Chellisms

Around Town

Just a few pics found round the 'hood.

Kind of makes me wonder what kind of kinky people are running this state.

Oh, and I made Tim pull over on the side of the extremely crowded 405  and almost froze my ass off trying to get this shot as cars whizzed past at high speeds. I say almost because I gave up and got back in the Jeep to take this pic.

This one is just wrong. Cracks me up everytime I walk past it though.

Hrmm, this one makes me very suspicious of Washington drivers...

Bring your floaties!

We have lived here for 8 weeks.

We have cleaned from top to bottom.

We have had our first mishap and are still waiting for it to be fixed. I have had an appointment scheduled for weeks and have my fingers crossed that the contractor will actually show up on August 6th.

Yesterday it got even better. We now have an indoor swimming pool. Okay, more like a wading pool. The girl's 3rd floor bathroom, that one that we are all using for showering since the above mishap, has sprung a leak.

Well, maybe.

It might be the neighbors 3rd floor washer. But we spoke with them last night and the husband assured Tim that no laundry was done yesterday.

The only problem is that now I can't replicate the problem. The owner wants to wait until it happens again or until we can figure out where the water is coming from. It isn't leaking through the ceiling, it is leaking through the exhaust fan over the washer and dryer. Excuse me while I hyperventilate.

Doesn't that just sound lovely?  Who wants to come swim with us? May can not come fast enough.

While considering buying a house versus renting I came across an article Melissa, author of Suburban Bliss, had posted on her site. Check it out here.

Oh, and just so you know the reason that I am hyperventilating is that we are paying for the first mishap. I still think that there was a weak spot in the tub and Tim just had the great luck of finding it. An accident yes, but an accident costing us a few hundred dollars to have fixed. The owner is less than happy with us at this point, the feeling is mutual.

Are we going to be stuck with the bill for this as well?

Tim Proves Me Wrong

Tim had a realization this past weekend. It was a big one. Huge, even!

He doesn't want to buy this house. The house we just moved into. Seven and a half weeks ago!

SHIT!

As the two of us were moving furniture in those very few weeks ago I kept saying "crap, this is going to suck when we move out".  I have complained over and over about the things that I want to change. A lot of the changes are cosmetic, we both know that, we really do but some of them are not. The question is do we want to pay the owners top dollar asking price* and then sink in another $50-75K after that?   

He took everything I said to heart.

As we sat in the living room reading HP over the weekend he looked up and said "I don't want to buy this house". He wants a backyard. And a dog. I want more closet space. The kids want a swing set in their own backyard. I am glad that we decided to lease for a year before making a long term commitment.

I tend to think he tunes me out when I talk, I guess this just proves that he actually listens.

Crap.

*The owners have wallpapered and done some custom painting through out the house. They also did some upgrading to the kitchen, but they did it themselves and it isn't done well enough to be considered an actual upgrade. A perfect example is the granite in the kitchen, it isn't level and one edge of the bar top is jagged, as in every time I walk past it I gouge my arm open (yes, smart ass, one would think I would learn). After working in the real estate field I know damn well that any appraiser coming in would not consider these things upgrades, he would also probably also call for a few things to be corrected prior to closing.

Basically what it comes down to is that I don't want to fight with the sellers over what they think is perfect. To me this house isn't worth all of that hassle, I would much rather hassle over a house that I truly love and this house just isn't it.

So, who wants to help us move next May?

Wee Bit O' Frustration

We have officially been in the house for a month. One month. As of today.

About a week after we moved in we had our first new house accident. Tim stuck his foot (big toe) through the side of the master bathroom tub. A fiberglass tub. He took a shower, turned off the water, opened the curtain to get his towel and crack. Then he yells for me, I think he thought I might say "oh, I can fix that". What he got was "holy hell that is going to be an expensive fix".

It happened on a Sunday and there wasn't much I could do until the next business day. We couldn't use the shower until it was repaired, it is a 3rd story bathroom. I don't want to take any chances with leaking or mold.

My mom works with a woman who flips houses and she knew a restoration guy, supposedly a good one. So I called him. He took his sweet ass time and called me back a couple of days later. He gave me a price (low hundreds) and said he would contact me in a few days to work out a time. We finally got back in touch and he was scheduled to be here 6/27. I gave him the address and we hung up. Yay!

Then he called back.

Fiberglass Guy: I thought you said you lived in K********.

Me: Nope, K***.

FG: Did you move? "Cause I swore you said K********.

Me: Right, I moved and took the bathtub with a hole in it with me.

FG: Oh, I don't want to drive that far. Call this guy instead.

