Not much has been going on in the last week. Clay and Makayla got sick last weekend so I spent the first of this week dealing with that. I had to take Monday and Tuesday off work so Makayla could stay home and rest. Makayla is not a cuddler, so when she woke up on Monday night all feverish around 9:30 and wanted to snuggle with me, I jumped at the chance. We snuggled up in the rocking chair for an hour when I convinced her she should try to go back to bed. Clay figured that I would be sick by the end of the week after that, but it was so worth it. By the way, I'm not sick yet.
We had another house showing last week. The couple loved the house and the garage, but thought it might be too far out of town. They did have our house in their top 3 and were considering the distance from town. I was glad that there weren't any complaints about the house so I didn't spend the entire weekend trying to fix them. We haven't heard back, so I'm assuming they probably went with one of the other 2 houses. That's alright because the spring season will be coming soon and more house lookers will be out.
The land we bought has a little issue with it. The government owns a strip through the front of the property as well as through 3 other properties adjacent to us. We knew this when we bought it and we took it upon ourselves to spearhead the resolution to this issue. We contacted the other affected landowners to convince them to go ahead and purchase the strip from the government. They weren't in a hurry to do anything about it as they weren't trying to sell building lots off their properties like we were. Fortunately, we convinced them all to go ahead with this. It isn't going to cost a lot of money and it will be better for everybody in the long run. As of yesterday, the government had given our lawyer all the relevant information and hopefully we will have this resolved within a couple of weeks. We're really keen to get it resolved as we have 2 buyers who want to purchase building lots from us. We can't do these deals until we own the entire property. We really would like some of this money in our pockets.
Makayla is going through a spell where she is whining and talking baby talk a lot and it's driving me and Clay crazy. She knows how to speak like a big girl, so we have to keep reminding her of that. I think she is copying some of the kids at the sitter's as I can hear one of the kid's voices coming right out of her when she talks this way. I am looking forward to this phase being over.
On a happy note, I think that Makayla is getting closer to being potty trained. This week, she has told me a couple of times when she is peeing. This is a huge step for us. Now I have to focus of getting her to the toilet a lot so we can start catching it. I told her sitter and she confirmed that Makayla had been telling her too. Yay!!!
Makayla loves any kind of juice. This week, I introduced her to Kool-Aid. She started calling it regular juice to distinguish it from the orange juice or apple juice. If you could only hear the way she says "regular". It is hilarious.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Getting closer every day
Today, Clay and I went into see a mortgage specialist to see if we could get pre-approved for a building mortgage. Within just a few minutes we were all approved. The mortgage lady happened to be a girl that I went to junior high school with, so it wasn't quite as formal as far as bank meetings go.
Now we just need our house to sell. It has shown 4 times in just over a week which, in my head, I know is a lot. Clay keeps telling me to relax and that it will sell quickly. I really don't want it to sell right away as we would have to move in with my parents for a longer period of time, but I would like to know that we have a buyer so that we can continue on with our building plans (and I wouldn't have to keep my house spic and span all the time). We plan to live in our travel trailer as much as we can, but that isn't even possible until at least May.
I have one more issue to gripe about regarding house showings. Out of the 4 showings we've had, two of the groups have commented that the house is too far outside the city for them. Don't they already know this before they even book their appointment to look at the house? I mean, shouldn't they have already driven by? I guess I would have if I were in their shoes, but maybe the realtors are just suggesting they look at our house. Even still, they should know as soon as they drive into the driveway that it is too far away from the city for them. Okay, I should just be happy that we're getting showings. I just get my hopes up for an offer when someone walks through, only to hear that the house isn't in the right location. I'm done griping now.
Now we just need our house to sell. It has shown 4 times in just over a week which, in my head, I know is a lot. Clay keeps telling me to relax and that it will sell quickly. I really don't want it to sell right away as we would have to move in with my parents for a longer period of time, but I would like to know that we have a buyer so that we can continue on with our building plans (and I wouldn't have to keep my house spic and span all the time). We plan to live in our travel trailer as much as we can, but that isn't even possible until at least May.
I have one more issue to gripe about regarding house showings. Out of the 4 showings we've had, two of the groups have commented that the house is too far outside the city for them. Don't they already know this before they even book their appointment to look at the house? I mean, shouldn't they have already driven by? I guess I would have if I were in their shoes, but maybe the realtors are just suggesting they look at our house. Even still, they should know as soon as they drive into the driveway that it is too far away from the city for them. Okay, I should just be happy that we're getting showings. I just get my hopes up for an offer when someone walks through, only to hear that the house isn't in the right location. I'm done griping now.
