Furniture Frustrations

See the couch that's in our new house?? The one that the previous owners have....

We've looked in all of the big stores we can find here in Halifax and we can't find it. We LOVE it. We want THIS one. All similar ones don't compare. It's very hard to like anything else when this one caught our eye.

Halifax readers: Any ideas where we will find this??

(We already tried The Brick, Ashley, Sears Home, Lane, and tried to find Leon's but took a wrong turn and never actually went there....)

How long does it take...

....to get the SOLD sign on our house?!

We've driven by it every day, hoping the sign would go up before we leave... but NOOOOOOO, it's still not up.

Bugger!

It's Official!!

Taaadaaaa!

The financing is confirmed, the inspection is complete, the insurance is set up. Everything is signed and happy, happy, happy!

It's all ours!!! "Casa del Wilson-Butler" (or as DBF would likely prefer "Casa del Butler-Wilson").

MLS #40827891. Click here to see it while it's still on MLS.

It's in a Halifax suburb, Beechville Estates...or as we like to call it "Little San Francisco" because of the style of houses and way they are in a row up the hill on the street. Only 15 minutes from downtown...less than 5 minutes to Bayers Lake Shopping, etc.

The pictures don't do it justice....the colors are better in person.... especially the kitchen which we just love. We didn't get our rec room, but there's a den that's big enough for DBF to have his guitar room so we are happy with that. Of all the houses in the neighborhood, ours actually has a decent yard....not huge, but at least useable, unlike the others we saw. Plus a deck big enough for a BBQ and full size table and chairs for entertaining....we'll add stairs for convenience into the yard. The floors on the main level are lovely wood and ceramic, and although there is carpet upstairs and in the rec room, it is bearable colors and easily replaceable if we really want to. The previous owners had great taste and took the time to update all of the light fixtures throughout the house, and put in nice mirrors in the bathrooms, and really cool 16x16 "Santa Fe" ceramic tiles in the kitchen. They even included the matching stand alone pantry for the kitchen...which we hadn't expected so that was very cool.

The best part is the bedroom window. That big three pane window with the huge, arched window above it. We have the only one like that in the whole neighborhood. It's beautiful!!! and the custom fit blinds came with it!

We are stoked!! Now we're on the hunt for new furniture. :) Can't have a new place with our stuff that's looking worn and boring. We want the couch that's in the house now....it's getting to the point where we just want to get our realtor to find out where they bought it.

We already picked out the new TV and home theatre system.....to be delivered 2 days after we close.

Jan-15th and we're in!!

For those of you in Victoria....this place cost us only $214K...bwaaahaaahaha. :)

We is homeowners!!

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! Pending the inspection tomorrow and the final approval of the mortgage folks, we own our own home!!

How fast are we? Looked at 10+ houses yesterday, and number 3 won the race. Went back and took a second look, made an offer, and sat back waiting for the sellers' answer. Their counter offer was exactly what we expected, so we agreed with one condition. Instead of accepting the condition they knocked an extra $1000 off the price and the deal was done.

Wooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

Today we have made our calls to the lawyer, inspector and mortgage broker. Off to the bank for insurance and the money order for our deposit. Barring anything unforeseen we are officially homeowners.

Did I mention yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?!!!

I'll keep you in suspense as to the actual details until it's all said and done, but I don't think you'll be waiting too long. I will tell you that it's only 3 years old so we're positive the inspection will go perfectly. And the people have excellent taste so aside from a couple of rooms that need painting we won't have anything to do to the house.

Yahooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

How excited are we?!!!

Working it out...

How do you do that strikethrough thing on here?? I was going to go back and cross things off my to-do list, only to realize that I don't know how!!

Well, I got through some of the main stuff...

Desk is cleaned.

Banking is mostly done. Bills are paid (except MasterCard because my own math doesn't make sense to me and I think I overpaid my share....shhhh....don't tell anyone I'm a bookkeeper!). Xmas funds have been put aside.

GST is all sorted out and filed online (however it's not paid because even though CRA says you can pay online, Royal Bank doesn't seem to support that option....but that's a rant I'm just not into ranting right now!).

DBF and I sent our list of MLS houses we want to see to our Halifax realtor (he already poo-poo'd two of them, but did offer up a few other options).

Thank you cards have been bought and I'm about to write them out when I'm done here. Hopefully I can find their addresses through information online.

I also bought new Xmas cards today, so maybe I'll work on my mailing list while watching TV tonight.

I didn't get the empties into the car yet, but I think I'll do that tomorrow. My official car-cleaning plan may get waylaid until we return because DBF still needs a new tire for his car, so it looks like doggy goes to daycare in my car. Boooo!

