Are the renters trying to kill us??

I got home from work yesterday, walked into the house, and I was sure I smelled natural gas.  A had been cooking – baked ham for dinner and he was boiling corn on the cob for dinner.  I thought maybe the smell was just from using the oven.  I mentioned it to A, but A has a really poor sense of smell and didn’t notice anything.  He’d also been in the house quite a while.

I was frustrated.  I didn’t know if I should be legitimately concerned or if I was being paranoid.  And the other 3 in the house were no help.  A, W, and Addie couldn’t confirm if I was actually smelling something.  A asked if I wanted him to call the gas department.  I wasn’t sure.  Should I ask a neighbor to come over and smell my house?  Not exactly the first impression you want to make on new neighbors and it looked like our next door neighbors weren’t home.  Should I call my mom and ask her to come over and smell the house?  That seemed like a huge inconvenience to her.

I told A we’d eat dinner and then go for a walk to get some fresh air and clear my head nose.  We did just that and after returning, I walked in the house and was sure I still smelled something.

A called the gas department while I continued to tell him that I felt really stupid, was worried the fire department would come and cause a scene, was worried W would be getting to bed really late, blah, blah, blah.  A kindly assured me that it was best to be safe and even told the gas department that he and his wife smelled gas.  Very sweet since I was sure I was being paranoid and everything would turn out fine.

We all played in the back yard while waiting for the gas man.  He arrived and A went into the house with him while W, Addie, and I stayed outside.  A and the gas guy were in the house FOREVER.  I actually texted him asking if he was still alive.  I should add that we were instructed to keep the lights off so the house was pretty dark and I couldn’t see or hear either the gas guy or A.  Also, the dog was going completely bonkers.  She hated that a stranger was in the house and continued to jump and bark the entire.freaking.time.  I was trying to shush her while keeping an eye on W, which was pretty much a failure.  It was stressful and I was ready to be done with the little adventure.

Anyway, when all was said and done, my suspicions were confirmed.  The dryer had a leak.  The gas man (is there a better name for him?  Gas man seems inappropriate.) was able to repair it and kindly told us it was on him.  The oven was also leaking.  Apparently typical carbon monoxide readings for ovens are 50 units and ours was getting as high as 110.  Not good.  And it may have been much higher previously since the oven had been on for quite a while cooking the ham.  We now have a disconnected oven and will have to find out if its repairable or if we need a new one.

So why do I think the renters are trying to kill us?  Well, the dryer was the one thing that belonged to them.  We purchased it from them.  And I suspect they installed it themselves (and did a poor job of it).  I find it hard to believe that the first time we use the oven, it just so happens to develop a significant leak rendering it unusable.  And finally, the renters gave us their lawnmower and it doesn't seem to work.  Hmm…

On the bright side, we’re all alive. J  Albeit very tired and cranky after a long night (at least I am).  But this situation could’ve been much worse.

Moved In

We moved into our new house over the weekend.  It was a longer and slower process than expected.  I always seem to have this vision of things going perfectly and smoothly.  The movers were great, but there were more boxes than anticipated and they had to disassemble our bed, the crib, and a day bed, which resulted in taking a lot more time than originally planned.  And that resulted in a higher cost than planned.  BUT it all worked out in the end.  And I LOVE our new house.  Love it.  I’m excited for our Christmases and family time and watching our children grow.  But before all that, there are about a million boxes to unpack, painting to be completed, and lots of decorating.  Whew.  I’m exhausted just thinking about it.  And it’s been a little frustrating to want to charge your phone, but have no idea what box your cord is in or want your favorite necklace, but have no idea where that wound up.  I’m such a creature of habit.  I know it will all come together eventually.

And W is NOT a fan of unpacking.  I try to do a little each day when I’m not at work, but W wants my full attention.  I was working on something in his room yesterday and in a short time, he sent his xylophone flying down our beautiful hard wood stair case (cringe), dumped out a box of letters, and ripped pages in his book.  While in the kitchen, he dumped out an entire jar of spices, pulled things out of the garbage, and tripped and hit his head (3 times – hard wood floors are pretty, but not toddler friendly).  Also, he can open all the doors in the house since we have handles now and not knobs.  No bueno.  So unpacking with a toddler = mission impossible.  And I should add, he’s FAST.  It’s not like I’m leaving him unsupervised for long periods of time (or ever).

Finally, I need to mention our families.  They helped us tremendously.  Packing and unpacking, cleaning, and bringing dinner.  I don’t know what we’d do without them.  And our friends stopped by with dinner last night too.  Much appreciated when you are still in need of a grill and have little space for preparing a meal seeing as the kitchen is covered in boxes.