Friday, February 15, 2008
House showings
We've had the house listed for less than 2 weeks, and we've had 3 showings so far. It's been 7 years since we sold our previous house so I was a bit out of touch with the whole real estate market. When we sold our previous house, we didn't have Snoopy, so there were no issues if somebody wanted to come see the house. We just kept it clean and tidy and we could show it at a moment's notice. This time, we do have a dog that I need to pick up before every showing. It's really not a huge deal as I only work 5 minutes from my house. I have to say, I was expecting that we would be getting a bit more notice about showing our house.
For our first showing, our realtor called me with 5 hours notice. That was fine. I had all kinds of time to grab the dog and do a quick run through with the vacuum, etc.
The second showing was during a snowstorm, so I had actually written the day off for house showings since I didn't think that anybody would be out on the roads that day. We had less than 2 hours to get ready for that particular showing. Fortunately it was a Sunday so as soon as we heard about it, Clay went outside to plow the driveway while I shovelled the walkways and did the same run-through as during the previous showing. We managed to leave with half an hour to spare.
As I posted yesterday, we had an snow/ice storm late into Wednesday night and our power was out from midnight on. I was in town and away from my office (i.e. further away from home) when I got a phone call from my dad telling me to return a call to my realtor. I called her back and was told that somebody wanted to look at our house in 45 minutes. I told her that our power was out so it might not show very well, not to mention that the yard was a mess after the storm with tree limbs down and one tree flowered open into our driveway. She told me that it was a military couple being transferred to our area and they had to buy a house within the next 2 days since the storm had already shortened their house hunting time. I jumped in the car and drove home as quickly as I could considering the awful road conditions. It took me 10 minutes longer than it normally would have on good roads, so now I only had 20 minutes to tidy up and with no water or electricity available to me, it was definitely a challenge. I'm not sure when they arrived, but we never heard anything back in terms of an offer.
The notice we've been given has been getting progressively shorter. Forty-five minutes is about as short as I can go. I want to sell my house and be available for showings, but yesterday was a bit ridiculous. Probably if we had gotten an offer, I wouldn't be so frustrated about it today.
For our first showing, our realtor called me with 5 hours notice. That was fine. I had all kinds of time to grab the dog and do a quick run through with the vacuum, etc.
The second showing was during a snowstorm, so I had actually written the day off for house showings since I didn't think that anybody would be out on the roads that day. We had less than 2 hours to get ready for that particular showing. Fortunately it was a Sunday so as soon as we heard about it, Clay went outside to plow the driveway while I shovelled the walkways and did the same run-through as during the previous showing. We managed to leave with half an hour to spare.
As I posted yesterday, we had an snow/ice storm late into Wednesday night and our power was out from midnight on. I was in town and away from my office (i.e. further away from home) when I got a phone call from my dad telling me to return a call to my realtor. I called her back and was told that somebody wanted to look at our house in 45 minutes. I told her that our power was out so it might not show very well, not to mention that the yard was a mess after the storm with tree limbs down and one tree flowered open into our driveway. She told me that it was a military couple being transferred to our area and they had to buy a house within the next 2 days since the storm had already shortened their house hunting time. I jumped in the car and drove home as quickly as I could considering the awful road conditions. It took me 10 minutes longer than it normally would have on good roads, so now I only had 20 minutes to tidy up and with no water or electricity available to me, it was definitely a challenge. I'm not sure when they arrived, but we never heard anything back in terms of an offer.
The notice we've been given has been getting progressively shorter. Forty-five minutes is about as short as I can go. I want to sell my house and be available for showings, but yesterday was a bit ridiculous. Probably if we had gotten an offer, I wouldn't be so frustrated about it today.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Ice storm
Yesterday was a miserable day in terms of weather. The snow started at around 8:00AM and came fast. By lunchtime, we had nearly 6 inches and the roads were beyond awful. My dad called and told us all to call it quits for the day and go home. The roads hadn't been plowed, so I creeped up the road in the one set of tire tracks on the road. Thankfully I didn't meet another vehicle, so I was able to stay where I was. I picked Makayla up at her sitter's and we went directly home. I was never so happy to see my driveway! Once we got home, the freezing rain started. It rained for hours. I'm not sure when it stopped, but I do know that our power went out shortly after midnight and still isn't on now at 2:30PM. There is a power line on the ground just down the road from our house and no sign of any service trucks there to fix it. I'm not holding out much hope for having power after work. We may be bunking with my parents tonight.
