Busy Busy Busy
John and I managed to find a house. A couple weeks after my last post we saw a house in Vernon Hills. We loved it. We put a bid on it that night. The next day we found out we were in a bid war for the house. We put in another bid. After a loooonnggg weekend, we finally found out that we lost.
So I went back to watching the posts and etc. We looked at more houses. We found another in Hainesville in mid April (right before going home to DSM for Easter). The lady who owned it told us to wait a week because she was dropping the price. So we waited. The price drops and we put in a bid.
Then our realtor calls us and tells use that the house in Vernon Hills is back on the market and we have just 2 hours to determine if we want to bid again on it or pass. Hell yes we want to bid. We want that house! So we put in another bid. This time, we get the house.
The Friday we're going to St. Louis for Easter we filled out the contract paperwork. Then there was mad dash insanity in regards to inspections and loan stuff. Right up until 3 days before closing we're still dealing with loan stuff. But on 5/22 we closed on the house.
We did the final walk through the morning of closing. We discovered that there was a slow leak in one of the washer hoses which had leaked into the family room downstairs. The carpet was soaked (though, it was just clean water). Nothing else was leaking though. We went to closing, then came back to the new house and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening cleaning and trying to get the water out of the carpet in the family room. We did all that we could but we just didn't have enough time and we had to let it go for the time being because we needed to get home to get ready for our trip to NYC (more about that later).
When we got back from NYC (a week later), we went back to the house. We found the carpet now has brown stains on it, and it's still damp! We can't run the AC unless we're there because the top cover is cracked and if it's running, you could stick your hand in it and cut your fingers off. On the 22nd we learned there are a couple of very curious kids right next door, so we can't be sure they wouldn't mess with it if we left it on. Since we had to leave the house shut up for the week without AC, it wasn't able to dry completely. So we started running John's industrial fan downstairs to dry the carpet. Tonight, I think it might actually be dry.
We also were able to get the gas turned on. The gas company came out on the 22nd and got the water heater pilot lit, checked the stove (it has an electric starter, so no pilot needed), and tried to get the furnace running. No dice. Furnace needs to be cleaned and serviced. When John and I saw the house in March, the gas was still on, and the furnace was working (it kicked on while we were there), but before we could have the inspection done at the end of April, they turned the gas off to the house. So I called someone on Monday, they came out and did an inspection on Tuesday, and someone is coming out this Saturday to work on it (as well as clean the furnace and AC and hopefully put the new cover on the AC).
We're also having the furnace and dryer vents cleaned on Saturday.
So far we've managed to get the house emptied. The last owners left a TON of stuff behind (see here: http://picasaweb.google.com/kolalakitty/House#). We're trying to get to the point where we can paint. Due to the owners stupidity with the dryer, we're having to wash all the walls to get lint bunnies off of them. Then we're going to have to patch, and due to the hideous colors, prime the walls before we can actually really paint.
Moving is happening slowly. We're taking car loads to the house each night, storing the stuff up in the "bonus room" upstairs in order to get it out of the townhouse. Big stuff moving day (all the big furniture that doesn't fit in John's car) is the 14th. In order for that to really happen we have to have the kitchen, dining room, living room, and the master bedroom painted.
John's parents are coming up with a UHaul truck the weekend of the 27th to bring us his grandmother's dining room table and chairs, the matching buffet, and the kitchen table and chairs.
David is going to get my dining room table from the townhouse. He's got chairs already that'll match it, so we're just going to pitch my old ones (I'll keep the cushions to put on the kitchen chairs at the new house).
Amy, Shane, and maybe Jessi H (if we can make it work - this is all just discussion between Amy and I so far) will come out this summer (sometime in July?) to repair our upstairs bath, and get overhead lights installed in the bedrooms and hopefully the living room (the family room, kitchen, and dining rooms are already wired for overhead lights).
We also have carpet cleaners coming out on the 13th, and they are coming to install the internet, TV, and phone on the 13th too.
Yes. There are pictures. Lots of pictures. But I haven't posted them yet. I haven't been at home long enough. I'll put the link here once I get to that.
