House Painting!

We went to do the house painting today for the mortgage. It went really well! We were really worried because it was supposed to rain all morning, and if we had to put it off until next weekend we wouldn't have had enough people. But we did everything we needed to do and we finished 2 hours earlier than we thought we had to finish. It was great! I was covered in paint. My hands were a MESS because I was working on the balcony (that and because Jeff decided to paint my hands after I bumped his hand with my paintbrush, haha). And at one point I didn't realize I had paint on my finger and went to tuck my hair behind my ear and ended up with paint in my hair. I spend A LONG time pulling it out when I got home. I think there is STILL some in there. Anyway... here are some pictures:

Karl on the ladder, Dwayne on the little ladder, Jeffery and Jeff's dad obvserving.

Karl (Jeff's brother) up on the ladder.



My dad and my dad's best friend, Howard, painting the garage door (although this is one of the things that we will be replacing... but we had to do this for the loan).


Jeff and I working on the balcony. The balcony railings are also going to be replaces once we move, but we had to paint them for now.

Howard through the garage windows.

Ongaurd!

Jeff's mom working on the kitchen door.

And of course a picture of Jeff and I next to the FINALLY posted SOLD sign!

Thank you to everyone who helped us paint and get this done! I can't wait to hear from our real estate agent about what the FHA inspector said. I really hope it ends up being ok!

The sellers were there and they were really nice! The were writing down a bunch of info we might need about utilities. They also asked us if we wanted to buy their dryer. It is only 3 years old, but their new house doesn't have the same hookup. We said yes! We are buying it for $75! It is great. It has a feature on it that turns off once it senses the clothes dry. That is one less thing we have to buy now. She was also telling me about these really neat prayer scrolls that are in each doorway. Apparently it is a Jewish tradition that has prayers written on tiny scrolls in Hebrew and it is supposed to bring happiness and good fortune to the people who walk through the doorways. There is one on just about every doorway in the house. They are really neat! They add to the uniqueness of the house. They are really old, although she did add two of them after they moved in that are really ornate and beautiful. I don't have pictures of them, but I will try to post pictures of them in the future.

On another note... 20 days until we OWN a house! We close in 20 days. :)

Well, enjoy the pictures!

GOOD health news and some answers

I had a doctor appointment with the urologist yesterday as a follow-up from my surgeries. Before the appointment I had to do a 24-hour urine study, (I collect my pee for 24 hours so they can test it... its a blast). They also surprised me with a blood test, (I didn't know I was getting one until I showed up to get my pee container). And then at the appointment, before I met with my doctor, they did an ultrasound on my kidneys and bladder to see how they were healing and draining. Then came the actual appointment. There are currently no stones in my kidneys!!! And my kidneys healed well and are draining nicely. As for the answers... my stones are caused by my body. I have what is called a "renal leak". Somehow my body is leaking calcium into my blood and causing the stones in my kidneys. I asked if my excess tea drinking up until a few years ago had an effect, and he said it is possible, but that it wasn't the cause. My body causes the stones. So what are they going to do? Well, they have me on a medication with a REALLY long name that is a blood pressure medication, (my blood pressure is normal). The medication is meant to take extra salt and calcium out of my body in order to prevent me from getting stones. The doctor said it could effect my potassium level, so I need to keep things with potassium on hand in case I feel light headed or weak. A week after I start the meds I need to go in for a blood test to make sure my potassium levels are fine. I am so happy to have some answers for once, and some good health news! It has been a LONG time coming!

Tomorrow we are going to work on the painting for the house. I am really looking forward to getting it finished. I will try to remember to take my camera and take some pictures of everyone working to post on here. I really hope the weather cooperates! Jeff had to work tonight, but he went in at 6:30pm and will hopefully be able to leave around 3:00am to get some sleep before we have to go paint.

Our apartment is A MESS! We've started to pack (well, we have much of the place packed). It is just a maze of boxes and mess. I am embarrassed to have anyone over, but hey if you come over then cut us some slack because we are packing to move in a few weeks. OH! That reminds me! Less than a month from now we will be IN OUR HOUSE!!! That excites me!

I guess I better head to bed. I do have a busy day tomorrow!

Goodbye Spring Semester! Hello Grey Hair!

As of 5 minutes ago I've completed my first semester of grad school. I am actually a little sad to be finished with one of my courses because it really was a great course and I got A LOT out of it. I really enjoyed it. Now I have a week break until my awful May starts. But it won't be an easy week. I have a meeting Monday after work, an interview for a summer job with Extended School Year on Tuesday, and a dr's appointment on Thursday. Sometime in there I also need to get most of this apartment packed up, and head to Millersville to buy my books for the start of summer session 1 (aka summer session from hell).

Today Jeff and I went to Lowe's to buy all of our supplies needed for next Saturday. We, along with 7 other people, will be at our new house (although it isn't ours yet) to do all of the required work that FHA told us needed to be done before settlement. I am REALLY PRAYING we don't have bad weather! Our rain date/any work that we didn't finish date is May 17th. A part of me can't help but be bitter that we have to do the work on the house because the seller's weren't prepared when they went out to look for houses and couldn't get a mortgage. They now have a mortgage, but we still have to do the work. Argh. Oh well... it will be a learning experience I guess. I am trying to look at the bright side, although I would LOVE to give them a glimpse into what they are doing to me by not doing this work. I am EXTREMELY stressed right now. Between summer session from hell, packing to move, working, and the work we have to do on the house, I think I will be getting a few grey hairs. No, seriously... I really did find a grey hair on my head the other day. I wanted to cry. I guess I can say thank goodness for hair dye because sooner or later it will come to my rescue. Jeffery already has a bunch of white hair on his head, which he says he gets from me, haha. But anyway, I am very thankful for everyone that is helping us out with the work we need to do on the house and with this move!!!

Here's a joke for you that a coworker told me. We can all relate!: A man wanted to take his wife out for dinner. He gave her the choice of where she wanted to go. She said to him "I don't care, but I want to go somewhere expensive", so he took her to the gas station.

Well... I am off to pack a never ending flow of boxes. June 7th can't come soon enough!