Literally so much to say that I'm going to make a summary post.

We close on our first house on Friday. Oh my crap.

Moving day is Monday.

Between Friday and Monday we need to rip out the kitchen floor, replace it with wood floors, steam clean carpets in 4 rooms (and let it dry), try to wash, primer and paint the kitchen walls if the timing and weather is good, hang ceiling fan, finish packing and make sure the house is generally fit for us to move in.

Within in the next month we will have to unpack, arrange furniture to our liking, make kitchen habitable, rip multiple rooms worth of wallpaper down, wash/primer/paint walls, get to know the house (and with a house over 100 years old, their is always some things to know).

I also have to make time to eat, sleep and relax a little bit, as well as spend quality time with Dood and Marc.

Such an overwhelming process, and a super stressful 2 months combined with my Grandpa passing away, family drama of the extreme variety, kidney stones (me), wisdom teeth (Marc), car problems, then a car accident and more phone calls to realtor, mortgage brokers, insurance people and all of the other suits then I ever thought imaginable.

*deep breaths* it'll be okay. But holy crap! After 12 years of renting, I'm getting a house! *dances*

So much is going on right now. As I stated earlier this month, we've been pre-approved for a home loan. We started looking at houses and after dozens of drivebys and several home visits we've amazingly found the exact house we want.

I always thought it would take months of looking and hundreds of houses, but no! But, good luck for us doesn't really exist. This house has been on the market for nearly a year, and they've done a TON of viewings. So, as usual, as *soon* as we find a place we want, someone else sees it first.

The other person is viewing it for the second time today and is very very interested. We couldn't do our second viewing until Friday and I hope like hell that the other person isn't as prepared for offering as we are.

Our realtor has shown us a copy of the last home inspection that was done (April '09) and the problems that show up aren't huge problems. The actual foundation, framing, roof and all of the big money things are perfectly fine. New furnace (90% efficient!), Central Air and lots of other things. It's a very solid house despite being 109 nears old. The biggest problems are with some rotting on the back deck (not attached to house) and garage (2 story garage, bottom storage floor is rotted but top story where the car goes is fine).

If we put in an offer on Friday (which we really want to do) I'll be taking a couple of quick video walkthroughs of the place and putting on youtube for family and friends to see.

We want this house, very very much. I just hope the other person doesn't want it as much. I hope they are just seeing that $8000 tax credit and thinking that's everything they need. I'm too smart for that, I'm not buying BECAUSE of that credit, the credit is just a perk.

Please wish us some luck. This place is so great for us, great location, price, size and 'feel'.

We were just approved for our first home loan! YAY!! We went to the bank yesterday to talk over if it was even possible and to get a little information that I didn't already have. Much to my surprise and delight our mortgage broker called this morning and told us that we are not only approved, but approved for $10,000 more then we asked for (not that we're going to up our price, we still want reasonable monthly payments).

This is so freaking exciting. After renting for 12 years I'm thrilled at the idea. No, we haven't picked a house, but with the interest rates going up daily, we need to get our butts in gear. We do have a few houses that we want to do walkthroughs of, so that's a start.

I'm just so happy, had to share!

This is s very quick and simple post to test posting from my new Blackberry.


So much fun :)

There is nothing easy about giving Dood the Cat his prescription tablet.

There is also nothing fun about researching tapeworms all day. Ewwww!

But, he DID get the whole pill down completely. The half pill we weren't as lucky on as it was getting too wet from his spit and coating his tongue. And he's too smart to eat it mixed with his soft food, he just sucked the juice and left the rest. So, I put the rest of the food and pill in a mortar and pestle and he's staring at his food slurry with a "that's gross, mom!" look.

*shakes head and pets the kitty*

Dood the Cat has been with us for 11 days now so I thought I'd update and share more pictures.

He is... strange. Very quirky, like most cats. He is definitely a member of the family already and I seriously don't know how I went so long each day without laughing. Such a goofball! He's almost desperately cuddly (2 cuddly men in the house now /sigh). He insists on sitting on my shoulder or being held almost all of the time.

