Problemos

Well, even though my buyers have given up on the bad inspection house, the seller does not want to roll over as easily. I will be talking to one of my buyers tomorrow about the situation (face to face finally). The only way to really get out of the deal may be to lose $500 in earnest money.

Also work related, I was given a lead last Friday. An older woman was selling her house and the deal fell through on the house she thought she was moving to. It wasn't the greatest lead (ie she was not buying a million dollar house and I would have paid 20% of my commission to the person who gave me the lead). She said she was going to look at a house and would let me know if it didn't work out. Well I didn't go after her full bore (where is this house..are you working with another realtor?) because I don't really believe in hounding people. I called her on Monday and she let me know that she was going to buy that house. She called me today freaking out because those sellers wouldn't return her calls. I assured I would do everything I could to help her (the house is a fsbo that refused to pay any commission to a realtor). The sellers did finally call her back and assured her that they were going to sell to her. She thanked me so much for talking with her and offering my help (she wanted to give me money). I am sending her some business cards and she promised to refer me. I think this is a better resolution to the scenario then if I had hounded her and possibly cost her the fsbo house. I suppose that is why it will take me a little longer to make the megabucks in this job.

The laptop is not charging the battery right now. The devil kitty (aka Boots) put a tooth mark into the ac adapter, which seemed to be ok after a little electrical tape. "Something" happened to the plug-in part on the laptop which bent it slightly. We have been fiddling with it for about a week to make the ac adapter plug in to the laptop and it seems we may have fiddled too much. The ac adapter will run the laptop but not charge the battery.

I guess that is only 2 problems.

OK Go was pretty decent last night. The concert was sponsered by Jack Daniels, but we did not know that they would only be serving Jack Daniels. Luckily for Duane, there is another bar in the same building (10 feet away no less!) so he could have a beer (well 2 because I did not like my selection). He was then more amenable to the free Jack Daniels drinks (they gave you 2 tickets per person). So a free concert and free booze! I didn't like every single song they played, but they were quite fun and entertaining.

Oh..also my dumb self realized that I would miss 3 out of 5 woodworking classes that I signed up for while we are on vacation (26 days till!) Luckily I am able to transfer the money I already paid (for a $5 fee of course) to the next session of the class.

We might go see the new movie 300 tonight or veg at home watching America's Next Top Model.

JT

aka Justin Timberlake

I went to see him in concert last night in Chicago. Now I don't have a whole lot in common with screaming high school girls (and some boys) but the concert was good. It helps that he is a cutie, he can really sing, and he can really sing AND dance at the same time. The local po-po seemed to be clueless that so many people were going to be at this concert. The main parking lot was full and they were haphazardly directing people to an overflow lot across the street. There were NO signs telling you anything but we ended up not having to pay the $15 for parking.

Duane got a good deal on the tickets on Ebay, but made a strategic error. He asked a very nice friend of mine to pick up the tickets yesterday since they had to be picked up by 5. I went to her house to pick them up (in Chicago) and ended up taking about 1.5 hours to get back to the Allstate Arena (normally a 30 minute trip). We missed the opening act (Pink), but got there right when JT started.

Tonight I am going to see Ok Go (you know those guys that do the dance routine on treadmills) in town and the tickets are free. It could go either way (fun or not fun), but I am going with Duane (who is usually fun).

The weekend turned out pretty well. We got the kitties vaccinated Saturday morning (although Mister Kitty's vaccination made him sick :( We saw butterflies and moths with my nieces and nephew, and had a great dinner at my parent's house celebrating our birthdays. Sunday was a veg out day. We spent a bunch of money at Target stocking up on the usual things.

Oh!

I forgot to mention that I made chicken paprikash last night using the new paprika that I got from Penzey's Spices. Duane really liked it even though he saw me stir sour cream in at the end (he hates sour cream). I used spicy paprika even though you traditionally use sweet and I served it over brown rice (Duane likes rice better than pasta). It was yum, yum!

3-9-07

Yes, it is my birthday and yes, I do feel old. Why can't 33 be the new 23? I have been considering eye creams because I am convinced that is why no one thinks I am younger than I am anymore. I was told this day would come and yes, it does stink.

In other news, my recent buyers had their inspection today. They could not be there for it, so I was there. It couldn't be good news could it? The electical panel was a mess, there could be structural problems, and a whole bunch of smaller things. My buyers could decide not to buy this house, which would be fine. They had another house that they liked. Or they could decide to ask the seller to fix a bunch of stuff and we could go through that whole rigamaroll. I also haven't received something in the mail from them that is important! It was sent priority mail, so you know in 1 or 2 (or more in this case) days it should be here. Just more stress for me.