The househunting to-do list is a moot point now. We're ready to go. Mortgage sorted out. Realtor worked out. Inspector on call. Lawyer didn't call back, so nothing we can do until Monday now anyway. We just need to book our rental car tomorrow.

Tomorrow I will definitely put together those spreadsheets for the "wants" and "don't wants" for househunting. At least I was smart enough to print out the MLS listings of all of the houses we plan to look at....that's a start.

I did manage to add two more important things in too.... 1) remembered to ask the girl next door to look after my cat while we're away 2) gave myself a manicure.

DBF was very, very sick today so hopefully he kicks the bug overnight. Tomorrow we do these last minute things and pack for the trip. We're outta here on a 6:30am flight on Sunday morning!!

Wishlist

While doing item number one on my list...cleaning up my desk...I found several little sticky notes with "wishlist" items. Since Mom and DBF often ask me for gift ideas, I thought I'd just add them to my blog.

So, look over there -----> and scroll down!

Now you all know what to buy me for Xmas!!

Operation Organization

I'm going to start right now!!

My desk has been neglected for a while now. Time to sort, organize, and file again.

I need to do my banking. There are bills sitting here needing to be paid. There is GST that needs to be calculated and paid (past due...I NEVER do that!). There are funds that need transferring. Xmas money to be put aside. Credit cards to be consolidated into my line of credit.

I need to make my official list of MLS houses for DBF to add to his list for the real estate agent TODAY!

Thank you cards need to be written. Those girls threw a fantastic party for little old me and they deserve at least thank you cards!! (hmmmm....probably should go shopping for said cards....and get their mailing addresses....)

A house hunting to-do list needs to be made (even if DBF likes to keep his list in his head).

Checklist spreadsheet for house buying. As has been pointed out several times now, by the time we've seen more than 5 houses we aren't going to remember everything. Best to have a note-list to go with the digital pics we'll take.

I need to start the multiple humongous to-do lists for this move.

An Xmas shopping list (with budget!) needs to be written.

Oh god, my Xmas card list needs to be written. And while I'm at it, I might as well start writing the cards. (I guess I'll go dig that box of leftover cards out from last year while I'm thinking of it.)

I need to load the empties into my trunk (when DBF comes home from work).

Time to clean out the closet for "donations" again. Better get DBF to his too. No sense packing useless stuff to Halifax with us.

Sort through the pile of stuff in the basement and decide what's "sell", what's "keep", what's "toss", what's "donate". Like our very own episode of Clean Sweep!

Saturday has been designated "Clean BionicWoman's car because the dog won't be going in there again for a long, long time" day. (My beautiful shiny leather interior needs some serious TLC.)

Oh geeze, you know it's bad when your to-do list is actually a list of other to-do lists. Thank God it's a slow work day (Thank you American Thanksgiving...gobble, gobble). I'm on it now. My stress level just increased 10-fold.

Update on the Big Move

Lots of stuff has happened about the move, so I thought I should post an update.

On Thursday we met with the lady that helps facilitate everything and she gave us a whackload of information. They help with most stuff, but there is A LOT to do!! and a very short period of time in which to do it!!

First thing we have to do is our house-hunting trip next week. This should actually be pretty fun, as we are both stoked about buying our first house. However, the trip is only 7 days and two of those days are for travel....so we get exactly 5 days to find, inspect, and put an offer on a place. Go Team Bionic!! It's a good thing we think we are super heroes. :)

We found a real estate agent online that claims to be proficient with these military moves, so hopefully he comes through for us. We have been surfing MLS and finding places we are interested in seeing, and also hope he has some others for us. The idea is to go there with about 20 or so places to see on the Monday and Tuesday....then try to pick something for inspection on the Wednesday or Thursday and then go from there.

The best part is that DND pays for pretty much everything. Obviously they cover the cost of the trip....hotel, rental car, airfare, food, etc. But they also cover most of the real estate costs too. We just have to be sure to chose a lawyer and inspector from the approved list, which is fine with us because it's not like we know any lawyers or inspectors of our own anyway.

We already talked to a mortgage broker and should have our official approval by tomorrow hopefully. They already told us that it's no problem, but we need the final word before we head off. It would suck to find a place then find out there's some problem with the finances. Plus, we want our rate locked in now before things start to rise anymore.

When we get back, then we need to get a major move-on with the actual prep for the move. Our posting date is Jan-3rd, so we get 12 travel days to get there....wooooohooooo....nice time of year to have to do this, eh? Booooooooooo!!! But we have a plan! It's gonna be a gong-show around here that's for sure!!

