I AM A HOMEOWNER!!!*

After signing a ton of papers, I now "own" a home, *but really I am just a co-owner with the bank, but they don't have to do any maintenance and I have to pay them. Dang, they have the better deal!!

Surprisingly, it all went very smooth (thanks Mary! Mariah (loan person), and Alex (agent)), except transferring my cable internet. I swear I spent about 4 hours over a five-day period trying to get someone to transfer service, because the guys that rented my house had an active account (though they were behind on their bill...), so they couldn't transfer my service. According to the lady at the local Comcast office, "it's a liability" to which I said "WHATEVER! THE POWER/GAS/WATER COMPANIES HAVE NO PROBLEM DOING IT! AND THEY ARE ACTUALLY VITAL TO LIFE, YET THEY DON'T TELL ME IT IS A LIABILITY!!!" to which she replied "it's a liability” Now I fully understand that she is just a lackey, but it made me crazy that her only response was "it's a liability" And then even though I told her to move my service on Friday, she made it immediate, so when I got home I had no internet, which was fine, but it made it so I couldn't change my address online last night, like I wanted to. ARGH!

If there was actually a comparable alternative I would have cancelled and gone with them, but any other option would have been at least $20 more a month and I am way too cheap to protest a company at a cost to me of $20. Oh and when I told her what a pain it and that I was really disappointed in them she was like "oh well” And I wouldn't have been so stressed about getting service on Friday, but I was told 4 times that I would have to have a tech come out to hook up service and I would have to be home, so I wanted to get it done when I already had the day off - found out, I didn't need a tech (just my modem programed for the new address), but not until I was stressed about it and was on to 5th customer service person. Which I talked to her in person, because I was told I would have to prove that I was buying the house...what a bunch of CRAP!!

Man! I am glad I am not in customer service anymore, because dealing with people like me are a pain in the a$$, because we actually expect things to get done!!! But other than this SNAFU, buying a house has been a breeze!!! It just amazes me that Comcast would make it SO difficult for me to keep subscribing to their service! After all, internet at home is a luxury! Not a necessity!

T-32 hours until moving time!! EEEK!!!!

Puppy Nova

FINALLY I got pictures of Nova (or as I like to call her Puppy Nova).

Here she is with Hazel and me. (note. I am hoping that after a year of dog walking, I won't look so chubby in pictures or in real life)

And here is one of Nova by herself. Look how good she is at sitting!
And Hazel wanted another picture with Nova. I believe Nova is licking her shirt in this picture.
And now for some pictures of KPP (you know, so it seems like I still love her, which I totally do)

Here she is investigating boxes. The other day when there weren't as many boxes standing in the box, she totally fell head first into it and struggled to get out, and I was laughing so hard and trying to get my camera, that I didn't even help her. But she did manage to escape before I got my camera out. ah makes me laugh to think about it.

I guess she got REALLY tired from packing and needed to rest on top of boxes.

Moving

I knew I had been hoarding boxes over the last 4-5 years, but I didn't realize how many I had. I figure I have about 60 +-10. CRAZY! I don't even think I have enough stuff to fill them up!

This picture doesn't really do the quantity of boxes justice, but you can get the idea of the chaos in my living room.

Oh and I am on day 8 of ears that won't pop. :(

Dog

Because my life is not crazy enough, I have decided to adopt a dog. To be exact, a female Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Her current name is Bella. So my question is should I keep her name or change it to either Nova, Cookie or Bunny. I am rather partial to Nova as I wanted Hazel's middle name to be Supernova, but that is too long for a dog's name.

Vote in my poll. Or leave a comment suggesting another name.

*note, the issue of me adopting a dog is not up for debate, because I have made up my mind, and YES! I fully understand I have an anti-social cat, but hopefully KPP will learn to love her. KPP will also be getting tall perch to hide on.
**oh and I will maybe get some pictures tomorrow.

Random Pictures

I just emptied my memory card and here are some pictures.

Animal Plant had a big event in the park. We went. It was hot. Here is Hazel with an arm painting (she doesn't do face painting).

Over Pioneer Day weekend, Zoe visited. So we went to the Children's Museum with Hazel and Grandma Marilyn. Here is a picture of Zoe enjoying the beehive.

