My standards… they are a changin’…

This recent loss of my ‘dream’ home has changed my perspective. When I first started this search, my standards were high. Only the best neighborhoods with the best construction were acceptable.

Then, when house after house shot off the market (from those who made offers within days of the house being listed) leaving me empty handed, I realized changes had to be made for me to survive.

Now I look and say, ‘Hmm. Four walls? Check. Roof? Kinda. Check. Neighbors? No gun racks or apparent drug dealers. Check.’

At this stage I feel like a 45 year old looking for a date. The options are few and rejections frequent.

You know the feeling.

It’s like you’ve been rejected by every cute boy in school because you just aren’t appealing enough. Someone other girl was cuter… richer … and faster at telling the boy she liked him.

Well, I’ve been rejected by every San Diego homeowner… darn those cute girls who tell the boy they like him faster and get the house *cough* I mean, the date.

So I’m reaching. I’m a 45 year old. Reaching.

And they countered…

We received a counter offer from the homeowner and the bank that happens to have control of their home. Let me preface the following with this statement:

We offered the homeowners (and the bank) what they were asking. We didn’t ask for a deal. We didn’t make them ‘bend over’. We just said, ‘Hey, that number sounds kinda fair, we’ll go for it.’

Sounds reasonable right?!?!

Their counter offer? WAS MORE THAN THE ASKING PRICE!

… and coincidentally 40 GRAND MORE than we offered.

Listen Mister Banker, if you want more for the house… ASK MORE FOR THE HOUSE. Don’t waste my time!!!

And worse, the house has been sitting vacant for 3 months and we were the FIRST offer! You’d think they’d be excited at the interest but nooooo.

Frankly I’m not sure what kind of high potency ganja these dudes are smoking… but it must be the good stuff. Did they have too many ‘special’ brownies? Are they celebrating St. Patty’s Day early and took a double shot before replying?

Needless to say, we’re wiping our hands clean of their silliness. I have to admit, I’m more than a little bummed. So if I’m a little weepy today… just excuse me.

Back to square one folks.

Things are simply… out of control.

Sorry for the long space between updates – I’ve been a bit busy as of late. Lizard has been in town so I find myself spending less time at the office, and more time hanging out. It may be the only time I get to see them this year so I’m trying to squish in every minute.

My stress level has been a bit on the high side. That may be due to the booming metronome type beating in my ears saying, ‘Higher interest rates, taxes,100%’ over and over again. I can imagine this is what menopause feels like to those who haven’t had children. It’s a suffocating, life consuming thought. Our taxes are due April 17th but we have to have the cash in our account during escrow so we really have to buy quickly before the cash is gone. To add more straw to this camels back, banks are phasing out 100% financing – and last time I checked, we don’t have 80+ grand for the 20% down. Chris has been working weekends so time is tough to come by.

Tick tock screamed the clock.

I have a problem I would like to bring to light… I’m addicted to books. I rent books on CD from the library and listen to hours and hours of the classics on my ipod. Well, I’m not sure if my most recent ‘Historical Romance’ was a ‘classic’ per se, but it was a good book. I didn’t realize this was a problem until I was in the middle of payroll and found my eyes welling with giant tears while I shouted, ‘Why did Richard have to die?!? How will Florentina go on?!?!’ Think that’s bad? Oh it gets worse. I found myself interjecting into a conversation saying, ‘I had a friend who attended Radcliff. She met JFK’… umm, now I’m addressing fictional characters as close friends?!?

I need a life.

Easter is fast approaching and that can only mean one thing…Cadbury chocolate eggs. I love them and I hate them. Love because I could eat an entire delicious bag of chocolate goodness in a day… hate because that bag has nearly 100 grams of fat. Perhaps I could learn all the lyrics to ‘I Like Big Butts’. It will be applicable to me shortly.

Speaking of big butts, Lizard, Colegate and I went shopping the other day. Cole has been shedding a worrisome amount of weight and is teetering and the fringe of weighing less than me. Problem? She’s 2” taller. As we shopped in Buckle, the girls constantly complained from the dressing room, ‘Do you have a SMALLER size?’. I stood outside with the kids and stared at my reflection in the mirror thinking… ‘When did I turn into the chubby sister?!?!’ I’ve always been the smallest or the second smallest!! Even worse, since when do my sisters make all 124 pounds of me LOOK chubby in comparison?!?!

So am I looking into laying off the Cadbury Eggs for the season?

Heck no! (I say as I’m drinking my Super Big Gulp from 7-11) I’m looking into force feeding the Olsen twinesque sisters of mine cheeseburgers. Perhaps I can tell Cole they are ‘South Beach Diet’ approved.