Pandapalooza and Pumpkin Carving!

Last Saturday we took Regan to the Pandapalooza. It is a yearly fundraiser for St Edward's, a local Catholic school in New Iberia. This was our first time going! Uncle Chad texted us and gave us ticket for us and Miranda! There were lots of games and fun things to do! Regan even got to paint a few things and rode another horse! I think she is really starting to love to ride!!

Not much else to report right now, so I'll just add the pictures and captions!!

Playing a Cowboy Game

Regan loves to ride horses!

Lots of fun!

Getting a tattoo

How does it look?

Picture Opp!

October 30, 2008 - Regan carves her first pumpkin!!!

Regan's very 1st, all by herself pumpkin!

The dirty part! Blech

Regan has decided she will make a puking pumpkin.

Regan drew her design and cut it out all on her own!!

She did really good!

Regan's puking pumpkin...so pukey it's coming out of it's nose and even it's eyes!!

All done!!!

All lite up!

Daddy was a big helper!

What a team!!

Regan's 1st pumpkin - ALL by herself!!!!!

Busy, Busy!

There is SO much going on right now!! We are actually, if you can beleive it are in the final stretch! We will be closing on the new house in about 124 hours!! It seems like it will truly never come!

I did the first walk through today. The builder and I tagged all the paint touch ups, imperfections and such! Most of it was really cosmetic, so that is great! And they finally changed the surround sound on the patio for Bub - thank God! I thought he was going to have to go postal on them! lol He was really upset when we set the wires to come out on the ground for the planter speakers and they put them coming out the roof! Oy! But they were fixed and that's all that matters!

One thing I did find out during the walk was that the sod only comes in the front! LMAO! I had no idea, though I am sure we were told the day we picked everything! We really absorbed a lot that day and most of it is really a blur!

At the end of it, everything is working out and before the end of next week we will have keys to our new house!

This weekend and into next week I just need to pull Regan's shelves and sand a repaint them. Same with her little desk! I think I may attempt to do that tomorrow! I also need to call the furniture stores and schedule our furniture's delivery. Friday being Halloween is really throwing a few things off, but by the 1st we will have everything delivered! The only thing in the air right now is whether Bub will be in or not. He is "scheduled" to go out on Monday as his normal schedule. Granted he has been home for about 8 weeks since Gustav, but I REALLY need him home in a week so we can get settled! I don't want to have to wait another week to get moved in after waiting 5 1/2 months for the house to be completed! But I guess it will work itself out!

Yesterday I picked up a few last minute things on my list for the house. And I am happy to say I saved about $20 per item, which made me happy. Target had the storage ottoman's on sale, so I picked up two of them. And Linen's N Things is supposedly going out of business, and since they are the only ones (I think in the world) who carried my saddle bar stools in my wood color, I went to pick them up. I got 20% off of each! It rocked! All I need to do is get a bathroom set and window covering for the master bath, curtains for the living room, front door, Regan's room and the spare bedroom. Other than that we are all set!!

Really feeling blessed.........and overwhelmed! lol

Boo at the Zoo

We all went to the Zoo today for their Boo at the Zoo event! We had a greta time! I've actually really missed the zoo. We haven't been in 4 or 5 months because of the weather! Summer here can really be miserable! lol

Anyways, we renewed our membership and headed over this morning! There was lots to do and lots of trick or treat booths along the paths! Regan even got to ride her very first horse. And a big horse at that! Ponies have been all she has ridden previously! She rode like a champ and may even get her picture on the Zoo of Acadiana's site that was taken while she was riding!!

Anyways, here are some pictures from our day!!

Update on the House!!

Well, amidst all the chaos and BS we are having to put up with at the moment, I am happy to report the house is just steps away from being finished!!

Since the last time I visited, we have a mailbox, sod in the front, the microwave is in as well as the dishwasher. The island is finally in place and secure, needing only the outlet added to it. The sinks and toilets are all in and we had electricity and water on too!

There are only a few things left for them to install a of course a few fixes and touch ups! As of now we are scheduled to do the walk through on Friday the 24th and then close on the 30th! It almost seems to good to be true! After waiting so long and getting over so many hurdles, I almost thought the time would never come!

