WE GOT IT!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG, we got it. I'm so excited! So I can finally elaborate.

So it's a 1968 modern ranch with giant windows on the back and a huge park-like backyard. It has a 600 year-old oak tree and doesn't have back neighbors because it backs to an easement for electrical lines. So you don't have to cover the beautiful windows. It sits on 3/4 of an acre, has walnut floors throughout the house and tile in the dining, breakfast and kitchen. It is A-dorable, looks to be in immaculate shape. Some photos are below, I'll put the rest up at http://www.thomasfamily.smugmug.com/gallery/3786171#218305483 since Blogger is being wonky and I have to go to show! But pictures don't do it justice!

The 600 year-old oak (with stage for future LGT productions):

Living room:

Master with the private sliding glass door to patio:

Dining Room

I am full of nervous energy

Perhaps I will blog 10, 12 times today, who knows? But I just thought I'd share some self-portraits of Stella and I from a bored Monday afternoon.

I like the following two because we're both making the same expressions. Here we are "working it" for the camera:

And here we in the "synchronized therberts" competition:

Man, I love that girl. And she allows me to be as stoopid as I want to be. I can always break out in a silly dance and she thinks it's the funniest thing ever. If I just give up and play with her, we usually have a blast. It's when I try to get things done that things go haywire and she tugs on my leg. Gotta' work more on a balance there. Once this house mess is out of the way, perhaps I can get her into a mother's day out program. I know I want her to do preschool starting like next Fall. Oh, the pressure, the pressure! But there's no point of even thinking about that until we know which part of town we'll be in: 45 or 41. (PLEASE 4141414141!)


Speaking of the house, Tim talked to Jamie again (yet another Jamie in my life, can you believe it?!), and the other agent really liked the offer AND our loan officer also talked to her so she knows we're really solid financing-wise. They're supposed to make a decision today. Until then, I better mainline Pepto Bismol! So I am now "cautiously optimistic" again rather than "catastrophically pessimistic".


I'll let everyone know as soon as we get the house and I'll post pictures and you'll fall in love with it just like we have! (Even if we don't get it, I'll post them so you can see the one that got away.)


Oh, Tim also got an email from Newmark Jamie and gave them our new address for our closing papers. Hopefully those won't be necessary! And Super-Realtor Jamie is going to try and get our money back, he's optimistic that he can get at least part of it back. That'd be nice so we can use it for our closing costs.

Don't Fall in Love

So we found out this morning that there are multiple offers on the house. So we are currently engaged in that quaint housing market boom-time practice of the bidding war. Hopefully we can still get it, as we're willing to go quite a bit over asking price. But I cried when Tim told me this morning. Jamie Avila at Austin Advantage Realty, our fantastic new realtor who actually answered our call (as well as my friend and fellow actor), said that we didn't even need to probably go as high as we initially offered, just about $11k over asking. So now we wait. And we pray that our offer will be accepted. Tim thinks there is a second choice, but I don't. This is the house, there's no second choice for me (okay, that's overly dramatic, I will of course either live at 2045 Amur Drive or find another house, but nothing matches this one.)

Going through this, I'm reminded of why we built our first house in 2000. The market was so hot you had to see a house the day it went on the market, and then you had to put an offer in that day. The thought of all that stressed me out so much that we decided to build. Of course, now I'm getting a taste of it and perhaps that wasn't such a bad idea. I just hope this is resolved quickly. I've had insomnia the last two nights and it's killing me to get no sleep!

I wish I hadn't gotten so excited, but it's just impossible. I realize that most of us are not meant to live in our dream houses. So it would be pretty darn unlikely to get this house. So I'll just go back to living in a nice house that I have to work on to make fit my design aesthetic, instead of a house that is my design aesthetic ripped from the pages of Dwell.

Wish us luck!

We put an offer in this afternoon on my dream home. Seriously, my dream home! I walked in and started tearing up. I don't want to say too much yet because I don't want to jinx things, but keep your fingers crossed that there aren't any other offers and we'll get it!

What else should I be doing at 12:05am?

I've got insomnia, so instead of continuing to lie in bed, I decided to get up and blog. Actually, I was going to read In Style, but since my computer was up here, I decided to send out a couple of emails that were bugging me.

I have insomnia because my brain pan is all full again. I decided to take another trip through the MLS today and surprisingly found quite a few houses I liked. Which Tim liked also. And they were in our old hood, 78741, near where Erin currently lives. We really love that area. They range from gorgeous to so-so, but they are all large, have hardwoods and lots of windows, and are in a fantastic area of town. And are (mostly) in our price range. (Our price range might be expanding. Tim did those little mortgage calculators online and found out that due to low interest rates, we may be able to afford more than we thought.) We drove by them tonight and have been trying to get in contact with Paul, our real estate agent, except that his voicemail box is full. As usual. Ashley tells me that he went to Vegas to see Elton John. This from the man who says he never takes vacations. But anyway, we want to jump because we don't think these houses will last long. And the sooner we look, the sooner we can put in a contract if we like one, and the sooner we can MOVE OUT OF HERE! So wish us luck. If we don't hear from Paul by noon tomorrow, I'm going to contact a friend of mine who is a real estate agent and Paul can just kiss our business goodbye. It just might be awkward since we didn't use Jamie to sell our house. ya' know?

Halloweeeeeeen!

Thar be pirates, argh!

And tigers, roar:
I wasn't there to witness the madness because of tech week, but here are some cute shots of the kids trick or treating. Lions and pirates and pirates, oh my!

Also a bonus of Tim and I as a classic Hollywood movie cowgirl and cowboy.

In other news, please come see Little Murders! We had a very slow opening weekend, although we did well Saturday night with 31 people. Sunday we had to cancel because only 2 people showed up. It's an awesome show and you don't want LGT to go bankrupt, do you?

(And for those of you who can't come, we always accept cash deductible donations, just email me!)

7 Weeks

So we got our closing date yesterday. It was not the news we were hoping for. December 21st. In by Christmas, but only by the most technical of measures, as that is the Friday before Christmas and no one will be around to help us move. I feel like Christmas is sort of ruined for us and especially for Stella, although I realize Stella is too young to care about it. But the thought that we have 7 more weeks here is quite depressing. We've been here 12 weeks so far, so I guess it's much less than that, but still, it's not enough less. Sigh. Tim put a counter on his blog and it's 48 days. We should have listened to the builder. He said it would be 10-12 weeks from our pre-sheetrock orientation which would have been just a little after this date. Our salesguy was the one who kept giving us completely unrealistic estimates. I guess we must be one of the last groups to close before the end of the year. We were hoping for earlier since there are already people living there and they are supposed to be closing 7 houses a week from now on. I guess the hold-ups with the inspections and stuff pushed us back and other houses have rocketed past us. If they stick to this date, and Tim tells me apparently they are contractually obligated to finish it by 12/21 now, although I would not be suprised if it gets pushed back, our house will take about 9 months and a week from the date we signed the contract to completion. This surpasses what we thought was the slowest house building process in the world, our KB Home, which took 7 months. By comparison, they were speed demons. Of course, in Newmark's defense, KB did already have roads when we started.

In other news, we opened last night and other than a wine spill during one of the blackouts, things went off without a hitch. I did invert a few words and I didn't have one of those acting moments where the muse takes over and you really are on fire like I did Thursday night, but it still went well. The 8 people who were there really enjoyed it. Now I'm ready for tonight, when we should have quite a houseful since we're having a party with free beer afterwards. Nothing draws them out like free beer. I just hope folks get out and see the show. I'm really nervous with how much we've spent, especially since our rent went up by $900. I just hope we make back most of our expenses!

What are you doing tonight?

Going to see Little Murders, that's what! This show is going to knock your socks off, come on out!