He is also a big kisser, headbutts my lips until I make a kissy sound then he starts rubbing his lips, nose and face all over my lips whilst I continue kissy sound. So weird.

We see the vet on Friday for his first checkup and I hope everything goes okay. Dood has a weird bony bump on his sternum area that I want the vet to feel and he's been sneezing a lot, although much less the past 24 hours.

Both Marc and I completely love him, he fits right in and keeps us both laughing. A side benefit is that we now have to eat dinner at the dining room table instead of desks or couch, so that family bonding crap is happening.

I don't want to bore anyone, I really could tell lots of Dood stories, instead I'll post photos!

( The Dood )

I have lots more, but I'll keep it to this for now!

Say hello to the new member of our household, Dood!

We rescued Dood just today from Animal Friends down the street from us. We went in to look around at the bunnies and glance at the dogs but this kitty stopped us in our tracks. He was nuzzling through the cage and between his very pretty eyes, super soft fur, lovey temperment and beautiful markings, we just couldn't resist.

He's about a year old and has only been in the shelter a couple of days, no surprise. He's neutered and claws are intact and is super snuggly. Strangely, whilst I hate human cuddling, I LOVE animal cuddles (in a non-furry way). We're already picking up on a few quirks although he HAS been sleeping most of the time he's been home with us. He likes to put his head in my mouth and just now dipped his head into my coffee cup (MMmm, cat hair coffee). He headbutts a LOT, which is fitting as I do the same.

He also prefers having someone touching him as he falls asleep. He and Marc are getting along well despite marc's impression that the cat doesn't like him.

Lots more to say, but that can wait, instead - PICTURES!

One more thing, I forgot how hard it is to type with a cat sitting on your keyboard, hand, mouse and other things. He's really needy... like Marc.

( Dood photos taken over the last 3 hours )

And yes, for those that remember, I *am* allergic to cats. Despite having cats as pets for 18 years, my allergies started when I moved into my first apartment. 11 years later I'm still allergic but I couldn't stand not having a cat, you know how they grow on you. We really wanted a dog, but landlord said no, and now I have to say I'm glad. This kitty is fitting right in. My current allergy medication makes a BIG difference but if the allergies persist, I'll be calling for a strong Rx, it's worth it. He's worth it!

Anyone want to make me a Dood icon? :D

Woo! It's official, complete with thank you letters and everything. We are debt free :D. All old credit card debts are paid and all student loans are paid!

Now I know most of you don't give a crap about this, but personally, I think it's great to be 30 years old and not have a single credit card or loan to worry about. Consolidating and being frugal definitely paid off for us. Sure, we didn't get to go on vacations or go out with friends or really do much of anything. But, it worked out and I'm thrilled.

I also do find it very funny that at the same time I got the "Congratulations" letter in the mail, I got a bill from the hospital for last months surgery :P. But, I knew that was coming and it was to be paid on Friday's payday. Stupid hospital bills always want to bring me back to debt unhappiness.

Anyway, YAY for us!

What the hell is up with so many people posting little fake dragon pictures in comments. I've seen it in 4 different communities now. Who in the world cares about a little fake dragon?!

Between that and people doing "live" posts for TV shows, hockey games, football games and all that stuff, I'm seriously losing faith in my happy LJ communities. It's starting to turn into a kiddie fest, go back to your Myface, kids! Or at least go to the drama communities so that I can ignore all of you.

Big pet peeve for the holidays. Hell, this annoys me year 'round. But it always pops up more around this time of year.

If someone says they want advice between item A and item B, don't tell them "they're cheap, get both!". People do not seem to understand budgets. If I have $100 set aside for something, that means I have $100 not $110 or $300. And I'm SOOO tired of people suggesting to do the "buy now, pay later" just for instant gratification. Don't get trapped in the credit card hell! Seriously.

