So I think we're all packed up and ready to go. We borrowed Dale and Jeannine's trailer which is now loaded with fire wood and our bikes. The Suburban is loaded with food, tents, etc. We're ready to hit it. Now if it will just hold off from raining tomorrow!
In house related news, I just spoke with the realtor and we are looking pretty good. The buyer should remove the contingencies today. Then over the weekend the final walk through will happen. Monday the buyer will sign the loan docs. Then Tuesday or Wednesday we'll close! Keep praying!!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
More House Stuff ...
And it's good, I think. Apparently the buyers want to close by tomorrow ... great, if it happens and there are no snafus! Our realtor said that the house got tented (for termites) fine, so maybe we're close to complete!
In other news, I was looking at some numbers and realized we might get a bit more out of this than I had anticipated since we owe a little less on both of the mortgages than I remembered.
In family news we had soccer last night ... it went fairly well. I think Tim is a little overwhelmed by the number of kids (30 ish), their wide age range (3 - 10), and the few number of coaches (1 - 3 depending upon the day). So he kind of goes hot and cold (within the same session). One minute it's obvious that he's enjoying things, the next he's coming over asking me when it's time to go home. Emma, I think, enjoys it more, mainly because she's used to settings with more kids, and also because she's quite a bit more independent than Tim. I guess it's a bit of a learning thing!
Cyndie and I went out for a breakfast date yesterday ... had some yummy breakfast items at the Egg Harbor Cafe in town. Now the activity for the end of the week is getting all our stuff together to go camping this weekend!
In other news, I was looking at some numbers and realized we might get a bit more out of this than I had anticipated since we owe a little less on both of the mortgages than I remembered.
In family news we had soccer last night ... it went fairly well. I think Tim is a little overwhelmed by the number of kids (30 ish), their wide age range (3 - 10), and the few number of coaches (1 - 3 depending upon the day). So he kind of goes hot and cold (within the same session). One minute it's obvious that he's enjoying things, the next he's coming over asking me when it's time to go home. Emma, I think, enjoys it more, mainly because she's used to settings with more kids, and also because she's quite a bit more independent than Tim. I guess it's a bit of a learning thing!
Cyndie and I went out for a breakfast date yesterday ... had some yummy breakfast items at the Egg Harbor Cafe in town. Now the activity for the end of the week is getting all our stuff together to go camping this weekend!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Interesting Evening
Had an interesting evening last night. We got a call around 8:30 p from our realtor. The buyers, we'll call them Stupid and his wife Fearful, had just called and said they were going to need another $7000 credit because the aluminum wiring in the house was going to need to be fixed. This came after agreeing to our proposal for a $1000 credit to fix all the physical inspection items (which included the aluminum wiring). ARRRRRGGGG!!! It was also the night before the tent was to go on the house for the termite treatment (a $1875 procedure). ARRRRGGGG!!!
So we told our realtor "no dice", they're not getting the $7000. She called the termite company and told them to not do the tenting and called the buyers to let them know.
We killed the rest of the night in the jacuzzi and watching Mary Tyler Moore on Hulu.
This morning we got a call around 10:15 (8:15 CA time). Stupid and Fearful have agreed they don't need the $7000, we're back on. The realtor will try to get the termite company to still do their thing.
Annoying!!!
I think that what happened is that Stupid, and his wife Fearful, started reading about aluminum wiring and didn't really understand what it is or what it meant, and freaked out a bit. Aluminum wiring was used all across SoCal and there has been really no problems. Whatever, we're good.
I just got off the phone with the realtor and the tenting for termites is on, and we're good to go!
A crazy night and morning.
So we told our realtor "no dice", they're not getting the $7000. She called the termite company and told them to not do the tenting and called the buyers to let them know.
We killed the rest of the night in the jacuzzi and watching Mary Tyler Moore on Hulu.
This morning we got a call around 10:15 (8:15 CA time). Stupid and Fearful have agreed they don't need the $7000, we're back on. The realtor will try to get the termite company to still do their thing.
Annoying!!!
I think that what happened is that Stupid, and his wife Fearful, started reading about aluminum wiring and didn't really understand what it is or what it meant, and freaked out a bit. Aluminum wiring was used all across SoCal and there has been really no problems. Whatever, we're good.
I just got off the phone with the realtor and the tenting for termites is on, and we're good to go!
A crazy night and morning.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
New in Town
Last Friday we watched New in Town during the Movie Night extravaganza at the Casparis, and I've already had wild fans clamoring for the review here at The Life and Times of the Wildwood DeVries. So here, to prevent rioting in the streets, is the write up.
New in Town (3.2/5)
I was pretty disappointed in this flick. I think part of the problem was not the movie, but my expectations. I was not expecting a classic, but thought it looked like a good romantic comedy, which I typically enjoy. It turned out to be an average romantic comedy, thereby not meeting my expectations.
The movie was a bit cliched: fish out of water woman meets beer guzzling, oafish man, initially they conflict, but during a poignant moment, they overcome their differences and form a bond. Said couple then conquers all the problems of the world. Granted, it's a pretty successful formula, but that's about it. On the upside, I really enjoyed some of the "Minnesota" moments, and particularly loved how the producers/director "kept it real" and showed what a northern winter is really like. On the downside, Renee Zellwiger looked horrible ... she didn't even look like herself at times. I don't think she'll have too many leading roles after this flick.
So the summary? Decent movie, fairly enjoyable, but probably not too different than any other romantic comedy you've seen over the last 10 years.