And here is Miss Zoe enjoying working on the construction equipment.

Also, on that same weekend, the AF Omans came up to have a picnic. Here are a couple of picture of Gloria and Hazel riding on the rocking horse.
On August 2nd, we went to Alta for a picnic and a hike. I let Sadie and Ashton use my camera and here are a couple of their pictures.

The two cute boys, Tony and Dylan, checking out some plants (or hiding, who knows).

And the Hazel and the Gloria holding hands while hiking (I actually took this pic)
Sadie's self portrait. Which as a side note, I got to hike with just Sadie for a while and it was great. She is so fun to talk to and hang out with, she is DEFINITELY my favorite Sadie EVER!!!
The Gloria. Dang, that girl is CUTE!
And a self portrait of beautiful Ashton. Now some picture of me preparing to move. As everyone knows, KPP LOVES boxes, here she is sitting on a box.

Here she is investigating the boxes Bernie gave me.



I think KPP is excited about moving, well at least the packing part.

HOLY HOUSE, BATMAN!

Today about 1:00pm, I signed a bunch of paperwork and I am officially "under contract" on a house!! EEK! here is a picture of the front of it. I chose the little bungalow that was fully updated and just had boring colors on the inside, because colors are a lot cheaper to fix than updating the whole house : )

I wasn't sure if it would happen as it seemed like the world was against it, but I said BAH to the world and pushed forward! On Friday, right after I agreed that I could spend a little bit more money than my original offer, my car DIED! Okay, so I did manage to get to a shady parking lot around the corner without pushing, but just barely. Then instead of going swimming, Mom, Meadow, Geoff, Hazel and I waited 80+ minutes for the tow truck to arrive. It was not great fun, though we did eat some pizza and cookies. Luckily, the tow, the repair costs and the rental car are covered under warranty. So my car got towed to my dealer and they should have it fixed on Monday (needed a new fuel pump). Really the thing that stressed me out the most besides the basic fact was that I had the CAST event on Saturday, but luckily Enrique was willing to drive me up there and to my dealership afterwards to get a rental (thanks Enrique!)

So hopefully nothing else will go wrong and I will close on my house on the 26th of August and get to start moving in on the 28th!

Now I just have to break the news to KPP that we are moving, but I am sure she will be SUPER excited. Okay, so really I think I will be talking to my vet about getting some sedation meds for her, because she will not enjoy having all her hiding places being moved and people in her house and having to go in her carrier to a new place, but after a couple of days I am sure she will be fine.

Houses, houses, houses

MAN! Who knew house hunting was so hard? I have now seen 13 houses in my price range and desired area. And how many of those have I really really liked????? Two...but even those two have issues.

One of them is on an itty-bitty private road and has virtually no yard (0.05 acres, mostly house) and a garage that looks like it will fall over if the doors are opened. But it is SO cute and has character. Okay, so the kitchen was lacking and it has wood paneling throughout, that they are in the process of filling in the cracks so they can paint over it. But I really liked it (it even has a laundry shoot!), except it would be a PITA in the winter to get out of the road, because it is shoveled by the residents and the owner says the two houses closest to the real road never shovel. And there is only parking for one car. BAH!

The other is a house with a great porch, great yard, a working honest-to-goodness garage (even has an opener), and decent location (overlooks a golf course). SO you may ask, what is your hang up with it??? Well, the previous owner updated everything (new electrical, plumbing, windows, carpet, tile, etc), which is AWESOME, but it has no personality. Though I guess that means I can add to it (and really paint that is not beige would make a ton of difference), but as I look around my ghetto apartment I realize how much I love the old window sills, wood floors and the tall tall ceilings. Basically, I LOVE older homes!! And while the house was built in 1920, the inside looks like it belongs in Eagle Mountain or one of the Jordans (aka the twilight zones). But really it is an awesome house (the yard makes me happy just thinking about the crazieness of it) and I am going to go see it again on Friday and if I still like it, I will make an offer. And if they accept my offer the first thing I will do when I get those keys is paint those stupid beige walls!!! (Which is funny, because my apartment walls are beige, but it doesn't bug me, probably because the flooring isn't beige, too)

Bah, finding a house is hard and stressful!