hopefully, we can move it fast. Exciting (scary) times.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Snow day!!
It's the 2nd snow day of the year. And it is SOOO needed. My job has been crazy lately. I have had 3 students suddenly move (as in just gone one day) over the past 3 weeks. And I have had 3 students move in. It sounds like no big deal, but it is. The scheduling of when they are available, figuring out where they are academically and behaviorally, and grouping of the new mix is time consuming. I promised myself that if I got a snow day today I would spend the day getting my life organized at school. Of course, now that I got it.....I'm not interested in work!
So instead I'm planning out my personal life and getting activities on the books. Summer vaca is set for Topsail, North Carolina. Cabin in Hocking Hills is rented for Thanksgiving. My DZ college friends and I have started a new tradition of a Girl's Weekend every summer. We did Boston in 2010, Nashville 2011 (I missed it), Hocking Hills 2012 and this summer will be Niagara Falls. I have been researching different hotels and packages and today I plan to send out our final choices.
I'm also going to be looking at things to do on Spring Break with the kids, summer sports, and which pool to join. I love getting stuff on the calendar and I have a whole day to do it. YAY!
So instead I'm planning out my personal life and getting activities on the books. Summer vaca is set for Topsail, North Carolina. Cabin in Hocking Hills is rented for Thanksgiving. My DZ college friends and I have started a new tradition of a Girl's Weekend every summer. We did Boston in 2010, Nashville 2011 (I missed it), Hocking Hills 2012 and this summer will be Niagara Falls. I have been researching different hotels and packages and today I plan to send out our final choices.
I'm also going to be looking at things to do on Spring Break with the kids, summer sports, and which pool to join. I love getting stuff on the calendar and I have a whole day to do it. YAY!
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Life in 2013
Alyse: I wish you and Daddy would just get divorced soon.
Me: What? Why?
Alyse: Because you know you are going to. No one stays married to the same person forever. So I want you to get the divorce over with so I don't have to wonder when it will happen.
Jackson: I'm ready for dinner with Reagan and Addie. I brought my Nabi tablet for Addie to play with, my DSi for me to play with, and your old smartphone if Reagan forgot her iPod Touch.
Alyse: I just watched 2 hours of American Idol in 17 minutes! And my favorite girl made it!
Jackson: Get off the computer, Mommy. I have to get on Scootpad.com and play A LOT. Alex B. is ahead of me in homework points!
Me: What? Why?
Alyse: Because you know you are going to. No one stays married to the same person forever. So I want you to get the divorce over with so I don't have to wonder when it will happen.
Jackson: I'm ready for dinner with Reagan and Addie. I brought my Nabi tablet for Addie to play with, my DSi for me to play with, and your old smartphone if Reagan forgot her iPod Touch.
Alyse: I just watched 2 hours of American Idol in 17 minutes! And my favorite girl made it!
Jackson: Get off the computer, Mommy. I have to get on Scootpad.com and play A LOT. Alex B. is ahead of me in homework points!
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Dinner conversation
Tonight we read a Table Topic Card that said, "If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?"
Alyse: I would make the world just like the Candy Land game. Everything and everyone would be made out of candy. If you got hungry, you would just eat your arm and it would grow back.
Jackson: I would make the world just like Star Wars. We would all have light sabers and get to fight all day.
Kacey: I would make a law where every job paid the same, so everyone would find a job they liked and not worry about what it paid.
Alyse: That is the dumbest thing ever. You should just make a world where things are free.
Jackson: What?? Then there would be no criminals and no jails! That would be terrible if the bad guys had nowhere to go.
Brett: There would still be criminals, they just wouldn't be in jail for stealing.
Jackson: Yeah, but if everything is free, then the criminal would just 'buy' the jail and let himself out!
Brett: Well, anyway, I would make a world where everything is run on green energy, like solar power and windpower.
Jackson: Ooohhh...I like Daddy's world that has powers!
Alyse: I would make the world just like the Candy Land game. Everything and everyone would be made out of candy. If you got hungry, you would just eat your arm and it would grow back.
Jackson: I would make the world just like Star Wars. We would all have light sabers and get to fight all day.
Kacey: I would make a law where every job paid the same, so everyone would find a job they liked and not worry about what it paid.
Alyse: That is the dumbest thing ever. You should just make a world where things are free.
Jackson: What?? Then there would be no criminals and no jails! That would be terrible if the bad guys had nowhere to go.
Brett: There would still be criminals, they just wouldn't be in jail for stealing.
Jackson: Yeah, but if everything is free, then the criminal would just 'buy' the jail and let himself out!
Brett: Well, anyway, I would make a world where everything is run on green energy, like solar power and windpower.
Jackson: Ooohhh...I like Daddy's world that has powers!
Thursday, January 17, 2013
It's January...when is spring break, again?