Movies I've seen recently:
Juno - 4.8/5
Slumdog Millionaire - 4.6/5
Iron Man - 4.2/5
Wall-E - 4.0/5
Traitor - 4.0/5
The Dark Knight - 3.9/5
Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist - 3.7/5
Kung Fu Panda - 3.5/5
The Passion - 3.5/5
Valkyrie - 3.5/5
The Incredible Hulk - 3.4/5
New in Town - 3.2/5
Horton Hears a Who - 3.0/5
Jonah, a VeggieTales Movie - 2.4/5
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - 1.9/5
Burn After Reading - 1.5/5
New in Town (3.2/5)
I was pretty disappointed in this flick. I think part of the problem was not the movie, but my expectations. I was not expecting a classic, but thought it looked like a good romantic comedy, which I typically enjoy. It turned out to be an average romantic comedy, thereby not meeting my expectations.
The movie was a bit cliched: fish out of water woman meets beer guzzling, oafish man, initially they conflict, but during a poignant moment, they overcome their differences and form a bond. Said couple then conquers all the problems of the world. Granted, it's a pretty successful formula, but that's about it. On the upside, I really enjoyed some of the "Minnesota" moments, and particularly loved how the producers/director "kept it real" and showed what a northern winter is really like. On the downside, Renee Zellwiger looked horrible ... she didn't even look like herself at times. I don't think she'll have too many leading roles after this flick.
So the summary? Decent movie, fairly enjoyable, but probably not too different than any other romantic comedy you've seen over the last 10 years.
Movies I've seen recently:
Juno - 4.8/5
Slumdog Millionaire - 4.6/5
Iron Man - 4.2/5
Wall-E - 4.0/5
Traitor - 4.0/5
The Dark Knight - 3.9/5
Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist - 3.7/5
Kung Fu Panda - 3.5/5
The Passion - 3.5/5
Valkyrie - 3.5/5
The Incredible Hulk - 3.4/5
New in Town - 3.2/5
Horton Hears a Who - 3.0/5
Jonah, a VeggieTales Movie - 2.4/5
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - 1.9/5
Burn After Reading - 1.5/5
Crazy Weather
Hit some crazy weather yesterday in Southern Wisconsin. It rained a bit in the early morning, around 6/7 am. Then by 10 ish, it was hot feeling, with just scattered clouds and a lot of direct sun. It was starting to feel like summer with a bit of mugginess in the air. However, by 5 pm when I met Cyndie and the kids for their soccer camp, it was overcast, windy, and cold. It was probably at least 20 degrees cooler than in the morning. Strangeness!
We're getting ready for our camping trip this weekend. Cyndie and Tim set up the tent we're borrowing (Emma and I did her homework in the tent last night after soccer). There are camping supplies growing in a pile in the basement!
We're getting ready for our camping trip this weekend. Cyndie and Tim set up the tent we're borrowing (Emma and I did her homework in the tent last night after soccer). There are camping supplies growing in a pile in the basement!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Quick Weekend Recap
- Went down to Crystal Lake for an overnight with the cousins Fri/Sat.
- Progress in the inter-cousin relationships, especially on an overnight. I think the kids are slowly understanding how to interact with eachother in tighter quarters over a bit longer period of time. Plus they're getting older, so that helps!
- Had some delicious stuffed pizza for dinner ... nice job Dave and Gow.
- Did some bike riding (all the older cousins are now on bikes of some sort) in the neighborhood. Only had one accident and one bike malfunction!
- The adults did the "traditional"* movie night ... New in Town.
- Hit the park for a big victory for the Nealster in frisbee golf on Saturday morning.
- Sunday was church, then spent much of the afternoon in the pool at my folk's condo. It was perfect weather and pool temperature. I foresee a lot more of that type of action over the summer.
- Played Settlers with the gang until way too late last night!
So now we're back into the week. Emma, as she informs us at least daily, has seven days remaining of school. I think she's pretty excited to be out and "free". In other news, we're gearing up for a weekend camping trip with our friends Dale and Jeannine. It's pretty close by, so very convenient, and should be lots of fun!
Feeling Good!
So, I hadn't been on the web much yesterday between church, the pool, and playing Settler's with the boys, but when I checked my email this morning, there was one from our CA realtor saying that the buyers had agreed to our proposal regarding the physical inspection. Huh? What's that mean? Well, essentially, the buyers pay for a guy to come by and evaluate the house to let them know if there are any areas of concern. It could be anything from "you should really have another smoke detector in that room" to "there's a hole in the drywall above the toilet" to "the roof over the garage is about to collapse". Our buyers basically asked for every little thing (some legitimate items, many nit picky ones) to be fixed. We proposed a small closing credit (this is pretty typical in CA ... this way you don't end up haggling over if it was fixed properly or not, the new owner just has the money in hand and can fix it themselves), and the buyers accepted!!!
This is a pretty big deal, because (I think, I'm confirming this with our realtor) that was the last contingency remaining on the contract. That means if for some reason the buyer decides to walk away, we keep their earnest money ... which would easily be enough to leave the house on the market (empty) for at least 3 or so months more. I think we're 90% of the way there. It's exciting stuff, and great to tangibly see God answering our prayers.
I'll keep you updated, but it's good to clear another hurdle and get closer to being sold!
This is a pretty big deal, because (I think, I'm confirming this with our realtor) that was the last contingency remaining on the contract. That means if for some reason the buyer decides to walk away, we keep their earnest money ... which would easily be enough to leave the house on the market (empty) for at least 3 or so months more. I think we're 90% of the way there. It's exciting stuff, and great to tangibly see God answering our prayers.
I'll keep you updated, but it's good to clear another hurdle and get closer to being sold!
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