House Hunting Hell

I’m an avid watcher of House Hunters on HGTV.  LOVE this show and would dream of when hubby and I would be buying our next new home.  Never in a million years did I think I’d ever NOT enjoy hunting for my own house. 

It started out simple enough, and bless our realtor’s soul, we didn’t mean to drag him in so many different directions.  But COME ON!  This is supposed to be a house buyer’s market especially when we don’t even have to sell ours to move.  (Daughter is moving out to ours.) 

We found our dream home and put a bid on it almost right off the bat.  This shocked everyone involved, but it was a spectacular home.  Two story white house with peak out windows upstairs.  A room for a pool table (which is a must!) and an extra detached three car garage.  The land (over 8 figgin acres!!) was gorgeous with fruit trees and a pond.  *sigh* We couldn’t help but fall in love and put a bid in.

Enter the nightmare of a Short Sale. (and don’t even get me started on the financing hoops and headaches we are having!)

This is where a selling agent can blur the line of their own integrity just to make a few extra bucks.  You see, a short sale is where the bank will accept less money than what the seller actually owes.  When you put in a bid on a house like this, even if the seller signs the contract (which they did on our bid!!!), the listing agent can (and in this case DID) let people know that the sellers were accepting lower offers because the bank has the final say.  The parade through this house had times where they called in the marching band so they could rest ;) whereas prior to this there had been little activity.  I’m not going to be petty and mention any names or point fingers, but the moral of this story is:  Stephen and I should have seen it coming a mile away!

So we looked again.  Another house caught our eye and after we scraped our hearts off of the other realtor’s shoes, we got excited again.

SMACK!  It was under contract but still listed as active.  Come on, people!  Keep your listings up to date.

Reluctantly, we called Jim (our realtor) again.  By this time, he had to be looking at the caller ID and rolling his eyes before he answered his phone.  Poor guy.  Lucky for me, he is a long time friend or he may very well have took off on a dead run by now.

We drug his butt all around the outlying area of Springfield, but we did find yet another home to bid on.  We are now waiting to hear on house number three. 

Third time’s a charm, right?

RIGHT?!

Lucky number 13

I finished at number 13 for best romance of 2009 at Preditor’s and Editor’s!  Thank you for all who voted for me.  There were soooooooooooo many entries and I’m proud to be lucky number 13   I’ve got the best family, friends, and fans!  Y’all are awesome!

VOTE

I could go all patriotic on you, but it isn’t that kind of vote.  My book, Another Time, Another Place, is up for Best Book of 2009!  If you are so inclined, I would greatly (and I mean ‘love you long time’) appreciate your vote.

http://www.critters.org/predpoll/novelr.shtml

A new year and a new me?

Well, the new year is zooming in on us and I’m ready for the clean slate, so to speak.  You know, a new year and a new start.  So, for 2010 I’m setting the bar high and I’m going to leap that sucker! 

Or limbo right the heck underneath  

All joking aside, I do have big plans for 2010!  I have a brand new manuscript that I’m finishing up right now and I *will* have it spit shined and sent out to agents and editors alike this coming year!  I’ve already hit 70k words (my longest yet) and think it will finish just under 80k so I will be in the right word count for the big dogs.  That’s right: New York, here I come!  How about the height of THAT bar???  Yup, I’m shoving myself out there again and I’m actually kind of excited this time.

So, what are your goals for the coming year?

Merry Christmas

Yup, I said the words.  I said, “Merry Christmas” and I meant it!  *gasp* I don’t mean it as a sentiment that it is the only season this time of year either.  I know that not everyone on the face of the earth, or even in my little town for that matter, celebrates Christmas and I don’t expect everyone to either (not that I wouldn’t love it if everyone did!).  My point of this blog post is my hope that those of us who do celebrate it can enjoy our day…or month, as it has somehow spread from Thanksgiving on through December 25.  I don’t want anyone to get mad at me for smiling and wishing them a Merry Christmas.  I just want them to smile back and wish me the same with the season they celebrate if they aren’t like minded.  If someone is in the middle of their Yule Tide, I’d love to be wished a Happy Yule.  If Hanukkah is their thing, same goes.  Kwanzaa?  Ditto.  I hope you get my point here.  Christmas is an age old tradition and part of what this country was founded on.  America is indeed the land of the free and that means that everyone is free to celebrate whatever season they want to this time of year or any other time for that matter.  So, Merry Christmas everyone, from my house to yours!

She loves me! She REALLY loves me!

 

Sorry about the Sally Fields enthusiasm, but this is really what I needed!  I’ve been back and forth to the hospital for tests, poking, prodding (no, I didn’t enjoy any of the prodding, thankyouverymuch), and torture of all sorts, so imagine my surprise and utter happiness to see a great review show up in my email???  I mean, it has been almost 10 months since the book came out so I’d pretty much given up hope

Mary at www.bittenbybooks.com gave it five stars (well, they use tombstones there since they are a paranormal site, but you get the picture) and said, “I loved this book! There are several pleasant twists on the way. This is a definite must-read for any time-traveling romantics.”  You can read the whole review here!  YAY! and I’m so glad she loved it.

I’m late. Go figure!

I know I’m late in wishing you a happy Thanksgiving, but my sentiment is real, none the less.  I hope that you and yours have a great weekend of family, fun, and football, just like mine has and will continue over the next few days.  I’m thankful for all of my readers, family, and friends most of all.  I’m especially thankful to still have my daddy around.  A month ago he had a procedure done to correct an issue with his heart that had he not had done, would have proven fatal by now.  I thank God for my family every single day.

May God bless you and yours this weekend and always.

NaNoWriMo Anyone?

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, it’s that time of year again kids: National Novel Writing Month.  This will be the third year in a row that I’ve attempted to write 50,000 words in 30 days.  How has that worked out for me in the past you ask?  Well, in 2007 I was able to cross the finish line with over 50,000 words!  In 2008…not so much.  I’ve only done about 800 words for the first day which isn’t even half of the 1667 per day average, but in my defense I did go to an awesome Sunday night service at my church.  Hey, if God has my back, I can’t fail!  

Check back often and I’ll try to keep you all posted on my progress.  I’m finishing up my novel It’s About Time and starting the sequel Coming Back to Bite You!  The first one has been so much fun to write, I can only hope the sequel is too.

So “Normal” just isn’t my thing I guess.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I finally got down to brass tacks (not really sure what brass tacks have to do with anything, but hey, who am I to judge) and went to the doctor since I’ve been sick for oh…bout two months now AGAIN.  My love/hate relationship with MD’s stems back MANY many years.  I have too passive of a nature for them and they just love tossing pills at me or chalking up any and all symptoms to my bouts of depression.  Well, I finally wrote all my symptoms down and confronted my new (well, I’ve been his patient for two years but haven’t gone in) doctor and he’s running a BUTT load of tests.  Nothing definite yet, but I’m beginning to wonder if I really want to know with what he’s hinting at.  I mean, surely if I just ignore it, the crap will go away.  Right?  (Yes, I realize that is a childish way of dealing with things, but I’m really just a kid at heart) 

I’m just so sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Creeping back to “normal”.

Much like the first line in my new book–Normal is a relative term–I’m slowly coming back to as normal of a life as I generally lead. I got flattened by some bug going around and my spring back time isn’t like it used to be. So, if you had come here lately looking for pearls of wisdom (okay, something to make you laugh) and had left empty handed, I give you my sincerest appologies! I’m on he mend, so watch out world, and watch out Work In Progress!!