Last four days in CT

The dogs and I leave Thursday night for Chicago.  I made the decision to stop part of the way out there, because 14 hours is just too much.  But before we can leave, I have a million different things that I have to finish up (don't worry- I won't bore you with a list).  I'm definitely regretting the fact that CP didn't fly back to help this past weekend because I'm rushing around trying to fit everything in.  Thank goodness I had the foresight to take off this entire week from work!

• Last Wednesday I met up with a friend so that our dogs could play one last time.  Buster seemed off as he wasn't interested in playing and had thrown up earlier that day.  Well, I ended up taking him to the emergency vet at 9pm that night because he wouldn't eat dinner.  This boy would finish his 2.5 cups of food in 30 seconds if we didn't buy him a bloat bowl (one that slows down his eating), so I knew there was something wrong.  As I sat in the room waiting for the vet, all I could think about was that it was the same room where CP and I heard that Fuzzy Britches possibly had a brain tumor (which is why she had the seizure) and that we shouldn't put her on medication because "she would have a whole host of other problems in a year anyway based on her size."*  My mind automatically went all kinds of places as to what was wrong with him- thankfully he just had a fever, diarrhea, and nausea.  $400 later (oh yes- medication is way more expensive for big dogs!) and strict instructions on water/food intake and we were out the door.  Thankfully he is back to eating, drinking, and pooping normally- I don't know what I would have done if he wasn't better by Thursday!
• Friday was my last day at work.  The entire week was rushed and stressful, trying to finish projects, answer questions from my boss, etc.  The office did a going away cake and gave me a few trinkets to remind me of CT which was cute.  My boss was pretty good the entire week, but did make a few passive aggressive comments about "letting me leave CT two weeks earlier than planned" (because our house sold so quickly) and overall trying to make me feel guilty about leaving for the Chicago office.
• Friday night I headed up to MA to see a college friend that I hadn't seen in two years.  Sadly, we just haven't thought to make the time to see each other and now I'm moving away.  The last time I saw her she was ready to have a baby, and it turns out that she is now 9 weeks pregnant with her second child.  We had a great time and we vowed to be better about seeing each other.  I just love friends that you can pick up with even after a few years of seeing them/talking to them.
• Directv is on my sh*t list.  I had called a few weeks ago to cancel our service and they said they would be shipping boxes out to me so that I could send my receivers back.  I hadn't received them yet, so I called on Saturday wondering where they were.  Turns out they don't send the boxes until AFTER you shut off your service which makes NO SENSE if you are moving!  So I tried to shut off my service on Saturday and get the boxes shipped out to me, but it takes 7 days and they won't arrive until next Tuesday.  REALLY??!!?  So my choices are ship the receivers back myself or lug the receivers to IL, call Directv with our new address, and then ship them back.  Ridonkulous.  I guess I'll just pay for shipping myself.  Not to mention that my cable went out yesterday and has yet to come back on.  I will just be calling and cancelling and NEVER USING DIRECTV AGAIN. 

Posting may be light for the next week or two as I am losing access to my home computer until our furniture gets delivered.  Wish us luck with our drive!!

*BTW, thank goodness the vet has been wrong about this so far!!!

Well sh*t

I just got off the phone with our new health insurance company- despite the IL mandate for infertility insurance, CP’s company somehow is able to exclude it???  I’m guessing that even though they are based in IL, they must have written the policy outside of the state?  I’m shocked, saddened, and frankly pissed.  I should have called before today to find this out- then maybe we wouldn’t have picked a house that needed so much work.  We are now going to have to put off IVF because of the cost.  We certainly won’t have $20,000+ lying around after having the floors refinished, new appliances put in, HVAC work, new countertops for the kitchen, and an electrician re-wire the house (amongst other things).  I wish that we could NOT do some or all of those things, but unfortunately they are all immediate needs for the house, not wants.

F*CK.

My new love

Meet my new love:

Yes, that is the new Starbucks Refresher drink (Hibiscus flavor).  It is made from green coffee beans (i.e before they are roasted), which means the caffeine is still there, but not the flavor.

My entire life I have hated the taste and smell of coffee.  The bitter flavor (well, smell because I refuse to taste it) churns my stomach.  No coffee for me meant that late nights in college led to sleeping in class or pounding Red Bulls and/or soda.  No coffee in law school meant that late nights studying led to sleepiness in class and being in a general fog sometimes.  Coffee sure would have helped me study for exams and the bar!