We will be taking all 3 cats for their rabies vaccinations tomorrow. We take them to a clinic which is cheaper than taking them to the vet (no office visit charge). At least they will all be in carriers, so waiting in line is easier (than with the dogs). Now getting them IN the carriers is a different matter entirely.

We are then headed down to Jville to see some butterflies and hang out with family.

Sunday we may go to a flea market, although every flea market I have been to in WI is really a crap market. We will also be seeing a movie with my friend Fran, but I don't know what yet.

We watched The Departed the other night and I really, really liked it. The end was not my favorite part, but I didn't write the script so I can't make the movie end the way I want it to. I think Leonardo is a hottie again!

The weather is warming up and I might be able to get Santa and his fallen reindeer off the roof this weekend.

Work picks up and the weekend

We will now have money to pay for the travel and hotel part of our trip next month.

I got a lead from work last week that paid off in an accepted offer yesterday with a closing in a couple of weeks! I swear sometimes it is just luck, but I must know how to do this job (at least a little bit!).

This weekend Duane and I sampled beers at the Ale Asylum brewery on Friday night and some great beers at Cocoliquot on Saturday night. Duane had the Hopalicious on Friday and really liked it. The hoppy taste is right at the front when you drink it, instead of being bitter as it goes down your throat (as other hoppy beers can be). On Saturday night I had a La Fin Du Monde, Duane and a Appenzeller Holzfass-Bier, and then Duane and I split a giant bottle of Corsendonk Abbey Ale.

At dinner on Saturday we had an excellent cheese plate (although one of the cheeses was creamy with a weird bitter taste), frites (fries), and mussels for an appetizer. Our main dishes were not that exciting and I wish we had skipped them. Duane had a whitefish. I had venison prepared in two ways (stewed and grilled). It was tasty, but not worth $26 to me. The dessert plate was outstanding. It had vanilla creme brulee, a honey cake with lemon creme and blueberry compote, a chocolate cake with raspberry sauce, pomegranate ice cream in a chocolate spoon, and milk chocolate something with banana. Yum yum!

My weekend was very busy with work and leisure. I had a friend in town from Chicago. We visited Paoli where there is a small art gallery with a fabulous restaurant. We had a great lunch. We visited a few shops there, but I didn't find anything to buy. I worked before we went to Paoli and after, and most of the day on Sunday. Sunday evening we went to my parent's house and had a nice dinner.

Duane's birthday is tomorrow. He will be 29. If you know his email address, give him a shout. My birthday is on Friday. I will be older than Duane.

I must go shopping now. We will be watching The Departed, Beerfest, or An Inconvenient Truth tonight as Veronica Mars is not on (and no I do not want to watch the Pussycat Dolls find a new member).

I am HEALED!

Well mostly. I still have some residual snot now and then. I was down and out all last week. I did not want my head cold to morph into a chest cold as my older sister has just recovered from pneumonia and strep! This cold is very typical of what I get every year, but you have to be careful. One year I ended up with croup and double ear infections.

Work still sucks, as in I have no clients. Our trip is coming up and I know Duane is worried about money.

We got a ton of snow here over the weekend, just when I was about to put up my spring flag! There was a drift in the backyard right up to the back door and the dogs could hardly get out. The drift in the driveway from the snowplow was about 4 feet high. I got a lot of exercise from shoveling, which is probably good since I did absolutely nothing on Sunday.

I got a cute pair of new shoes. I was going to show you via link, but I can't find them. They are Rocket Dogs, but the Rocket Dog website does not have the right color combo.

I have managed to be at work today for about 7 hours and do about as little "work" as possible.

I have a hair appointment tomorrow, but I don't know what I want to do with it. I usually let my hair dresser experiment with me, so maybe she will have some ideas.

Gotta figure out some dinner and go home!

Crud

I woke up with some crud today. My teeth hurt and my nose is stuffy. I took some Airborne this morning. It wasn't terrible and hopefully it will help. I have a hard time taking anything with pseudoephedrine, so I usually don't take anything.

I will call my possible client tonight to see what his decision is. I feel like I made my case well, but people are always trying to save a buck (and then complain when they get shoddy service).

Two of my packages were received well and they contained the things that I had made. I haven't heard anything from a friend that I send a birthday gift too, but maybe she is sending a thank you card. I figured out that I procrastinated in sending them because I was afraid that the recipients wouldn't like them. Silly me.

