:(

I will not be buying the house at Coppertree. The seller wanted 80k without closing costs (about $5000) which would be about 85k (their original asking price) and I just could not will myself to be a cuckold. I know I can find better I am just going to have to wait. How can I be so sure you ask? Because I heard it on NPR. This is the best time for buyers, but we are just going to have to be patient, go back and forth on the price negotiations, and wait until the perfect house meets the perfect price......on to the next one.

We knew it would happen

Well, my realtor called me yesterday and updated me on my offer of 73k plus closing for the house at Coppertree. The first call she got from the seller's realtor was not just no, but hell no and the second was, well maybe we were a bit rash--we'll take 80k plus closing costs.

After thinking it over and discussing it with my mom and Bruce, I decided to see the other 4-5 townhomes that were for sale in that neighborhood. If there is a drastic difference (ie 10k difference) I will consider paying the 80k, but will probably offer 79k. But those other houses are going to have to be trashed out for me to consider it. I really like the one I made and offer on because it is move-in ready and already has the updated lights and cabinets that I would probably have to do on the lower priced ones, but I just have to see the other ones to make myself feel more sure about buying a more expensive house (even if this one with the inflated price is 10k less than my max price).

Let me know what you think...wishing you the best year ever!

Mmmm....Mmmmm.....Good

After we spent an hour completing paper work, just to make an OFFER on a house, we went back to my apartment and made some delicious salmon.

We took pastry puffs and rolled it out while baby spinach marinated in tomato basil dressing, tomato basil feta cheese, and chopped up tomatoes. We cut the salmon into 2 inch slices and cut the pastry puffs into four squares. We placed the salad concoction onto the pastry and then the salmon slice on top of that. We closed it up and baked it. (And by we, I mean my mom). It was delicious.

We had a great time talking about the potential townhome and the counter offers that may come in. My step dad and mom are AWESOME and are going to front me some of the money for the down payment. How did I get so lucky?

I spent Sunday grading papers and doing laundry, which Bella tried to assist me with. Wishing you the best year ever...Mel.

I found one, I found one!

This is the 3rd house we went into Saturday when my parents came up to look at the house that I was considering buying. All my wanting for the dover ridge house went away when I walked into this one!! I love the windows in the living room. The vaulted ceilings are fantastic. I love the trendy paint that is all over the house and the tile flooring. They did a really good job on the paint.

The people who own it lived in, bought it 1 year ago. They got home sick and left back to College Station. The house has been on the marked for 4 months. They are asking 85k, but houses in the complex have been selling from 63-73k. I asked for 73k plus closing costs. I hope they take it. The problem is that they paid 80k for it and haven't lived in it long enough to get any equity built up in it. Oh well, they should have thought about it before making a rash decision.

The kitchen is great. It has new appliances and the cabinets were recently stained. I love the floor tile too! My allergies will be much more manageable.

The downstairs bathroom is has tiled countertops that match the kitchen. Those double doors in the mirror hides the washer and dryer hook ups. It has lots of drawers for all of my crap.

The bedrooms are an ok size, this one is photoed badly, but you can see the color in the bedroom though, it will be easy to match it with decorations.

This is the storage area underneath the stairs going up to the 2nd floor bedroom and bathroom. I think this will be the perfect place to store my many things. A trip to the container store is in order. Ugh! Thinking about all the things I am going to have to buy makes me ill.

These are the lights in the bathroom downstairs. I will take the downstairs bedroom and bathroom since I am up way earlier than Brittney and will want to be able to be up and not have to be quiet.

Right outside the kitchen area is a place for my high breakfast table. This cute little light fixture is in the perfect position right above it. I am so glad that I won't have to buy these little accessories when I move in.

The kitchen upgrades continue with these lovely lights.

This is the back yard. It is winter here, so it needs a bit of work and some love. There is also a tree right over my patio area, but is leave-less this time of year. The shade should help with the electric bill though.