We really are blessed to be entering such a new chapter of our lives! Bub has really worked his ass off the last few years and has really done so well!! I am so proud of him and appreciate him so much!!

I Love October!!

I love the fall, even though that really shouldn't even be a term used here in Southern Louisiana! Living in many states.....ones that actually HAVE a fall, it's almost silly to use the word here! Brisk, there is another word I think should be forbid! LMAO! I'll stop now!

Anyways, it has cooled off here. It has been nice! But after a few cooler days and colder night, we'll have a hot day again - blech! I am ready to break out my many sweaters!! Though I am happy to not live in Portland anymore, I do really miss the briskness of the days and the chill of the nights! I have a collection of sweaters and jackets and coats that really are not getting the wear they deserve! :o)

Well, yesterday playgroup went to the pumpkin patch! We go each year and the kids seems to really enjoy it! I really wish there was an actual patch local, where you walk the fields searching for the perfect pumpkin and drink hot apple cider to warm up! Buying pumpkins at Walmart at at a make shift patch at a church is just not as fun!

Well, as usual Regan hammed it up for me in her little Halloween outfit! I found her a cute Halloween shirt that says "ghostess with the mostess". Everyone got a kick out of it. I even bought her some black and orange stockings, which made her happy! (Old Navy!) Well, here are a few pictures from the "patch".

Real Estate De Louisiane ~ BEWARE of this Company!

If you are researching or even THINKING of using the real estate company, spare yourself the heart ache and STAY AWAY!!

I was told horror stories from others who have been screwed over my Real Estate De Louisiane, but unfortunately for me and my family, it was after we signed up to buy and sell through them!

Let me start from the beginning:::...........

Towards the end of May, my husband and I started looking for a house. We had a realtor we were searching with, but when she found out that we would probably not be using them to list our current house, she bailed on me. A few days prior to that happening I spoke with Bev Thomson of Real Estate De Louisiane regarding a property. She was so courtesy and was able to show us houses on short notice, which is what I needed at the time! She spent about an hour with us, and showed us a few houses, a few new subdivisions, as well as the one we are ultimately building a house in. When she took us they were closed and we went back on our own and finished up on our own. We did give them her name when asked who our realtor was, even though we really did it on our own. After trying for a month to sell our house "for sale by owner" then decided to let our realtor also sell our house. THIS is where we made one of the biggest mistakes!!

A few days later Bev came to our house with Joan, our "2nd" realtor. This was strange to us, but she just basically said "you'll have two realtors working for you". Assuming this was normal, we said okay. A few weeks later, after our first few showings of the house, I realized that our 2nd "realtor" was VERY new at the business. I was having to call her after each showing and asking her to follow up with the realtor and get feedback for us. Turns out she didn't know she was supposed to do this! From here things continued to go down hill!

After the 1st month, we got an offer on the house. It was a full price offer, requesting we pay closing costs. Well, everything was going great until we got the appraisal for our house. The appraisal came in $13,000 less than we had priced the house. When we were pricing the house, we had the idea of $120K. Bev found house sales in our area comperable to $120K and said it was on the mark. Well, this made everything fall apart, which happens. So we dropped the price to the appraised price, then expecting him to pay his closing, but he couldn't afford it. Well, after it all unravelled, Joan tell me that she knew from the guy was no good. She then proceeds to tell me that when they got the earnest money from the buyer, he asked if they would hold it for a week. Which they did. Then when they did cash it at the end of the week, the fund were still not available! And MY agents allowed us to take an offer and waste a month of our time on this buyer.

As you can imagine, this was not good, being that we were under a time crunch to sell our house before the new one was finished! If we didn't sell our house, we'd lose the new house! So after this deal fell through, I requested an open house. Joan scheduled us for one about a week and a half later. The day before the open house she suggests we cancel and reschedule due to possible rain. I said fine. She then tells me that she didn't know she was supposed to notify the secretary when she scheduled an open house so the secretary could run an ad in the paper. Again, this is my agent.....not knowing what she is supposed to do! I am NOT feeling very secure at this time!! We schedule another open house, which had to be rescheduled again due to Gustav and Ike. Before we reschedule the next open house, I start trying to figure out exactly how they have been advertising our house. It came as no surprise when I found out we weren't listed anywhere we had been told. Once I fussed, we appeared in the real estate mag - with the WRONG price, they didn't list it under the lowered price!

