Occasionally I find myself whining saying, "I'm bored." Or, "there's nothing to do." I must have said it one time too often or something because this past week? Oh. My.
As some of you long-time readers might remember, we'd planned on building a home a couple of years ago. Almost immediately the world began to work against us. We couldn't find a builder we liked. We couldn't find a plan we TRULY agreed upon (that didn't include me making umpteen changes). And then BAM! The economy tanked.
Fortunately for us, we'd made some financial decisions just prior which effectively saved our 401k's from being too damaged. Unfortunately for us, we live in Texas - one of the few states that was NOT in the least bit effected by the housing market tanking. Oh no! Our housing market here is just BOOMING! (must be all the people moving away from New York and California)
All in all, though? It ended up being a blessing in disguise.
We found a plan we both liked, which required minimal changes on my part. And then we found a builder we liked. Finally, that extra time allowed us to get rid of some extraneous debt we had.
So. FINALLY, last weekend, Mr. Clean and I met with a home builder.
Since then, I have been immersed in lists, web sites, and spreadsheets (that latter being the bane of my existence since I LIVE in them for work already... but I had to do it. It was the only way to keep myself sane with the lists and the costs and... *sigh*)
I have, over the past week, managed to pick paint colors, flooring, granite, light fixtures, door knobs & other hardware, and appliances. And now? I am TIRED. Do you KNOW how many doors are in a house? TWENTY-FOUR in this one... and that's not counting the one set of french doors and a door from the Master bedroom to the back porch that I nixed.
Okay, housing rant over. And since all of this is probably pretty boring to y'all, I have a few conversations from the past week - having nothing to do with house building:
This week's Dinner & A Movie (with C-Boy)
Mr. Clean: So, Doodlebug... how's your heinie?
Doodlebug: *crickets chirping*
Me (whispering to Doodlebug): Tell him your heinie is none of his business at the dinner table.
Doodlebug: Mom said not to talk about butts at dinner.
Mr. Clean: What? I was just wondering about that bug bite that was bothering him so much!
C-Boy: *laughing*
Me: Well gee, if you really want to go there. His butt is fine. And in case you're wondering, mine is just okay. A little too complacent and just a little bit procrastinatory.
C-Boy: Procrastinatory? Is that even a word?
Me: It is now. And how's your butt tonight? Is it feeling okay? Tired from working?
C-Boy: Mine needs a massage. Maybe a little slap and tickle. Other than that, it's hanging in there. Thanks for asking.
Mr. Clean: What about mine?
Me: Yours needs a weekend detention for constantly talking out of turn.
Doodlebug: Yeah, Dad... yours needs a time out for making all that noise! And then blaming me for it!
C-Boy: *laughing and then choking on food*
Me: *shrug* This is what happens when you bring up butts at the dinner table.
The next conversation is between Mr. Clean and Shaggy, via text. Shaggy is not always the most articulate so when I saw his word drama... it 1) made me righteously proud he was getting his point across succinctly and 2) tickled the heck out of my funny bone. It's official. The drama is genetic. He'd just recently re-taken the SAT in order to bring up his Critial Thinking and Writing scores.
S.A.T.'s
Shaggy (9:03am): What are my SAT scores?
Shaggy (9:10am): fwd: What are my SAT scores?
Shaggy (9:19am): fwd:fwd: What are my SAT scores?
Mr. Clean: I am looking!
Mr. Clean: You did better on critical reading with 490 and writing was up with 430. Overall it was higher and with your math at 640, you look really good.
At this point, Mr. Clean reports the texts just started pouring in so fast, he couldn't reply. Everyone at the office was laughing because his phone was non-stop vibrating all over the desk.
Shaggy: It's crap! I hate my life.
Shaggy: It's the worst test I've ever taken. I hate that. I want to burn those scores. I quit.
Shaggy: And don't say that's average cause I don't want to BE AVERAGE!
Shaggy: cause average is STUPID.
Mr. Clean (managing to get a text in): It is not as bad as you think.
Shaggy: You're right, is not bad... it makes bad look parade-worthy!! It's HORRENDOUS. It is level with mental retardation.
Shaggy: I don't even qualify for an NROTC scholarship!!!!!! That's pathetic.
Shaggy: I can say goodbye to Embry Riddle.
Mr. Clean: Just so you know... Embry Riddle is 450-580 for critical thinking and math is 490-620 and ACT is 21-27. You have 490, 640, and 28. I don't think you're going to have a problem. Call me when the pity party is over and we'll talk about it.
Mr. Clean: And you do qualify for the NROTC scholarship.
Shaggy: Pity party? I'm going to have a drowning party.
Shaggy: I'm drowning in my own moronic patheticness.
Shaggy: How did I get this stupid?
Shaggy: Seriously! HOW? It's not like I have a girlfriend to blame it on!
Shaggy: I'm just NATURALLY stupid, apparently.
Shaggy: I told you that 2nd test sucked butt.
Shaggy: I told you!
Shaggy: Okay, I'll call you now.
That, my dears, is a very hormonal 17 year old boy who really wants to get into Embry-Riddle. Welcome to my life on a daily basis. I expect next year is going to get even worse. Can't wait until we start sending out college applications. It'll be right about the time we start building this house. FUN!!!! Yeeeesh. Pray for me.
As some of you long-time readers might remember, we'd planned on building a home a couple of years ago. Almost immediately the world began to work against us. We couldn't find a builder we liked. We couldn't find a plan we TRULY agreed upon (that didn't include me making umpteen changes). And then BAM! The economy tanked.
