Oddities Abound

My Life Story for Facebook

2009-10-15T11:04:00.000-07:00

(Updated 10/15/2009)

Let's get you up to speed!

Background:
I was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas but moved to Glenpool, OK around the age of 2. I went to school at Glenpool all 13 years and graduated in 1999. It's scary that half of my friends on FB are people I only know from high school because I am definitely not the same person now as I was then. And no, the same cannot be said for everyone.

After high school, I spent my first 1.5 semesters at East Central University before becoming very ill in February 2000. I was eventually diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder. I ended up dropping half of my classes that semester and came crawling back home to Mommy and Daddy. I've been well ever since then, thank you. After moving back home, I split my time between working at the corporate office for a local independent rural telephone company and taking the college courses I needed wherever they were offered for the cheapest price. Thus, I have attended Tulsa Community College and Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Muskogee, and Broken Arrow. I graduated summa cum laude in May 2003 with a major in Elementary Education and a minor in Psychology. It was not the experience I thought I was going to have both socially (mostly older people attend the night classes I took) and academically (the difficulty level was scarcely more than high school).

After college, I then moved to Houston, Texas, and taught third grade for a year in the Spring Branch ISD district. Aside from making some wonderful friends and getting my first dog, it was not a great year. And teaching was never my long term plan. So yet again, I came crawling back to my Tulsa roots. This time it wasn't with Mommy and Daddy. I took the same job I had while in college. I still work there doing mostly accounting/executive assistant things. And although it wasn't what I thought was planned at all, I really love my job.

As fate/God/the stars would have it, my brothers joined band in middle school. In May 2005, I went to their concert. Some guy I sorta kinda knew in high school was now the assistant director of the band. I ended up chatting with him for nearly 2 hours after the concert. One thing led to another and that guy is now my husband. Doug Reynolds and I were married Cinco de Mayo 2007. I'm quite lucky to have married a very sweet, supportive, loving, caring, smart, nice, and responsible husband who even came with a great set of parents! Who else out there can say they really love their in-laws?

In November 2008, we purchased out first house in Broken Arrow. It's an average house in an average neighborhood.

In April 2009, my mother suffered a relatively major health crisis. She suffered a minor stroke that was due to an 18mm congenital atrial septal defect. That's fancy talk for huge hole between upper chambers of her heart. The hole was repaired with a space-age device called an AMPLATZER Septal Occluder. Although the stroke left her with only 60% of her vision, you'd never know she had one. And because bad things come in threes, a large meningioma (benign brain tumor) was also discovered during this time. It is unclear right now if this will need to be removed with surgery.

I love babies, but we have no babies. We're not planning on having babies anytime soon. And just as much as I respect your decision to have however many children you want, I would appreciate your respect in our decision to remain childless at this time.

We have some big things coming down the pipes in a few years, but those will be revealed when the time is right.

Packing Light

2009-07-02T14:45:00.000-07:00

I can pack all I need for a 9-day trip in one carry-on, but it turns out that doesn't make for an interesting post or pictures. The lighting in our room is horrible right now, so the pictures turned out equally as awful. I also didn't have time today at work to fully explain my reasons for wanting to accomplish this crazy thing. The basics are that you roll everything up to avoid wrinkles and take only what you need. Not what you might need. We'll see how well this avoids wrinkles. Yes, I know I'm nowhere near the Rick Steves "three changes of clothes that you wash in the hotel sink level", but one day I might be. Set here.

The Whole Mommy Story, Part II

2009-05-05T07:11:00.000-07:00

5/02/2009: Mommy got to go home today and slept a lot of the weekend.

5/05/2009: Mommy was originally scheduled for her ASD surgery at 11:00 today, but I just received an email from my dad that says there is now an opening at 10:00 today. Off I go to the hospital. I will be sending tweets from the hospital. I wonder why there would be a last minute opening at the cath lab. Did someone just die?

The Whole Mommy Story, Part I

2009-04-30T14:30:00.000-07:00

Life's funny. This past Sunday my biggest concern in life was devising a plan to keep our house in a relative state of clean just in case company dropped by. Monday's biggest concern was if my mother was going to live.