Tickets are going fast, so get your reservations in or purchase tickets online by going to http://lgt.buyplaytix.com. Plus you'll definitely want to join us for our opening weekend party on November 3rd after the show to celebrate Little Murders' opening. The generous folks at Real Ale Brewing Company have donated a keg of their finest brew for the event, so FREE BEER for all!!! No, you don't have to come see the show to drink our beer, come out and celebrate with us anyway.We're so excited about this show. It's looking fantastic with a great cast. More information below:

Little Murders
Written by Jules Feiffer

Directed by Karen Jambon

Presented by Loaded Gun Theory

produced by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.

The Newquists think they're a typical All-American family until their overbearing daughter Patsy brings home her nihilist fiancée Alfred to meet them for the first time. As Alfred destroys their expectations and their New York neighborhood falls victim to a series of unexplainable murders their seemingly perfect world spirals out of control. Join us for an evening of dark familial comedy presented by those masters of edgy satire, Loaded Gun Theory.

WHERE: Arts On Real

2826 Real St

WHEN:November 2-4 (Fri-Sun)

November 8-11 (Thu-Sun)

November 14-17 (Wed-Sat)

(Note: We've added a special Wednesday performance for all you theatre folk who are otherwise occupied Thursday through Sunday. Aren't we clever?)

All shows are at 8pm except Sunday matinees (November 4 and 11) which begin at 5pm.

General Admission: $12. Call 280-2156 or visit http://lgt.buyplaytix.com for reservations.

Confirmed and Binky Weaning

I drove by our old house today on the way home from errands. I thought I didn't care anymore about it, but I guess I did because I was saddened to see a For Rent sign out front. I really wish I'd taken the plant hangers outside and maybe even the curtains. They obviously didn't care. In other news, the Texas house across the street with the red white and blue fountain is for sale. Because I know everyone loved it sooo much. Damn, check out the panelling on the fireplace and the kitchen cabinets. That is something! (And not original, folks, that house was built in 2001. They ADDED panelling!)

Since Monday, we have been in the process of weaning Stella to just nap and nighttime use of the binky. I had started with allowing her to use it in the car too, but she seems to be fine without it, so we may just confine it to sleeping. It's amazing, she's so much more chatty and her nasty chin rash has all but cleared up. She doesn't seem to miss it much, although I keep all the binkies well hidden. Hopefully this bodes well for when we try to get her to give it up for good.

No update on the house. We went by this weekend and they were pretty much done with the sheetrock, but our sales guy refuses to give us updates anymore or answer our emails, so I doubt that bodes well. But I've kind of sort of set a deadline for myself, that I want to be in a house by Christmas. So we may have to start house hunting soon if we don't get good news from the builder. We could always back out of a back-up deal and we'd just lose our earnest money. I just can't ring the New Year in here. Nope, can't do it.

Only Myself to Blame

So it hit me last night, after totally blowing my big onstage meltdown, that I am going to play the character that I have wanted to play for the past 11 years in 3 days. Eek! And that I have only myself to blame if I fail, since I convinced my theatre company to do the play, talked the best director I've ever worked with into directing it, and then told them all that I was going to be pre-cast in the lead. What the hell was I thinking?

I'm hoping it's just that tech week, everything goes to shit thing. Oh, that up there is one of the publicity photos taken by Michael Brock. Extreme close-up!

The World's Best Behaved Toddler

In her adorable shoes her Aunt Christine gave her:

For Kelli, us dressed up for the B. Iden Payne awards Sunday night:

The quality of pictures should improve dramatically because I finally got my camera back today. Whoo-hoo! I can't wait to use those 6 extra megapixels to their full advantage!

Stella and I went to Party City today to exchange her costume and it wound up taking 45 minutes! Seriously, don't go to that place. At 11:30am on a Thursday, it was a zoo. Does anybody go to school anymore, by the way? I saw a group of teenagers and a father and his pre-teen daughter. Aren't they supposed to be in school? But Stella was such a trooper. Didn't even whine, even though we missed snack time and it was getting close to lunch. What a great toddler!

Stella also turned 19 months yesterday. So imagine that here I go into all the incredible things she has accomplished in the last month and how much I love her and can't imagine life without her. Because that is all true, but I barely know which end is up I'm so busy these days, so I can't even draw out of the depths of my brain what she's done this month. But at least I put up a picture!

Wow, that helped

Now I remember why I had to blog about that, I feel better already! You just gotta' get things off your chest.

What a Sucky Day

Today sucks. First there was the incident with the lady next door. Then we found out that we won't be able to move into Arts on Real until 6pm Sunday. Then my mother-in-law came home and I told her about the lady next door and she went over there and told them that we'd keep the dogs quiet without even asking me first, thereby, in my opinion, totally disrespecting me. She did not see it that way, but apologized for making me feel that way. Or something like that. One of those apologies that's not really an apology and then I has to pretend like everything was hunky dory. Really, I just feel like this is the straw that broke the camel's back. I think we need to find another living situation. It's not anybody's fault, it's just you aren't supposed to live with anybody other than your nuclear family for this long And I hope Tim's Mom doesn't feel bad if she reads this, that's not my intention, but I feel compelled to share my feelings with the world. That's the sickness of writing a blog. Anyway, I just feel like crap and really wish I didn't have a rehearsal and could instead stay home and drink some wine. Oh, wait, I don't have a home, right.

I think I may blow some points on a decaf nonfat mocha with a shot of Peppermint from Starbucks. Ohpleaseohplease let the peppermint be available already. I've been craving one of those since it got cold and I think I deserve it. But it's 4 points! 4 points that could be used on many other things such as a couple of glasses of wine or a pint of beer. Or a Rice Krispie treat covered in chocolate. My mother sent one yesterday along with a really cute stuffed cat that meows and a book for Stella. I think the chocolate might have been for Stella too. Oops. It was so good, I couldn't resist! Plus, Stella couldn't even have bit into it it was so big:)

Must. Get. Out.

I cannot believe this. The bitch next door just came over and told me her baby couldn't nap because my dogs barked. She actually now expects me to keep my dogs inside "or in the other part of the yard" (no clue how I'd do that) from 9:30am-12:30pm while her precious little angel sleeps. I suggested a white noise machine but she kept saying nothing bothers him but the dogs. Well, I still think the solution would be the white noise machine, but apparently no, she considers the solution telling me what to do with my dogs. ARGH! I could barely disguise my contempt for her. There's no way I can keep the dogs in all morning, please! What's she going to do? File a noise complaint? At a time when there is no noise ordinance? I just cannot wait to get out of here, these people are crazy! I even told her that we'd be out in two months, so if that helped.

I'm Freezing!

So I've learned a lot from this experience of living with my in-laws for the past two and a half months. For example, I have learned that it WILL eventually get cold. So you shouldn't put all your sweaters, sweatshirts, flannel pajamas, etc. in a box marked "cold weather clothes" and put it in the garage that is packed full of all your belongings and expect to be able to find it again when it is cold. I am FREEZING! I'm not sure what I was thinking, whether it was that I'd be in my new house before it got cold, or that I'd just wear tank tops and think warm thoughts, or what. I bought Stella a really cute denim jacket for $11 at the Osh Kosh outlet last Thursday, but I hesitated on getting her anything else because I'm so afraid she's going to outgrow all her clothes tomorrow. I know I need to get over it and just buy her a few things she can wear for now and if she outgrows them, so be it. Because that's life with a growing child (and really, life with a shrinking mama. My jeans that I bought 6 weeks ago that were soooo tight are already starting to get baggy!). But since I know that warm clothes are in my garage for me, somewhere, I really can't justify getting new clothes for myself. Not yet. Not until I lose 5.6 more pounds, anyway!

I've also learned that when you live with parental types, you regress. I react (or barely restrain myself) from acting like a moody teenager to my in-laws. Tim does the same thing. I've been praying for patience lately because it's really unfair to my mother-in-law when I am all bitter and sarcastic and all she's said is, "good morning." It doesn't really happen with Tim's Dad because he has a job right now so I don't see much of him. But it's Sue, Stella and I for a great deal of the day. But I'm working on it, and I think I'm getting better. I'm really not a bitchy grouch and I'll go back to my sunshiny self as soon as we're out of here, I promise!