Fortunately for us, we'd made some financial decisions just prior which effectively saved our 401k's from being too damaged. Unfortunately for us, we live in Texas - one of the few states that was NOT in the least bit effected by the housing market tanking. Oh no! Our housing market here is just BOOMING! (must be all the people moving away from New York and California)
All in all, though? It ended up being a blessing in disguise.
We found a plan we both liked, which required minimal changes on my part. And then we found a builder we liked. Finally, that extra time allowed us to get rid of some extraneous debt we had.
So. FINALLY, last weekend, Mr. Clean and I met with a home builder.
Since then, I have been immersed in lists, web sites, and spreadsheets (that latter being the bane of my existence since I LIVE in them for work already... but I had to do it. It was the only way to keep myself sane with the lists and the costs and... *sigh*)
I have, over the past week, managed to pick paint colors, flooring, granite, light fixtures, door knobs & other hardware, and appliances. And now? I am TIRED. Do you KNOW how many doors are in a house? TWENTY-FOUR in this one... and that's not counting the one set of french doors and a door from the Master bedroom to the back porch that I nixed.
Okay, housing rant over. And since all of this is probably pretty boring to y'all, I have a few conversations from the past week - having nothing to do with house building:
This week's Dinner & A Movie (with C-Boy)
Mr. Clean: So, Doodlebug... how's your heinie?
Doodlebug: *crickets chirping*
Me (whispering to Doodlebug): Tell him your heinie is none of his business at the dinner table.
Doodlebug: Mom said not to talk about butts at dinner.
Mr. Clean: What? I was just wondering about that bug bite that was bothering him so much!
C-Boy: *laughing*
Me: Well gee, if you really want to go there. His butt is fine. And in case you're wondering, mine is just okay. A little too complacent and just a little bit procrastinatory.
C-Boy: Procrastinatory? Is that even a word?
Me: It is now. And how's your butt tonight? Is it feeling okay? Tired from working?
C-Boy: Mine needs a massage. Maybe a little slap and tickle. Other than that, it's hanging in there. Thanks for asking.
Mr. Clean: What about mine?
Me: Yours needs a weekend detention for constantly talking out of turn.
Doodlebug: Yeah, Dad... yours needs a time out for making all that noise! And then blaming me for it!
C-Boy: *laughing and then choking on food*
Me: *shrug* This is what happens when you bring up butts at the dinner table.
The next conversation is between Mr. Clean and Shaggy, via text. Shaggy is not always the most articulate so when I saw his word drama... it 1) made me righteously proud he was getting his point across succinctly and 2) tickled the heck out of my funny bone. It's official. The drama is genetic. He'd just recently re-taken the SAT in order to bring up his Critial Thinking and Writing scores.
S.A.T.'s
Shaggy (9:03am): What are my SAT scores?
Shaggy (9:10am): fwd: What are my SAT scores?
Shaggy (9:19am): fwd:fwd: What are my SAT scores?
Mr. Clean: I am looking!
Mr. Clean: You did better on critical reading with 490 and writing was up with 430. Overall it was higher and with your math at 640, you look really good.
At this point, Mr. Clean reports the texts just started pouring in so fast, he couldn't reply. Everyone at the office was laughing because his phone was non-stop vibrating all over the desk.
Shaggy: It's crap! I hate my life.
Shaggy: It's the worst test I've ever taken. I hate that. I want to burn those scores. I quit.
Shaggy: And don't say that's average cause I don't want to BE AVERAGE!
Shaggy: cause average is STUPID.
Mr. Clean (managing to get a text in): It is not as bad as you think.
Shaggy: You're right, is not bad... it makes bad look parade-worthy!! It's HORRENDOUS. It is level with mental retardation.
Shaggy: I don't even qualify for an NROTC scholarship!!!!!! That's pathetic.
Shaggy: I can say goodbye to Embry Riddle.
Mr. Clean: Just so you know... Embry Riddle is 450-580 for critical thinking and math is 490-620 and ACT is 21-27. You have 490, 640, and 28. I don't think you're going to have a problem. Call me when the pity party is over and we'll talk about it.
Mr. Clean: And you do qualify for the NROTC scholarship.
Shaggy: Pity party? I'm going to have a drowning party.
Shaggy: I'm drowning in my own moronic patheticness.
Shaggy: How did I get this stupid?
Shaggy: Seriously! HOW? It's not like I have a girlfriend to blame it on!
Shaggy: I'm just NATURALLY stupid, apparently.
Shaggy: I told you that 2nd test sucked butt.
Shaggy: I told you!
Shaggy: Okay, I'll call you now.
That, my dears, is a very hormonal 17 year old boy who really wants to get into Embry-Riddle. Welcome to my life on a daily basis. I expect next year is going to get even worse. Can't wait until we start sending out college applications. It'll be right about the time we start building this house. FUN!!!! Yeeeesh. Pray for me.
"I'm drowning in my own moronic patheticness." Wow. That had me in stitches. He really took his results hard didn't he. I loved the fact that Mr Clean couldn't get a word in text wise and then at the end he says he will call. Bless his heart, it is good to see that he cares that much about his grades. It is all very different from what we have in the UK so I don't really know if things are as a bad as he thinks they are but I am guessing he'll be okay.
Oh we have all of this to look forward to.
They're not as bad as he thinks. A perfect total is 2400 and only about 20 out of 1,000,000 get that. Average is 1538; he has a 1560. BUT his math is high (640 out of 800) and his critical thinking is high enough. Writing is his worst subject (the little one got the writing bug, Shaggy takes after his Dad, whom I wrote college papers for throughout the first years of our marriage.. hah!). All in all, he might want to take the test one more time to get the writing and critical thinking up higher. Or not. He definitely needs to chill a bit. *grin*
Looks like M and I will be another one of those people heading to TX and buying houses! Get it?