Tagged!!

Wooohooo!!! I love it when I get tagged in these things....let's me know that one of you lovely readers is thinking of me! Weeeeeeeeeeee!!!

In this particular case, I was tagged on each of my blogs, so I am posting the same thing on each of them. So both girls get a couple of link tags...hehehe.... Thanks to Wheebles and Bri @ Skinnify!

Here are the rules (according to Bri there's only 5 things!):
Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog (some random, some weird). Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs and then let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Things you might not know about me:

1) As I've gotten older I've developed a strange attraction to the color pink. Not pale, ballerina pink. But more like a fuschia sex-kitten pink. When I'm trying to decide colors, if that's an option it's a no brainer. I even see it in my mind's eye when I fantasize about my future wedding. I think it has a lot to do with too many episodes of Sex in the City.

2) I grew up an only child with a single parent. This makes me strangely independant, bossy, and anal about having things MY WAY. It makes for interesting living arrangements with other people. haha. But I wouldn't have it any other way because it also makes me best friends with my Mom.

3) I make bad jokes when I'm nervous or uncomfortable. Unfortunately I'm nowhere near as witty as Chandler Bing, otherwise that might be a cool thing.

4) I joined Weight Watchers because I was bored. I had recently started dating DBF and he had to go away for work for 2 months, so I decided to try "dieting" as something to do. Glad I learned that it's not just a hobby!! But at least my "hobby" has turned into a healthier lifestyle.

5) I like to work out to Bon Jovi and Guns n Roses. There's one CD at my kickboxing gym that I just love and it has Welcome to the Jungle on it. However, I would probably cringe if I had to listen to it under any other circumstance!

OK, there you have it. Now I am tagging Julie, Jen, Mouse, Mrs. Furious, and of course... The Duv. (YaYa, I know most of you have already done it, but you are the ones that I love...so that's just the way it is!)

Most Specialist Birthday Ever!!!

Well I'll just say that I have some of the BEST FRIENDS EVER!


Originally I had just figured we'd have some people over to the house and maybe build a bonfire on the beach as a birthday party/welcome home bash for me and DBF. Instead, he offered to plan a dinner out in town....and it's been a long while since someone planned me a birthday party so I was all for that!



He cahooted with a few friends and asked me a few questions, but for the most part they kept the details a surprise for me. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! I just knew I had to be ready for 6:00 on Saturday night....for dinner, and the bar after.



Well, Tiffaney and Nicole managed to surprise DBF too!!



They asked us to come over early to help do hair and get ready and stuff....and I thought it was odd that they wanted us there as early as they did, but I didn't question it. Turns out they had a surprise for both of us. :) Those awesome girls booked us a hotel room for the night!!! And here we thought we were just going to squish ourselves onto Nicole's futon. Wooohooo!!! They had even gone ahead and put flowers, chocolates and champagne in the room for us (oh, and water and Cokes in the fridge for the morning hangover!).



How special are we?!


Soooo nice to spend the afternoon relaxing and reflecting on just how thoughtful our friends are (OK, and drinking champagne....and maybe smooching...hehe). I can't remember the last time someone other than maybe a BF did something like that for me...if ever!


When we arrived at dinner I was pleasantly surprised to see so many people there. A few people I was hoping would come, but wasn't sure about, did, so that was exciting. Unfortunately a few folks were out of town, but those things can't be helped. Tiffaney had gone all out....she had balloons for the table, and beads for everyone, and cute little birthday tiaras and such for me. Again, I felt soooo special. Like it was my sweet sixteen or something!!

I got more birthday loot, which I so was not expecting. A fantastic Silk Road Spa Massage, another cool purse, wine, and a Starbucks card. Plus, as if Nicole & Tiff hadn't already done enough....they had a set of Strongbow glasses (my drink of choice for pub nights) which they had each personalized and had some of the rest of the gang personalize too. So thoughtful!!! They also got me a cake from the Dutch bakery, which was super yum!! (and I didn't even get mad that they put my AGE on the cake...haha!)

After dinner a few people opted to head out and the rest of went to the pub. We were running late so got stuck waiting in line for a while, so lost a few more people because it was pretty cold to wait. But once we all finally got inside, there were MANY drinks and good times! Those beads that Tiffaney had handed out all ended up coming back to me, because every time someone bought me a drink they had to give me their beads. I think we counted like 17 or something by the end of the night! and I don't think I got beads every time I got a drink. LOL.