04/27/2009: I get a call from my dad around 10 am telling me that mom stood up at work, felt pain behind her ear, and lost a significant amount of her peripheral vision. Dad left work and drove my mom to St. John. At the ER, my dad was told my mother either had a migraine or a stroke. BIG difference there. Mom has a CT scan that revealed not a stroke (that bleeds into the brain), but a benign brain tumor of substantial size behind her eyes. Later in the afternoon, an MRI was performed which showed that, in addition to the meningioma, my mother did indeed suffer a stroke. Luckily, it has only affected her peripheral vision. It is unknown if she will regain more of her vision.

04/28/2009: My mother undergoes a transesophageal echocardiogram to determine the cause of the stroke. I receive a sad call from a heartbroken Daddy telling me that they found a hole in my mom's heart. And although it's been there since birth and my mother has had heart symptoms for a while (e.g., tires easily, intolerance to exercise), it was never caught by a doctor.

04/29/2009: My mother undergoes an angiogram to determine if there is blockage in her heart which would preclude her from having a less invasive heart surgery. Thankfully, there is no significant blockage. Dad is excited because this is the first good news we've heard so far. Another test was performed later to find out if there were clots lurking elsewhere in her extremities just waiting to cause another stroke. Thankfully, there are not.

04/30/2009: Heart surgery is scheduled for next Tuesday. This also happens to be my anniversary. It's undetermined if Mom will be able to go home over the weekend. A neurosurgeon says that, because her meningioma is large and will continue to grow, it must be removed. But that surgery will take place at least four months from now. Right now, we all feel really good about the odds of my mother living a normal life after this really safe surgery.

Road Trip!

2009-04-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

What's Rachel and Doug been doing lately? Well, instead of finishing up trim painting and completing other much needed home decorating projects, we've been busy making reservations for our big road trip in July. We're beyond excited about spending the 4th of July in Washington DC! I know that once we get there we won't be as excited to due the patriotic crowds and intense heat. Here's our "crazy trip" so far.

We have something far more relaxing for next summer, but for now we've got to get Doug up to speed on the number of states he's traveled to.

All of this travel planning has me even more addicted to bidding for hotel rooms on Priceline. It's like a sad silly kind of game to me wherein I use travel message boards and create my own map to figure out the nicest place to stay for dirt cheap. It's not that we can't afford to pay full price, but why would you when you can pay $55 for a room that costs $179 for the regular crowd?

Chippy

2009-01-29T19:06:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure how I let it happen, but I noticed that my movie list has been a draft in Blogger since last MAY! But here's what I've watched recently:

Planet Earth: Complete Series: Disc 2 (2006).

My Best Friend's Girl (2008) = 2/10. I seriously hated the ending. And most of the rest of the movie.

I am privileged to have the opportunity to talk to the wonderful and gracious president of the company where I work on a daily basis. Somehow during my 7 years of employment we have managed to form a food bond in the form of recipe exchanging. This woman KNOWS good food! However, she is very used to shopping at super fancy fine food markets and using upper-class ingredients than she sometimes forgets what we peons have to eat. And the foods we love.

Last week during one of our conversations she gave me a recipe. She said it was fabulous. But...

J: Here are the precise ingredients for this Mexican Lasagna. Now, the very first thing is calls for is a 15-17 oz. bag of, and I'll repeat it exactly as it was written, cheese-flavored corn chips.

Me: Uh huh. [pausing for a moment] You mean...like...Doritos?

J: Well now, Rachel, that is the ONLY thing I found in the entire store that really met that description.

It was hard to keep from laughing. But it is hard for me to imagine a world where the love Doritos is completely lost.

Never in my Wildest...

2009-01-07T18:50:00.000-08:00

The two biggest things that happened to me in 2008:

*A person I saw quite often will be spending some time in jail this year.

