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Wednesday, 23 December 2009

  • A Beary Good Cake!

    Our Christmas is 2/3 of the way over.  Friday night was with my Dad.  Sunday was with my Mom.  Tomorrow evening with with Jim's parents.  I will blog more of Christmas when it is all over. (Perhaps on Christmas day while baby James is sleeping!)

    But something I was too excited about to wait...

    My family is a bit wierd.  Christmas gifts are rarely a surprise.  We generally pick out exactly what we want and that is what we get.  One of the things I got, I picked out several months ago when I was shopping with my Mom.  I have been excited about it ever since.

    For Jim's Dad, I was going to bake a bunch of cookies to give to him.  But I got the chocolate chip ones baked, and that was as far as I got. 

    So instead I used my new Christmas gift and made this!

    DSC_0138

    It is cupcakes.  14 of them.  I can also make a fish or a turtle with the kit I got!!  My sister got the kit that you can do a butterfly, a purse, or a flower.  (It comes with silicon baking cups in 4 different shapes so that you can make the designs.)

    Yes, I know the title is corny.  I dont even care! lol

    I cant wait to eat it!  Homemade chocolate buttercream icing and all!  (I dont think I even have to say that Jim is loving my Christmas presents!)

Wednesday, 16 December 2009

  • Kitty in a Bag

    Some days I swear Thor and Lurk really are children!?

    Yesterday, I actually did laundry. Including folding it so that it would get put away! (We should all be impressed because the clean clothes often end up left in the basket until we wear them again...) Each time I would pull something out of the basket to fold it, Lurk would jump in the basket and start purring. I would throw him out and he would do it again... and again... and again... So I finally took a picture because he is too cute to resist!

    DSC_0006

    When I was doing the second basket of laundry, he found one of Jim's undershirts and curled up on it. And purred like crazy. I think he takes after Jim. Jim LOVES the smell of clean laundry. He will often bury his face in it just to smell it. And now I have Lurk to do the same...

    After running my errands, I came home and put the groceries away. I always hang the cloth bags on the back door so that I can grab them next time I go to the car. There are also a bunch of plastic bags hanging there - because I have no where else to put them.

    While I was sitting on the couch eating my lunch and screwing off on the computer, I heard Lurk jumping at the bags. (The plastic bags made it a dead give away.) He did it twice and I yelled at him each time. A little bit later, I walked into the kitchen and saw the 2 cloth bags on the floor.

    DSC_0007

    I went over to pick them up. They were heavy! There was a little Lurk kitty hiding inside! I laughed pretty hard before I went and got the camera. As soon as the flash went off, he started to crawl out of the bag.

    DSC_0009

    Even when they are doing things they arent supposed to, sometimes you just cant help but laugh!

    DSC_0011

Sunday, 13 December 2009

  • Troll

    I am so honored as to have been called a troll for the first time in my life.

    So I went on search for what exactly a troll was. It took me a minute to scroll far enough, but from www.dictionary.com I found this:

    troll
    An electronic mail message, Usenet posting or other (electronic) communication which is intentionally incorrect, but not overtly controversial (compare flame bait), or the act of sending such a message. Trolling aims to elicit an emotional reaction from those with a hair-trigger on the reply key. A really subtle troll makes some people lose their minds.

    Since cat woman, as I lovingly refer to her, noticed right away that I was a "troll", I must not be subtle. I guess it would only matter if the person I was aiming had a mind to lose anyway...

    However, I was also disappointed to learn that I cant possibly be a troll, because my posts were not incorrect. Damn, my crown as troll was short lived!

    And while I was on dictionary.com, I decided to try to figure out exactly what a "bubbel" is. Apparently, it is something that exists only in cat womans world. Im afraid to ask what it is. Anything from her world is a bit scary.

    Ange? April? I blame you both. I just might begin to have too much fun with this... :cooll:

Friday, 11 December 2009

  • Really?

    I was tired this morning when I got up.  It was freezing cold outside.  Jen infromed me that Ty went to bed late last night.  I knew I was in for a long day.

    I sent in my mortgage payment for January first mad early.  I have been checking every day to see if it cleared or not.  This payment would put me over the 80% threshold of equity based on the purchase price.  My private mortgage insurance costs me $52.01 each month as part of my mortgage payment.  I would much rather have that money go towards the principle rather than someone else's pocket!

    I was excited today when I checked to see that I was finally below that magic number.  I called Wells Fargo to get the f rid of that PMI before they had to pay it this month. 

    But does anything ever work out easily when it comes to this crap for me?

    The first woman I talked to was a complete stooge.  She flat out told me it wasnt possible until 78%.  Uh?  Excuse me?  Im not at home, so I will be sure to look up that portion of my loan docs.  I know exactly where they are.

    But I was sure that I had recently read that it could be removed at 80%.  So I looked on the Wells Fargo site that I was already logged into.  I clicked on their little link to the "Is your PMI required?"  And because I am not at all original, here is my plagerized stolen quote:

    Loan-to-value ratio: Borrowers can request a cancellation of PMI when the loan reaches a loan-to-value ratio (LTV) of 80 percent. Lenders are required to terminate borrower-paid PMI at 78 percent LTV (based on the original amortization schedule) if the loan is current. If the previous conditions don�t apply, PMI will automatically terminate at the midpoint of the loan�s term.

