OMG – I have Debt!

I did it.  I survived the closing.  I now have debt over 6 figures.

For those of you bad at math – that’s a 1 (or a higher number, but for me, I’m happy with just the 1) followed by two zeros (or other numbers, again…), a comma (yea, one of these (,) things) and then three more zeros (yadda, yadda on the other numbers thing…) before hitting that decimal point which signifies fractions of a cent.

Aaand…for the more ‘visual’ learners out there…

Just the THOUGHT of this much debt makes me break out in a cold sweat…

But, in return for this new mountain of debt, I also have my own little piece of the Earth.  Lucky for me, there’s a building on it.

Well, OK, with me and my connections to the Natural, I’ve been more or less responsible for manipulating energies throughout the Waukesha area – but now I have my own tiny sliver of land within the area that I can steep in as much esoterica as I feel comfortable placing.

The money is just the Human way of recognizing things 😀

The fun part is just beginning, though.  I’ve got a mountain of boxes in the living room in the apartment that all have to be relocated.  I’ve got furniture, kitchenware, clothing, artworks, supplies, electronics.  All have to be shifted.

The two cats who are coming with me (both the black ones) are in for a rough couple of weeks…they dislike moving as much as I do.

And then, all the wards and energies have to be carefully sucked out of the apartment and reinstalled.

But, I’ve started.  This thing was the first thing in the house, and the first thing I attached to the wall.  I still have to put the dowel tabs on it, so it hangs straight – but that can come AFTER all the heavy lifting is done.

I’m on my way – I own a home again 😀

T-Minus FIVE days!

On Friday, July 27th, at a bit past 10am, I will commence signing of documents that will put me in a massive amount of debt in return for a couple of brass keys.

These brass keys will allow me access to enough parking for 9 cars (if nobody minds a bit of a squeeze), a HUGE pine tree, a corner of the yard populated by ferns, 2 porches, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, and Chainmaille Central.

I’m excited.

Actually…let me rephrase that…

I’M SUPER EXCITED!!!!!!!

I’m also staring at this HUGE mound of boxes in the middle of the living room.  I’ve been staring at them (and adding to them) for about a month now.  This evidence of the move looming on the horizon has really interrupted the even flow of energies in the apartment.  It’s hard to think in a space that is so very cluttered with acres of belongings.

This will be the LAST time I pack all my stuff in boxes and move it…
The foot has officially been put down.

…

To stave off the mess in the living room, I took to the pliers yesterday.  The weave is European 4 in 1, which is an easy one, and the preferred weave for inlay artists in the Chainmaille community.  I haven’t done much inlay work (although the quilt patch is what I’ll count as my ‘first’) and haven’t done any inlay work in Euro4-1 before, so it was exciting and soothing and fun all at the same time.

When it’s complete, I will have a rectangular inlay that spells out the word ‘Home.’  Where the ‘O’ is will be a little house.  I’m gonna hang this in the porch, so visitors can see it when they knock at my door.

 

 

 

Ducks in the Amazon River Basin…

I swear…Amazon does occasionally listen.  Either that, or they’ve been stalking my blog and decided to do something nice for me in hopes that I’ll boost their 3rd quarter earnings.

THIS particular offering actually had me drooling.  Pliers?  Oh, yea, baby…bring it on!

Right now, I’m practically wedded to my Xuron Chisel Nose pliers.  They are my go-to’s.  I loved the Chisel Nose so much, I ended up going out and buying a second pair for those REALLY tight spaces…which, in my world, is almost anytime I build something.

Sculpture inherently demands the removal of as much ‘wiggle room’ as possible.

 

I’ve looked at, and drooled over, the Tronex tools for quite a while, as there are plenty of other maillers in my group who swear by them over my beloved Xurons.  There are only 2 reasons why I’ve not jumped at new tools.

1. I love my Xuron’s, and they might feel ‘cheated on’ and
2. HOLY SHIT – look at the PRICE of the Tronex!

Right now, though, my credit card is in time out status, as I’m not buying anything I don’t absolutely NEED because I’m gonna have to dump it in a box and move it, so the Tronex/Xuron/Me love triangle will have to wait until probably September.

Hmmm…my birthday is in September.  Maybe get myself a little something? 😀

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In totally unrelated news – last week, I got to walk to work exactly 1 time.  Rain, a wicked cold, and running for house-related things kinda ate up the rest of my week.  But that one day I did get to march my happy feet on the pavement, I had a solidly FUN experience.