Unfortunately, due to me picking up Makayla early, she missed the Valentine's Day party at the sitter's house. I don't think she was that upset since she's still quite young to understand. Instead, I gave her the Valentine's Day present that Clay and I had gotten for her. She got some Dora books, some chocolates and her favourite thing ever - two puzzles. Makayla would put puzzles together for hours. She can manage 24 piece puzzles on her own. I also got her a 48-piece Shrek puzzle, but I put it away for her birthday in June.
Makayla has been asked to be a flower girl in her uncle's wedding this summer. I got her a dress this week in a size 3 and there is some room to grow, but not too much. She was really excited to try it on, but she was just as anxious to get it off too. The bride asked me how I thought Makayla would make out as a flower girl. I had to be honest and say that I just didn't know as kids can be so unpredictable. I'm not in the wedding so I can focus on making sure Makayla can perform her role. She is going to be adorable.
Unfortunately, due to me picking up Makayla early, she missed the Valentine's Day party at the sitter's house. I don't think she was that upset since she's still quite young to understand. Instead, I gave her the Valentine's Day present that Clay and I had gotten for her. She got some Dora books, some chocolates and her favourite thing ever - two puzzles. Makayla would put puzzles together for hours. She can manage 24 piece puzzles on her own. I also got her a 48-piece Shrek puzzle, but I put it away for her birthday in June.
Makayla has been asked to be a flower girl in her uncle's wedding this summer. I got her a dress this week in a size 3 and there is some room to grow, but not too much. She was really excited to try it on, but she was just as anxious to get it off too. The bride asked me how I thought Makayla would make out as a flower girl. I had to be honest and say that I just didn't know as kids can be so unpredictable. I'm not in the wedding so I can focus on making sure Makayla can perform her role. She is going to be adorable.
Monday, February 11, 2008
My first post
I've been keeping an online journal about Makayla, but I find that lately, I've been tending to document things that have nothing to do with her and it seems inappropriate to use her journal as a place to record things like that. So today, I decided I would finally start a blog that would encompass our entire family life.
My husband and I have a lot of things going on right now. We recently purchased a piece of land that we intend to subdivide into 7 building lots. We currently have 2 people interested in buying lots and we would like to keep at least 2 for ourselves. Due to the fact that we now own this property, we would like to build a new house this summer. So, that led us to list our house for sale. We listed just over a week ago and already we've had two showings, but no offers yet. Since we don't know if/when our house will sell, we've been looking at house plans so we can hit the ground running when it does.
Makayla is our only child and we have no plans to expand our family anytime soon. We're both quite happy with our family size at the moment and don't feel any urge to add on. That's not to say that we never will, but we're going to keep things the way they are for the time being.
Makayla is now 2 1/2 years old and she says some of the most comical things. C and I were out with her and she says from her carseat "I can't get my bless you out." She had to sneeze, but it didn't come. If she only knew how often that happens to me!
The other funny thing is that she doesn't quite understand why we have to leave the house when people are coming over during a house showing. She thinks they are coming to visit us, so she gets a bit confused. We returned home last night after the showing and Makayla asked me where all the "people" were. I told her that they had left already because they were there to see the house and not us. Hopefully it sells quickly so she won't be confused for too long.
Well, that my first post. I sure hope I can keep this updated!
My husband and I have a lot of things going on right now. We recently purchased a piece of land that we intend to subdivide into 7 building lots. We currently have 2 people interested in buying lots and we would like to keep at least 2 for ourselves. Due to the fact that we now own this property, we would like to build a new house this summer. So, that led us to list our house for sale. We listed just over a week ago and already we've had two showings, but no offers yet. Since we don't know if/when our house will sell, we've been looking at house plans so we can hit the ground running when it does.
Makayla is our only child and we have no plans to expand our family anytime soon. We're both quite happy with our family size at the moment and don't feel any urge to add on. That's not to say that we never will, but we're going to keep things the way they are for the time being.
Makayla is now 2 1/2 years old and she says some of the most comical things. C and I were out with her and she says from her carseat "I can't get my bless you out." She had to sneeze, but it didn't come. If she only knew how often that happens to me!
The other funny thing is that she doesn't quite understand why we have to leave the house when people are coming over during a house showing. She thinks they are coming to visit us, so she gets a bit confused. We returned home last night after the showing and Makayla asked me where all the "people" were. I told her that they had left already because they were there to see the house and not us. Hopefully it sells quickly so she won't be confused for too long.
Well, that my first post. I sure hope I can keep this updated!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.JPG)