"They don't know who they're dealing with..." Another Trip to Home Depot

Another day closer to home ownership... maybe.

We stopped by the house this afternoon to take a look at the work that's been done.  We're supposed to have our final walk-through tomorrow, but there have been some issues with the work we've seen along the way.  So, we wanted to be prepared for what to expect.  Closing has already been delayed almost a week, and, if it weren't for our urging, we suspect things would have been accomplished even more slowly.

Again, we were disappointed with what we saw (sad face!!!).  A very simple drainage issue has been botched (again!), and it is obvious from the ground that some small holes in the siding on the second floor have not been touched.  I'm beginning to get concerned that they haven't paid attention to any of the things in the post-inspection contract addendum.  Don't get me wrong, if the investor would have said "No, those are things we aren't willing to do," when we originally requested them after the inspection, we would be cool with some sort of compromise, but these are things they agreed to have accomplished.

So, of course, we headed to Home Depot (again!).  I am bound and determined to inspect every contractual line-item with my own eyes.  How will I do that?  With a ladder... A very.big.ladder.  It's an investment, right?

After huffing and puffing out our frustrations (my Shrimp is thinking about seriously giving the realtor a piece of her mind about the whole thing nice and early tomorrow -- eek!  My easy-going Kimmy is M-A-D mad!), we headed to the ladder section of the store, where we haggled over features and reviews for a good 30+ minutes.  We settled on a 16-foot extension ladder for the time being, just to make sure I can get up on the roof.  It's quite comical seeing it filling up the entire length of Kim's Honda Element (I'd throw a pic up if it weren't raining and dark).

"They must think they're dealing with a couple little girls who don't know any better."

"They don't know who they're dealing with... they're dealing with LESBIANS!"

"They're dealing with ARMY lesbians who know better and come with tool."  (actual conversation)

We had a good laugh at ourselves... but it's true.  We may not be contractors, but it's pretty hard to pull the wool over our eyes.  They're going to hate my ladder, level, measuring tape, and camera... I can just feel it!  We fully plan to re-do the drainage issue ourselves after seeing them botch it multiple times, but at this point I can't see signing the closing papers if they can't manage to re-hang a gutter properly, patch a couple holes in siding and the roof, and the other somewhat minor things on our list.  It just makes us question the quality of work that might have gone on under the "skin" they put on this property to flip it.

Now, I need another glass of wine.

<3 Your ladder-toting new neighbor,

Lacey

Home Depot on a Friday Night

"I hope you know we're stuck with this cat for another ten or twelve years."  We all know indoor cats live like... forever, so it's more like fifteen, but that's OK :)

That's how it looked like our night was ending, until Kimmy (yep, that's Shrimp's real name... shall this be a future blog topic?) decided to offer me one more cocktail (YES, PLEAAAAAAAAAASE!).

But, alas, that is not how the night started out...

I came home from work tonight, and although I usually text and let her know I am heading out on my bike, I decided to coast on home tonight and "surprise" her.  Well, she was not surprised, just a bit perturbed as to why I didn't call.  Where's her sense of romance?  Probably got lost somewhere in the yet-to-be-identified-pet-accident that she found at my time of arrival on the hardwood upstairs.  No one got that usual shameful look when we threw out the "Did you do that?!" at them... hmmmmm... me's beginning to think Kimmy had an accident on the bedroom floor.  Just kidding :)

Let me just clarify... the last few weeks have been nothing but HELLISH.  Ok, maybe that's not the best description (nothing has gone horribly wrong, all of our loved ones [that were still alive a month or two ago] are still with us and we haven't suffered any huge financial losses), but I *finally* defended my research for my masters degree (and passed!), and... well that is about it.

But!  But!  I hate research, and although I think what I am doing is important (and I figured out some important stuff to really help injured veterans!), it's not my cup of tea... so I resume complaining.  NO ONE, wants to write, and re-write, and reeeeeeeeee-write the same manuscript a million (ok, like 10-ish) times and... ok, well, just imagine doing any job 10 times, you get it :)  Anyways, my final-final draft is due Tuesday.

And back to Friday night...

Of course, after the accident/incident was cleaned up, it was time to get our evening started.  Being the soon-to-be homeowners and homos that we are, we headed to Home Depot (romantic, huh?).  I realized we (I?) had a problem when I was like, "Why do I always have to go to the bathroom when I'm at Home Depot?" Then I was like, "Damn, I must be at Home Depot WAY too much to be thinking that!"

We hit what seemed liked every isle in the store.  Between moving out and moving in, we either need to fix something or prep something for our old or new lives.  I am less a shopper and TV watcher than I have ever been at any point in my life.  Kim is less so on both accounts.  So, as I ogled back splash tiles and closet organizers she intercepted my dreams with such facts as "We don't even remember the exact granite color or know the room dimension!"  The NERVE of her!

Anyways, we made it out alive, grabbed some dinner and cocktails, and were back home well before 10pm, because we can't survive past then in our late 20s.  The dogs greeted us, we poured a couple more cocktails and pondered over new home essentials on Amazon, until Kim came down from the bathroom and uttered the above statement... solidifying her stance that I will never in my lifetime get the hilarious option to name a kitty "Minnie Meows."

Now I'm sipping on my last cocktail of the evening, and watching Kim hold her breath in an effort to cure a bad case of the hiccups.

I just have one request, and that is that we all gather our karma, good luck, and warm-fuzzy thoughts into one pool and hope that one week from today Kimmy and I will be snuggling up on a cheap Ikea mattress in our new house, surrounded only by our favorite creatures and few essentials.  That would be a four-day-late closing but as soon as we can muster hope for an this time.

Ciao!

~Lacey (that's Idaho for "Tater.")

Peace, Love & Tacos

I dig live music....especially in small local venues like The Birchmere in Alexandria, VA!

I heart Tristan Prettyman (and Joshua Radin is pretty damn good too)....

and more importantly, I love amazing date nights with my girl!!!

Tristan Prettyman and I

~ Shrimp (one happy girl!!)