But now, as a non-coffee drinker, I have something to drink at Starbucks other than Hot Chocolate, Caramel Apple Spice, or Chai Tea Latte!

The drink is tasty- I can taste a tiny hint of coffee flavor in the aftertaste, but it is so miniscule that even I don't mind it.  I bought the 5 pack of VIA packets to put in my purse in case I have the urge to fall asleep at work.  :-)  And I can only imagine how much better this drink is going to make my drive out to Chicago.  I'm probably going to have to pee a lot, but I'm sure this drink is better for my teeth than sugary Red Bull or Coke Zero.

Starbucks, from a non-coffee drinker, I thank you!!

Have you tried the new Refresher drink at Starbucks?


***I was not asked to review nor sent samples of the Refresher drink to review.***

Moving stinks

The older I get, the harder it is to move.  Along with all of the furniture that one accumulates when you start to “settle down” in a house, not realizing that you will be moving again in two years, it’s all of the other, stupid, little (but time consuming things) that come with moving.

·         Finding a new hair stylist

·         Changing the address for all of your magazines and affiliations (Fun note: I’m now on my 3^rd state since being admitted to the bar only 4 years ago.  None of my addresses have been located in the state where I am actually licensed.)

·         Cancelling cable, gas, electricity, etc

·         Figuring out the documents needed for an IL license and title/registration for the cars

·         Scheduling charity pickups and/or people from Craigslist to take stuff you no longer want/need

·         Eating out more than you would like once it gets down to the last few days because the dishes are already packed

·         Getting an oil change and making sure that your car can handle the drive out to IL

·         Finding new vets/doggie daycares/dog walkers for the puppies

·         Finding new doctors (including infertility docs), dentists, etc.

·         Changing insurance and other policies

·         Finding a new waxer

·         Figuring out the layout of your new town and how to get around.  Where is the closest bank?  Grocery store? Etc.

·         Figuring out the commute to the new office

·         Meeting new coworkers and having to learn their names- my new office is much bigger so I suspect it is going to take a while!

·         Having to start from scratch with our garden.  We may not even have time to put together raised beds and cut down overgrown shrubs before next spring.  That would make me very sad.

·         Making new friends

Some of these things I haven’t encountered yet, but will as the move date gets closer (I’m sure that I am forgetting a bunch of things too.)  I’m really just ready to move into the new house and start unpacking.  Enough with all of this crap leading up to the move.  I’m ready to be out of limbo and back in the same state as my husband!

My head is still spinning

What a short but productive weekend in Chicago.  It left me very overwhelmed, but ready to make lists, contact people, and get going on the house NOW.

Friday morning CP had to work- but at least it was from “home” (the extended stay hotel).  I didn’t want to bother him too much so I headed to a nearby Forest Preserve for a 5 mile walk/run workout.  It was already super hot and I forgot water so towards the end it was definitely more of a walk, but a good workout nonetheless.  Thank goodness for all of the trees as the shade helped a lot.

Great view for the beginning of the workout

Later on in the day we met with a loan officer to figure out our options for improvements to the house, then headed downtown on the train to meet up with friends and their twins, then have dinner with my parents.

Saturday morning CP and I headed to the house with my parents to meet with a plumber, an electrician, two hardwood flooring people, and an HVAC person.  Oh and for me and my mom to see our new house for the first time.  :-)  I’m not going to lie, the two hours in the house left my head spinning.  So much to do, so many different contractors to coordinate.  Overall, the layout of the house is great, the rooms are big, and the neighborhood is nice.  Once we do some painting, take down a lot of wallpaper, put our furniture in, and get the house updated to 2012 it will feel more like home.  We also have A LOT of yardwork to do.

Afterwards we headed to a huge appliance store and because my head was still spinning, I wasn’t much help.  Thank goodness my dad stepped in with all of the appliance measurements and the research that he did online.  We then purchased a new cooktop (CP is very excited about the 5 burners instead of the usual 4), a double oven, dishwasher, fridge, washer, and dryer.  Yeah, it was an expensive day.  But since the appliances aren’t working, it was necessary.  We decided to go with all stainless steel because eventually if we bump out the kitchen we may want an oven with a range instead of two separate appliances, but hopefully we can resuse a lot of what we bought.  And if we don’t reuse it stainless steel is something that everyone wants in their kitchen.

