Kitty Christmas could be cheap this year...



...since apparently just a donut will make him happy.

Ya know, when you read in the newspaper that normal Friday trash pickup will be on Saturday, you should not then wake up to the sound of the trash collection truck thundering down your street at 6 a.m. on Friday morning.

(It might help if the paper you read that tidbit in was actually the newspaper for your little city and not the neighboring one, but still...)

I hope we don't generate much trash this week.

Both the Spouse Thingy and the Boy have to work today; ST doesn't have to leave until 7:30 so someone can be there to meet your anesthesia needs, and the Boy s working a double shift so someone is at Carino's to meet your waiter needs--and he took the extra shift so someone else wouldn't have to work today. We'll technically spend some time together today when we wander over that way for dinner, but chances are the Boy will be our server and not able to sit down and eat with us.

While we'd prefer he could take 20 minutes to sit with us, it doesn't really matter. We have a lot to be thankful for this year. We're all relatively healthy, family seems to be doing well, we have our insane kitties, and after so many years of military housing and places that "will be ok for a year or two" we're finally reaching the stretch that will give us Home.

Or, as Max would put it, "the place I'm going to DIE."

Happy Thanksgiving, Peoples.

WooHoo.

They accepted--without any counters to it--our offer on the house. Tomorrow we go sign some paperwork, and next week the inspections and stuff begins... We probably won't be in the house before Christmas, but for sure right after the start of the year. That suits us just fine.

So, yay! Barring any complications, we're getting our first house!

Nope, no score to report since I blew the game at just over 31 million points...



I got the proof copy for Max's newest book today, and it looks pretty good. A few typos that were missed, even after going over the manuscripts dozens of times, as well as the galley, but I'm not about to pull it and redo the whole thing over a couple of typos.

There are even paw-drawn illustrations.

You know how hard it is to get a cat to sit down and draw roughly 100 pictures? It's a lot like getting a 3rd grader to sit down and do his math homework when all his friends are outside playing in his yard.

Oh, don't be a doubter. Max's name is on the book, you know...

It's not up at Amazon or the other online bookstores yet, but I've ordered a box and Max is taking direct pre-orders now. We should have the shipment in about a week, maybe a week and a half because of Thanksgiving.

In other news, we're still waiting to see if the offer we made on the second house has been accepted. I hate waiting. I'm immature that way.

Still playing...

I don't have any writing to work on.
Max's book is at the printer.
No editing to do.
So this is what I'm doing while I wait to hear about the house:



I don't know how many hours it's taken to get this far.
It's definitely my high score so far.
And the game's not over yet.
Now that I've shown my score...I'm going to totally blow it...

One hurdle down, who knows how many more to go.

Countrywide approved us for a loan we don't need and don't want, but at least that means they will now look at our offer. We made a really good offer, the only hitch might be that we asked for 3% of the purchase price back at closing to go towards closing costs.

We should hear by tomorrow, late afternoon, if not then by Monday.

Then the fun begins...

Buying a house should be a lot easier than it is. Holy carp. We looked at several houses yesterday, including one that would require the purchase of a riding lawnmower because it was like a freaking park, and then went back to the very first house we'd seen.

Wow. The house grew some appeal when we were looking at other things. Perfect size, not a big yard but enough to have to mow, on a quiet court with a 3 car garage. The price was lowered this week, which made it that much more appealing. We looked around carefully, went to see another house, and then went back again. It felt like it would fit us quite nicely.

So we wrote up an offer.

Then we found out the mortgage is held by Countrywide. And Countrywide, no matter who the lender you're going to use is, preapproved for a billion dollars or not, requires you to get preapproved through them if you're trying to buy one of their foreclosures.

Doesn't matter if you tell them there's no way in hell you're getting a loan through them. If you don't at least apply for a loan, they won't even look at your offer. You're free to use whatever lender you want...after you apply with them.

Cripes.

So now we wait some more to see if Countrywide will offer us a loan we don't even want just so we have a shot at a house we do want.

Whole thing should be illegal.

We should know tomorrow about their preapproval (don't see why not...) and hopefully whether or not they accept our offer in Friday. When they do, our offer on the first house will be officially withdrawn. I feel bad about that--not because we won't get that particular house--but because the people trying to sell it have been totally hosed by their lender and will likely wind up in foreclosure because of a clerical error.

Can't make that our problem, though...

If we get this house there will be some fun places for the kitties to climb, I'll have my very own office, and if we want later we can screen in the back porch so Max and Buddah can go outside.

Of course it's all about the cats.

Sheesh, did you think we were buying a house for us?

This was pounding in my head all night long...




I don't know why. I haven't heard that song in years but it would not go away and would not let me sleep...

WTF?

WTF is the little dude doing with that tape...?




Seems civil enough...



Looks like we may have to start looking at other houses. Apparently the credit union )of the sellers we're trying to by from) sold their loan to Fannie Mae, but something is hosed up and neither wants to admit they own the title (and thusly will have to take the loss on sale...) We're not withdrawing our offer yet because it might resolve, but we're going to start looking again. Dangit. We really like that house...

Ok, everyone put your forehead against your monitor and start thinking sign the offer, sign the offer, sign the offer so maybe the credit union holding the mortgage on the house we're trying to buy will finally sign off on it...

Dear Max,

Ya know, I like it when you plaster yourself on my lap, especially when I'm cold and you're purring. I don't mind it when you jump up on my desk and try to head butt my hands off the keys of my laptop, and I can live with never having on fur-free clothing.

But 4 a.m. is not the time when I want to cuddle with a kitty. It's all right to plop down on top of me to steal some warmth; it's even okay if you pet my face with your clawless paw. But please...I don't want to make out with you. I don't want you to rub your face all over mine and I don't want you wiggling around, squishing the unsquishables. And I especially don't want you rubbing your lips all over mine.

Please let me sleep.

Pretty please?

Signed,
Your Can Opener

Ummm...FAIL?



Taken in the local Raley's with my cell phone...

I never, ever believed I would see a ballot proposition that would ask voters to strip basic human rights away from a select group of citizens. I found it difficult to swallow that anyone would want to rewrite a state constitution in a way that allows outright discrimination and condones the political persecution of anyone. It didn't seem possible that people would vote their ideological comfort over the civil rights of others.

Yet here we are.

Truly, I am mortified, and embarrassed to be a Californian right now.

Yes, because we're going to buy a car with that...

Spouse Thingy is in the bank; he walks up to the teller and hands her a check for a mere $4.06

ST: Just deposit it into savings, please.
Teller: Would you like cash back from that?
ST: blink...blink...


And yes, we voted today...if you don't vote, you suck.

The irony of the box...



Found on The Cat Blogosphere...
It made me giggle...