And, the comment always comes up "If you can't afford X amount, you have more important things to worry about". No. That's what a budget plan is for. I could have $150,000 in the bank and still only set aside $100 for a gift or item.

I'm having a crappy day so I decided to watch a movie and say screw it to everything else.

But, I feel like a complete goofball. I'm sitting at my computer desk wearing 3-D glasses and watching Journey to the Center of the Earth. Yes, it's in 3-D and yes, I look stupid. But for paper glasses they work better then the ones I used to get from the cereal boxes when I was little!

Also, happy belated 30th birthday to marc1503! We had a very nice day with both sets of parents, lots of food, money and gifts!

It's snowing... YAY! You can't tell from the picture, but it's coming down pretty heavy. I just snapped a quick picture outside of my computer room window as that's what I was staring at. So, the white rooftop is snow and the colourful trees are showing that it is indeed still fall. Hopefully this is a sign of a long snowy winter to come.

And yes, I know pretty much all of you dislike the snowy months, but deal :P.

I can't believe I forgot to post the pictures from my trip to Living Treasures Animal Park and Petting Zoo! We took over 70 photos and 3 videos, but I'll just post a couple photos here. I might get around to uploading the goat fight video to youtube if people are interested (lots of headbutts).

I'm a complete sucker for goats and donkey and deer and... well, any petting zoos or animal sanctuaries. All in all, this was a great trip and I got to play with lots of goats, sheep, zebra, deer, reindeer, wallaby, llama and the list goes on. The only thing I didn't like was the section of the "park" that had enclosed bear, lions and tigers. There was FAR too little room for the big guys. And the cheetah were in a teeny tiny cage. I would have preferred that they stuck with the open flow of the petting zoo and limited themselves to ONLY animals that you could play rather then put all of the big beauties in tiny cages, not cool!

Well, on to the pictures! And let me add that I really liked that almost all of the animals could go anywhere in the park. They weren't limited to small fences or anything. The fences that WERE there were made so that the animals could pass through from area to area. So, lots of surprise animals rubbing and headbutting your legs.


( more under here :) )

Oh my!

Algae-dyed polar bears puzzle Japan zoo visitors

A polar bear, its fur stained with algae, stands in its cage at Higashiyama Zoo in Nagoya, central Japan, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008. Three polar bears at the zoo changed their colors in July after swimming in a pond with an overgrowth of algae, prompting many questions from visitors concerned about whether the animals are sick or carrying mold, a zoo official said. (AP Photo/Kyodo News, Shuzo Shikano)

After 2 seasons of people telling me how much I'd enjoy Heroes, I finally got around to watching both of the seasons.

( Putting everything under a cut so others aren't spoiled )

I'm concerned about The Husband, which is sooo out of the ordinary for me ;). Up 'til Wednesday, he had never been to a dentist, or at least not since he was 5 and that was only 1 quick visit. This is something that bugs me, but that's a whole different post. He had a chip in his tooth and was getting those really nasty headaches that can only come from tooth pain. So on Wednesday I called around to find a dentist and much to my surprise they told him to come in the next morning.

He's been closing all week at work (12:30-9:30) so we were able to get him into that dentist and out before work. We found out it was some pretty nasty decay and he'd need the tooth pulled. Right after leaving the dentist we called the surgeon and again to our surprise they said "Tomorrow morning!" (which was today).

Some background, Marc has *never* had anything done to him surgically or anything else. Just doctors appointments and bloodwork and diabetic blood tests. So, I don't think he was expecting the pain that comes from a solid tooth extraction. I've been lucky, the only dental procedure I've had to go through was my wisdom teeth, and because all 4 were pulled at once, I was knocked out. Also, the serious pain I had the week prior to the extraction was handled by a special "Aspirin Stick" a friend had a stock of from Nigeria (where she lived all of her life until 1999). That was some serious magic in a piece of wood, and no... I still have no idea what exactly it was and YES, she is the friend that I met during our medical studies and we were working at the same doctors office (even the doctor was intrigued!).