The bad news is that we couldn’t find a cooktop that fits in the current counter cutout.  They just don’t make that size anymore (it’s tiny).  Soooo we are going to have to redo the kitchen a bit more than we had hoped.  Instead of just painting the yellow metal cabinets (yikes) and dealing with the Formica counters until our redo, we will be installing granite counters, a new stainless steel sink, and a new faucet.  Since we just did this in our rental place out west last year we knew that it wouldn’t be too expensive, but it’s a couple thousand that we hadn’t counted on spending.  Hopefully between the new counters/sink/floor (we will refinish the hardwood below the laminate) and painting the metal cabinets the kitchen will look a whole lot better.

I had an uneventful flight back to CT yesterday, and soon after arriving home I was on the road driving up to NH to take care of my FIL and his wife’s four cats.  The drive wouldn’t have been so bad other than the fact that it was pouring rain for an hour of the drive when I was on windy, hilly two lane roads in VT.  I had my wipers going as fast as possible and my max speed was 40 as I was in no mood to kill myself.  After getting past the torrential rain obstacle, I then felt like I was part of the game Frogger as I swerved on back roads to avoid hitting frogs that had death wishes.  So much fun.

I am a big lover of animals, but I will never own a cat.  I know that cat owners feel like dogs are nasty, but to me, cats are nasty.  Cleaning up hair balls and cleaning out cat litter is about as disgusting to me as eating pig vomit.  It’s just not my cup of tea.  Plus cat litter makes the house smell and cats track it through the house on their paws.  Eww.  Anyway, the cats are all fine and will be very happy to have their parents home this week.  And I am happy to be back home (at least for the next three weeks).

How was your weekend?

Long weekend in Chicago

I just have to make it through my work day and then tonight I’m on a plane out to Chicago to see CP!!  It has been three weeks and this week especially I started to get lonely (that might be due to getting my period).  So I am very much looking forward to a few days with CP.

Already, I really like his job (thankfully, so does he).  His boss found out that I was flying in and told CP that he could work from home tomorrow.  As in, wink wink be available by phone, and check your email once or twice, but mainly spend time with your wife.  :-)  Tomorrow night we will head down to Chicago to have drinks with friends and then go out to dinner with my parents. 

Saturday is the day that I finally see our new house (I’ll try to take pictures so that you too can see the Miami Vice colors and hideous wallpaper throughout the house!).  I jokingly have been referring to it as “The Money Pit.”  While I’m checking out the house for the first time, we have meetings with an electrician, a plumber, two hardwood flooring people, and an HVAC person.  We are going to get estimates for all of the things that we view as immediate needs for the house.  Although the immediate needs are not “fun” needs like picking out new finishes, tile, cabinets, etc. I will be happy when the house has updated mechanical systems and is more livable.  Afterwards we are going to drive around the neighborhood and then look at appliances (don’t be too jealous).

I’m sure Sunday afternoon will come far too soon and I will have to head back to CT.  However, as soon as I land in CT I am driving up to my in-law’s house in NH.  They are on a two week trip in Sweden and needed someone to check on their cats, clean litter boxes, etc.  My MIL is a little weird about who she lets into her house, so I agreed to take a few hours off on Monday so that I could drive up Sunday, stay over, and then head back home on CT.  Yeah, it’s going to be a little crazy, but they have watched our dogs in the past (I am saving them $1000+.  Boarding 4 cats for two weeks would have been expensive!). 

What are you doing this weekend?

Magic Mike

Last Friday a couple friends and I went to see the movie Magic Mike.  When I first read an article about the movie, I thought to myself, “why in the world would anyone want to see that movie???”  Then I read a few more articles and heard that the movie actually had a plot PLUS gyrating men.  Why not check it out after a few drinks?

The movie was actually pretty good.  Channing Tatum is HOT and so is Joe Manganiello (also in True Blood).  The “skits” that they do onstage brought me back to many a bachelorette party.

My friend’s bachelorette party right after college was my first time going to a male strip show.  The night before my long-term college boyfriend and I got into a huge fight where he accused me of cheating (something I have never done to any boyfriend) and we broke up.*  The break up was traumatic for a night, and then I quickly got over it because I had been ready to break up with him for a while.  So the next night we headed into Philly to go to The Cave.**  We had a fantastic time at the show and then headed over to a nearby night club to go dancing.  Little did I know, one of the male strippers followed us to the club in order to find me and ask for my number.  And ummm I had been drinking a bunch at that point, but he was HOT and had a fantastic body (his day job- personal trainer).