When it was nearing closing time for the pub, we decided to go for karaoke. Victoria's karaoke bar is disgusting....not a cool, clean place by any means....but when you are already drunk it's easy to just not care! So, Adam butchered a Bon Jovi song, and DBF did a good job of A Boy Named Sue....and we told off a bunch of 19 year old girls that wouldn't get off the stage...haha, good times!!

Finished the evening off with a plate of poutine, then returned to the hotel....barely standing I think. Thank God I remembered to drink a big glass of water before bed!!

Amazingly enough, we both woke up feeling relatively OK. Even managed to get up and get the dog picked up before noon.....then spent the day just lounging around the house watching Dexter on DVD.

All in all, BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!! I still don't know how I'll properly thank everyone for such an amazing time!! THANK YOU!!!!

Birthday Loot

This is the fantastic new purse DBF got me for my birthday yesterday:



It's a Matt & Nat "trench" and he picked it out all by himself! I had never even seen this one, so imagine my delight when I opened it up and it was soooooooooo cool!! It's black, but a little distressed and faded so it's almost a dark brown. I shall test run it today to ensure it is as cool as I think!

I also received an awesome necklace from my friend Tiffaney (which I plan to wear tomorrow night so you will see pictures I'm sure) and my Mom arranged for Tiffaney to pick up a LuluLemon GC for me, so I can now go pick out a new hoodie to stay warm in Halifax. :) Oh, and of course a cheque from good ol' Grandpa which I'm sure will go towards something new to wear for tomorrow night. hehehehehe!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Hmmmm.....spending the day in meetings with people about the move....not exactly the thrilling birthday plans I was hoping for!! Ah well, I could skip the meetings and stay home and work. Not really much of a choice now is it? haha. At least with the meetings I'll come out with some answers about the move and maybe be able to relax and de-stress long enough to actually enjoy my birthday.

Apparently DBF has stuff planned for celebrating on Saturday anyway, so I'll just settle for the unofficial day off work and hopefully a trip to Starbucks!

How inconvenient!

January 2nd, 2008

Boooooo! Yes, folks, that's our posting date for Halifax. I say you couldn't get more inconvenient if you tried. (DBF brought that into perspective for me though...."sure it could...it could be December 25th...." touche!)

Before you ask, this IS the adjusted date. He was originally given Dec-3rd, but since that would be practically impossible he was granted a 30 day extension. Gotta love that protocol....30 days, even if 40 might have been a zillion times more convenient.

Anywho, looks like we'll be packing and moving when we would normally be decorating and celebrating. Merry Christmas to us!

We have a meeting this Thursday to find out more details about dates for the actual move, etc. Our househunting trip is scheduled for the last week of the month, so at least that's something. Of course, finding and closing a house in five days shouldn't be stressful at all!!

Oh, and I talked to my boss yesterday and no worries on my job. I'm keeping it! Thank Christ! I so was not looking forward to landing up there with no job and no contacts. That's one huge thing to take off our shoulders. Whew.

Bellagio

After we packed up our booth on Friday and set out to find some lunch, I realized that I had yet to take any pictures during our trip. This is normal for me on business trips. We are usually too busy and don't have much time for sightseeing....so I've come home often with little or no photos. This trip is no different....I got about a dozen pictures at the Bellagio but that's it!

The amazing blown glass ceiling in the hotel lobby.

One of the great 'natural' sculptures in the indoor arboritum.

Some of the excellent artistic pastries at the pattisiere.

The chocolate fountain that ran through the ceiling at the pattisiere.

The infamous water show (to Celine Dion's "Titanic" song).

The mist over the "lake" during the water show.

What Happens in Vegas...

...um, well apparently gets talked about on my blog!


If you've been keeping up with my other blog, you already know most of the scoop.

Except Thursday night. Thursday night had nothing to do with my health habits. LOL.

As I mentioned over there, I thought we would be hitting up a celebrity chef restaurant in our hotel, then maybe heading over to the Venetian for some dancing. Well, we all know what thought did!

A couple of clients and other exhibitors invited us (hmmm....I should say demanded us) to join them for their plans for the evening. Little did I know that these guys would turn into some sort of Vegas movie cliche and become those typical businessmen you hear about that want to see strippers.

I declined at first thinking it would be wierd and stupid and expensive. But my partner wanted to go and they all said they would pay for me...and since I didn't want to hang out by myself I decided to go.

So, yes Mikey....I have had the inaugural trip to Olympic Gardens.

Hello to naked girls, fake boobies, flashing plastic shoes, vinyl boots, string bikinis and THIRTY DOLLAR cover charge. Hello to lap dances not two feet away from me, young screaming guys, quiet old guys, exceptionally chatty nice girls and seemingly slutty girls, oh and TWENTY DOLLAR DRINKS.