*An ex-boyfriend that I dated nearly 1.5 years back in 1999-2000 was murdered. MURDERED! Do you know anyone personally who's been murdered? Granted, I hadn't spoke to Adam since we broke up, but still. It's all still extremely surreal. To top it all off, I found out on my birthday.

Predictions/wishes for 2009:

*Rachel and Doug venture out of the USA Proper.

*In December we will still be painting some portion of our new house, probably trim.

*A smaller everything. I recently bought a treadmill that I love and am excited about. OK, mostly I'm just excited that I no longer have to worry about farting while running.

*Participation in the Tulsa Run this year. (Anyone want to join me?)

*One of my brothers finally scores higher on the ACT than me.

*We acquire a new dog. Doug wants one.

*Doug doesn't follow the oral surgeon's advice and gets dry socket when he gets his wisdom teeth taken out.

Drama dog

2008-12-06T10:19:00.000-08:00

By now most of you have probably seen the startling video of my dog:

Good news. There's a 97% change that it's "just" a petit mal epileptic seizure! It won't shorten her lifespan and the treatment is free. Dim the lights for her and let her wait it out on her own unless she wants comfort.

We now have negative net worth

2008-11-14T17:24:00.000-08:00

May I present...

our first home!

I'm excited to announce that our new house came with its very own garden gnome:

Those crazy Germans, huh? No seriously, the seller was born in Kiel!

I'm also very happy that I can put myself on exhibition while taking a shower:

See the rest here.

Can I Has More Shoes?

2008-11-03T19:51:00.000-08:00

It's a very good thing that we're moving in less than two weeks because, as you can see, my shoes have nowhere else to go!

The Road to Homelessness

2008-11-01T10:11:00.000-07:00

With our quickly approaching November 14 close date, we gave our thirty day notice to vacate notice to our current moderately craptacular apartments. If things go perfectly, and they won't, we will have a whole week to paint and another whole week to move into our house. And the timing is nice because every time I move it seems like I have a tiny 48 hour window to do it in. But in my world, things never go as planned. My fear is that something will go wrong between now and closing and we will be homeless for a little while. And homelessness at this point probably means moving in with my dear in-laws. I love them dearly, but they definitely don't share the same love for sleeping in until noon on Saturdays or lounging around in just a T-shirt and undies for the better part of all time spent at home. Relearning how to wear clothes all day long would be difficult.

In other news, the work spectacle continues and might continue for another two years. But it hasn't been too bad because I work with such great people.

I went trick-or-treating with my nieces and nephews last night. And I carried new baby Anna in a sling the entire time. I like that experience a little too much.

I need a new back bumper. I had my very first actual collision Wednesday. I was backing out of the parking space at work and into a non-moving vehicle just sitting there. In my defense, he wasn't in a parking space, he had just pulled up behind my car. What's horrible is that I wasn't on the phone, I wasn't messing with my iPod, I LOOKED, but I just completely didn't see it! And that can only mean that all of this recent stress is making me reverse hallucinate things.

Neil Diamond

2008-10-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

Since childhood, my father and I have had the pleasurable habit of changing the lyrics of our favorite songs. This was usually done while driving and, as I remember, typically with my mother shaking her head disapprovingly in our general direction.

Not much has changed. Over the years, I have attempted my craft with numerous people, most of them hostage in my passenger seat. However, it seems as though only Doug and my father share this hobby with the same intensity as me. Doug has been changing lyrics since childhood, too. And what better way to spend an afternoon than taking a drive with your husband while singing our special rendition of Tom Petty's lullaby Freeballin'?

Some of my song renditions have been replayed in my head so often that I occasionally forget the real lyrics. I fear that this will not serve me well tonight. I am going to the Neil Diamond concert with my mother-in-law who is quite a bit more prim and proper than I. It's going to take every ounce of strength to remember that the lyrics are really "Sweet Caroline" and not "Sweet Milky Thighs."

The Not a Short Sell Transaction Homebuying Saga, Part II

2008-10-19T10:31:00.000-07:00

It looks like we're actually inching closer to home ownership. On Thursday, all manner of inspections were performed and there were only tiny minor things that need to be repaired.