I ended up dancing with him all night and gave him my number (!) not thinking about it until the next day.  Sure enough a few days later he calls and wants to go out on a date.  Ha!  I think that we ended up talking for a while, but I was cagey about getting together.  I mean, sure it is fun to say that a stripper wanted to go on a date with you, but actually going on a date with a stripper was just not for me.

Do you have any funny stripper stories?  Have you seen Magic Mike or do you plan on seeing the movie?

*I think that he was feeling guilty because he flirted and/or hooked up with a girl earlier that week, had been drinking, and wanted to blame me for something.  Two weeks after we broke up they started dating and within a few months she was pregnant!

**If you are in the Philly area I would HIGHLY recommend this place for a birthday or bachelorette party.

Inspection results

Ahhh the inspection on our new house.  We knew that it would turn up some interesting things, but we didn’t know that it would be THIS extensive.  CP, my dad, and the inspector ended up being at the house for TWO HOURS.

Off the top of my head, the house needs:

·         Complete rewiring of electrical system including an upgraded panel and replacement all two-prong sockets with three prong (inspector found some cloth wiring)

·         Whole-house re-do of plumbing. 

·         New AC unit (it is 40 yrs old and not working well)

·         New furnace (it is 40 yrs old and not working well)

·         New cook top, oven, dishwasher, dryer (all not working)

·         New gutters (currently being held up with duct tape)

·         New 2 x 6 rafters in attic

·         New soffits

·         Absestos tile in the basement- would need to tile over it

·         New siding

·         New windows

·         Chimney work (bricks are crumbling)

·         New flooring around the downstairs toilet (there have obviously been leaks that have not been cleaned up properly)

·         New shutters

Basically the only new thing in the house is the roof (two years old).  *Sigh*

The inspection report is due today and at that point we will have the laundry list of things that need to get done.  Honestly?  All of this stuff is making me nervous.  I mean, we are still going through with the purchase of the house, but I was hoping that most of the work that we would have to do would be cosmetic, upgrading kitchens and bathrooms, maybe adding on to the house…..not this kind of stuff.

We are going to have to do some of these things immediately just to be able to live in the house- things like the electrical rewiring of the house need to get done because some of the new appliances will be too much of a load on the electrical panel if we run more than one at a time.

Not sure what this means for trying to get IVF done as soon as possible though.  CP and I ended up switching from my insurance to his and we are crossing our fingers that his insurance has to follow the IL mandate.  Unfortunately, because we don’t have a permanent address in IL just yet we can’t switch over and CP is too busy at his new job to call to find out the differences between coverage in CT and IL.  (annoying)

Under contract

This weekend the seller officially signed our offer and we are under contract to buy the fixer-upper.  It was quite an ordeal though because the seller seems to be quite crazy and his real estate agent can’t seem to rein him in.  At one point he refused to sign the contract because he thought he was going to be put in jail.  ???!??!?!?  Thankfully he finally signed everything on Saturday, but I worry what lies ahead in this house-buying process with him…..

We agreed to buy the house as-is because we know that there is a lot of work to do, but after we signed he suddenly told us that the oven and the dryer don’t work.  We knew that the cook top didn’t work, but now we are going to have to buy four new appliances within days of moving in (according to my mom you always buy a washer and dryer as a set).  He also wanted to put into the contract that some of the lighting fixtures may not work.  I’m not sure how this guy has been living in this house without workable appliances- maybe he just microwaves all of his food and hangs stuff to dry? 

Now we move on to the attorney review period (which I don’t quite understand but is IL-specific).  I’m hoping that this goes a bit smoother than the actual signing of the contract.  CP and my dad are going to the inspection this afternoon which I HOPE HOPE HOPE goes well.  We know that there are going to be lots of things on the inspection list, but I hope they don’t find evidence of mold or termites.  Those are two things that would most likely make us walk away from the house.

Meanwhile we have the appraisal for our house today and our realtor emailed me this morning saying that she looked at comps and our purchase price should be fine.  Our house needs to appraise for the purchase price because the buyers are using an FHA loan and are not putting a ton of money down.  I’m hoping our realtor is right!

Enjoy your Fourth of July!  Sadly I think that I am spending the day with the dogs because all of my friends are out of town.  I only have tomorrow off so it’s not worth it to drive down to the Cape for a day AND figure out what to do with the dogs.  Oh well.  Only 10 days until I see CP!