Delusions of... Everything

Happy Halloween

The porch is decorated...

The spiders have made themselves at home...

And everywhere I go I feel like I'm being watched...

Yep, I'd say we are ready for Halloween!

Have a good one everyone!

Sky Watch Friday

Sunrise

Seattle, WA

October 25, 2009

6:45 am

Go to Sky Watch Central to check out other sky shots from around the world.

The Appraisal

The appraisal came back with the value of our house down approximately 3.3% from the 2007 appraisal when we purchased the house.  This seems very fair to me.  Our neighborhood has gone down roughly 12% since 2007, as have most neighborhoods in the Seattle area.  Handy Man is not as satisfied.  I knew this would happen.  I knew he would work his ass off on the house for months and be disappointed, but I was really hoping to be wrong.

There is even more to be disappointed about.  The whole time we've been going through this process of refinancing our house both Handy Man and I were under the impression that we would be able to refinance a portion of our loan and restructure the remaining portion.  In fact this is not true.  All along we needed the house to appraise at 5% OVER what we purchased it for.  That was never made clear to us.  The financial officer kept throwing numbers around, but never one that high.  This is a huge disappointment, especially for Handy Man who was really counting on refinancing.

The financial officer is appealing the appraisal, for what purpose I'm not sure.  The value of the house is not going up 8% because of an appeal.  The days of over pricing houses to qualify for loans is over.  I also feel like the days of "waiting it out" are over too.  I don't anticipate housing prices to climb like they have in years past.

I'm letting Handy Man wallow in his sorrow for a couple days then we will talk about other options.  We do have another house we can sell, one we don't owe too much money on, one he wanted to use for retirement income.  One that I never wanted to keep in the first place.  One that we were supposed to sell all along.  One that will enable us to get out of the ARM loan we are in AND have money left for investing in retirement. 

Now I have to talk Handy Man into it... Wish me luck.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

This is how my kids carved pumpkins. 

They hated the feel and the smell, but loved seeing their carved creations lit up at night with a candle!  Now, at age 14 and 17, they don't ask to carve pumpkins.

The Green River

Once upon a time a dam was built and named for Seattle attorney and state legislator Howard A. Hanson, who heavily encouraged the dam be built.  The Green River Valley was prone to flooding every year, the dam brought relief to the farmers in the valley.  Once the valley was dry (mostly) farmlands gave way to a sea of warehouses, industrial plants, condominiums, and shopping centers.   This is where I work, right on the river.  It really is pretty.

 

Today the Howard Hanson Dam has issues.  The land on the right side of the dam is starting to give way.  This means the dam cannot hold as much water as when it's healthy.  The Army Corp of Engineers will be releasing water during heavy periods of rain to relieve pressure on the dam.  The possibility of flooding along the river is very high, in fact they are telling us to expect it.

I have spent the past two weeks preparing, as much as possible, our office for flooding.  The computers are off the floor, shelves and cupboards have been emptied up to about 20 inches, power strips are off the floor.  Today I will be typing up emergency plans to be posted in each office, so if we have warning there are a few things we can do to prepare.

The fear of the unknown has my boss and I stressed.  How much water will come in?  How often will it flood before the dam is fixed?  Should we pull the carpet up and make do with the concrete floor?  How much time will we have to be shut down?  For the first time flood insurance has been purchased.

I'm hoping for a drier than normal winter!  *crosses fingers*

He Has More Decorations Than Me

Yesterday morning I woke to 38 degrees and this amazing view out my window. 

Halloween is in full swing at my house.  Party preparations are underway.  I have a feeling it will be a mostly teen party.  Our friends who usually party with us have younger children who are still trick or treating age, so they will be busy with them.  We might have a few brave grownups, we'll see!

I would like to share the differences between my Halloween decorations and Handy Man's...  Beware some images may be disturbing.

Mine:

Handy Man:

Mine:

Handy Man:

Mine:

Guess who:

I'm sure you are getting the idea now!

Seriously his decorations out number mine!  We will be having a frightfully good time this Halloween! 

What plans do you have?

Pearl Jam Sunday

Given To Fly is my favorite Pearl Jam song!  This version is really special because there is someone signing while Eddie sings... Enjoy!

Sing-A-Long Saturday

I'm takin' it easy this morning with some My Morning Jacket.  They are one of my favorite bands and I love this song called Golden.  Enjoy!

Sky Watch Friday

Anderson Island Saturday October 17, 2009.

Go to Sky Watch Central to see other sky shots from around the world!

This and That Thursday

I really don't have much today...

The appraisal was completed on Monday.  Handy Man walked the guy around and answered all his questions about what we've done to the house and when the work was completed.  He took a lot of notes and pictures, but oddly enough didn't ever use a tape measure.  He mentioned he was having a really hard time finding comps.  I was really hoping we'd have some news by now, but nothing yet.

Star Wars Son is having a great time with Cinderella.  Yesterday when I picked him up from school he said, You are going to laugh really hard when I say this, but I really love musical theatre.  He was right, I laughed.  It's so unexpected.  He was dreading the whole thing at the beginning of the year and now he's having a blast.  Surprisingly he also said, I love the dancing part.  I almost drove off the road when he said that. I love it when my kids amaze me.

More Star Wars Son news... I can't remember if I posted that he broke up with his "out of town" girlfriend?  There was a little too much lying on her part going on so he called it quits.  Now he's working on another girlfriend who lives only two towns away, has her own car and two parents.  He's trying out a different kind of girl he told me... A stable one.

I'm looking for some book recommendations.  I just read a couple of really great books (The Kite Runner and Plainsong) and am having a challenge finding another one on par with those.  I just started The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, so far it hasn't grabbed me, but I usually give a book 100 pages before I quit.  I'd love to hear what you are reading or have loved reading.