Our sales guy didn't give us our weekly update Friday because there was no update. Yesterday Tim pestered him and he said that we finally passed all our inspections (we failed electrical and plumbing initially), and that they would be putting in our insulation today and "start rocking" Wednesday. I wondered, rocking on what?, but Tim said that was just Jamie's cheesy salesman speak for sheetrocking. So we obviously didn't get our close date Monday (notice how he conveniently didn't mention that), no clue when we'll get it. Before we got two weeks behind, Jamie was saying mid-November, so by that reasoning we'd be looking at the end of November. So we're back to praying for a close by Christmas. If you can send any good vibes our way, we'd appreciate it. I have beat myself up for being depressed about all this since so many people have so much bigger problems, (e.g. "natural disasters on the evening news" to quote Cold War Kids), but I can't help it. This is still the situation I'm stuck in, and while it's really not that bad, I'd still like to be in my house ASAP. We looked at the houses for sale online just for fun and found only a couple we thought were cute, but Tim didn't think they were cute enough. There's one in the Allendale area that I'm going to drive by today, even though I can't IMAGINE living up north, I love South Austin so much, but it would be a lot closer to where Tim's work is moving, for sure. But I'm sure it's probably actually already got a contract on it, it's just not in the MLS. I'm just going to be up north anyway buying Stella some new shoes (finally), so I figure I'll swing by. If only we had $300k or $350k, then we could REALLY get a house we love;)

B. Iden Payne Awards

Tim and I went to the B. Iden Payne Awards last night. It was the first time we'd been, even though I've been on the committee for 3 or 4 years. It was a lot of fun. We had a lot of friends there we got to chat with and cheer on as they got nominated or, in some cases won. I was afraid it would be most lame, but it was really fun. Great excuse to get dressed up, too!

Where I've Been

Eating, breathing and sleeping Patsy, that's where I've been! Patsy, if you do not know, is the character I am playing in "Little Murders" which opens two weeks from tomorrow at Arts on Real. The show is going to be awesome, but it is a lot of work, probably one of the most challenging characters I've played. I realized after Tuesday night's rehearsal how actors can get into drugs and alcohol as a means of bridging the world between fiction and reality. I was just really emotional after working so hard on a difficult scene where my character has to have a breakdown. It's a comedy, but you still have to make the moments believable, ya' know? (For the record, I did not turn to drugs and alcohol. I had dinner and went to bed. Because I am exciting like that. And I live with my in-laws and there was no alcohol in the house anyway!)

Last weekend we were in Houston and took Stella to a Pumpkin Patch along with Christine and Brian. The patch was an Exotic Animal farm and Stella petted llamas, a miniature horse, a rabbit, a goat and a baby kangaroo. Tim and I also petted a baby pig. We had a great time. We got to spend lots of time with Christine and Brian, going out to dinner and out for drinks at the Flying Saucer. We sat outside at the Flying Saucer downtown and got some fantastic people watching in. They just don't make 'em in Austin like they do in Houston. I really could not believe what people were wearing. One group of five girls were all wearing identical shoes. Seriously! Five pairs of black stiletto heels. I guess they'd gotten a group discount or something.

When Christine and I went to the bathroom, I was really disgusted by the number of men leering at us. Then I felt a little complimented that men still leer at me. It was a very odd feeling, being pissed, but also thinking, "they like me, they really like me!" Especially since I was very dressed down and not showing much skin. But I noticed that the quality of men is definitely lacking in H-town compared to Austin. Really, they were not attractive. Don't know if all the hotties are snatched up and at home with their women or what, but I didn't see a single good-looking guy other than the ones we came in with (my husband and my brother-in-law). Sorry Houston ladies, they're taken:)

We also got some great news from some friends and I really want to blog about how excited I am about it but this friend has not blogged about it yet! (Hint, hint, you know who you are!) As soon as they make their announcement in the blogosphere, I'll be back to share my excitement!

Stella's Fun Day

This morning we went to Stella's first storytime, at the library. Anna was the one who alerted us to it. Stella LOVED it. I wasn't going to go at first because it's at 10:15 and that means no walk for me, but I decided to check it out and I'm glad I did. Stella gave the librarian all her attention, and alternated between standing and sitting in my lap. She was riveted. She pointed and got all excited when the librarian brought out her rat puppet, whose name I have forgotten. And she got a stamp on her hand at the end with all the rest of the kids. She keeps staring at it like it's the coolest thing ever. A future tattoo addict, perhaps? I always wanted to be one, but acting and tattoos don't mix very well. Perhaps my daughter can live my dreams;)

Then we went to the playground because I wanted to reward Stella with a chance to blow off steam because she'd been so still and quiet at storytime. We went to Garrison and it was packed with mamas and kids. Apparently a couple of playgroups were out there. SO different from Circle C, though. The mamas were so friendly and I talked to a few of them, having those random playground conversations you do. I wish I had more playdates for Stella (and for me). I should have asked what they all were involved in. I overheard them talking about crafts, but I don't know if that was for the mamas or the babies. There was talk of sewing, so I assume for the mamas. My first thought was, "I'm not crafty", but that's actually a load of bull. I sewed most of the curtains in our old house, I've sewed pillows, a sock monkey and lots of costumes. I used to do collages, scrapbooks before it was a verb and money-making phenonmenon, and all kinds of other crafty stuff. I guess I just don't do it anymore because I choose to spend my free time, which I have less of, on other fun activities.

There were a lot of baby/toddler pairs at the playground and it made me think about second children. Again. Last night we went to Town Lake Park and Stella played in the fountains. She had such a blast. Tim made me stand back with him and watch Stella instead of hovering over her. Stella made friends with a 3-year-old little girl and took her hand and was dragging her everywhere to show her all the stuff she'd learned. It was absolutely adorable. And Tim commented that that would be about the age difference between Daniel and his little sibling and he was like, that will be pretty cool. And I agreed. And I had that moment of "that is pretty cute, perhaps it would be cute to have a sibling for Stella sooner than later." And then today at the playground a woman was nursing her daughter while the other one played and she watched her and it just looked so awesome and idyllic. And I know that is complete poppycock and that for the other 90% of her day she's probably run ragged between showing her older child attention and taking care of her baby, but it still tugged at my womb a bit. You know that horrible place where your biological clock resides and occasionally makes you think crazy thoughts. I think when your child is a year and a half, suddenly every conversation with fellow parents starts with, "so, when are you having another one?" We were at church last week and I was talking to my friend Sally, who has sons who are 20 months apart and she said, "so are you thinking of another one?" or something to that affect and I was like, "not yet." And she was like, "well sometimes God has other plans for you." And I was like, "well, I'm using God's helpers on earth to prevent that." And it turned out she had been on the pill when she got pregnant with her younger one. Although upon further questioning, it turned out she might not have been so thorough on taking that little helper when she was supposed to. And Tim and I talked about it on the way home and realized that Stella is old enough now that if we had an accident, we would no longer want to hurl ourselves off a bridge because even if I got pregnant today, Stella would be 2 years and 4 months when the next one is born. Which wouldn't be horribly impossible. Although still not our ideal. And then freakin' Parents magazine comes today and has a really good article about spacing your children (weird timing), so I read it immediately and it called 2-4 years the "Golden Age" or something like that and so I felt better again and was like, "okay, Stella may not have her best friend in her little sibling, but 3 years is still right for us." I think it's really hard not to think about these things since two of our best friends are currently pregnant with their second babies and decided to have their children much closer together than we are. But I Seriously Cannot Fathom going back to the land of feedings every three hours and newborn cries right now.

Stella and her new buddy:

Right. What a tangent. I meant to relate the other adorable thing Stella did when we were in her room before her nap. She brought me all her hairclips and asked me to put them in her hair, which I did, then she handed me her homemade argyle babylegs, (see, I am crafty!), and directed me to put those on, then I tied her tights around her neck so they looked like a sweater. She looked like the preppy chick from an 80's movie. Or Cher from Clueless. I love that she loves to dress up!