Moving

This afternoon is our final walk through of the house and tomorrow, we close.  Very excited and a little overwhelmed, but mostly excited. J  Here’s hoping the move goes smoothly.

 

We decided to give W a “big boy room”.  No more navy/green alligator nursery.  It makes me sad.  I LOVE his nursery.  But it seemed like the right time for a new room.  I’m feeling very guilty that I haven’t ordered much for his new room and it will be incomplete for a little while.  I needed to see the layout and determine where exactly furniture would go before ordering decor.  A suggested a sports theme and I was for it since W points out every basketball hoop in the neighborhood and says “goooaal” when he sees any type of sports event on tv. J  I can’t wait until it all comes together.  He’ll have a much bigger room at the new house and I hope he loves it.

We're Moving!

That's right!  Our closing date isn't until July, but now that we have a signed contract, it's starting to feel real!  The third house we fell in love with turned out to be the charm. :)

The house is right down the street from our current home so we know we love the neighborhood.  It has 4 bedrooms and a back yard and I think it will be just perfect for us.  We're very excited!

The house hunting saga continues

We fell in love with one house.  The very next day after we saw the house, an offer was made and we missed out.  Then, I fell in love with another house.  It was slightly more expensive than I was comfortable with, BUT it was gorgeous.  Open floor plan, finished basement, large yard.  Perfect in every way.  I fell in love all over again.  It was bigger and better than the first house.  So we scheduled a walk through and I was SO excited.  I thought this could be IT, this could be OUR house!  The day we scheduled a walk through (just one week after it was listed), the realtor called to tell us there was an offer and it was under contract.  I actually cried.  I LOVED this house.  So maybe the third one I fall in love with, will be the one.  But for now, I’m completely dejected and disappointed.  :*(  We decided we were ready to move and it seems like the rest of the world did too.  L L L

 

This is what we'll be missing out on.  Told you it was beautiful.  Wouldn't you cry too?

Reflecting on the house that wasn’t…

I’m still bummed.  I don’t think we’ll be able to find another house in the same vicinity.  One that is in our price range, will allow us to build a fence, has the perfect color scheme, and a bar in the basement….  I had already started envisioning where the Christmas tree would go.  Sad, but true.  When I found out that we were preapproved, I got my hopes up.  And I couldn’t help thinking “How often do you find a house in which you wouldn’t change a single thing?  Every room was painted with the perfect colors to match our furniture.  It’s even right near a park.  It was meant to be.”  Except it wasn’t meant to be for us – it was meant to be for someone else. :*(

I sent A this email and it made me feel a little better…  “Most things don’t work out for us the first time around, however, in the end, they turn out just right.  Examples: Our first round of IVF was an epic fail.  The second time around, we got W and it’s pretty darn obvious to everyone that he’s perfect.  Our townhouse.  We made an offer on the other townhouse.  It didn’t work out and we ended up with ours, which I think is much better than the first one.  My first car.  Lemon.  Enough said.  I really love my CRV.  Parenting.  Our first (fur) baby is crazy.  Our second baby is much better behaved (ok, I threw that in to make you laugh).

The only thing we got right the first time around was marriage.”

So I’m trying to have faith that we’ll find our perfect house eventually.  Even if I am really sad and disappointed and can’t imagine finding something better…

On the bright side, I know we qualify for a loan.  We’ll have more time to save up.  We’ll have more time to become educated on renting our townhouse (still very nervous about that).  We’ll have more time to pay down our existing mortgage.  Sigh. L

Goodbye dream house

Annnd just like that someone made an offer on the house we wanted.  I'm extremely disappointed.  I absolutely feel like this would have been a perfect house for us and we were prepared to make an offer.  I guess it wasn't meant to be and I'm trying to tell myself that something better will come along.  Still really sad. :( :(

House Situation

Well, after talking to my realtor friend, we’re left with more questions than answers.  The short answer is: it all depends.  I was anticipating that response.  A couple takeaways: We definitely don’t want to do a short sale.  Ideally we’d like to just sell our house and be done with it.  My friend is going to find out what our house is valued at.  I’m fairly certain it will be valued at less than what we owe.  If that’s the case, then renting is our best option.  But I don’t know anything about being a landlord and the whole process is very intimidating to me.

We’re not in a big hurry to move.  Heck, we’ve been in our house over 7 years.  But this house in our neighborhood seems perfect.  And although it’s probably best to wait and save up, I hate the thought of this house being sold to someone else.  They always say not to get attached… Uggh.  Once again my heart and my head are in different places.  I’m trying to have faith that everything happens for a reason and this will all work out for the best.

We’re going to attend an open house this weekend.  Maybe I’ll end up hating the house.  We shall see…