My first home inprovement purchase

So we went to Home Depot today and I found this faucet on clearance in a set with the matching towel rack and paper holder for $19. For some reason I am very excited to have made my first home improvement purchase... now if only I could find a great deal on major appliances. M did manage to pick up a circular saw for only $15 at Lowe's yesterday (yes, we are going a little crazy with the pricing of things we'll need, but it is so exciting!) so thus far we are doing very well when it comes to deals. And I can't believe I'm soon to be a homeowner. There is so much to figure out before we actually move in. And so very much to do... But we are taking today off.

WE GOT THE HOUSE!!!

No further details than that we got the house, but, man, it takes a huge load of worry and stress off of my back. Yes, I know houses are all sorts of work and I'll have plenty of homeowner stress, but, damnit, I won't be homeless.

More waiting...

So, the house isn't a done deal yet, that's not the good news. In fact, the news on that is a little disheartening, if not unexpected. There were more offers than just mine put in on the house so the bank asked for the "highest & best" offers yesterday. We added another thousand bucks to our offer and are waiting to hear back again. I am so anxious about this. I'm trying to come up with a backup plan, but it's not so easy.

Waiting

My realtor, Bev, said that I should hear from the bank today regarding my offer on the house. I am so nervous! Seriously, if this falls through we are screwed. M and I did the math the other night... good news is that he got an offer to become a full fledged employee of the company he's been doing contract work for. Bad news is that it's about $20K less than he was making at his last job and about $10K less than we can afford. But the security of him having a job, and a job that he likes, would be nice. It's not me that is the expensive one, either. Between his $900/month child support and all the legal fees and whatnot it just adds up very quickly. But if we get the house then we should be able to cut our monthly housing bill in half. And if his job will allow him to work from home 2 or 3 days a week then it shouldn't be too bad.

But I am just waiting today, waiting for Bev to get in touch with me. The way this whole thing came about makes it seem like fate, and as much as I would love to be all rational and everything, I am not. This *feels* right, even though it's scary and nerve-wracking. Here's the thing: the house was being listed at $14,900. I am offering $15000 cash for an as-is REO sale. I will live in the house as my primary residence (I hear that makes a difference for some reason, as does the fact that I am a first time home buyer). How, then, could the bank say no? Unless they got a better offer? The house was only listed maybe a week ago, and I think mine was the first offer. Since it was above asking price and is a cash offer, surely they will accept it, right?

We have such plans for the eventual renovation of the house, too! Money is going to be an impediment for a while, but in 6 months or so we should be doing better financially. And once we have paid back the friend who is fronting us the money for the house in a couple of years we will be in a much better position to renovate. The house doesn't need all that much work to be habitable, at least on the right. The unit on the left is in considerably worse shape, but we are even considering renting it out if we get it up to code.

Then there are the appliances. We have none. But I still just feel it will all work out. Dare I say that I am optimistic?

Something BIG

I put in an offer yesterday on a duplex in the town I grew up in. Oddly, it's across the street from a place I lived when I was 17. I am so very nervous that the offer won't be accepted, but should find out Monday, according to the realtor. It needs a lot of work, but the price was too incredible to pass up. Imagine, if you will, 2,247 square feet (both sides of the duplex) for about what we pay in rent in 13 months in the apartment. And it will be mine. I can decorate in whatever way I see fit... and no homeowners' association, so if I want to paint my door chartreuse no one can stop me! I am so excited (and nervous) but I also know it will be a lot of work. The place isn't in great shape, but it is almost livable immediately. In the long run this should help us out tremendously financially. The thing is, I need to pay back the person who loved me enough to front me the cash to buy it.

(There are more pictures here if anyone is interested. The two labeled Pershing are from a different house we looked at.)

Also, this ties M to me in a big way. I'll essentially be his landlady and he'll be renting one side of the duplex from me. That's if my offer is accepted. Keep your fingers crossed for us; this could be a wonderful turning point! (And expect a lot of house related posts in the future if all goes well!)