No Close Date Yet... Sigh

So we went to our pre-drywall walk-through yesterday expecting to come away with a close date because that's what ditzy salesgirl Rhonda had led us to believe. But alas, no, we will get our close date in two weeks when they have their next sales/builder meeting. But we did find out that they should be finishing up inspections and putting in drywall this week, the kitchen cabinets should be delivered next Tuesday, and then they will put those in, put down the tile and do the painting next week. Allegedly. I don't really have a reason to doubt them, though, because August 30th they had a slab and now there's an actual house. Our sales guy, Jamie, is still saying we'll close mid-November. Of course, there's still no water. So I'm really keeping my fingers crossed. Especially since I kind of feel like we're outstaying our welcome here.

Tim's Mom I think wanted us to get a close date yesterday even more than we did. She's trying to find out when we're moving out so her Mother can come stay with them with an eye towards her moving here. Apparently Austin is a magnet for all of Tim's family. Yesterday when I got back from the walk-through, Tim's Mom grilled me about when we'd close and I had to tell her I just didn't know, that her Mom should probably wait until we get our actual close date in two weeks to buy her plane ticket. I know that frustrated her, but there's nothing I can do about it. We're coming up on having lived here two months Thursday. And we'll be here at least another month, probably 6 weeks. That's a long time. Things are breaking down here a bit; they all seemed to turn sour after Tim's Mom returned from Michigan. Perhaps it was frustrating for her to come back and realize there are still people here who leave their crap everywhere and have a toddler who is constantly on the move. Although we really try not to leave our crap everywhere and to keep our toddler out of the way. Whatever the reason, I'm just going to try and stay gone as much as I possibly can. Thursday my parents are picking me up and taking Stella and I to Houston with them, then Tim will join us Friday night and we'll come back Sunday. Since I have rehearsal most Saturdays, we can't go out of town as much as we'd like, but my parents may be going back to Evant again next weekend, and we'll probably go out there if we can. We're just trying to stay out of the way here as much as possible!

I got a chance to ask our sales guy what they were doing if people came in and wanted to buy a house. He said that they have 3 Hartfords (the largest floor plan) available in our section, but they aren't selling the back section yet. They're telling people to come back in November, they should have opened up the back section for pre-sales. They are (wisely) waiting this time until the roads are a little closer to being poured to start selling houses. Apparently they'll be there for 2 more years building, although once our section is done, the Westgate entrance will become the construction entrance.

That's enough rambling about our house for now. Stella demands attention. Attention must be paid!

They Just Keep Building!

To our utter amazement and complete happiness, they just keep building our house. We went by last night and the last piece of siding is in place, the wood "pergola" over the garage is up, the electrical is in and, for some reason most excitingly, the house numbers are up.Now, I'm not in love with the way they look. As anyone who's known me for a while can tell you, I HATE gold, but it's still exciting to have our address right there in black and gold!

The streets also do not look as bad as I remembered. In fact, the neighborhood looks adorable. I'm sure glad they're going like gangbusters because our new house cannot be ready a moment too soon! I want my bed back. The bed here, while fine for guests, has really taken a toll on me. I have a permanently sore neck and back, and had a crick in my neck so bad Sunday, I couldn't turn my head to the right more than about 30 degrees. I think I'll have to see a chiropractor before this is all over. Luckily Tim's parent's neighbor is a chiropractor. Hopefully he won't try to convert me to Scientology...

Much Better Mood Today

I was totally in a funk over the streets in our new neighborhood yesterday and it was slightly compounded by the fact that my camera isn't working. Well, I found out I have to mail my camera in for service (although first I have to find the receipt which either my mother could have given to me or she could still have. That should make it easy to find.) and I came to terms with the house. There are downsides to any house, but Tim and I looked for what's out there in our price range and in the areas we want to live in and there just isn't anything that we like as much as our house we're building. And there's absolutely nothing where we can walk so many places: Stella's elementary and high schools, ACC, the library, Conan's pizza, Dairy Queen, and Thriftown and the Dollar Store to boot! Plus, as the saleslady so kindly pointed out, they are now selling our floorplan for $28,000 more than we paid for it. So between that and the $6k we've already put down, it'd be like walking away from $34,000. I don't know about you, but I'm not in a position to walk away from $34k! So we're going ahead with buying the "hondo" (or "couse" if you prefer, part house/part condo), but we're going to accept the fact that we may be moving again sooner than we thought if the density and the parking situation gets to us. I mean, it was a PITA to sell our house and move, but we survived. And next time we wouldn't be living with Tim's parents again. But hopefully we will find it a very pleasant change and be very happy.

Fire Lane Pic

You can see the fire lane in this picture:

If you look closely, you can kind of see a line marked for the parallel parking spaces on our side of the street. It's in front of that utility box.

Latest on the house

We went by the house last night and it has all the siding except for one random square, as you can see from the picture. The windows are all in except one, as well, and it looks like they are putting the columns in soon. A lot of the ventilation system is done as well. We didn't spend much time there because it was super-hot and because we were so upset by the street situation. More on that later. The crazy sales lady in the office said that we should have our sheet rock orientation in a couple of weeks, which is when they set our closing date, which will probably be 4-6 weeks from then. So we're still probably looking at a end of November close date. There is a new development that is not positive at all that I can't really blog about because it gets me rather hot under the collar. But Tim did a really good job, so I'll let you read his post . Read my comment too for some of my feelings on the subject.

In other news, my camera's not working properly. Sigh, I should have known that our incredibly good luck would run out. Hopefully it's just going to be annoying things like non-working cameras and ugly streets rather than anything serious.

GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So we sold Tim's car yesterday to Carmax, which was all in all a very pleasant experience. I would highly recommend it if you have a vehicle you need to get rid of and don't want to mess with trying to sell it yourself. We walked in with a car and an hour later we walked out a few thousand dollars richer. We were very happy with what they gave us for it, in fact it was about $2500 more than we'd expected, so we were pretty much ecstatic. It's a great car, but the seats and mats were stained from coffee and Dr. Peppers flying out of the shoddy excuse for cupholders that VW had designed.

Car dealerships give me hives, but I had resigned myself that I would just be calm, let Tim do all the talking, and either accept the appraisal they gave us or not. I would be cool as a cucumber. Well, I thought I was, but Tim thinks I was still mean to the salesman or something. I swear, I should have sent him by himself. We thought we had an appointment, but we had to wait a few minutes anyway when we got there. A sales guy came up and introduced himself, then launched into how things are different at Carmax, blah, blah, blah, and he was totally heading out to the lot, when I was like, "you know we're just here to have our car appraised, right? We're not buying a car. I mean, I just wanted to let you know so we didn't waste your time." And the guy just stared at me. He was one of those people who appeared to have no facial expression. So I couldn't read him at all. Tim chimed in with, "we're not buying a car at all." And I said, "yeah, we're going from two cars to one." Still, the staring, like we each had two heads or something. But the guy starts the spiel for the appraisal. We go back to the waiting area again and Tim says that I was mean to the salesguy (I don't know why Tim thinks you need to baby salesguys, but that's a different story), but I have no clue what was mean about that. We got into a bit of an argument about it (as much of an argument as we have, anyway), and I was like, "should I have waited until he'd gotten us out on the lot and we were going for a test drive in cars we weren't going to buy before I said something?" I neglected to mention this, but we were on a very tight timetable. And Tim was like, "no, but you just get all defensive in car dealerships, you attacked him." Argh! So I said, "fine I won't do any of the talking from here on out." Of course, the problem with that is that if I don't talk, it will just be silent. Tim's a head-nodder, not a talker. So we go to the guy's office and there are pictures of a baby that I, (correctly), assumed was his grandchild. So I decide to talk to him about that since I want to make it clear to this guy that I don't have it out for him, that I am a nice person. So we had a nice discussion about that and I felt like the air was cleared. Although, based on a couple of other points in our conversation, I think this guy was just a bit odd.

