Days 263-265

Worked on the fence Saturday...Picked up a sweet tool belt at my brothers Chinese gift exchange party...(Which happened to be the present I brought...)
Which begs the question...Why is a Chinese gift Exchange? Is this really how the Chinese give gifts to one another?

on Sunday I took on the task of edging my driveway and sidewalks....
I estimate that I gained about 8-12" of overall width...It's probably been 2 years since they have been trimmed...

Day 255

It's SNOW day in Louisiana...

What a crazy morning... We were woken with the sounds of the boys running into our bedroom.. proclaiming... "It's snowing outside!!!"

and...what do you know...it was coming down...and I mean...coming down something good...

The dogs were totally baffled by the idea of walking in it...but...somehow they managed...

and I left work early...to come home and play in the snow with the boys...We attempted to make a snowman...but...I think our snowman construction methods were a bit questionable...as...the simple application of cranberry facial features...seemed to cause the whole thing to come tumbling down...

Overall...it was a fun time...and now is turning into a nasty slushy mess...

Day 203

Not too much with the house today....I picked up about 60 pounds of lawn clippings...dumped them in my woods...

That's right...my new lot has woods...so...I created a huge mulch pile...

Here's another shot from our DC trip...Arlington is a spectacularly moving place to visit...

Days 200 -202

What a weekend...

We got all sorts of help...and accomplished all sorts of stuff...

Got my hands on a Z-turn mower...Totally awesome...

I mowed the yard...twice...

and as you can tell from this wonderful photo....over 1/2 the yard was taller than me sitting on the mower...

We got 3 or 4 nice sized loads of stuff brought over...and it's starting to feel like our place...

Haven't met too many neighbors yet...hopefully they won't hate us.  :o)

Days 187-199

So...I was boycotting my own blog for a while there...No good reason...other than the fact that I was SICK of saying that I had no news about the house...

Well....that's all different now...

We are officially Land Barons...owning property in 2 states...

I'm sure the troubles are just beginning...but they are our troubles...and we can get out of this silly townhouse...

Our move-in date is tentatively going to be next saturday....

We'll be using the next week to clean, paint...and prepare the house for our arrival...

We are both happy...and we really did get a spectacular deal on a beautiful home...

Oh...and last week Janet and I went to DC so she could receive an award for being a Star employee at her company...it's quite an honor...and I'll be sharing more photos soon...

Day 168

Ever seen a $1,200 sink and faucet?

*cough*overpriced*cough*

Day 164

No...Y ur sister be lyien?

I got my first wrong number text message while at the Parish Council Meeting tonight...

no house news today...

Day 163

So....The story so far...

We were told on Monday...that the bank's 'bottom line' is more or less $3,500 more than our offer...

We got BACK with my bank fellow...who is operating with a generator and a cell phone...and tried to send him the rest of our paperwork today...

We also found out there could be tax 'issues' with the house...and, hopefully, my agent and the listing agent are working on those details...

Basically, from what we understand, either the seller paid the taxes through a title company so he could sell the house, or a title company paid the taxes and put a lien on the property...who knows...hopefully we can find out tomorrow...

In a perfect world...which, almost 10 weeks later (that's how long ago we put our offer in on this house), we know this isn't...we could be closing on the property in 2 - 3 weeks...

It's pretty crazy...after looking at many, many houses since I moved here in April... To actually be this close to buying the nicest house (in our price range) for significantly less than we originally thought possible is just nuts....We are in the neighborhood of $120,000 less than their asking price...so...we are getting pretty excited....

I'll keep you informed if anything changes...and I'm sure 'OPERATION POOL CLEAN-UP' will lead to several adventurous posts...

oh...

and this is funny.

Day 155 part 2....the cooler hours...

So...the Family of 5 has relocated to a friend's house...his entire house is running off of a Natural gas generator...we were able to salvage some of our refrigerator goods...The dogs are in the guest house in their crate...with AC and a ceiling fan...so Boudreaux is nice and happy...
Janet is going to set up her home office here for the time being and the boys will be able to play with their 3 sons (all teenagers....but it looks like they are enjoying the younger generation...for now at least...)
The area is pretty dinged up...They are evacuating the hospitals due to the duration that we might be without power...Everyone is starting to freak out...because people, generally, only prepare for 2-3 days of food and water...and if it extends to 7-14 days....this entire region is going to be in some serious trouble...

The photo is of 'the house'...The one we haven't bought yet...but are trying to....the only real damage to speak of is the fence in the backyard...and the ceiling fans on the porch lost their blades...I didn't look inside...but from the street it looked Okie Dokie...

Day 149

California, Texas, North Carolina and Virginia...
I see you....You're checkin me out...

Are you here because you're lost? Do I know you? What's going on?
Are you waiting for th eFall TV season to get my reviews of Heroes, Lost, 24, American Idol...and all the other junky shows I can't stop watching?

What's going on in these rogue states...that aren't Louisiana and Florida...Feel free to leave a comment...to let me know you stopped by to take a read...

Oh...and got some news on the house front today...
We were told...by an agent...that she spoke to someone at the bank...and she said...that they said...that they have submitted our offer for acceptance...Meaning...we could be closing on the house in 2 weeks or so...Just in time to have Gustav blow it away...

Days 142-145

Keepin' busy in these parts...Another week of school for the boys is done...We went and looked at some houses yesterday...This one, in particular has some CRAZY purple carpet and pink and yellow walls throughout the house...

We got some good news about the other house...but nothing definite yet...still waiting on a response from the bank....keep your fingers crossed...it was 6 weeks today that we put in our offer....

Days 122-125

no news...still waiting...

Day 110 - 121

Okay...so we got no House news...I've got nothing to report...I was hoping to fire up the good stuff again...once we got to taking care of starting that part of the move up...but...

Still...nothing...

In my opinion...we have till August 7th...for something GRAND to happen...Cause the boys start Elementary school on the 8th...

Keep your collective fingers crossed for us...

I saw this while driving around today...

It's a $250,000 car parked next to a spray painted thing...

nice.

Day 105

So we put an offer in on the house we both really like yesterday...

Because of the 'bank' situation that the house is in....pre-foreclosure...or something...we had to give them until 10:30 am on friday...They asked for 30 days...we gave them 5...

Hopefully...we'll hear SOMETHING...ANYTHING...by Friday...

Keep your fingers crossed for us...It'll be the house you're visiting....there is a pool too...

Day 101

Okay...it's no fancy schmancy black and white photo of a really cute baby or anything...but it is a pretty cool balloon shot from July 4th in downtown Baton Rouge...

Oh...

and Janet and I decided to not buy a house right now...Instead...we're gonna buy one of those really fancy tanning bed thingies...

I really like how my tubby six pack looks all sun burnt...It's like 6 of those little keg cans...cept they're bright red...

Day 92

We went and checked this house out yesterday...
It was 2,700 sf and unfinished...
It needs some TLC to get it ready to live in...

See how nice that porch is...
Each of those double doors go into the house...some in wierd locations...
The far right is the master bedroom...next is the Master bath...next is the Master closet??? Then the last 2 enter the living room kitchen area...

Sitting out on your front porch....you can see if your neighbor decides to put the wheels back on their house...

Day 9

So I started the torture yesterday...

I went and looked at houses....

Houses that I can't afford until I sell the house in Orlando...

This was a brand new home...Acadian style...with Antique Cypress throughout...

The floors in the kitchen were brick...

This was a nice house.....