That’s right folks, he’s an old man. His back always hurts, he snores, and he forgets EVERYTHING… but he’s still the cutest man I know. He’s been working really hard on our house and I am very proud of him. He’s in Toronto for business, and not feeling very well on his big day… but he’s supposed to go see the Yankees play the Bluejays so I think that will make him feel better. I hope you have a great birthday David and we will celebrate when you get home… there might even be cheesecake in your future (his fav).

David and I signed at the lawyers and got the keys yesterday! There’s a lot of work to be done, but we feel confident that we can handle it. We spent our first night scraping the popcorn ceilings in the guest bath and master bedroom. It came off really easy, thankfully, but made such a mess. Thank goodness that everythign needs to be replaced anyway. Lowes comes on Tuesday to measure and give us estimates fro the carpet and hardwoods. We probably will not do hardwoods all at once, but we will at least get the living room done (plus they are 20% off right now). David also started to fix the latch on the fence that didn’t work, but had to cut that project short after he drilled the holes because it started downpouring.

Our neighbors across the street have been fantastic too! They are about our age, have a baby and a pooch, and they have been letting us borrow stuff left and right! They are letting us borrow their Power Painter so we don’t have to spend $100 on one and get painting done quicker,  and they let us borrow their scraping tool for the ceilings. We were just using drop cloths, 10-inch putty scrapers, and a bug sprayer filled with 1 part vinegar to 10 parts water. Comes off easy but gets all over. Our neighbors tool is a scraper with an attachment for a bag so all the crapola goes into it instead of on a drop cloth. Can’t wait to try that out!

All of our tools have been getting great use (thanks Uncle Bo for such a wonderful Christmas present so many years ago) and we will surely add to the collection. Luckily, our wonderful real eastate agent and mortgage guy chipped in and gave us a $200 gift card to Lowes, so that will certainly help out!

We will keep everyone updated on our progress as we continue to make changes… there will be many. If you want to see pictures of all the work we have to do, go here. Keep in mind that this was a foreclosure, which is why we got the house for $34,000 less than what it appraised for. Most of the work is cosmetic and we can do ourselves. When we are done, it should appraise for more than the $220,000 it is quoted at.

We hope to move in sometime in September and will stay at the apartment for the time being. But we are thrilled to have a place that’s own own (and in both our names, for those concerned – 50/50 all the way). And Brenner loves his new fenced-in backyard!

It looks like things are moving right along! We got the call yesterday that they accepted our offer! They actually rejected our first offer, where we tried to get 6% consessons, but they accepted 3%. We are so excited! It’s going to be a lot of work because this is a foreclosure and needs TLC, but we see the potential and think it is a great investment. The people who had the house before paid $205K (we’re getting it for almost the same as the little one we liked right up the street and at twice the size – 2500 sq. ft.)  and we’re sure that it’s worth much more than that now if we put even the bare minimum into it. This is the same development that my aunt lives in and it is a GREAT neighborhood! The prices are only rising there, especially with a $500K+ development that just went up behind it.

Our major concerns are the HVAC and the roof, but we are having a home inspection done just to make sure. If anything else is wrong we will walk away. Go here to see pictures (it’s not so pretty now, but it will be): Hickory Knoll.

And here is a house on the same street with exactly the same layout, so you can see the potential: Comparison House.

We need a lot of paint, and we probably need to rip out the carpets, although a couple may be salvageable with professional cleaning. We are also planning to replace the HVAC and do a whole lot of popcorn ceiling scraping. Down the road we will probably replace the laminate flooring, but for now the other stuff comes first. We’re ready to get DIRTY! We’re so excited! We meet with our mortgage guy on Saturday to nail that, and then it’s the home inspection and closing! We should close by the end of July! We’re in the final stretch to having a home!

    

In other news, I finally finished my Hitchhiker’s guide to the Galaxy series and have started on “P.S. I Love You.” I bought the movie when it came out but I refuse to watch it until after I finish the book. The books are always so much better and I enjoy them more if I read them before I see the movies. I just wish I had more time to read.

Brenner is doing well with the potty training and religiously goes to the door to be let out now. He is growing so fast and is just the love of our lives. He’s so cute, even when he’s naughty. We took him to a lake this past weekend and he took his first swim. I’m not sure if he liked it though because he only went out once and didn’t want to again. We hope to keep taking him to the lake and trying though. And kitty has taken to beating the crap out of him everytime he bugs her. She’s not even afraid of him… it’s actually the opposite. She doesn’t mind him generally, but how would you feel if some animal kept sniffing your butt and barking at you? We figure they’ll adjust and it will probably get better as he gets older and calms down a bit.

I have also been swamped at work, so I haven’t posted much lately. Hopefully I can keep everyone abreast of the house updates though.

We did it! Abbey got adopted and we couldn’t have a Pit Bull mix, so we drove out to the shelter today and got Nate (the first one pictured). His brother, Nick, is pictured next to him. We were torn between the two (I liked Nick, the darker one, and David liked Nate)… Nick was already pending adoption though. Good thing probably, because I would have taken them both. We also looked at some Shepard Boxer mixes that David was partial to… They were cute, but I’m not one for shepards and I don’t think we can have them here at the apartment.

Nate is much cuter in person and when we get him I will post some better pictures. They had just come in and they are 3-4 months old Lab Boxer mixes. They get fixed tomorrow or the next day and we will probably pick up our new little lover boy this weekend. We still don’t know what to name him, but we already went shopping and he is set with a new crate, a brush, bowls, lots of doggie treats, a leash/collar/harness, and a kong and rope to play with. We will probably take some training classes to to make sure our boy behaves himself. We just have to name him now… we’re opening up the nominations… make your suggestions and we will reward you with some of his lover-boy kisses.

David just found out today that he has been promoted to AIM Distict Manager! He will be primarily over the Canada stores and did get a small pay raise, but more than anything he has more job security! I am so proud of him! This picture of him is not a great one, but it is him on the phone for work when we were trying to get a bite to eat… see, all that hard work pays off! Knock ‘em dead babe!

I think I am going to continue to live with my aunt for a couple of months to play catch-up, especially on my credit card which has taken a beating, and try to add back to my savings. Also, the new company is in a temporary location and I don’t know where they might relocate to, so I have to see where I might want to live. Then, maybe in 2-3 months, I am going to start looking at a house to purchase and make my own! What’s nice is that NC is very affordable and where I am living now is BEAUTIFUL! I guess I counted on someone else to help make it happen, when really I just needed to make it happen on my own. My dreams are finally coming true (well, minus one).

In other news, today was the day six years ago that I met the love of my life! I wish that he was still in my life and it makes me very sad because I know that I will never find the connection with someone that I had with him. He swept me off my feet with his handsome looks, incredible charm, and gorgeous smile and brown eyes. I thought I had met the man I would spend the rest of my life with. And maybe somewhere we can reconnect, but I miss him and it makes me sad to know that i found complete happiness with someone so long ago that is no longer here. David, if you are reading… I still love you and always will. I still believe that we are soulmates and that God put us together. Please find a way back to me so that we can have our true love back… I really do think you only get one and I love you. Happy Anniversary, or what would have been.