While they carried out the appraisal, we went back to the waiting room, which was actually kind of fun because the UT game was on, and UT was getting their asses handed to them on a platter, and everyone in the waiting room was bonding over what an awful game it was. We were laughing because what else could you do? But Tim said, "I think the sales guy thinks that we're trying to play a game with him and we really are buying a car." I was like, "who cares what the sales guy thinks? I feel like I have been incredibly well behaved today!" Tim said I was being defensive. Anyway, we went back in, the guy revealed the appraisal, it was better than we hoped for, we accepted it, went back and watched UT get tromped a little more, then went home with our money, minus our car.

Oh, funny sidenote to the UT tromping. A guy came in wearing a Notre Dame shirt and he looked at the score (as everyone did as they came through the room) and said, "oh, man!" I was like, you probably wish you didn't come in here, don't you? And he was like, "no, I went to Notre Dame and all my friends have been giving me crap all season" (in case you didn't know, Notre Dame is 0-5, their worst season ever), "and so now I can give them crap!" It was awesome. He was text messaging them and giving us their responses.

So if you need a used car, go to CarMax, they seem pretty cool and you'll bond with people in the waiting room. Although we didn't bond with the woman feeding her 3 year old fruit loops. Seriously, he had the big bag of fruit loops, directly from the box, and was eating them and just vibrating from all the sugar. Tim thought he was "special", that's how sugar-high he was.

Oh, and the title of this post? Selling the Golf put us over the top. We're at our goal of saving 20% down for the house!!!

I've Been Locked Out!

So this actually happened last week, and I can't believe I forgot to blog about it, as I kept trying to keep myself calm with the thought, "this will make a great story". But I really want to reference a song from the Reality Bites soundtrack so that we can pretend like it's 1994 again. Allright, I'm carrying an ammo box as a purse, I'm wearing plaid miniskirts, tights, and my lace-up knee-high doc rip-offs, I'm driving my 1981 Ford Fairmont with about 10 people crammed in, coffee shops rule... Okay, that's out of my system, moment over, on to the story.

So last Saturday night, Tim's parents were both out of town, so we had Anna, Sean, Ian and Erin over for dinner. Anna and Sean left when the very patient Daniel got so tired he couldn't take it anymore, and Ian and Erin left a little before two. Tim went to bed about 1am, so I came in and showed them to the door, then went back to the porch to get the baby monitor and a glass that had been left outside. I went to go back in and the porch door was locked! Tim's parents locks are such that if you lock the bottom lock, you'll lock yourself out. We try to never lock them, of course, so I guess either Ian or Erin had kind of automatically locked the door. Crap, I thought. First thing I did was run out front to see if Ian and Erin were still here, but they were gone. I got a little freaked out, but I knew Tim's parents had left a key in the garage in a secret place and there was alledgedly a clear path through all our belongings to the key. So I opened the garage door with the keypad and looked for the so-called "clear path". Right, negative on that one. No clear path. There was tons of stuff piled in front of the key location. So I said, forget that, I'm not going to try to move all that stuff. I may have had a few drinks. I can neither confirm or deny that. So I decided I'd go back to the backyard and throw rocks at the room where Tim was sleeping. I threw every freakin' rock in that backyard at that window (surprisingly I have really good aim when I am fighting off hysterics at 2 in the morning), but it didn't budge Tim. He's a very heavy sleeper, and he had the box fan on, so who knows if he could hear anything. So I shed a few tears, tried to think clearly, thought about walking to the gas station, but they close at 1, as does HEB. I thought perhaps I could call the house from those places. But then I realized that if Tim couldn't hear the rocks, there was no way he'd hear the phone ring on the other side of the house. I then tried the doorbell. I rang it over and over again, Lucy was barking her head off, but it did no good. So finally, I went back to the garage, took a deep breath, and decided that it was the only way I was not going to spend the night in the backyard on the grass.

I moved the jogging stroller, then tried to move Tim's bike, but it was stuck on the bookshelf, so I climbed over it, getting lots of bike grease all over me in the process. Oh, right, did I mention I was wearing a skirt?
Side note: why is bike grease so hard to get off? I scrubbed and scrubbed at that stuff every day in the shower, but it just finally completely disappeared yesterday.
Then I moved that stupid gray pylon that we bought for Scaping the Goat and keep "just in case" we ever need it again. Then I moved the circular saw. Then I was able to climb up on the yellow kitchen stool, which by this point only had one box left on it, and survey how much further I had to go. Unfortunately, I had a tower of purple rubbermaid bins stacked 3 or 4 high, then ANOTHER tower of boxes behind that, then a no man's land of about 2-3 feet square of open space, then the location of the key. In fact, I could see the key from my perch, I just couldn't see how the heck I was going to get to it.

I freaked out again before I just said, "I've got to go for it. I've got to commit to this and pray I don't fall on my head or break my leg." So I climbed back onto the stool, then lay across the rubbermaid bins and used all my reaching power to get to the key. Now I just had to hold my breath and hope that I didn't drop the key into the no man's land. But I didn't! I managed to bring the key safely back and was able to get back into the house! I was so mad at Tim by the time I got in I could have pummeled him, but he'd been asleep the whole time and the poor guy had no clue why his wife was yelling at him at 2:30 in the morning.

So that's my story. Hopefully it's the last time I'll be locked out. I'm definitely tempted to take my keys whenever I step outside now!

My Child's Doll is Slowly Poisoning Her!

We've been fortunate so far that none of Stella's toys have turned up on the recall list. This doesn't mean that she hasn't been exposed to lead in any of her toys, mind you, just that they haven't been caught yet. Until today. I clicked on the link to Daddy Types and there, next to a sign that said "Contains Lead" was the doll that my grandmother gave Stella for Christmas. Truly frightening sight. I cannot tell you how many times Stella put that damn doll's pacifier in her own mouth. So goodbye Stella's first doll, we have to send you to the landfill now where you will continue to live unbroken down for 1,000's of years.

In happier times: The poisoning begins

R.I.P Creepy Dollar Store doll, aka Stella's first doll

It's Eating me Alive!

There is a mosquito in here and I cannot catch him but he is having an all-you-can-eat buffet on me. I have gotten at least 3 bites in the last 15 minutes or so. I hate mosquitos.

This morning I decided to go through my closet and purge some of the clothes that don't fit me anymore. Tim and I are currently sharing a smaller than we're used to closet at his parent's house, so there's no reason to waste valuable space with clothes that look more like a tent than something you'd wear. I tried a few things on that fit me pre-pregnancy and they were comically large. Like I could have stuck Stella in there and used it as a cheap baby-carrier. So even though the scale says I have about a pound to go to my pre-pregnancy weight, I'm obviously already past it, especially since I'm in a whole size smaller than I was pre-pg. I think that the scale I was using pre-pregnancy and during my pregnancy was obviously really bad. I just continued to use it because it showed a weight much lower than the digital (and probably actually accurate), scale I bought during pregnancy. I had a complicated formula I would use to figure out my weight by using both scales. Pathetic, I know. But it felt really good to purge some stuff and hopefully I can get a few bucks at Buffalo Exchange for the few pairs of Levis and Gap jeans and pants I'm getting rid of. The rest are going into another rubbermaid bin to be pulled out as I grow and shrink with future babies.

I don't think I ever blogged about this, but right before our vacation I had a weird itchy rash on my forearm just above my wrist. I finally went to the doc because it was driving me crazy and he said it was poison ivy, gave me some steroid cream and it pretty much cleared up. Well it's back. Very odd. I've been using the steroid cream as directed, and I can't believe I would get Poison Ivy again in the same exact place. It's a series of pink little bumps. I noticed it getting bumpy again last night while I was wearing one of my bracelets, one I've worn for about 10 years, so it doesn't make since that I suddenly have a reaction. But I definitely won't be wearing it for a while. Sad, since it's my favorite and I always get lots of compliments on it. Hopefully the rash will go away again. I think I'm only supposed to use the cream through tomorrow, so I might need to call the doc and see if I can continue to use it past then. It is a steroid cream and I don't want to start growing a moustache or see my boobs shrink any further past where they already have due to my weight loss;)

Wow, is this a rambling post or what? I also never blogged about the really cool modern furniture store Tim and I went to Saturday. It's in Kyle, of all places, but it actually has some things I could see myself being able to afford. It's more expensive than Ikea, but also probably much better quality, and it certainly doesn't reach the insane price tag of Design Within Reach (reach of who, oil magnates?), or Copenhagen. We really loved this chair, and it was quite comfy and definitely comparable to an Ikea chair price. They also had the coolest sofa that converted into a sleeper. Great for when your friends have a little too much to drink and need to spend the night or for kids to sleep on. It was only $699 or something like that in the store, though. In fact, a lot of the prices seemed to be lower in the store. But it got me really excited about decorating the new house. I want to go modern. And it feels like this time we already have furniture so we can take our time and get one piece here, one piece there, so that we can make the house look how we want. I can't wait!