In crafting news, I've not been doing too much knitting lately. I whipped up a quick wrap on Mother's Day to wear with my sleeveless dress when we took my mom out to dinner. Nothing fancy, just made on size 35 needles so it would be quick. I'll try to get pictures of it soon. I've also taken up counted cross stitch and really love it. It's so different from knitting and isn't hard, but demands attention to detail. Maybe I'll make a "Home sweet home" sampler for the new house. :)

PMDD

All right, so it's the PMDD (Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder) that has had me in the funk I've been in the past week or so. Now that my period has begun I am crampy, but much more functional.

The good: M is working. It's just contract work at the moment, but he has a couple other projects in the works as well, so maybe our financial outlook isn't as bleak as it had been. 

The bad: With his legal stuff still pending we are trying to figure out some way I can have a place to live if things go badly. The original plan was that I would stay with my grandfather (who had agreed to this arrangement) but with his death, well, my uncle has inherited his house. I was going to go talk to him and see if something could be worked out to allow us to stay there or maybe even buy the house from him. I was hopeful, got a little excited about it, but, as always when I get my hopes up, it all fell apart. My uncle has already promised the house to his step daughter. It's not like they owed me anything and I have no hard feeling about it, but I am so tired of being the one in the family who gets nothing. My mom is trying to see if there's any way we can buy a cheap house, and if I could figure out how to come up with about $20,000 then we could do that. But I am at a loss as to how to go about raising that much money. 

The ugly: Me. I am so grossly overweight and out of shape at this point that I don't even know where to begin with trying to fix it. But I need to. I'm trying to start back up with the yoga and hope soon to get my stamina up enough to make it through the whole hour program. My diet is still improving, I've cut the cottage cheese out and am now having just grapefruit for breakfast. I need to give up the sweets and will try to do that next. I figure if I can give up meat (oh, fried chicken, how I miss you!) then the cookies and snack cakes can also be put aside without too much difficulty. 

I've been doing a lot of knitting and other crafty stuff in the past couple of weeks, which has kept me from being quite so unhappy. I've found that I really like doing cross stitch. I picked up a little floral still life thing on sale and it is so pretty. It takes a lot of attention to detail, but is also mindless, if that makes sense.  I want to do more, but I'm trying to hold off on this and wait until I finish this project before getting supplies for another. 

My birthday is Monday and our anniversary (4 years!) is the 1st. I told M last night that it would be his last reminder of those occasions. I know we can't really afford any gifts or anything, but I expect at least a "happy birthday" from him. We shall see.

Why is the kitchen always dirty? Even right after I clean it, it is dirty again. How does that happen?

New knitting projects

One of the things I got with the gift certificate I won in Crazy Aunt Purl's cat sweater knitting contest was a Noni Pattern. I finally made the purse and it is quite lovely, if not yet completely finished. The finishing is rigorous and I believe I've mentioned before it is not something I enjoy or excel at. I still need to install the zipper and anchor the stiffener/lining to the bottom. I got a little creative with the handle and added some beading. Oh, and it had to have pockets. I am very pleased with the way my pockets turned out. I followed the directions for the medium bag, bit this thing is enormous. I might make a much smaller one if I ever get the motivation to do all the maths. Anyway, here are a few pictures of the Noni Harlequin Pillbox Bag (#109):

I also just finished (yesterday) a Kitty Pi for Cat. She wanted nothing to do with it at first, but now she can occasionally be found napping in it, so I consider it a success. What, you want photos? Okay, here you go:

In other news, M. is sort of working now but we are still in dire financial straits. A severe depression has settled in over me and has my few friends concerned for my well being. I don't feel like getting into it now, but maybe tomorrow I'll catch y'all up on what's been going on with me. In the meantime, I hope everyone who reads this isn't having to go through anything like what I am going through. If you are depressed and you have any resources to allow it, please get help.