So I made an offer and signed the paperwork! Hopefully the seller will go for my bid and I will enter the 10 day option period. I would love to be in my new place by March 5th!!! Wishing you the best year ever...Mel

Trinitron Groupie

This past Thursday I was invited by Gennine and Eloa to watch one of our tutors, Trinity, perform at a groovie little cafe downtown called Mad Hatters Tea House.

Eloa slipped up and called it Mad Haters which caused us to laugh hysterically for 2 minutes.

I was so excited to experience Trinity's singing for the first time. Gennine and Eloa went to high school with Trinity and they call him Trinitron, hence the post name. Me and the girls were on point with our jokes all night and had a blast!

Trinity did a great job even though he was sick and at the end we got to pretend to be stars. This is me singing Ferris Beuller's "Danke Schoen". I have to say that I was a bit off pitch. But I didn't notice it through the glasses of wine I had consumed earlier.

I really began to go all out with Beastie Boys' "You Gotta Fight" (for your right to par tay).

Eileen, her husband, Bo, and their daughter Anne came to meet us at the concert and even Anne got into the spirit of the moment and did her rendition of Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You".

Spoiler Alert!

I went to see Revolutionary Road at the Bisjou with Elizabeth last night. It was a great film. I felt like I was watching the screen adaptation of all of the feminist theory books that I read in college. If you are in a shaky marriage but want to stay married, do not go see this movie. But if you are in a shitty marriage or contemplating getting married because it is 'the right thing to do' watch this movie for strength and resolve. Make sure you are living the life you want because settling and killing your spirit will eventually kill you.

Sshhh! I'm Hunting for Wabits! Part III

Well this one just about killed me. I really liked it.
I liked what the previous owner did with the entry way mirror. I loved the floors in the kitchen and dining room.

The privacy fence was in great condition, even if the tree was not, and I could almost see the entertaining I could do on this great patio.

The kitchen was decent. New appliances and cabinet space.

They had done quite a bit with the bathroom. The counter tops and floors were neat.

We were standing in the kitchen talking to my mortgage guy on the phone asking him to put the price and taxes into his calculator to see what the monthly payment would be--only $900--when my realtor moved a rug that sat on the kitchen floor in front of the sliding glass door to the backyard. There was water damage all alond the sliding glass door. I would have to pull up the entire kitchen and dining room to fix this mess. My realtor is going to call and see if they can reduce the price so that I can get that fixed, but I am not holding my breath. Besides, where else might there be damage. I would rather not mess with it.

We left there and went to 4 other houses. They were in such poor neighborhoods and looked so disgusting that I wouldn't even get out of the car to look at them. So we headed back to the office. She handed me a big stack of houses she had printed off for me to look at. I thumbed through a few of them and asked if any of them were under $100k. She said "no, my bad, I talked with your mortgage guy and he said that you were approved for more than $100k and that you might want to look at some in that price range, but I will get you some to look at under $100k". I was furious! I am glad that my mortgage guy and realtor gal get along, but I certainly don't want them working behind my back to try to screw more money out of this deal. She better watch it or she is going to try my patience and get fired. Last night I did look through the stack she gave me and picked out a few that were under $100k that I am interested in looking at so it wasn't a total waste of trees, but this process is wearing me out after only a week. Wishing you the best year ever....Mel.

Sshhh! I'm Hunting for Wabits! Part II

The next house was a little above my price range, but is was
so unbelievably cute.

I loved that the dining room wasn't carpeted. If I had my

wish, none of the house would be carpeted. My allergies
kill me with carpet.

The kitchen had some new appliances and plenty of cabinet

space so I was stoked. And right outside of the kitchen door

was a little balcony that would need some treatment, but

would be nice for drinking coffee in the mornings.

And then came the joy kill.

