So, I made an offer on the house, the county “pink” house, on Wednesday. Actually, it was turned in on Thursday, but still…I haven’t heard anything back at all, except that the listing agent said that the seller was in New York.

That is total BS. You would think that a person who wanted to sell their house would stay in some form of contact with the listing agent. I mean, it is the 21st century and all. It seems like it’s harder and harder to stay out of contact with people.

So, since I haven’t heard anything, I’m going to retract the offer. I’m not going to be left hanging like that. Even though I really like the house, it’s not worth it. I don’t have time to sit around, twiddling my thumbs while the seller does who knows what.

There’re a few other houses that I’ve seen online that I’m going to check out. The lease is up 8/13, so I do have a bit of time.

Ugh. I just want a frickin’ house. Is that too much to ask? 😛

Found a house, made an offer. w00t! I don’t feel as bad as before. It seems like the emotional steps to buying a home are as tiered as dealing with any great emotional stress. The stages seem to be ponderance, sheer mortification, doubt, and “ahh, hell with it. let’s do it!”.

It’s the second house I looked at. Really nice floorplan, although the entire house is frickin’ painted mauve (kinda dark pinkish). So, the first thing I’m going to do after closing–well, maybe second thing since my wrist will be tired from signing–will be to paint the whole thing. The place has sky blue carpeting which I’m not all that wild about, either, so that’ll go eventually.

Obligatory Pictures

So, I go to see a buyer agent early on this fine eve. Just about every aspect of this buying a house thing makes me nervous: What will break the bank for me? What the heck kind of maintenence would be waiting for me in such new digs? Septic or sewer (you pretty much have a choice since 10 minutes in just about any direction leads you into the country)? Resale value? Am I gonna get screwed by the interest rates that are slowly creepin’ up? Will I be able to find a decent and nice-looking place for the price range I’m thinking of? So many dire and dark questions, you’d think the end of time was swiftly approaching. lol.

I think what I’m looking forward most is the looking part. It can take a long time to find what fits you, as I’ve seen when my parents have taken me to look for the family house. I’m hoping that maybe by the end of July I’ll find something and perhaps by early August I’ll close, but we’ll see. The buyer agent is just that: he’s a realtor that’s focused on buying houses for clients and not selling to them. He came recommended via a friend, who said he was pretty awesome. All this stuff I’m learning–it’s almost like I’m in school again 😀 Ruthie is going to help me look. It’ll be good to have a woman’s opinion of it all, me thinks 🙂 I think she’d be a fun companion to search with, too. I have a basic idea of what I want in a house but her opinions will speak volumes, me thinks.

There’re so many things I’m going to have to buy, too, one of which being a lawn mower. I suppose I could start out with something relatively cheap from Target or Wal-Mart, given everything else I know I’m probably going to have to buy. A washer & dryer is something, too. I’ve been spoiled by the free one furnished by the apartment. That one is a bit of a more expensive proposition. Perhaps I can either roll it into the closing of the house, or maybe I could concievably save for one before or shortly after the move-in.

Still, despite all this worry and nervousness, it’ll be good to give my apartment office the proverbial finger for trying to up my rent 16-20%. Doofuses 😛 At least I know that, chances are, a fixed-rate mortgage will never go up that much. From what I gather, the only place that a fixed-rate is variable is in the property taxes. I’ll be saving a bunch of moola–of course, it won’t seem that way when I have to get the AC or the roof replaced 😛

Crazy stuff…

In other news, I finished Half-Life 2: Episode One in a matter of a few short hours. This included a number of deaths from either stupidity or sheer numbers of Combine or zombies. Despite the short game play, I did thoroughly enjoy the plot. I enjoyed that most of that plot meant that Alyx was fighting alongside you–it’s easier to play through it when you have back-up, even if it is a bot backing you up. I can’t wait for Episode Two. I think the $19.99 I paid for it was a bit expensive, mainly because of the short game-time. It’s still cheaper than the $29.99 I originally paid for the Bronze Steam account that came with Half-Life 2.

My mom is doing better. She’s still at home, resting a good bit more comfortably. My dad says that she doesn’t seem to be in any pain. I think and hope she’s less tired than she was throughout the entire ordeal. A lot of her tiredness stems from her liver condition, though. Her liver hasn’t gotten any worse but, from what I’ve heard, it’ll never get any better. It’s definitely an uber relief to know that she’s out of immediate impending danger, though. That was another crazy and certainly scarier ride :-\

Today’s Thursday. w00t!

So, my mom is out of the hospital and doing better every day. I think and hope that all her pain now is merely surgery-related. We took her home yesterday afternoon. It’s been a while since she’s seen the sunshine, because her room didn’t have a window. I’m sure it was good for her to get out in the light, despite all of that uber humidity.

Anyhoo, the bro is coming this weekend from Greenfield. It should be a hoot. All of us will certainly be quite happy to see him.

My mom is out of surgery. Already, she seems better. Her breathing is certainly astronomically improved. We’ll probably be chillin’ out here at the hospital some more, guarding her as she sleeps 🙂

I’m definitely relieved, but I’ll be even better when we get her out of here! She’s definitely as relieved as we all are that the surgery is over.

Please keep my mom in your thoughts and prayers. I just got back from the hospital. She woke up in the middle of the night with screaming pain in her tummy. My dad got her to the ER because of the degree of pain. She went to sleep just fine, and she woke up that way.

Apparently, at this point, they’ve determined the trouble to be with gallstones she’s had for a while. Normally, this might not be such a big thing but her liver condition compounds things. I’m not sure how serious it is; I haven’t gotten much word outside of what she told me. Supposedly, gallstones with her liver condition do not make for a lot of goodness at all.

Funny how quickly a few hours pass when you’re in a hospital. It seemed like I just got there after being there for four hours. I’ve come back home to try to sleep a little. It didn’t appear any more word was coming soon, but I’ll be keepin’ my cell right by my bed.

In a way, I feel her pain because I had some major crampin’ the night before last that kept me up a good chunk of the night. It must be something in the water.

I think this was the first time I’ve cried in a movie. Truly cried. At the end of the movie, I think most people would be at least quite misty-eyed.

The Rant, the rave

Caprica

So, Ruthie and I went to a Renn Faire in a place called Ardmore, TN/AL. Part of the town is in TN and the other in AL. It’s a very small town. I think if you go into any retailer in that town, they all play country music. Quite sickening, really. lol.

Anyhoo, the Renn Faire was actually quite small compared to the one that happens in Florence every October. Just a 10 or so vendors encircling an area in the center where they had displays of dancing and swordfighting. It wasn’t too bad, but I think that I was pondering it would be bigger than that–I don’t think I’ve seen the full force of a Renn Faire yet. Maybe there’s a big one in Nashville.

I’m up to level 58 in WoW. I did my first Strat group last night. Stratholme looks a lot like Stormwind, the human capitol of Azeroth. The only difference is that the city, or at least the part that I got through, was full of undead and ghosts of citizens. Anyhoo, before you know it, I’ll be raiding for nothing more then rep and for the thrill of raiding.