Er, got sidetracked, back to Marc.

They gave him as much novocaine as possible and he's absolutely miserable. He looks like someone just killed his puppy, then killed me and then put my head on the puppies body and ran that over. Absolutely miserable and in pain. He did NOT expect this at all, and I really didn't want to tell him it would hurt because his nerves get out of control. Plus, I don't know how he reacts to this kind of pain. I remember when he was still a firefighter and he fell off one level of the roof and onto another, a big fall. He *hurt* but it was more of a "ouch" *goes back to work*. Whereas tooth pain is completely different.

Well, he's not doing well. And to make it worse, he's now at work... and we just left the surgeons office an hour ago. What concerns me even more is that they gave him 750mg of Vicodin. I'm used to the stuff, had to take it all of the time for kidney stones and during the whole gall bladder mess. But he has never taken it and he works 30 minutes from home, with customers all around him (he's a technician for Verizon Wireless) and now he has to play nice with idiots that yell at him all day. If he gets dizzy or the bad stomach pain that is so common, who knows what will happen because he won't be eating today.

Even though we don't get along that well anymore, it's impossible NOT to feel bad for him seeing how miserable he is. Work just would not let him call off, even with my voice mails and text messages to all of the right people. It was too last minute and that's the way it goes there. /sigh.

If I have too, I'll have his mom take me up to Cranberry after she gets off work and maybe we can pretend to be customers for an hour or two so that at least he doesn't have to pretend to be nice. Hopefully the novocaine will kick in eventually, with his luck it will be just enough for the lips to go numb and then he won't know he's drooling. Because MAN, did I drool a lot the couple hours after my wisdom teeth were removed.

Rather then turn this into an emo "things can't get worse!" entry (honestly, things can ALWAYS get worse), I'm going to spin it around.

After 2 weeks of marital problems, family drama, hospitalizations, fighting, crying and as of Tuesday death: I took a break to check email and what do I see?

Wrath of the Lich King™ Beta Test

It was like the Gaming Gods (they DO exist) were saying "Katie, you really need to chill out and relax and be distracted". So, even though I won't be able to do anything with it the next couple of days (wake and funeral and family), it's nice to have something to look forward too. That little bit of distraction is always SO important, hell, it's why I started really gaming hardcore in the first place.

Also, completely unrelated to the gaming stuff... I've lost a lot of family members and a fair amount of friends. But only recently have I come across the new standard in funeral homes, live streaming video from every "showing". That is so... bizarre. Practical, yes! Especially for out of state friends/family or those that are unable to leave the house. But I was NOT expecting to see that option on the funeral homes website. Now I'm going to be looking in those corners and wondering if any family members are watching from their PC's.

So, I went to re-update my profiles on some of the game websites I've been looking forward to beta testing and guess what? I got in to *two* that I've been sooo looking forward too. This is actually great BUT, I never got the email... didn't know I could have been testing one of the games for the last 3 weeks. They definitely didn't get sent to the junkbox as I check that constantly (not an email noob here).

I'm actually realizing more and more that it's not smart to sign up for anything important with one of my ISP email addresses. It's so hit or miss, I get the email to authorize the address, but then I never get anything again. Good thing I check back to sites often.

Now I'm just wondering if that World of Warcraft beta invite didn't slip through the cracks too. From what I see, there isn't a "you've been invited to beta!" confirmation on the opt-in section of the webpage. Maybe there is elsewhere? Anyone from beta care to shed some light?

*goes back to downloading the Warhammer beta and change as many other accounts to gmail as possible*

Edit: holy crap, the freaking Warhammer download took a total of 41 hours... seriously. I really hate that they only offered a torrent. There were only 6 seeds for most of that time. Now of course, I see that they have a regular download up for the event weekend.

Well, we were approved. Screw the negative details on all of that, let's just get on with the happy stuff!

What did we get? I didn't want to jinx myself before by saying it aloud (or written) because this is what I had my heart set on ;).



( More pics behind the cut! )