The weekends keep happening right on schedule

So Wizard and I both feel, well, selfish for being focused on the house when world events are so terrible and people are suffering. I’ll talk about it below since it quite literally consumed our day on Friday (including the long travel time) but I just want everyone to know we’re vividly aware of how frivolous it is right now.

Friday we went to the design center. It took us about 2 1/2 hours of the allotted 4, and a lot of that time was waiting for the computer to do the calculations on that. The lovely designer helping us thanked us for being “so well prepared.”  That made me happy as we did try to prepare. On the other hand, we aren’t doing a lot of upgrades so that helped too. Today we have the electrical upgrade appointment, then once we have all the numbers we’ll crunch them and spit out the final choices on Friday. It all has to be done quickly to get everything rolling to start the build. Both the housing track and we want this to go fast, while we realize there’s a better than even chance there will be delays.

Once all this is done, then we will be in the sit and wait mode for a while.

Saturday was the usual of walks with Maggie, chores and…well nothing notable.

Sunday, I met Biker Witch for some coffee and a little shopping at Target and Kohls. It was just causal looking around, and so nice to spend some time with my sister. I also got in some yoga and more walks with Maggie. It’s so beautiful weather wise right now, so Maggie and I are enjoying it!

That’s my weekend, how was yours?

TGIF! Let’s jump into sharing five random things about our week.

1. My heart breaks that Russia invaded Ukraine. I try not to be political here, but I can’t ignore this. So Wednesday evening, Wizard went to bed and I was channel surfing, and landed on the news. I’ve been, and sometimes still am a political junkie, so I wasn’t surprised but deeply disturbed and saddened.
2. We had rain and cold. I liked it! No snow here though That was a long shot at best. Of course all of you living in snow are rolling your eyes at me, LOL
3. Oh, this is big news for Wizard and me – they finally fixed our community mailbox! It’s been at least five months. Guys, we are soooo happy. It’s crazy that it took so long. The mailperson told Wizard that they got a a new supervisor, and she evidently began sending out crews ASAP to get the job done. I think I can see why the old supervisor didn’t work out…or obviously just didn’t work. Anyway, gotta celebrate the small wins in life, right?
4. Maggie and I went on a mega walk yesterday afternoon after two days of being cooped up due to rain and cold. We loved it! She was so happy and is now sleeping peacefully while I write this blog on Thursday evening.
5. Today we’re going to the design center to choose our finishes on the house. This all has to be done before the plans go to the city for approval (why choices of granite and sinks matters, I don’t know). They’ve told us it’ll take four hours. Clearly they have not looked at our budget allows for everything standard and precious few upgrades We have a small list, and I’m really hoping I can upgrade the countertops. It comes with a standard granite that I frankly hate. But if the upgrade to the next level of granite is too much $$, then I will learn to love it, LOL. Monday, we are doing a virtual appointment to do some electrical upgrades. Then in a week we finalize both the electrical and design center upgrades so we have a little time to think about them and crunch the numbers. This is all stuff we knew going in. We purposely chose structural upgrades like adding square footage in the sunroom, and will sacrifice other places like finishes that can be changed later if we happen to fall into a pile of money, LOL.

So that’s my week. I haven’t thought too much about the weekend, but I’ll probably stay home. I may practice some fondant 3D figures, or go on some wild and unplanned adventure. Now it’s your turn to share five random things about your week!

I hope everyone has a warm and safe weekend!

For the first time in a while, I bought all the available books in a series up front.  I got the audio version of Darynda Jones’s Betwixt and Between paranormal series. It’s women’s fiction, but it fits in a lot of categories. I’m enjoying it. I’m on book 2, Bewitched, and what I’m liking so far is:

1. Heroine is in her 40’s. An older heroine if a refreshing change sometimes.
2. She’s a witch! I love witch characters when it makes sense. A few things are a stretch to me, but the story is cute enough for me to suspend disbelief.
3. The love interest has an interesting backstory tied to her magic.
4. Her grandparents are meddling and one of them is creatively tied to the house she’s living in.
5. I originally had mixed feelings about her “dads” in the beginning it felt like the author was checking off a political correctness box. But they are growing on as their characters develop so I may be wrong about my original reaction. If this opinion is somehow offensive to someone…whatever. Yesterday I was offended by the woman who drove 30 MPH in a 50MPH zone, and yet I survived
6. There’s a cat named Ink. And he loves pizza.