The IKEA catalog was cool. It had tons of kitchen ideas which is what I was looking for. We may get down to Chicago sometime soon. Duane claims that Madison has no cool restaurants and we are supposed to be going out for a nice dinner as a belated Valentine's Day.

Our weather has finally gotten warmer. 39 for the high today, which feels like a heat wave!

p.s. work stinks and my manager really got on my case today---someone send me some clients ok?

Blue October concert

I am home from the Blue October concert. I did indeed get a friend to go with me, although I think the venue in Milwaukee is better suited to them. This show was all ages and included quite a few young 'uns. The concert was excellent and I am going to look for their earlier cds.

I have an appointment to talk to a potential client tomorrow. He did tell me a couple of months ago that he was going to list with me, until he found someone who said they will list it for 1%. What exactly does he think he is going to get for 1%? It really irks me. I am not sure what my strategy should be.

Duane is out of town for work so no Valentine's Day for me. I was trying to think of what I wanted to do. I think I will at least put some effort into dinner. Weight Watchers is going better this week than last, but I didn't eat much today.

My sinuses have been itchy the past couple of days and I feel a little headachy today. Blah.

I managed to send off a few packages last Saturday that finished off a couple a projects. I haven't heard if they have been received yet.

I got the IKEA 2007 catalog today and I can't wait to go through it!

2 CDs I am enjoying right now

Blue October (Foiled) and Regina Spektor (Begin to Hope). We missed Regina Spektor in Madison because the show sold out before I realized I liked her music. Blue October is playing Milwaukee this Saturday and in Madison on Tuesday. Duane will be out of town on Tuesday, but I am going to see if I can get a friend to go with me. I don't really feel like going to Milwaukee.

This is my first day back to Weight Watchers. I get down on myself when I feel like I don't look good in my clothes, and the way to remedy that is to lose some weight. It seems that clogging has not been cancelled tonight (the temps are below zero). The building that we clog in is keep at a comfortable (not!) 43 degrees, so it is quite chilly in there. It would be nice if someone could go there before 6 and turn the thermostat up, but they never do.

As predicted I did not get much done this weekend. We did some shopping on Saturday and were lazy on Sunday. Some friends called to come over and watch the Superbowl, which seemed pretty dull. We did watch The Devil Wears Prada. The movie had no depth and seemed very plain. I watch to see Catch and Release this weekend, which has actually gotten good reviews.

The temps will eventually warm back up, but man is it cold right now.

I am lost more often than not

Here I am again, another 10 days or so since the last post. At least I am not as bad as some bloggers who haven't posted for months (you know who you are).

I am here at the office waiting until I pick Duane up from the airport. We were in AZ last weekend and then he flew to LA to work instead of coming home. Good thing it is freeze your ass off weather here! Seriously the daytime temps are going to be in single digits with the lows being in the -10s. The dogs just don't understand that they can't go for walks when it is this cold. They figured it out today when they were both freezing towards the end.

We are planning on staying in all weekend and catching up on tv and watching movies. We may go out for a movie, but maybe not.

Work is slow right now. When you get caught up in Christmas and don't prospect, you don't have any clients in January. My little sister says her husband is antsy to buy something in Madison, so let's hope he finally commits! My little sister has also applied to UW-Madison's Physical Therapy program, so good vibes to her please.

Duane and I may go to a concert that I want to go to! It will be a pre-Valentine's Day thing because he is going to be gone on the actual date. I hate those stupid handling fees at Ticketmaster ($7!). The band is Blue October. They have a song on the radio now, and are from Chicago.

Duane's flight is now 20 minutes late, stupid O'hare. Good thing I decided to stay in the office and check it, otherwise I would have been at the airport WAY too early.

I have 2 baby blankets that I need to get in the mail and 3 more I could be potentially sewing (I have to decide if I want to make ones for 2 people at work). This weekend is all about getting projects done. I should make a list or nothing will get done.

I have Grand Canyon and Petrified Forest pictures to post. If I can figure out that flickr thing I should do it there. One more project for the list!

Did I mention that we bought a GPS system? It is the Tomtom 910 and it really is cool. It will be great for my work (when I get some clients) and it will be great in Europe. We bought the model we did because it is the only one that is pre-loaded with North America and Europe. You can buy additional maps for other units but that can be hundreds of dollars on top of the intial $400-500. We used it in AZ and it worked well. This model does have some glitches, but we bought an extended warranty.

Apparantly Duane's plane is on track to leave at the time it was supposed to get here! I am sure he will be happy about that (not).