I went across town for a pedicure yesterday and figured that since the house was only 2 1/2 miles away, I would just drive by it to see if there was a sold sign up yet. There is.

The Not a Short Sell Transaction Homebuying Saga, Part I

2008-10-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

This was only our second Sunday to look at houses with a competent Realtor instead of trying to get a feel for neighborhoods and houses on our own. And hark! we found another house yesterday (Sunday), put in an offer today at 6:30 and got a counteroffer at 8:15. So, we're nearly in contract again.

And technically, we have two contracts now. We can't get the Realtor on the short sell house to call us back. It's been two weeks. Ridiculous! It's possible we might have to eat $500 of earnest money we weren't even supposed to pay on a short sell we didn't know what a short sell until after we signed the contract, but whatever. This house has far less work that needs to be done to it and there is no chance a car could run off of the turnpike and hit us now.

Keep your fingers crossed this time!

The Homebuying Saga, Part VI (The End?)

2008-10-04T19:58:00.000-07:00

You know when you're bidding on a super awesome item on eBay and some twerp outbids you in the last 20 seconds? That's basically what just happened with the house we had a contract on. Another party with another Realtor submitted a contract "slightly higher" than ours. So, unless Countrywide quickly develops a sense of morals and lets us purchase the house because we've had a contract for the longest amount of, we do not have a house. Sad, but it's just a house.

The sucky part is that we cannot get out of the contract until Countrywide OFFICIALLY declines our bid/offer. And who knows how long that could be since we've already been waiting since July 16.

We go house hunting with another Realtor tomorrow. This one actually has experience and has been in the business for nearly 20 years.

Meet my newest niece

2008-09-06T15:01:00.000-07:00

~~There's STILL no name, but~~ Here's the newest baby girl member of the Reynolds clan, Anna Grace. Born September 6 at around 5:45 am. 9 pounds, 1 ounce. And a super cute yawner.

He Gets Around

2008-09-05T21:19:00.000-07:00

So I'm at a restaurant with my newish friend Melody tonight and I start in with some of my favorite tales of "silly men dated/horrible dates endured." Because that's what we girls DO when you boys aren't around. Or at least that's what I do because I have a few outlandish tales.

I'm nearing the end of the one that starts "I met him in a college class for teachers. At the time, he wanted to be a middle school Social Studies teacher" and ends with "and he said "there IS no state called West Virginia.'" I go on to tell her that he didn't become a teacher because he failed to pass all of the certification exams and that, last I heard, he was in a Master's degree program doing some psychology program.

And that's when I saw the familiar knowing eye. Melody furrows her brows and says, "Wait, is he like way tall and did he lose a bunch of weight at some point?"

Oy!

For those keeping track, this is the second girl I have befriended in the last 18 months that went on a date with this guy. This town isn't THAT small. But spilling Dr. Pepper on my jeans on a first date remains funny, so I will continue to tell the tale.

Honestly, no

2008-09-02T20:02:00.000-07:00

Sometimes research companies ask disturbing questions in their surveys:

Can a picture give me vertigo?

2008-09-01T20:06:00.001-07:00

Originally uploaded by sundae1888

It's certainly not anywhere near 100% official, but Dad's in the works to fulfill a lifelong dream to hike Grand Canyon National Park. We had reservations in the summer of 2001, but at that time I was still weak from an illness the year before so we canceled it. I've listened to him fantasize about this trek since about the age of 11.

I'm currently reading up on the matter because I haven't the faintest idea how to hike. Like at all. Just reading the description of the rest-step confuses the heck outta me.

Funny enough, I have faith that I can walk 15 miles in two days. Walking/running is my favorite form of cardio. However, carrying 35 pounds on my back at 4300 ft. in June in the desert just doesn't seem possible at this point.

As I look at this picture of the South Kaibab Trail all I can possibly think is that I'm going to die.

The Homebuying Saga, Part V

2008-09-01T18:00:00.000-07:00

(Oops, I thought I posted this MUCH earlier than now.)