We haven't been to the house in a week because of my rehearsals, so hopefully we can go tomorrow and see what they've done. It looks like from the road that they are already putting shingles on! The word from Jamie is that they are going to be putting the mechanicals in the next two weeks. We're still on for a November close date, too. Keep your fingers crossed for a dry fall!

Why I could never live in Manhattan

Greg over at Daddy Types had a link to this article in the New York Times about this crazy guy who renovated his 400 square foot apartment while living in it. He is incredibly inspiring in his diy-ness, but also reminds me of why I would never live in Manhattan. They can get practically the entire space in one shot, and that is truly frightening. And he paid $220k for it, which is a steal in Manhattan. Dude, I can get a very nice house over 5 times the size of his for that price here! It's insane!

Of course, now he's going to have a baby and it sounds like they have not really faced up to the dilemma of where they are going to put him. Good luck with that folks. Sure he can sleep with you, but you have a LOFT BED eight feet in the air! Perhaps they can put bedrails on it to keep their infant from taking a nasty tumble in the middle of the night...

Toddler Power Struggles

So Stella's newest place to test her power, I guess, is naps. For the past few days, she's been napping for a very short period of time after a half hour or more of me putting her down, her crying and screaming, we going in there, me leaving, etc. And usually I wind up getting her up and then trying again later. Right now I am listening to her screaming on the baby monitor. I'm sure she's standing up and staring at the binky she threw on the ground. Really, the screamed "Mama"'s do make her act much more effective in getting to me, but I'm really going to try the wait a few minutes, go in, wait a few minutes, go in, at least as long as I can stand it today. Then I suppose I'll give up and get her up and she'll wander around the house banging into things until she passes out from exhaustion. Today was weird because we went out for lunch with Tim and afterwards she passed out in the car. Usually I can carry her up to her crib and she'll nap no problem. But today she awoke and now she's started this ridiculous cycle. Dammit, I need you to nap, girl, I need to score my script! I have a schedule and I need to stick to it!

Stella's a Year and a Half!

Doing a chin-up. Maybe she is more athletic than us? Mommy and Daddy certainly can't do chin-ups!

Hard to believe, but Stella turned 18 months old today. We went in for her 18 month check-up and she is 33 inches tall, still in the 75-90th percentile, but her weight jumped up to 28 lbs, or the 90-95th percentile. Her weight had been around 75th percentile. Her head is 47 cm around, still in the 50-75th percentile. So she's growing nicely. We hid the pacifiers, so we didn't have any confrontations about that with the Dr. Yeah, we're wimps. Dr. Patil did say I should have Stella coloring for a few minutes every day to work on her fine motor skills, so I guess we'll have to work that in. She also said that I should be working on making her use her words for stuff. So I guess we'll work on that too, although we already have been. And I should teach her to throw overhand. I didn't tell Dr. P. that Stella is the product of two of the most uncoordinated people on earth and might never be able to throw a ball without looking like a spaz. She also suggested that I get Stella into a Mother's Day Out program so that she can be socializing with other children without me around. She said school may be very difficult for her otherwise. I had been thinking of that anyway, so I may start trying to find one. If anyone knows of good Mother's Day Out programs in South Austin, let me know!

There are many bloggers who write these great monthly letters to their children, full of sweet declarations of love and detailed descriptions of what their child has accomplished in the last month. I never remember all the little things Stella accomplishes over a month, but in honor of her 18th month birthday, I'm going to make a quick list of some of the cool things she can do.

She can say: Mama, Dada, Hi, Bye, Ball, Dog, Boy (taught her today), chair (also today), baby, wow, 'all gone', apple, eye, yeah, no. She is really good about repeating after you, but I don't know whether that qualifies as being able to say the word. She can: throw a ball, catch a ball, kick a ball, point to the following body parts on herself and Mommy and Daddy: eyes, nose, mouth, tummy, ears, head, toes, hand. She gives the world's best hugs and we're working on kisses. She has twelve teeth (4 on the bottom front, 4 on the top front, and two molars each on top and bottom), she loves to slide and swing, and she loves to run. Her giggle is the most beautiful sound on earth and she is also the most beautiful child on earth. I say that without a touch of favoritism:)

Fixed!

Okay, so that should all be straightened out now. Lemme know if you have any problems following the fantabulous links I put up.

View from the front (obviously):

In other news, we went by and saw the house last night and almost all the siding is done! Most of the windows too. It looks like a real solid house, at least from the outside. And it also looks freakin' huge. Depending on your standards, it is or is not freakin' huge. I am currently living in a house that is over 2400 sq ft and has 5 bedrooms, a game room and 2.5 baths and was purchased to be lived in by only 2 people. Fortunately they did buy such a large house, as we have 5 people and two dogs in it right now, but before we knew that was going to happen it did seem a bit large. So by comparison, my new house, which is 2150 sq ft with 3 bedrooms, an office, a game room, and 2.5 baths which is being purchased to be eventually occupied by 5 people (once our family is done), 2 dogs and a cat doesn't seem insanely huge. BUT, there are plenty of people who have raised families of a larger size than ours in less than 1500 sq ft. Heck, I worked with a woman who was the youngest of 16 siblings who was raised in a house in East Austin that was about 1000 sq ft and had two bedrooms. Mom and Dad had a bedroom, the girls had a bedroom, and the boys slept on the floor in the living room. So size is in the eye of the beholder.

View from the back:

You know, there are some advantages to living with your in-laws. Rather than cleaning or doing house projects on a Saturday afternoon while your daughter naps, you can waste time on the internets. Woot!

Oops!

Thanks to Kelli for pointing out that I somehow linked to my Google Reader page of blogs, not the actual blog pages. And I thought I'd figured this whole thing out! Damn. I'll work on getting the actual pages in the links.

I added Links!

So Stella is obviously completely pooped from her time at Daniel's this morning and lunch with the boys (Daniel and Henry), because she's been asleep for an hour and 45 minutes! And because it is Friday, I have not been responsibly scoring my script, instead I've been playing on the internets. And in my play on the internets, I mastered this "page element" thing in Blogger and I added links to the left side of my page. Please visit these folks, you won't be disappointed! Some are my real life friends, some are just online friends, and some just move me and crack me up on a daily basis. Enjoy!

Framed!

So the entire house is framed. We went by Tuesday and took pics:

We drove by last night after dark and it looked like all the siding was on, the roof was on (minus the shingles), and at least some of the windows were in the first floor. I have hope again! They seem to be really trying to make up for lost time. We'll go by tonight and get pics, hopefully, of whatever state the house is in.

Last night we took an LGT photo for the ACOT calendar at the new Town Lake park. It is the coolest! Afterwards, Stella and Daniel played in the fountains and had a blast. They have fountains that shoot up into the sky and do a light show at night. Stella was soaked through and through by the time we left, but she was so happy. It's definitely a must if you have kids. There were so many children frolicking around!

Today Anna was kind enough to watch Stella while I went to Weight Watchers. I didn't realize it, but it was my 16th week, so I got a cute little charm. I don't know where to put the cute little charm, but I got it! I also gained .4 lbs, but I don't really feel bad about it. I fell so far off the wagon on vacation, I think .4 lbs is a small price to pay. It was worth it to just eat like a normal person for a few days and not write down everything I put in my mouth:)

I don't know why this is the world's most boring blog today, I'm sorry! Both of Tim's parents are out of town, so perhaps wild hijinks that I can blog about will ensue this weekend. Ha!