Haha, can you tell I was more appalled by the prices than the activities? I'm glad I had said I wasn't paying ahead of time. Even my waters were apparently $20. Crazy!!

Anyway, I ended up having a pretty good time. Some of the girls were actually quite friendly and down to earth...and would chat with me in hopes of getting the attention of the men at our table. It worked for some, and others just looked happy to have a break. I had a good time laughing at maneuvers on stage and making fun of the one guy that didn't seem to know that a private room was probably gonna cost him a pretty penny.

I wished DBF coulda been there to enjoy the bizarreness of it all. He's not much of a stripper fan because he's not into fake boobs and rail thin girls, but I bet if we'd found him a bootylicious girl for a lapdance he wouldn't have objected!!!

Comment Responses

Thanks for the tag Wheebs! I'll do my post when I get back to Victoria and give it my full attention!

In response to Mikey's question....no, I won't quit posting to my blog...however I guess I'm going to maybe have to change the name and possibly get a new format! Next up will be the exciting adventures of a military move to Halifax and all the trials and tribulations that I'm sure will come with it.

Timing!

What ridiculous timing for a business trip!! Booooo! So DBF got home late last night, and now I'm packing to head off tomorrow morning!

Who knew dogs bought presents?

After a happy, smoochy, giggly, and somewhat silly reunion at the airport....DBF presented me with my thank-you gift from the dog. Yup, from the dog. LOL. Right there next to baggage claim, with our friends standing there waiting for their luggage too....he pulls the box out of his bag and says "here". Oh the romance!!!

I knew he was bringing me a Claddagh ring. I had seen them while in Halifax and mentioned I would like one. I guess he didn't think it needed to be a surprise because he had actually told me when he went shopping for it, and that he bought a gold one because he didn't like any of the silver ones. It was kind of funny because I don't actually like much gold and he knows that so said that I can return it if I don't like it. Again, the romance of it all!!

Anyway, it's lovely. Much prettier and more feminine than I expected. He did good! (Booooo though because it's a little too big so I'm going to have to part with it for sizing...*sniff *sniff).

Comforts of Home!

Anticipating the boy's arrival I stocked up on a couple of bottles of red wine and a few of our favorite snackies. I thought for sure he would be super tired after his long travel day, but I guess his adrenaline was pumping because we stayed up late with our wine and chats and comfy couch just like we always did before he left.

I met him at the airport for 9:30, and of course our friend was there to pick up one of the other guys too. So we all had a big reunion and hugs and kisses and chats and laughs while we waited for bags and such. By the time we got everything and finished talking and stuff, it was well after 10:00 and we have a long drive home.

He was just so happy to be here. It's so cute! and contagious! I was pretty smiley too. LOL. Of course!!!

When we pulled into the driveway I figured the dog would be doing his barky, happy dance...but I guess he didn't realize that daddy was coming home (uh, duh, how would he know??!)....so I opened up the front door and let him run out. I think he was momentarily confused...LOL. But once he realized what was going on, he was one happy doggie! DBF was pretty stoked too...he missed his buddy.

We spent our evening just drinking wine, chatting, petting the dog, and just enjoying being together in the comforts of our own home. It's amazing how it's just the little things that really matter.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! :)

Tonight!!!!

Yup, the man is returning TONIGHT!! I woke up this morning to a Facebook message letting me know that I should pick him up at the airport at 9:30! wooooohooooooo!!

(haha, typical military....talk about waiting until the last minute to give them any details....)

I have stocked up on wine and his favorite snackies. Oh my God, will it be nice to finally have a normal, cozy night in with my boy!

FINALLY!

HE

IS

COMING

HOME

TOMORROW

!!!!!!!!!!

-------------------------

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

(Nuf said.)

I should clarify...

Vegas is for work. I've been for the same convention the past two years, and although Vegas is cool and the trip is paid for, it's actually more of a pain in the ass than anything. We're only there for 2 1/2 days and working pretty much the whole time. Last year I got an afternoon to wander the strip, but aside from that I don't get any free time. We are hoping to check out a celebrity chef restaurant this time (suggestions?) and maybe a show on the one evening off we have.

This year's trip is less desirable because DBF is coming home the day before I leave. So I'll be in a big hurry to get back home to be with him. The timing is so wrong!!

As of November 1st...

- SIX days till honey comes home!

- SEVEN days till I go to Vegas!

- FIFTEEN days till my birthday!

- FIFTY FIVE days till Christmas!