The owners had two small

kids with a trampoline. Now

ordinarily this would not be a

problem except that in order

to avoid the tramp from sinking

into the mud during rainy weather they decided to put a sand/cement slab underneath it. I couldn't get rid because I have not the time, patience, or money. Bummer. On to the next one.

Sshhh! I'm Hunting for Wabits!

The hunt continues for my elusive dream home.
This one wasn't too bad.

Even though this tree was dead.

But the back yard needed

more work than I was willing

to put in.

Keepin Busy

This week I met with my real estate agent. She is an ex-teacher, ex-nun, who is forceful and spirited. I asked her to show me townhomes and spent the entire afternoon looking at condos. I had to set her straight. I don't want a condo, I want a townhome. Unfortunately, San Antonio doesn't have any townhomes in my price range in the neighborhoods that I want so, I am looking at SMALL starter homes. I have an appointment with my agent today to look at some of them. I was incredibly depressed after that first day of house hunting and hope that I have a better day today.



I also met with my mortgage broker this week. He tried to convince me to buy a more expensive house. This is EXACTLY why I have put off home buying for so long. I hate anyone in selling. I was incredibly successful as a salesperson in college without getting people to buy shit that they didn't need (after all everyone needs shoes, right?) My mortgage broker is super tall, 6ft plus. I am sad to report that he is married with kids, but it is OK because he was kind of gangly--think Uncle Mark (sorry Laura). So anyway, I am cleared for house buying.



Thursday night I met up with one of my mom and stepdad's old friends. She is in the Junior League here in San Antonio and she knows how much I like helping the community so she invited me to attend an informational meeting. I am super stoked because, although it may be bougie, I think it is a great organization that helps this community a lot. Plus, all of my guy friends will be excited to know that there were a lot of hot chicks there that I will be befriending and so hopefully their prospects will increase. But it will come with a price, you all need to get out there and find some guys to introduce me to. So this is me signing up for the Junior League. I am sure that this will be a future source of entertainment for us all. By the way, the room that the meeting was in had fabric wall paper. The curtains matched the wall paper to the T. Where the tree pattern on the wall ended, the other half of the tree pattern was shown on the curtain so that the window curtains gave the illusion of being a part of the wall. Plus there was a large cruela de'vil-like picture of one of the founding junior leaguers. It was intense! Wishing you the best year ever....Mel.

Aye Papasitos!

Today was Eileen's birthday and we went to our favorite Mexican eatery, Papasitos. All the gals and guys from our department were there, teachers, administrators, tutors, and spouses. It is great working with people who are your friends outside of work (as long as everyone is happy).

We hadn't planned it, but 4 of us all dressed in the same color, royal blue! Carla, Terri C., Me, and Terri W. all are looking great!

Eileen didn't know we were all going to be there. So when she came into the restaurant we all put menus up next to our faces to fake the 'surprise' of the occasion. We had a great time and had some cool drinks! Me and Terri liked these pina coladas especially.

Eloa and Genine are two of the coolest young people I know. They graduated a few years ago from our HS and our AVID program and are tutoring for us while they attend university. They are two of the most gifted and caring tutors I know. They are great with the math and science that I am not! They master minded the whole afternoon and made sure that Eileen got to the restaurant unsuspecting. Kudos on a job well done!

Denise and Carla are looking good and having fun across the table from me. Carla is going to Paris next week and I am green with envy. Hopefully she takes a lot of cool pictures and cool souvenirs for us all.

So it was finally time to open presents. Me, Denise, and Terri pitched in and got Eileen a bag and wallet from Vera Bradley. It is not exactly my cup of tea, but it is cute stuff and she was super excited about it. After we opened presents, we made Eileen dress up in a sombrero while we sang to her. This is a pic of the dessert that 12 people shared, with left overs to boot! How sinful.

The sombrero was not exactly something that Eileen would have done if it had not been for us forcing her to do it, but alas, that is what birthdays are for--doing things we wouldn't otherwise do. Wishing you the best year ever...Mel