This isn’t one of those books I can’t stop listening too, but it’s been really good for a bunch of driving I’ve had to do

So that’s my reading (or listening), what are you all reading?

The weekend came and went right on schedule

Saturday Wizard went racing, and I took advantage of a quiet day to do yoga, then I went out to Hobby Lobby to look around. I intended to buy a 2lb container of fondant to do some more practice cakes, but I ended up getting a 5lb container that was on sale for the price of a 2lb. It’s not great fondant, but perfect for practicing and playing around with ideas. I walked all over that store just amusing myself. Then I came home and took Maggie for a walk over to where our new house will be. We walked so long, that when we got back on our street and the girl across the street came over to say hi, Maggie greeted her, but then pulled to go into the house, which is highly unusual. Normally she’s all over the girl and has better manners than to try to tug me in the house. She was thirsty and tired, I guess.

Sunday, Wizard stayed home and I went out to see Turbo and his parents. Special K and I took Turbo to the park where he insisted he must take the special tackle box that Wizard got him filled with his cars. I got a picture of that for Wizard and that made him happy. Turbo played at the park for a while then we went to lunch. It was a low key and nice day. When I left, Turbo hugged me then he gave me another extra big hug for Grandpa. That kid is such a charmer when he wants to be!

In the morning before I left to see Turbo, I got in the car and the check engine light went on. Grrr. Wizard and I were both surprised. So this morning we’re taking the car in to find out what’s going on. Wizard made the appointment early so I can get home to drop him off, then turn around and go to a long planned lunch with a friend. It’s not the best way to start a Monday but it’s not the worst either and I get to see a friend that I haven’t seen since this whole Covid thing started.

That was my weekend, how was yours?

TGIF! It’s time to share five random things about our week.  But first, for all of you in the bad weather areas, I hope your okay, have power and no significant weather related issues.

1. Last weekend, I was cleaning before BLB and his wife came over, and since it was so warm here, I decided to wash the outside table and chairs. I took the chairs over to one of our deck drains, which put me between the pool, the back fence and the side hill. I rinsed the chairs and set the hose down to scrub them with soap. Except…the hose rolled to the nozzle handle and locked on. Water sprayed an endless gusher, soaking me. The hilarious thing is because the nozzle locked on and I was basically in a corner, I couldn’t do anything except dive into the spray, grab the handle and finally wrench the pin locking it off. Then I laughed, because this so my life, LOL! It wasn’t a big deal though, I didn’t have my cell phone or watch on me so nothing was damaged. Wizard came outside to ask me something, saw me dripping water and burst into laughter. I never did find out what he wanted to ask me
2. My knees have been bugging me this year off and on. I’m annoyed by this. It’s not bad and perfectly manageable right now, but I know it’s a sign of age  and that’s just insulting.
3. In California, if you buy a new house, you must also buy or lease a minimum number of solar panels.  It’s totally out of our control, and we’re given predesignated packages by the builder and the solar company they contract with. We knew this going in to this house purchase, and we knew the exact cost (it’s in addition to the base price of the house and considered an upgrade…a forced upgrade!). We’re still pissy about it. I’m not even against solar, I’m against being forced into it, and not being able to choose which company or package I want. There’s no point to this, I’m just venting here. California, like most states, has positives and negatives.
4. We’re drowning in house related paperwork, phone calls and emails. I know this is only the start of the process…fun times ahead
5. I’m not sure if I’m going to shoot out to see Turbo on Saturday or not, I need to check with his parents to see if they’ll be around or have plans. But I’ve been waiting to find out if Wizard is going racing or not, and he’s been waiting for a call back from our pool guy (the one we use when we need something replaced) to make a decision. If the pool guy can come out Saturday, then Wizard will stay home. This really doesn’t change my ability to go see Turbo, but I still want to know Wizard’s plans first. It doesn’t make sense, even I know that.

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours. I hope everyone has a safe, warm and fun weekend!