Friday, August 8, 16:40:

Me [answering my cell from a deep sleep, completely stoned out of my mind on Vicodin from an ear infection] : Heeellllo, Sheila.

Sheila [co-worker]: Hey, you got a fax from someone. I think it might be your Realtor lady and I thought you might want to know even though you're home sick.

Me: Thank you for calling and telling me.
~~~~~
Moments later:

Me: So like, we got a fax from the Realtor and I think you should call her because I don't think I'm quite in the house frame of mind right now.

Doug: Ok, I'll call. [Even though he's at work and has 50,000 things to do. Such a sweet husband.]

5 minutes later:

Doug: So, how are you feeling?

Me: Not good [5 more minutes of conversation], but wait, just tell me what happened with the Realtor.

Doug: OH that. Well, she said that an appraiser from Countrywide came to the house and said that our offer is a fair offer. So, things are moving forward right now. We just might have to close a few days after our original close date.

And now, not quite in limbo. It's not exactly clear to me how the 2^nd mortgage holder will fair in this deal. But I'm done with all of the details. As of now we're potentially going to be living in a real live house September 30. And I'll rest on that for now.

The Annoyance Factor

Two things have really annoyed me about explaining this whole ordeal to people:

1. There have been many people to whom I have explained what a short sell is to and then 5 minutes later I'll hear them talking to someone else and they'll say something like, "Yeah, but it's a short sell, so that means the mortgage company trying to rush through things in a short amount of time."

No. And it's been like 6 people.

2. Many people don't understand the fact that the mortgage company's rules supersede the contract made between us and the seller. "But they HAVE to sell you the house because you have a contract with the seller."

Not exactly.

Airing Eggy Grievances

2008-08-14T17:08:00.000-07:00

I feel I am finally coming out of my lack of blogging funk. I swear this apartment has changed my outlook on life. The appliances and fixtures are so drab, the space too tiny for two. And we can hear every footstep of the person above us thanks to the innovation of wooden support beams. I will be so joyful in a place of our own! In saying so, I find myself upon blog inspiration almost daily. Apartment funk nearly over!

Do you remember moments as a child when you discovered that that way your family does something isn't the ONLY way to do something? Or something you take for granted in your daily routine is completely different for someone else? For example, as a child I remember showering at sleepovers and being completely appalled by the lack of water pressure in every friend's shower. (My dad has one of those showerheads that mixes air with the water, giving the impression of a torpedo ripping the skin off of your body.) When I asked my friends if leaving soap in their hair when they rinsed off bothered them, I was informed that this wasn't an issue. That there was nothing wrong with their water. And to them, the water was completely normal. I was astonished that they could live every day of their life with something so crappy and not even realize how crappy is was.

During this first year of marriage, I am amazed at all of the everyday things Doug and I do so different. He hates that I barricade the shower corners so that there isn't a breeze:

I've tried really hard to remember to move it, but I just cannot shower with a cold breeze flowing on me.

And what absolutely gets under my skin?

Eggs.

The way his family did it:

1. Open egg carton.
2. Crack egg you wish to cook.
3. Put empty eggshell back in egg carton, allowing potential pathogens to grow.
4. When all eggs are used, throw container away.

WRONG!!!!!

How it SHOULD be:

1. Open egg carton.
2. Crack egg you wish to cook.
3. Immediately throw away eggshell because it's nasty.
4. When all eggs are used, throw away empty container.

Thankfully, he was willing to curb this habit.

But I am very curious if any of your families left the shells in the carton or not.

The Homebuying Saga, Part IV

2008-08-11T12:20:00.000-07:00

Thursday, July 24:

I get a fax at work from the Realtor telling me to give her a call. She says that GMAC is the 2^nd mortgage holder and that Countrywide won't be losing any money on the contract price. She tells me that Countrywide will get a final answer back to us within 30 days. I suppose GMAC and Countrywide are going to battle it out over the next month to decide who loses the money and if they'll both accept the terms of the short sell. Whatever. Still in limbo.

The Homebuying Saga, Part III

2008-08-11T10:16:00.000-07:00

Thursday, July 17:

Our lender calls us to tell us that we've been pre-approved on their end of things. She's just waiting to hear final word back from the PMI company. (And we're so close to not needing to pay that, too. Oh well.) Everything is happyhappyhappy and then, later in the morning, this happens when my phone rings:

Me: Hi there. How are you?

Realtor: Well, not so great. Do you have a minute?

Me: Uh-oh. Yeah. What's going on?

Realtor: Well, the seller's lender did not accept the short sell for the contract amount of "$400,000." And we didn't know [before you signed the contract] what they would or wouldn't accept because we have to have a signed contract into them before they will tell us what they will accept. But we do know that they would accept the short sell at "$410,000."

Me: And the contract price of "$410,000" would STILL a short sell?

Realtor: Yes. Your options at this point are to walk away or raise your contract $10,000 so that Countrywide will accept the short sell contract.

Me: I'll talk to Doug and I'll give you a call back. He should be out of class around noon.

Around noon:

Doug: [LOUD sigh] I'd say that at $10,000 more we definitely have to walk away.

Me: I know. I agree. This really sucks.

Around 1:00:

Me: I talked to Doug and unfortunately we're going to have to walk away at this point.

Realtor: I thought so. I don't blame you. I would do the same thing on this house. Well, let's make arrangements for me to give you back your earnest money.

Around 3:00:

Realtor: Rachel, I have some news. I called Countrywide back and talked to another person who plugged the contract amount in her computer and it spit back a no answer to the short sell. But I told her, look, this contract amount IS a good deal comparing it with recent sells in the neighborhood. She is going to re-review the case and get back to us by the end of next week.

Me: Oh, that's good. I mean, it's great that you were able to speak to someone who's not a drone just staring at the computer answer and saying no.

By the end of the day, we're in limbo. Waiting on a giant monster mega company to essentially give us a free $10,000-25,000.

The Homebuying Saga, Part II

2008-07-22T17:03:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, July 15: I make my way to the credit union to fill out and sign additional paperwork for the mortgage application we already submitted two weeks ago. After a relatively clean blood-letting process, I go back to work. I call the Realtor who tells me she is drafting the contract and will fax it my way when she's finished. She tells me that she needs to have the contract signed within 48 hours so that she can fax said contract to the seller's lender. I question her on this point in a future conversation later in the day. It just sounded out of the ordinary to me. She assures me that "in this circumstance it is a common procedure." I ponder exactly what she might mean and brush it off. Whatever. We're going to sign a contract, right? Our parents and the company's retired lawyer also review the contract and put in their expertise.

Wednesday, July 16: After some changes are made to the contract, I make arrangements for Doug (still at school 100 miles away remember) to fax his signed copy of the contract to me and later to meet with the Realtor to sign the contract with her.

And this is the exact our American Dream begins to droop.

The Realtor tells me, "Now, I know you were questioning me as to why I needed to have the contract within a certain period of time. When you asked, I wasn't sure what I could legally disclose to you, but now I know for sure after speaking to the seller's lender. I just need you to know that this contract will be a short sell negotiation." My heart immediately sank. And then plunged when I found out that the first mortgage on the house is with Countrywide. I have listened to enough Clark Howard and Dave Ramsey to immediately know what we are up against. For those of you not interested in reading past the muckity muck on Wikipedia, here's our situation with completely fantasized numbers.

The seller owes $500,000 on her house, a first and second mortgage. Let's assume that in tip top shape, the house is also worth $500,000. (In all actuality, the house needs an estimated $5000 worth of paint, carpet, baseboards, and an outside plank). She is behind on her payments a few months. Behind enough that her lender, Countrywide, is threatening foreclosure. So, the seller (or the Realtor) asks Countrywide if they would let her out of the mortgage if she finds a buyer for the home (us!) in lieu of foreclosing on her and messing up her credit for many years. The problem is that no one will buy her house for the $500,000 that she owes on it. She's tried selling it for nearly a year on and off. There are people who will buy it for $450,000, though (us!). So, the seller is asking Countrywide if they take a $50,000 loss and pretty please not foreclose on her. Why would the bank agree to lose $50,000? Well, it costs an AVERAGE of $70,000 per house to take it through the foreclosure process. So, if the lender goes through foreclosure they will lose $70,000 and have a house on their hands that they aren't really able to take care of. Plus, the house usually just sits there, losing value, waiting for a buyer. If they accept our contract of $450,000, they will still lose $50,000. But it's out of their hands and a relatively clean transaction. In our case with our numbers, we know that they'll lose at least $10,000, but probably not more than $20,000.

Now, back to the saga.

Still Wednesday, July 16:

I meet the Realtor at 5:30 at her office and sign the contract. The seller hasn't signed the contract yet and I want a copy of it, so the seller is called into the office and signs. So, in an odd turn of events, I meet the seller before closing. Apparently, that doesn't happen a lot. And I figure that's because it could be a very awkward situation if we bickered on and on during contract negotiations. She's a very nice woman who wants to move back east. Maybe back to the Bronx or start anew in the Carolinas. She's very thankful and appreciative that we're getting her out of a mess. I could definitely see past the gentle smiles on this woman's face. She's extremely stressed and desperate. Thankfully, it wasn't awkward at all.

Contract signed, copies handed out. All is well...for tonight.

The Homebuying Saga, Part I

2008-07-20T14:10:00.000-07:00

It has been an extremely emotional and hectic week. I am bound to forget all of the minute details of what has occurred within the next month, so this is mainly for my benefit.

Doug and I had few intentions of purchasing our first home until around November or so of this year. We have, however, done tons of research into the areas we want to buy. Thank God for the Internet! In addition to web-based research, I am quite certain we have driven around every damn neighborhood in south Tulsa, Broken Arrow, Jenks, Bixby, Glenpool, Kiefer, and even some parts of Sapulpa. We started hitting random open houses and requesting showings about two weeks ago. And initially, it was just to get an idea of what we want/don't want. Until this past Sunday. Let me back up a bit.

Sometime around the beginning of June:

We're driving around a really nice, newer, clean neighborhood that looks to be just out of our price range. We call about one of the smaller homes up for sale in the neighborhood. The Realtor told us that she was selling the house for $15,000 more than our price ceiling, but that she is a motivated seller. After we hung up the phone, Doug and I looked at each other and one of us said, "Motivated, huh? Is she like, I dunno, $40,000 motivated?" We laughed and didn't give it much thought. Until...

Sunday, July 13:

We had a 13:00 appointment to see a home in Broken Arrow and hit an open house at 14:00. We spend the next three hours driving around Broken Arrow, visiting one more open house. We come back to our apartment. Depressed and despondent, Doug logs onto our favorite real estate search site and finds that the $15,000 above our price range house is from the beginning of June is now AT our price ceiling. It is now 18:00 and Doug had already packed up to go back to Oklahoma City (he's finishing his Master's Degree at OU). We call the Realtor. At 18:45 we are IN the house looking around. We love it! It needs some work: new carpet, new baseboards, paint, a few exterior planks and eventually some cabinet/counter/back splash/vanity work. But it is in a great location for us and the neighborhood has extremely low crime and looks great.

Monday, July 14: Doug has returned to Oklahoma City and the parents are called in for backup. We feel very fortunate to have parents who know a great deal about houses. At 18:00, my parents arrive and check things out. At 18:30, Doug's brother and father arrive to look things over. Doug's brother does AC work for a living and so he's able to really check things out. It's unanimous! All of them agree that the house is just a little bit ugly on the inside and a tiny bit on the outside but that a bit of sweat equity will turn it into our palace should we choose to proceed. Two hours later I'm on the phone with Doug telling him that his father looked me straight in the eyes and said, "If I were you I would have already put in an offer on this house." We decide that 8:30 p.m. is a perfectly reasonable time to make an offer on a house. So, Doug calls the Realtor and makes an offer. Minutes later he calls me and tells me that we have a deal, for $5000 less than she was asking. Plus a washer and dryer.