Mrs. Powell, (sobbing) don't send home that note. You are crushing my dreams. (sobbing) If I have to get that note signed (sobbing) it will LITERALLY crush my dreams.
SHUT UP, Mrs. Powell! Stop saying that it is time for lunch. I have 2 more minutes. You are LYING.
I seriously can't do any work today. See this (miniscule) cut on my fingertip? It's killing me. Can I go get an icepack or just go home?
Why is there a police car in front of school? Are they coming to take me to jail? Can I hide?
Read this sentence for me. (Today I went to the bake sale.) Today I .....w....w...waterslided...to O.M.G. Mrs. Powell. I just read the word WATERSLIDED! I am SUCH a good reader! WOW.
Don't lie to me. I know your mom didn't sign this note. Yes, she did. I promise. Your mom does not write her name as a wavy line. She uses letters to make her name. Tell me the truth. Did she write this? No. Thank you for being honest. Now who signed that? My dad, he can't spell.
What's the setting of this story? Friends. Do you remember what setting means? Yeah, it's where it happened. Right, so where did this happen? Friends. It happened at 'friends'? No, Mrs. Powell, that doesn't make sense. You're silly. Okay, so WHERE did this story happen? Friends.
I promise I didn't steal your marker. Sometimes things just end up in my pocket. It's like my hands put them there without asking my brain.
SHUT UP, Mrs. Powell! Stop saying that it is time for lunch. I have 2 more minutes. You are LYING.
I seriously can't do any work today. See this (miniscule) cut on my fingertip? It's killing me. Can I go get an icepack or just go home?
Why is there a police car in front of school? Are they coming to take me to jail? Can I hide?
Read this sentence for me. (Today I went to the bake sale.) Today I .....w....w...waterslided...to O.M.G. Mrs. Powell. I just read the word WATERSLIDED! I am SUCH a good reader! WOW.
Don't lie to me. I know your mom didn't sign this note. Yes, she did. I promise. Your mom does not write her name as a wavy line. She uses letters to make her name. Tell me the truth. Did she write this? No. Thank you for being honest. Now who signed that? My dad, he can't spell.
What's the setting of this story? Friends. Do you remember what setting means? Yeah, it's where it happened. Right, so where did this happen? Friends. It happened at 'friends'? No, Mrs. Powell, that doesn't make sense. You're silly. Okay, so WHERE did this story happen? Friends.
I promise I didn't steal your marker. Sometimes things just end up in my pocket. It's like my hands put them there without asking my brain.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Seriously??
How is it almost Christmas already??
My last day of work is this Friday and my first Christmas celebration is on Monday. I thought teachers were supposed to get a few days off before! And I go back on January 2nd. Seriously??
I guess that sounds sort of whiny...but I am really stressing out. Here it is, Wednesday night and I still have to make sure the kids' presents are done and relatively even, pick up a few more presents for others, wrap tons of gifts, ice sugar cookies with the kids, make more cookies that we bought ingredients for, plan/buy the Christmas breakfast, plan/buy a Christmas lunch, and meanwhile spend time with the kids and somehow fit in a badly needed haircut. (When a friend calls me Rosanna Rosannadanna, it's time)
And the undercurrent to all the stress of the season is the elementary shootings. I was pretty matter-of-fact about it until last night. That's when I read a trending article called "What Six Looks Like", I read an obit of a boy who reminded me of Jackson, and I saw what exactly an assault rifle is. How can I not imagine a man walking into Jackson's classroom and pointing it at him and shooting him 5 times? How can I not imagine my classroom being attacked, with me hiding students under me and praying we all get out okay? How can I not imagine parents like myself looking at Christmas presents that will never be given and toys that will never be played with again? Maybe it's the mark of an introvert to not let things in quickly, but I have just 'got it' about how horrible it all is. Last night I couldn't stop crying and I just wanted to hug Jackson all night long.
As I write this, I realize that I don't even care about the presents and food. I'm just glad my family is safe and my kids are happy.
My last day of work is this Friday and my first Christmas celebration is on Monday. I thought teachers were supposed to get a few days off before! And I go back on January 2nd. Seriously??
I guess that sounds sort of whiny...but I am really stressing out. Here it is, Wednesday night and I still have to make sure the kids' presents are done and relatively even, pick up a few more presents for others, wrap tons of gifts, ice sugar cookies with the kids, make more cookies that we bought ingredients for, plan/buy the Christmas breakfast, plan/buy a Christmas lunch, and meanwhile spend time with the kids and somehow fit in a badly needed haircut. (When a friend calls me Rosanna Rosannadanna, it's time)
And the undercurrent to all the stress of the season is the elementary shootings. I was pretty matter-of-fact about it until last night. That's when I read a trending article called "What Six Looks Like", I read an obit of a boy who reminded me of Jackson, and I saw what exactly an assault rifle is. How can I not imagine a man walking into Jackson's classroom and pointing it at him and shooting him 5 times? How can I not imagine my classroom being attacked, with me hiding students under me and praying we all get out okay? How can I not imagine parents like myself looking at Christmas presents that will never be given and toys that will never be played with again? Maybe it's the mark of an introvert to not let things in quickly, but I have just 'got it' about how horrible it all is. Last night I couldn't stop crying and I just wanted to hug Jackson all night long.