I called him a very nasty name after hanging up. The girls were no where around, I was safe. I have left messages with the other guy but have gotten no calls back. I am trying other places but most of them seem to be in disbelief of what happened. I realize it is a stupid problem but I still need the damn thing fixed. Besides, what the hell does it matter how it happened. You come out and fix it and I pay you hundreds of dollars. How hard is that??

Days in new house: 30

Days taking showers in girls' bathroom: 16

Oh, Tims fine by the way. I just call him dumbass a lot more often. 

Take a tour with me

With only a few boxes left to unpack and the camera charger found it must be time to take you on a tour of the house. Let's go:

Front of the house, taken while a nosy neighbor peeks through her curtains at me. There are house numbers on the white strip under the light, but I smudged them out with a little help from Gimp. You don't really need those.

 

Side view of the house. The doors to the right of the garage door are the entrance to the fire sprinkler shut off valve room, er, place. All I know is that I hope to never have to call the man who has the key to that door.

Front door view. I practically had to stand in my neighbors entryway to get this one. Gotta love the closeness of planned communities.

 

Front stoop looking in. Up takes you to the main floor and down takes you to the garage and Tims lab-O-ratory (this must be said using Dexter's voice). Oh, and sorry for the slight blurriness but I am so not retaking these.

From the front floor going up if you turn to the right you wander into the dining room. Who's feeling the pin cushion paint job? Who wants to come help me repaint?? There are 2 odd colored rhombus (rhombuses, rhombus', rhombi? Where's Tay when I need her expertise??) One is that green-y gray that you can see and the other is lower and more lime green. It totally screws me, must go!

Standing in the corner of the dining room looking toward the kitchen. Pin cushion paint job, check! Epicurious foil stencil, check! Nauseatingly nauseating, check! Do the refrigerator hangings make it look cluttered? No laughing at my Bert and Ernie stool (which one is it? I call him Bernie just to be safe.)

The kitchen looking toward the pantry (tiny!), linen closet (coat closet being converted), laundry area and powder room. Meh, not much going on here.

Okay, onto the living room. If we had turned left at the top of the stairs we would have wound up in here. With NEW FURNITURE! Okay, the room totally needs some color, I get that. It just isn't up there on my to do list. Yet. New couches!!

Other half of the living room. The corner unit houses my desktop pc and other office paraphernalia. The recliner will go in the opposite corner, as soon as we bring it upstairs. We didn't buy the couches to match the recliner, we just got extremely lucky and didn't realize it until the couches were delivered.

Must pay homage to the new TV. Tim is in love with it, he has discovered that he can play City of Heroes (I totally typed Herpes and had to erase it) and Villains in 37 inch splendor. That being said I made him buy the nifty new pc case sitting next to the table, if it is going to be visible it has to match. Also, the cables are all being run under the carpet, still a few more to go but they won't be visible once he is done.

Upstairs we go. If you turn to the left you come into the master bedroom, with NEW FURNITURE!

Our bed, with the NEW MATTRESS. Love the NEW MATTRESS! And the bedding, the bedding makes me feel all calm and serene.

Okay, that's a crock but I do really like it.

That TV is a dinosaur, have had it longer than we have been married. But, it still works great. It probably won't get much use up here but at least we have the option.

I totally moved the 3 stacks of clothes that were on top to take this picture. I can admit to them but I just can't bring myself to show them to you.

Master bath. Just eh, I liked the old master bath better.

Girls bathroom, boring. But I did remember to clean the blue toothpaste out of the sink.

I did take pics of the girl's rooms but they came out super blurry. Those will pop up later.

Okay, now we go downstairs.

The Mudroom. Whoa boy. This room is a doozy. Entertainment center, wouldn't fit up the stairs. TV, wouldn't fit through the doorways (had to take off hinges and expended a lot of $5 words). This is where everything comes before it gets put away. Boxes come in, are opened and sorted from there. All I can say is YIKES! We have a friend coming this weekend, will be spotless by then.

I have no comment on these last 2 pics. None. Nada. Zip. I will just tell you that these are from Tims lab-O-ratory. It is an unfinished room off of the mudroom and houses all of his "toys". Scuba equipment, check! Paintball guns, check! Thousands of dollars in computer crap, er, stuff, check! Tacky souvenir "stuff", check!

Basically anything that he wants to play with but I want out of sight is in here. He is madly in love with this room. He tends to disappear for hours at a time, then one of us has to go dig him out.

We do have a small back patio but I have not put out any pretty pots or plants. At this point I want those last 10 boxes empty and the mudroom spotless. By Friday.

Edited to add: My spacing is wonky and kinda driving me nutso, kinda like those 2 rhombus things in the dining room. Heh... I give up, no idea how to fix.