Because of the rain, my normal route was slightly flooded.  The park IS right next to the river, after all, and when it rains, it retains.  We had enough standing water to flood out the walking path right along the river bank.  But looking at the bright side of things, the new puddles did serve to amuse the ducks…

The good news was, the park wasn’t flooded enough for me to have to turn around.  I could still get up the hill and take ‘the high road’ as it were.  Up by the street, the park has not flooded since I’ve been walking things.

When I got to the park on the walk home, I wanted to see JUST how much water was standing, figuring I could hike up the rise if things got too soggy.

And soggy, they were.  There were a couple of large patches of water covering the footpath and surrounding grasses.

But then, I took inspiration from the little duck I’d seen in the morning…

Shoes and socks came off.  Pant legs got rolled up.  And I SPLASHED my way through the standing water.

Why do we stop doing things like this when we’re adults?  It was FUN.

Knock it off, Amazon!

I tell ya…you look at ONE thing on Amazon…

Let me make this perfectly clear, Amazon…I am NOT having a baby.  I’m 50 years old, ferkristsake, and THE BABY FACTORY IS CLOSED!

I will welcome any grandkids once they appear, however…

At least I know where this recommendation comes from…

 

As I’ve got an accepted offer on the new house, and the bank has tentatively accepted my mortgage application, I’m gonna be moving.  The kids and I are splitting up our current household’s stuff, and they use the living room furniture more than I do.  We’ve decided they can keep the couch and chair we got from the Restore shop when we moved into our apartment.

Restore is part of the Habitat for Humanity group – they take in donations and resell them to support their objectives, and I’m happy to have bought used stuff from them.

So, seeing though I’m gonna be living room furniture-less when I move, I’m scouring the ‘net.  One of my regular stops is (of course) Amazon.

While I was clicking through various end tables and daybed frames and other stuff, I came across an object I had to look at, just to clarify what it was.

It was a changing station that you could attach to any level surface (like a dresser or nightstand) to safely change the diapers of any child currently in need of a dry bottom.  Now, I’m not gonna lie – the thing has great potential as a mobile workstation for chainmaille (if it can contain a child, I’ll bet it can keep rings from rolling all over the place!)…BUT….

I’m not in a position just yet to buy things for the new house.  I refuse to buy ANYthing for the new place until I actually have keys in my hot little hands 😀

And, seriously, Amazon?  Ya’ll are 100X worse than the worst office gossip.  I’m surprised they didn’t send me a congratulatory email welcoming my new addition to the world!

/endrant

Now, just to reward ya’ll for getting through my latest Amazon rant…here’s a shot I took of the future Chainmaille Central.  The current owner still has a LOT of stuff to clear out of the house…but I’ve got around 6 more weeks until I can start spreading MY stuff all over this bench!

 

Sofa, so Good

A little update for ya’ll on the housing front…

-Home inspection complete.  Some cosmetic stuff, nothing Earth-shattering (or home-dropping) revealed.  Yes, the interior is dated (did I mention the bathroom is SOOOOOO 70’s, with mint green tile and a complete trio of pink fixtures?), but I could see that for myself.  Yes, the roof is older, and will need to be addressed sometime in the next 5-ish years.  And yes, we will need to regrade the land around the foundation ASAP…BUT…this is all stuff I can plan for, deal with, or pay someone to address.

-The prospective mortgage has cleared the first round of underwriting, and is back for the 2nd.    They had a couple of pointed questions that were (surprisingly) easy to answer.

-They’ve officially ‘locked’ in my interest rate.

-The appraisal was Friday, the 1st.  The report has come back, and the home appraises out for a bit more than I offered on the house.  YEA!

-The long and arduous task of cleaning out the home (the gentleman who lived there has been moved to a long-term care facility and his progeny have to remove 30 years of accumulated stuff) has begun.   They’ve a long way to go, however.

-My own personal ‘purge’ of stuff has also begun.  All those wardrobes I accumulated (yes, I mean the fat clothes) have now been donated to the local resale shops in the area.

-Limited New furnishings have been browsed and budgeted for.  I need a lofted bedframe (my bedroom is TINY, so I’m raising my bed off the floor to get more available space), and we’re putting a daybed in the living room instead of a traditional couch.

I’m surprised at how calmly I’m currently taking this…but, then again, the official closing isn’t until July 27th, so I’m still 7 weeks out.  I suspect the gremlins in my head slammed on the panic button so hard and so fast they broke the damn thing, and are currently scheming through several alternatives.