Category: Glimpses of Life

Last evening we faxed the paperwork to our real estate agent so that she can turn them in to the relocation company and we can get the relocation package that is signed by them.

I’ll be scheduling the inspection on the house now.

My husband and I are still not 100% sure on this house. We could build a brand new house in Western Wisconsin for $70K less than what we’re buying this one for. In order for that to happen, we’d have to rent for 5 months and then go through the process of looking for land. The building process itself is about 4 months and 4 months passed real quick while we’ve been here.

We do have someone who is going to show us a few pieces of land this evening just in case this does not go through for whatever reason AND we decide we prefer to build.

Day 8 of a cold/flu that started with deep chest coughing and has headed into my sinuses causing bloody noses. Originally I was so confident that this was only going to last a couple days.  What’s a little tickle in the throat?

A month earlier I had joined a gym called Snap. I had gone to the doctor to get clearance since my blood pressure has been a little higher than normal since moving to Minnesota (probably from all the winter hibernation and lack of movement). The doctor said “that sounds good just go slow.”

So after I left her office I dropped into this small gym. The owner, Bob, was really nice and the following day I went through “basic training” on the equipment. I started nice and slow like my doctor said.

Week one – I did the equipment cycle 3 times a week and walked on the treadmill. One 20 minute mile each day.

Week two – Equipment cycle and the treadmill for 1.5 miles a day.

Week three – Equipment cycle 3 times a week and the treadmill for  1.75 miles a day.

Week four – days 1 and 2, Equipment cycle 1x and the treadmill for 2 miles

Then — everything stopped. This cold/flu/virus – whatever one wants to call it — had me so tired that I spent 3 days at home in bed without going out.

I have to say, that when I returned to the doctor for my blood pressure follow-up after 3 weeks of going to the gym, my blood pressure had lowered.  The numbers were staggering. 20 points less on the systolic and my diastolic was in the 70’s. It had been in the 90’s for quite a few years.

And — I had lost 3 pounds.

I so much want to get back to my training but have to wait until my body fully recuperates until I do.  I feel like this week I’ve regressed and I haven’t done anything different.

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Yesterday we finally received the paperwork from the relocation company that we’re supposed to sign off on.  Well, hmmm, let’s see — we had agreed that the washer and dryer would stay but it’s missing from the paperwork.  Oh wait — the water heater is missing too.

The selling agent’s response is “the original Purchase & Sale agreement supercede this agreement.” Oh really? That’s interesting because we don’t have a signed P&S agreement.

So — do we believe the seller’s agent and take him at his word?

I think not.  We just experienced a situation with our apartment complex where they said something and the lease said something different.  Guess what the law would follow?  The signed written document.

Now we’re trying to see if we can get an addendum added to all this paperwork so that they sign something saying that we indeed have 3 items that have been deleted.

It wouldn’t look so suspicious except that originally the sellers wanted to keep the washer and dryer, verbally agreed to leave it and now the paperwork we have to sign shows it deleted.

I think I need to go back to law school to sign the paperwork to buy a house.

Yesterday I started packing for our move to … we don’t know yet. What we know is that we have to be moved out by 4/29.

Our house is supposed to close on that day. Unfortunately, our furniture is in Seattle still and it takes 2 weeks to have it brought over to Minnesota. We can call and schedule them to deliver it but if the house doesn’t close for some reason then we have to figure out where to store our belongings.

Since we’ve lived in the apartment, we have accumulated things, i.e. an artificial Christmas tree, office supplies, comforters, etc.

So, we can’t just load everything into the car and drive around with it until we have a place.

But — we’ve figured it out before and we’ll figure it out again.

Day 6 of a cold/cough that continues to linger. Everyone I speak with has a remedy for me. Here’s what I’ve tried so far:

• Tea with honey and lemon
• Hot water with lemon
• First thing in the morning, drinking a glass of water with a freshly squeezed lemon in it. (Making sure to rinse my mouth afterwards to remove the acid)
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• Put a pot of water on the stove, boil it, bring the pot to a safe place where you can lean over it and with a towel over your head inhaling the steam
• Hot showers
• Hot baths
• Drinking lots of water throughout the day
• Gargling with Listerine a couple times a day

So, has any of this worked? Quite honestly, I don’t think it’s made much difference in how long this cold has lasted. The difference has been in my comfort level.

For instance, when I take a hot shower or bath, the steam from the water helps the mucous in my chest and nose loosen up and I am able to breathe better.

The same is true for the boiling water remedy.

Taking the herb throat drops help especially when I’m around people as it prevents me from coughing on them.

The lemon with water in the morning is supposed to help in cleaning your body out of any toxins.

Again, the remedies worked for helping to alleviate some of the symptoms temporarily but overall the cold/cough still continues to linger.

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Ever since the rental office at our apartment complex tried to enter our apartment without notifying us, I have fears of them trying to do it again.

When I return from errands, I now look around to see if anything is different. A closed door that was open, a fragrance in the air that doesn’t belong, etc.

I’ve considered putting cans inside our door when we leave so that when someone opens the door the cans would fall over.  Then we’d know someone was here as they would have to place the cans the same way as I had them.

Or, perhaps I should make my bed with pillows as if someone is sleeping and close the bedroom door. Surely, if they open the bedroom door and see “someone” sleeping they won’t enter.

My safety and privacy now feel threatened. Is it really worth it to fight with them to stay here one more month? I think not.

So, at the end of this month, we’ll move into Extended Stay. Hopefully our house will close by then although we’re still having issues with getting the contract signed by the relocation company that is representing the sellers.

Yesterday’s weather was 76 degrees. And, if you can imagine, we still have snow on the ground. Mainly because a lot of the snow had to be piled on top of other snow in the winter.

It was humid  also. I haven’t experienced humidity in quite a while as Seattle doesn’t have it.

Continuing to look at open houses, we ran across one that had a swimming pool. It wasn’t open yet though so we couldn’t just jump in.

We have, unfortunately, had to cancel the inspection on the Lake Elmo house that we made an offer on. The sellers are being relocated and the sale is being handled through a relocation company.

They have had our counteroffer for a few days now and have not signed off on it. We were told it could take 5-7 business days.

We are thinking that an April 29th close date is not going to happen and that they are dragging their feet. Or, perhaps the relocation company just works that way. I’m sure they don’t work on the weekends either which means we won’t hear anything back from them until next week.

This is all very discouraging. I keep telling myself that perhaps it’s just not meant to happen with the houses we’ve made offers on.

I continue discussing this with God. Why aren’t things going more smoothly in these transactions? I haven’t heard anything direct yet — but, I know we’ll either find the right house or He will be clear soon about what direction we should go.