    So tell me, am I crazy or does it specifically say that I can request for them to cancel the PMI or I can be a moron and continue to pay it for a while longer?  According to the guy (who was actually nice and was attempting to be as helpful as possible) that I talked to when I called back (30 seconds after I hung up with the stooge) the 80% thing was common practice until about 6 months ago. Since the "mortgage meltdown" they have stopped doing that.  With so many houses depreciating rather than appreciating, they arent taking any chances.

    I could pay for an appraisal of the house to get the PMI removed.   (To prove that I had at least 20% equity) Um, I never did that because that wasnt part of my original mortgage.  Otherwise I wouldnt have been paying the PMI for the last 2 years!  Between the work we have done and the area that we live in, it wouldnt have been even a little bit of an issue. 

    Im beyond annoyed at the moment.  He looked up the info and if I paid the minimum, I would be able to get rid of the PMI next December based on the 78% thing.  I pay more than the minimum so it would be before that, but that isnt the point!  That $52.01 per month is no longer necessary.  I could understand them turning me down for removing it if there was good reason - such as missing payments or late payments - but there isnt!  I have had the mortgage for just over 4 years and about 9.5 years into the 30 year mortgage based on the original amoritization.

    Homework for tonight:  Dig through my original loan docs until I find the portion about the PMI. 

    Obama, I thought you were supposed to be helping the mortgage crisis.  Maybe people would be better able to afford their mortgages if the PMI could be removed at 80% rather than having to wait that extra 2%.  It could be a make or break difference for a lot of people!  (I have a small mortgage, so my PMI is much less than a lot people.)

Thursday, 10 December 2009

  • Productivity and such

    I really dont know why Im not productive more often. It really does make me feel better about me.

    The last few months, Jim and I have been eating tons of junk and eating out WAY too often. So I finally got sick of it enough to get back to planning the meals for the week. So far it is working out fantastically. Sunday is officially taco night. There is still a night planned to go to the bar and there is usually at least one 'leftover night'. So it is pretty loose and pretty easy. But it has made my life so much easier. I know exactly what needs to come out of the freezer. And I know what to do with it. (Even when plans change last minute - like Dad taking us out on Tuesday because they wanted to meet the newest 'grandcat'.)

    Tonight's dinner was porkchops with rice. I made a salad for Jim and corn for me. (Hooray for veggies! Planning definitely makes that easier!) Jim and I really love Rice-A-Roni cheesy rices. The problem? They are LOADED with sodium. Jim already takes blood pressure meds, so I attempt to curb the sodium intake. The other day when I went to Shady Maple (the best grocery store in the world), I picked up some cheddar cheese powder from the bulk section. (Think the powdered cheese you get from the boxed macaroni) Tonight was my first attempt. It turned out surprisingly well. It was still lacking a little something. So I will have to look at the ingredients on the Rice-A-Roni box next time I am at the grocery store. Once I have it all figured out, I will be sure to share! (Not only is it healthier, it is ridiculously cheaper as well!)

    I even have tomorrow nights dinner mostly ready. It is a stew-like crock pot meal. All I have to do is turn on the crock pot in the morning and put corn bread in the oven when I get home. I even did the dishes. I totally earned a gold star for the day! lol

    Last week, I ran the self clean feature on the oven. Something I hope to never have to do again! It stunk so badly and was ridiculously hot in the kitchen. But now it is totally clean - and there is foil in the bottom. Now whenever something spills I can just change out the foil rather than having to try to scrub it off the bottom of the oven! (Something I should have done when we first moved into this house...)

    Jim wants me to make a new blanket for the bed, but I have to buy some black yarn first. So I picked up a different project I started several years ago. It was already about 1/2 done. Just a few more squares to make and then sew it all together. Im not sure who I am going to give it to yet. I will take bribes!!

    On Monday, I went to Deb's house and we worked on scrapbooks. Im still in 2004 - my study abroad program. Im hoping to get that all done soon. We have another date planned. (We are trying to pick days that Tony isnt working so that he can entertain James. It didnt work out that way this week, but he is a smart man so I think it should be better next time!)

    Probably the most exciting part of my week? The toilet is FIXED!! LOL. In the summer of 2006 we replaced the linoleum floors of the kitchen and bathroom with ceramic tile. When the toilet got put back in the bathroom, it was never quite right. There was always a slow leak from the tank to the bowl of the toilet. We had tried replacing the float and the flapper to no avail. So we have been turning the water on and off to flush the toilet but prevent it from leaking. For. Three. Years. I finally called a plumber. It cost me $150 - the reason I never call plumbers! lol. But my toilet is fixed. AND? I watched him and learned something new. I can do what he did next time we have a leaky toilet!

    You know you are getting old when it has been a good week because of things like getting your toilet fixed and being productive. But I am happy. And thats really all that matters!

    Keeping my fingers crossed that next week is a good week also. Flyer's game, start of Christmases with the family. And hopefully meeting with someone from admissions at Temple. (I sent them an email last night but havent heard anything yet.)

    Tomorrow is babysitting (so I should be around some). Auction on Saturday and working Saturday night. Looking forward to Monday!!

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