Things I want in my new house

We went to the new house last night and it is completely framed. All of the the siding materials are outside, and all the windows are there waiting to be put in. Tim, ever the optimist, hopes they'll push to get our house caught up with the other houses it started with and put all that stuff on by the end of week. I have my doubts. Our house seems to have set back after set back. I hope it's not cursed or built on an Indian Burial Ground. "Ya only moved the headstones!"

We finally got our copy of the 2008 Ikea catalog and I was scanning it last night and decided on at least one thing I must have in our new house: a desk/table for my sewing machine with all my sewing supplies, gift wrapping, and craft supplies in cabinets right there. I found the perfect table, although I can't find it online. It's black with this really cool white flower design, and really neat ornate metal legs. Tim thinks the legs are "too girly", which of course means they are perfect for a sewing/gift wrapping/craft table which is, by definition, "girly". I can't decide whether to set up my station in the office downstairs or the play room upstairs. I guess I have plenty of time to make up my mind:)

UPDATE: I just drove by and they are putting on the siding, yay!

She's broken

I think Stella may have gotten damaged when she got shipped back from Houston to Austin. She was apparently taking 2 and a half hour naps with my Mom. She's currently screaming in her room while avoiding my 3rd attempt at getting her to nap this afternoon. She's been throwing fits all day. I wonder if there is some sort of medal that children can get for crying for the longest time continuously. Actually, I think the parents should get the medal. I expected her to be "off" transitioning back home, but this is ridiculous!

Greetings from Port A!

My plan was not to touch my computer while we were here, but Tim decided to check and see if we had free wireless late this afternoon and, for better or worse, we discovered that we do indeed have it. So we've been wasting the last hour on our computers while drinking a pre-dinner Lone Star Tall boy. Actually, not a bad way to spend the time before dinner.

We are having a great time doing NOTHING! We swim in the ocean, then the pool, then the hot tub, then sit outside on our balcony watching the waves roll in and then we come in and watch some completely mindless CABLE TV (I am so addicted to "Tori and Dean: Inn Love, btw), and then we sleep late and then we do it all over again. So relaxing and so much fun. Tim has decided he wants to move to Corpus, and we both decided we want to open a Bed and Breakfast and host gay weddings (Tori and Dean had one on their show and it made us get all teary because it was so sweet.) Of course, we want to get our daughter before we start our new life on the mainland. We miss her terribly. It's really bad at night, we both feel like if we just got one hug from her, we'd be fine. I think we would have driven home today if we hadn't already paid for tonight. But I think we need one more dinner out, some drinks in the hot tub and the pool, and another dip in the ocean tomorrow morning before we head back. As much as we miss Stella, it has been WONDERFUL just hanging out the two of us, reconnecting and doing whatever the heck we feel like doing. I recommend it for everyone!

Stella's first haircut!

Stella got her first haircut today, at a salon and everything! We went to Kool Kuts for Kids in Westlake on the recommendation of an Austin mama, and although it only took about 10 minutes, I think they did a good job. Some of you may be surprised I got her haircut, since I have been obsessed with growing out her bangs for oh, about forever, but really, even though her bangs are now long enough to tuck behind her ear, they don't stay there. I was tired of always having to try and find a barrette, starting from the moment she woke up, so that she could function without a bunch of hair in her face. Poor girl has beautiful eyes, I was tired of having them hidden behind a mess of hair! So last week I started talking about this whole "giving Stella bangs" thing. First I mentioned it to Tim, and surprisingly, he said, "okay." I thought there would be more discussion, since he's always been even more anti-haircut than me. Then I mentioned it to Anna, who thought she'd look cute and thought that's probably what she'd do, and Tim's Mom, who was onboard as well. So I had the support of the peanut gallery, and now I just needed to do it. Tim advocated for going to a professional. I didn't even know where you took a toddler to get her haircut, AND I'm cheap and didn't want to pay, since I figured how hard could it be? The answer: HARD. I tried to trim her bangs myself Monday night and they wound up all jagged and uneven.

Before:

During:

After:

They didn't look so bad if I swept them to the side. But I knew I'd messed up. I didn't feel the agonizing guilt I thought I should as a mother, although I tried to pretend for Tim's benefit. I mean, it'll grow back. Luckily, I had the good sense to quit while I was ahead, and made an appointment to get her hair professionally cut this morning.

At the haircut place, they let her choose which car she wanted to sit in (I chose the yellow car), and they asked me what cartoon I wanted her to watch. I said since she doesn't watch tv, it doesn't matter. The stylist, Grace, chose Elmo, which I was pretty happy with since it's Sesame Street and I feel like it's at least a little educational. And it wound up having a Singing Bear that wore Leiderhosen, so that was beyond awesome. I just told the stylist that if she winds up begging me for Elmo, I'll know who to blame. She didn't laugh. Anyway, as soon as the stylist put on the video, Stella was mesmerized. This is one of the biggest benefits of not letting your child watch tv. If they see tv, they're like a zombie, they just stare at it and you could have a 3 ring circus going on around them and she probably wouldn't notice. Stella didn't really like the spray bottle, but other than that she was quite patient. They let her have a free hairbow as part of the $1 "First Haircut Package" and she gripped onto it throughout the haircut. We also got a polaroid of her in a little commemorative card with some of her hair in it and the date and time of the first haircut. Beyond worth the $1 it cost.

Pre-professional haircut:

The Spray Bottle:

During (I'm going to try and not be insulted by the fact that Tim's Mom cut off the top of my head):

After:

She looks like such a little girl!

Stella cuteness and her new (future) best friend

Stella discovering the joy of the garden hose

So first off, some Stella cuteness. We went over to Anna's today and had lunch with her and Daniel and afterwards the little ones went swimming in the kiddie pool out front. They had a blast and were out there getting in and out of the pool, running all over the yard, for nearly 2 hours! Finally Stella literally collapsed and kind of rolled over in the front yard and I decided it was time to head home for a nap. She still threw a fit, although once I'd held her for a couple of minutes, she indeed conceded that yes, she was sleepy, and yes she wanted a nap, although she did it with a nod, which is the antithesis of the "no, no, no" she'd responded with when I asked 2 minutes earlier. Tim is correct, she does indeed sound like Amy Winehouse in that ridiculously catchy "Rehab" song that I finally heard about a week ago. It's now stuck in my head like a parasite. In the car on the way home from Anna and Daniel's, she was reading the "Lowly Worm" book from her grandparent's house that has been her constant companion the last couple of days. Then she passed out. In the about 2 minutes from their house to here. So I go to get her out of the backseat and she is still holding the Lowly Worm book open like she fell asleep in mid-sentence. (Although there aren't any sentences in the book, but I digress). It was adorable. I'm so glad I have a waterbaby like myself. I was really worried when she had that bad experience at Little Stacy that she'd be afraid of the water and wouldn't want to live in it like I did as a kid.

Another cute thing is that Stella says "no, no, no" when the dogs bark. She gets all authoritarian. I think it's a side effect of living in Gulag Thomas. Just kidding, although seriously, the dogs are kind of frowned upon for acting like dogs here. Especially poor Roxie. I can't help it, she sometimes has accidents, she's old and has a weak bladder. She peed on the rug this morning and Tim's Mom left a note on the stairs that said "Tim-See Me. Mom" Very ominous, like they got his report card and it was full of D's. Anyway, it turned out Roxie had peed and she was like, "it'd be easier if it was Lucy, because I really like Lucy and she's so sweet." blah, blah, blah. What does that mean? So I said, "but since you don't like Roxie it's not okay when she pees? Should we put her to sleep for peeing?" I mean, I KNOW we should be grateful to Tim's parents for letting us stay here, and believe me, we really are, we really appreciate it, but my dogs and my kid come with me. Anyway, we finally arrived at the conclusion that poor Roxie will have to be outside or in her crate anytime no one is downstairs with her. Hopefully that will help curb the floor peeing. I really do feel bad, but I have said several times that the reason we didn't have a rug in our old house was that our old incontinent dog would pee on it. Also, they have tile here so I thought it wasn't too bad if she peed, but if we ruin their rugs, I will definitely replace them when we move out. Roxie's bladder is the reason we paid extra to have the entire downstairs in our new house (sans office, which has a door), done in very dog-pee friendly tile and hardwoods!