Anyways, we got down to having about 6 weeks left to get an offer on the house. I emailed Joan letting them know I was really getting worried. That I hoped they were handling the sale of my house with the urgency it needed. That we were running out of time and that this open house HAD to work! Bev is who I get an email response from. She seemed annoyed that I was questioning their work and assured me that they would be putting an ad in the paper, contacted all of the New Iberia realtors and would be bringing pointer signs to put out. I told them I would be passing out fliers and bought some open house signs to put out for the week prior to advertise ahead of time to passers by. She scoffed at me and told me that wasn't necessary.

So, still feeling uneasy about our open house, we decide to place a camera in the living room. We really wanted to see why our house wasn't selling. Well, let's just say that what we learned from the audio on the video was more than we ever expected!! First, when Bev asked Joan if she contacted all of the New Iberia agents, Joan said no. She said she didn't know HOW to do it! Bev, sighed, but then said it was okay. (THIS IS SO NOT OKAY!!) Not only do I find out (or confirm) that they weren't doing their job, as I suspected, I also found out they thought I was a bitch! And also their opinions about why our house isn't selling - regarding it being in Jeanerette and the "types of people" here. Keep in mind, these are the people who are supposed to be looking out for our best interest! Aside from the name calling, knowing that Bev appointed an inexperienced agent to oversee our sale is just not okay!! While they sat at my house she was training her on how to do simple things. Wouldn't it have been nice if they did this training prior to putting her as an agent on my house??

Needless to say only one person came to the open house. A lady they spoke to prior. They showed not only our house, but DURING MY open house showed her another house down the street! Nice, right? Well, here we sit, 2 week prior to our house being completed and we have not sold! We started tring to figure out how would could keep the new house and we were lucky! Our lender qualified us to carry both notes! Once I told my agent this two weeks ago, I think she took that as a sign to give up. It had been two weeks since they spoke to us, never even reporting back about the last person that saw the house! Great realtors, right?? They either don't know what they are doing half the time, or just don't give a crap the rest of the time!

Well, I am now trying to get her to remove herself as the agent of the house we are buying! In no way do I think she deserve to make $6000 from my sale! Us buying that house was contingent on selling our other house and they have failed us!! Not because the market is bad, but because our agents are HORRIBLE. I guess knowing that either way they make a profit, made them stop caring about selling this one! I emailed her the other day and let her know I have proof they did not do their job and would be reporting them to the real estate board, the BBB and anyone else I can get to listen!! I hope to spare others the BS I have had to deal with!! I suggested that since she did not earn, nor does she deserve to make money after our treatment, the least she can do is donate a portion to our sale. I guess we shall see what happens! But don't just take my word for it, ask around. Everyone seems to be aware of the company and no one really has much nice to say about them!

Oh, another tidbit......I found out from other realtors ........ since Real Estate De Louisiane lists for 3%, which is half of what others list for, other companies try to avoid working with them. Which means, unless a buyer requests it, an agent won't show a Real Estate De Louisiane listing if they can help it! So listing with them does NOT work in your benefit if you are in a rush to sell your home!! I wish I had known this a few months ago!!

Blogging & Holidays!

You know, I NEVER imagined I would blog - like ever! I actually snickered a little when the mention of blogging came up. I always pictured some middle aged mom blogging about poopy diapers, stupid husbands, gossip and angry letters to businesses! LOL Turns out I really enjoy blogging and also reading other's blogs!

When I started blogging, it quickly became a place to get my emotions out because my Mamaw went onto life support shortly after. Once that ordeal had subsided, my blog started to gear towards being a diary of sorts! In the beginning my intentions were to use my blog to write down on those things in my head. You know, the deep thoughts, realization and opinions I have. Well, life has been a complete whirlwind so far this year with no sign of stopping! There are so many thing going on that when I do have things I want to sit and write about, I just don't have the time. And when I do sit down to write, all the those thoughts and the passion behind it is gone!