EDIT: Here are the pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/kolalakitty/NYC#
We went to NYC from 5/23 - 5/31. We were at the new house working til 1130pm on Friday. We went home, packed and finally got to bed at 130am, to get up at 330am cause we had to leave at 4am to get to the airport. David took us there and our plane left on time (6am.. whee...) Nancy's friend Paddy picked us up when we got to JFK. He took us around to a few places, Rockaway beach, his house (met his wife, his dog, and saw his cat before it took up the stairs to hide), the Police museum, and we also went to the Lemon Ice King of Corona. It was soo good. John wanted to go back (and we did, right before going to catch our flight back home). Paddy dropped us at the hotel at around 2pm, and with all the activity from the day before, and that day, we promptly went up to our hotel room and crashed. 5 hours later, we got up, looked up NY style pizza (if you're ever in NYC, hit up John's Pizza -http://www.johnspizzerianyc.com/index2.htm - it's soooo tasty). Got back to the hotel around 11pm and crashed again.
Sunday the 24th we went to the Natural History Museum and Planetarium. I don't remember where we went to dinner.
Monday was the day of walking. We went to the Central Park Zoo. Then we walked down 5th Ave and went to all the famous shops - Tiffany's, SAK's Disney, FAO Scwartz, etc. We hit up Rockafeller Center, then went back to the hotel. We had a street cart for dinner that night. We also bought our fridge for the new house over the phone that day. We went to the Empire State Building that night to see the view.
Tuesday we went to the Guggenheim. Then we took a Circle Line boat tour (or maybe that was on Wed.. I don't remember - I'd have to look at pictures).
Wednesday was the MoMA.
Thursday was the "special" museum that I'm not sposed to talk about in case John's parents should happen across this. If you are curious, I'll tell you personally. There are pictures that I'll share from there, but I won't post them online. After that we stood in line for awhile to get Broadway tickets. We then went back to the hotel and got ready and went to "Blithe Spirit" (http://www.broadway.com/Blithe-Spirit/broadway_show/5013670). We had dinner at John's Pizza again.
Friday was the day at the Met. 9 hours, looking at various exhibits. By the time we got done, our feet hurt so bad we actually took a bus back to the hotel instead of just walking. We got dinner at an Italian restaurant called Carmine's (http://www.carminesnyc.com/). If you're in NYC - eat there. Just share - John and I ordered 1 order of Spaghetti and Meatballs, both ate our fill, and had enough leftovers to both have another meal on another day.
Saturday we did the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Then it was back to the hotel to figure out dinner. We ended up eating at Uncle Nick's Greek Cuisine (http://unclenicksgreekrestaurant.com/). The food was GREAT, but service was AWFUL. Seriously, got there at 10pm, and finally left at almost midnight because we had no idea who our server was and had to keep flagging people down. One guy (#1) took our drink order. Another guy (#2) our meal order. Someone else (#3) brought out the food. That guy (#3) gave us the menu to order dessert after flagging him down. First guy (#1) took our dessert order. Another different guy (#4 now...) brought out dessert. #3 then tried to bring us dessert again. #1 finally brought us our bill. #2 took the bill back from us. #3 brought us our receipt.
We were going to buy souvenirs on Sat night, but due to dinner we couldn't. So Sunday, before checking out of the hotel, we hit up Times Sq and got stuff for people. Then it was back to the hotel to finish packing, check out, and meet Paddy outside to take us back to the airport. Flight home was okay. David picked us up again, we went to dinner with him and his new GF Jen (they started dating on Easter)
Other than house stuff.. not much going on. Acen went okay. AI is coming up in August. John's family is coming to visit in August. Carol and Matt are coming to visit in August. John and I are going with David, Jen, Breanne (coworker) and her hubby, and one of Jen's friends to the Dells in late July. There is a company picnic on the 13th of June (we'll go after we get done with the carpet cleaning and phone stuff). John and I, David and Jen, are going to see Bill Engvall on the on June 20th. I'm probably forgetting more, but oh well.
John and I hit 2 yrs on Saturday. 2 years people. Seriously. He's not getting a gift (and he didn't get me a gift either) cause of house stuff and our NYC trip, but I did get him a card.