Speaking of the house, we went to see the frame of the first floor last night. It was pretty neat to walk through it and to finally get a sense of what it will be like "reversed" from the plan and the model. We also met more neighbors, the people diagonally across the street who are also getting a Danbury (our model), although with the garage on the other side from us. The wife is pregnant and due with their 4th(!) child under 5 in 2 weeks. But the most exciting thing was discovering that they also have a toddler. Who is 19 months (only two months older than Stella). And who is a GIRL! Isn't that the coolest?! Tim and I were already waxing about how they can be best friends and walk to elementary school together since they'll be in the same grade. Our neighborhood it going to be so awesome, I can't wait! They also already have their entire house framed and they only started the day before us. So I'm REALLY hoping they'll finish our frame today. We also re-measured from the back of the house to the Best Shade Tree On Earth (or at least my property) that will shade our back porch, and we're confident it's more than 10 feet so they can't screw up and cut it down to pour our patio. I mean, we told our builder not to cut it down, even if they had to make the patio smaller, but sometimes those sorts of things don't get conveyed to workers. But it's definitely more like 12 feet, maybe a little more, away and our patio will be 10x10.

The frame of the first floor:

View out the kitchen window (grumpy Daddy and squirmy baby optional):

View from sliding glass doors in breakfast room:

View from the front door:

Oh, and I deposited more money in our savings account today, the refund we got from our house insurance, and I am so happy with the figure I see. It's so encouraging and inspired me to obsessively tally everything we're saving up in my head again. This is a sort of embarassing habit of mine. I really like to tally figures. There's something comforting about it. I also like to save. And the more I save, the more I am inspired to save. Tim teases me A LOT about this, but it just makes me feel secure. I've always done this. When I was a kid, I was the one who still had Halloween candy at Christmas, and whose Valentine's chocolates would last past St. Patrick's day (or go bad first). I'd usually spend my Christmas money by my birthday in June

and my birthday money, well, I would hold onto it for a long time. I still can actually eat just one piece of chocolate, it amazes Tim. It's just that the possibilities of what you can spend your money on are often more exciting than spending it. And you have that anticipation, which just tastes so good. Wow, that was rambling. Anyway, I just wanted to explain why I talk about my savings so much on my blog. I hope it never feels like I'm bragging or something about my savings, it's just something that I have tremendous interest and pride in. Although I can't really take the credit for 95% of what's in there because we just sold our house and that's where it came from. I will probably be very upset after we close on the house and I have to start all over again, but that's what savings is for, right?

OH, and I lost 2.4 pounds this week, yay! Last week, gaining 1.2 pounds was a real wake-up call and I am back on program, counting every little bite!

Awesome weekend

Wow, it's already Thursday and I'm just now getting around to blogging about last weekend. What can I say? We've had auditions this week and Stella has decided napping is for losers. Anyway, better late than never.

We had a GREAT Labor Day Weekend, which I think we really deserved with all the stress in our lives lately. Saturday we went to the Holmeses for their housewarming/last party in their apartment. It was a great party, with good beer, absolutely delicious food, and great conversation. Jeff made the most heavenly grilled chicken and pork and Erin made spicy grilled pineapples that were so spicy I couldn't even eat it, which says something, since I love the spice! Everyone had a great time, although the babies were starting to melt down by the time we left.

The baby band photo. Stella, of course, is the prima donna singer

We went back to home base and had dinner with Christine and Brian, who were in town to see Brian's family, but were spending the night at the Thomas house. That was fun, but unfortunately way too short because we had another party to get to! We went to a party at Nicole's, which, unfortunately, was populated almost entirely by musical theatre people which meant that a) they made me tired, and b) they talked almost exclusively about musicals, which I know nothing about. Luckily there were a few folks to have some good conversations with, but mostly it was a bust. No pictures from that shindig.

Sunday morning we went to church for the first time in a few weeks and actually, gasp, enjoyed ourselves! Even though church ran over by 22 minutes, (but who's counting?), it was a laid-back fun service without the guilt that I feel like they've been heaping on lately. Also, we've both been kind of soured on religion lately because we're living with the super-Christians. Then Sunday we went to another fantastic party, a pool party at Karen and Jennie's. It was so much fun. Everyone was there and Stella just loved being in the pool. Tim spent the entire time keeping Stella entertained, although he did have some help from Karen. He was like super-dad. And I got totally wasted without meaning to. Some guy poured me a giant glass of wine and after that I was toast. Wow, I sound like a teenager. Anyway we stayed until Stella was wiped out. Swimming in the rain

Monday we didn't really have a plan, other than to go drive and do something. Our initial plan had been to drive to Llano for some delicious Cooper's barbecue, but then, due to my inebriated state, I'd blown all my extra points at Karen and Jennie's. Well really, at all 3 of the parties that weekend. So instead we decided to drive to Salado. Tara and Jeff invited us over for barbecue, but we were just so partied out and really wanted to spent time as a family. Plus I had no points left and I know I would have had a hard time being good if Jeff had grilled more of what he made Saturday.

Salado was "eh". We figured all the shops would be open because it was Labor Day, but they were all closed, either because of the holiday or because it was a Monday. Plus, Stella didn't really want to sit in her stroller, so we either had to carry her or let her walk. And there was absolutely no eating establishments open, so when Stella's snack time came, we had to leave. But we actually still had a really nice time. When we first got there, we stopped at a park so that I could go to the bathroom and Stella could blow off some steam. Stella had a blast on the playground. Then we went over to the water, which was just beautiful. We couldn't believe there was this free park right on the water. Because we didn't have swimsuits, Stella and I waded in a little. Stella loved it, and in fact, threw a huge fit when it was time to go.

So that's pretty much the re-cap. Tonight we're going to go to the new house and walk through the frame! Tim went last night while I was at rehearsals, but of course, I have to go too. Maybe they'll have the second story framed by then. Keep your fingers crossed!

House, house, aren't you tired of hearing about my house?

I know you are, but I'm going to blog about it anyway. So we drove on the roads Thursday night and it was awesome! We couldn't go in any houses since they've started locking the ones up that are past the framing stage, although that's good to know that they are protected. We heard from Jamie Friday that our framing materials are due to be dropped Tuesday and then they will begin framing our house! Excitement begins anew. We spent some time Thursday evening walking around and looking in the windows of houses. It is going to be such a nice neighborhood. It's so quiet. Even though you can see Manchaca, you can't hear it at all, and there's only a little bit of traffic noise (I assume) from Westgate. The trees in our backyard are just so beautiful. I counted like 10 trees and most of them are quite tall and big. I can't wait to watch our house being built!

So now that our house is going to actually be a reality instead of just a dream, we are, as I mentioned earlier, going into full-on saving mode. I had time this afternoon while everyone else took naps to do a budget, and if we stick to my not-incredibly tight budget, we will be within a $1,000 and change of our downpayment if our house is ready November 1st. That's assuming we get $5k for Tim's car, which I think is doable, but you never know what will happen. If our house is ready later than November 1st (which I'm sure it will be), and if we are just a little bit more frugal with our budget, I think we can get that extra money. I know that we can do a 2nd mortgage for that little amount (we're already approved for one), but I really want to avoid all those fees!

Wow, I'm turning this into some sort of finances blog, how boring, sorry! Perhaps I should spin off and do a separate blog for my budgeting woes like Kelli did with her food blog.

That's all for now. Stella's asleep and I need to get her up and waking Tim up so we can go off to Karen and Jennie's party!