Unfortunately my blog turning into what I want it to will not happen soon! The next 3 months are guaranteed to be super busy!

October:

Right now my mom is here from Oregon.
I am taking a Latin dance class every Monday for the rest of the month.
There are birthday parties, zoo trips, the corn maze, playgroup and festivals all this month.
We have to finish packing and tie up all the lose ends with buying the new house and renting out this one.

November:

We will be moving into the new house and of course getting settled.
There are more festivals including the renessaince fest, a triple babyshower to throw and of course Thanksgiving.

December:

Decorating for Christmas and shopping too!
I am hosting our Christmas Party, then there's the cookie exchange, Christmas parades and festivals.....
Then of course Christmas!

Bub's moms is talking about coming in November or December and I'm trying to get my sister to come down for Christmas as well!

There is no doubt the next 3 months will come and go quickly!

On a side note - I LOVE the holidays!! To me it's another great excuse for family time! In this busy world very few things make people slow down and appreciate their family and all they are blessed with! I always look forward to using this to my advantage and making people spend time with each other! lol

You know, this will be the first year celebrating the Holidays without Mamaw! I am already dreading that aspect of it all! With all the termoil in the family right now, I hope they figure it out and we can all come together and be a family! Lindsay is hosting Thankgiving and we will be having Christmas at our house! Bub isn't scheduled to be in for anything this year, so he will miss Thanksgiving and we will be doing Christmas early!

A Day for Learnin'

Today we went to the Firestation with playgroup! It is fire prevention week and I think it's never to early to start teaching them!

We missed this last year, but had taken the kids the year prior. Regan was too young at the time, so I was very excited about the program this year! They really explain things on the kids' level, and covered everything from not playing with lighters, matches, candles or stoves, to how to find a window or door in a smoke filled room to get out. There was a stop, drop and roll song, a cartoon and the kids even got to go into a house like thing, where they filled it with pretend smoke and let the kids crawl to safety. My child, of course, refused to crawl out! Little turd!

I think the kids have a good time and learned a lot! I asked Regan when we left what she learned and she remembered everything! I was very amazed, because this was really the first time discussing these things.

You know, just listening to the fireman talk really made me tear up! I hope Regan never has to experience something like this! Fire is such a scary thing and the thought of being in a burning house is just my worse fear!!

A Day to Relax

Well, I've been on pins and needles and have had a tight stomach for days now! We finally got the completion date, walk through date and closing date for the new house. We are scheduled to do the 1st inspection on the 24th of October and the final walk through and close on October 30th. I am so ready! But, this only leads to the fact that we have yet to sell our house! This is mainly because our real estate agents are HORRIBLE! (( A TIP:: Do NOT use Real Estate De Louisiane if you are serious about selling your house! You will regret it if you do!! )) Anyways, lucky for us our lender called today and said that based on Bub's income we are able to carry both mortgages. Thank God!! If this was not the case we would have had to say goodbye to the new house. I would have been devastated!

About a week ago we put an ad in the paper to rent out this house in Jeanerette and have had a lot of calls about it. About an hour after our lender called to give us the good news, we scheduled a meeting with some possible tenants. They seem to be a really great fit for our house. And their situation leaves them flexible for a move in date, which is what we need since we close at the end of the month, and Bub isn't scheduled to be home.

Anyways, these two things have made it easier for me to relax! Now there is just a little bit more paperwork, some more waiting then the whole packing and moving thing! Ugh! But getting in the new house will make it all worth it!!

The house is getting done by leaps and bounds now. We went yesterday and they have done some of the landscaping, have added the sinks and counters in the bathroom and the sink in the kitchen. They had also started the backsplash in the kitchen. I wish I could say I was more excited about this, but I actually am pretty upset about it. The spec house had the tile laid on the diagonal. I swear I asked to make sure ours would be laid the same and it turns out it costs extra and we didn't add that. It sucks! I really don't like the way it looks. Actually I hate it! But, I guess I have two choices, either learn to love it, or wait and change it at a later date. Maybe when it is all complete I may actually like it. But as of right now, it's not making me very happy!! I guess it could be worse! lol