Happy Wednesday. I hope everyone had a great Valentines Day.

Before I get into house details, I’m going to do a reminder. Yes, we’re under contact to buy the house, but until the final closing is done and the keys are in our hand, things can go wrong. Just like things can and do go wrong in publishing deals (it’s happened to me!), but I wanted to share this journey with you guys. Also, for now, I’m not going to name the builder.

Okay moving on!

The new house is a one-story, 3 bedroom with a study (my office!). It’s an open concept floor plan with a great room and large kitchen in one space. It has a two-car garage, which means Wizard is sacrificing. We really tried to secure a lot where we could add a third car garage, but there just weren’t many lots with enough space and the correct positioning to fit in a side-turn third garage. Wizard feels he can make it work, and he’s excited about this house. I will happily make one of the bedrooms into a hobby room for him if he wishes. We’ll see what works best for him.

So that’s the basic house.  From those builder options, we’ve chosen to add a sunroom  at the end of the kitchen that will become our dining room, and a covered patio right off that to the basic plan. What’s really awesome is that adding the sunroom immediately upgrades the kitchen to what they call a deluxe kitchen. That means its bigger, extending the cabinets and the island quite a bit. Oh and it adds another window in the kitchen.  The island faces the living area, and it has the sink and dishwasher in it, which is exactly what I hoped for. This kitchen also has a walk in pantry. I have never had a walk in pantry There’s an option to turn that pantry into a powder room, but I’d much rather have the pantry. Plus it’s one less bathroom to clean because….priorities, LOL.

I’m in love with this kitchen. It’s one of those things that just works for both of us. Wizard is in the kitchen enough that it really matters to him too.

So while we are doing some structural upgrades, most of what we’ll be getting will be standard, meaning what the builder includes with the prices of the house. While I love design shows and videos, back here in the real world, I’ll be happy with what we can afford

That’s where we are now. Next up, we do the electrical upgrades (things like adding extra canned lights, and we’re adding a couple boxes for us to put in ceiling fans later, just a few things but nothing fancy) before the architect draws up the final design that then goes to the city for approval to start on the house. It’s interesting that all these plans with the structural options were approved by the city planning commission quite a while ago, but then they have to approve them again for each lot once the buyer finalizes their structural upgrades. But I know a heck of a lot more about building a book than a house, so maybe that’s how its always done.

Okay, I’m going to try not to bore you guys with this too much over the next months. But I will be doing some updates, hopefully for fun.

Now I’d love to hear how your Wednesday is going!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

That was a fun weekend. Saturday I baked a chocolate chip peanut butter cookie cake while Wizard went to see Turbo.  Turbo met Grandpa at the door and immediately took him in his room to play. It’s just too cute, and Wizard was so happy when he came home. Then when Grandpa had to leave, he told Turbo he had to go home and take care of Maggie. That’s what we always tell him. But Turbo said, “No you don’t, Grandpa. Grandma’s there taking care of Maggie.” LOLOL! Busted! Long story short, Grandpa was an hour late getting home because Turbo wanted him to stay. I accepted that excuse

Then Sunday we celebrated BLB’s birthday with just BLB and his wife. Sometimes it’s nice to keep it small. We made tri tip and shrimp, then had the cookie cake which came out pretty well. I’ve never used this recipe, and I converted it to non-dairy, so  I wasn’t sure how it’d turn out. The important thing is Youngest was happy with his birthday cake. His actual birthday is in a couple days.

Also, they brought us a bottle of wine as a congratulations for our news, which I’ll share now Wizard and I signed a contract for a new house one week ago today. We’re excited (more like thrilled!), but it’s going to be a long process as it’s a new build that won’t even begin forming the foundation until next month or later. It looks like it’ll be September or October before it’s finished. I’ll be sharing a lot about the house and our experience over the next few months.

It was so fun taking Youngest and his wife to see the models. They were both so interested, and my daughter-in-law is great at decorating on a budget so I was chatting to her about everything and she was being very helpful and sweet.

I’m also excited that this house will have a great space for an office. I really haven’t given up on writing.

So that was my weekend, how was yours? I hope everyone had a fun and safe weekend!