As I write this, I realize that I don't even care about the presents and food. I'm just glad my family is safe and my kids are happy.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Roller coaster
I have had a roller coaster ride the past 2 days. I think that explains my day today--pjs, laundry, computer.
On Friday, the staff at school found out that our principal was put on administrative leave. Without going into specifics, it made for an exhausting day. I was interviewed by school admin and the local police department. I was asked to watch footage from the hallways at school and type up a report of an incident. Looking back on it now, it seems that it would be sort of exciting. I'm a huge Law & Order/lawyer books fan and here I was getting interrogated by two real live detectives. But it was awful. The whole day I felt like I was having a mini-panic attack. That night, I talked with Brett about it all and spoke with a few colleagues. We were all in shock.
However, Saturday was great. The 4 of us cleaned out my Rav4 and headed to Subaru to BUY ME A CAR! When I started blogging again last month, I re-read some old stuff I wrote. In May 2011 I wrote a post about wanting a new car. And here it was, almost 18 months later, and I hadn't done anything about it. So that brings us to today. We went to Subaru and knew we wanted a 2013 Legacy sedan. We had done our research, knew the CR Bottom Line pricing, Dealer Invoice pricing, and the KBB value of our trade. And Brett was ready for battle. Dreading it, but ready. Well, our sales guy was great (pre-set up online by me) and he quoted us a car price of $600 less than the bottom line and a trade price of $500 more than KBB recommended. We were shocked. I got to pull away with a new red car that has black leather seats and is only $42 more a month than my last payment we've been used to. And on top of that, no haggling or wondering if we got taken with the price! The kids were fantastic during our 4 hour process and were rewarded with a pound of crab each at Red Lobster by Papa and Nana. Alyse quote: "Crab makes everything better."
Today, I'm a mixed bag. I woke up and stared at my new car. I took Jackson out at 7:30am to get donuts and he had fun in the front seat with the heated seats and radio controls. So exciting! But then I think about tomorrow and wonder what work will be like. Will our principal be back? If not, who will step in? This is the first Sunday in a long time that I have not gone to work to get copies and plans done for the next week. I just can't face the building today. Things will be a-changin', that's for sure. For now, I plan to catch up on DVR, laundry, and online Christmas shopping.
On Friday, the staff at school found out that our principal was put on administrative leave. Without going into specifics, it made for an exhausting day. I was interviewed by school admin and the local police department. I was asked to watch footage from the hallways at school and type up a report of an incident. Looking back on it now, it seems that it would be sort of exciting. I'm a huge Law & Order/lawyer books fan and here I was getting interrogated by two real live detectives. But it was awful. The whole day I felt like I was having a mini-panic attack. That night, I talked with Brett about it all and spoke with a few colleagues. We were all in shock.
However, Saturday was great. The 4 of us cleaned out my Rav4 and headed to Subaru to BUY ME A CAR! When I started blogging again last month, I re-read some old stuff I wrote. In May 2011 I wrote a post about wanting a new car. And here it was, almost 18 months later, and I hadn't done anything about it. So that brings us to today. We went to Subaru and knew we wanted a 2013 Legacy sedan. We had done our research, knew the CR Bottom Line pricing, Dealer Invoice pricing, and the KBB value of our trade. And Brett was ready for battle. Dreading it, but ready. Well, our sales guy was great (pre-set up online by me) and he quoted us a car price of $600 less than the bottom line and a trade price of $500 more than KBB recommended. We were shocked. I got to pull away with a new red car that has black leather seats and is only $42 more a month than my last payment we've been used to. And on top of that, no haggling or wondering if we got taken with the price! The kids were fantastic during our 4 hour process and were rewarded with a pound of crab each at Red Lobster by Papa and Nana. Alyse quote: "Crab makes everything better."
Today, I'm a mixed bag. I woke up and stared at my new car. I took Jackson out at 7:30am to get donuts and he had fun in the front seat with the heated seats and radio controls. So exciting! But then I think about tomorrow and wonder what work will be like. Will our principal be back? If not, who will step in? This is the first Sunday in a long time that I have not gone to work to get copies and plans done for the next week. I just can't face the building today. Things will be a-changin', that's for sure. For now, I plan to catch up on DVR, laundry, and online Christmas shopping.
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