Etsy

I am addicted to Etsy. I love, love, love to browse there and buy fun, unique things! If this had been around (or maybe it was & I just wasn't aware?) when I had been doing my jewelry thing, I SO would have opened up shop this way.

It all started with the 2007 Letterpress Calendar. I fell in love with these little buggers and ordered several, including one for my Granny, who requested a 2008 version!

Then I progressed to a custom order of an adorable apron and matching pot holder for my Mom's birthday from Dapper Duds.

As I moved into Henry gear I really got into "trouble" ;-) by purchasing him an adorable French Bulldog onesie, then a set of BUBS (Back Up Blankets) & of course a monkey shirt, and custom "1" shirt for his 1st birthday.

Next my nephews needed customized superflykidz superhero capes & masks for their birthdays.

And last, but certainly not least, I just ordered this adorable peapod necklace for my mother-in-law, complete with three peas and her boy's names stamped into the side of the peapod.

And so we return

If you didn't already know, we just finished spending several days in Hilton Head with my family. It was great to get away and HDog had so much fun playing with his cousins (ages 3 & 6). He enjoyed his first swim in a pool, ran on the beach and just generally enjoyed himself. We spend a very short amount of time in Savannah, GA, but it was enough to let Henry run around and to snap this lovely little photo:

Spring Cleaning

Cleaning out my condo and cleaning up my blog! I think something more cheerful is needed. I just switched the white/black, but I think I want to jazz it up a bit. 'Cause that is really what I need to spend my time doing...more later!

SOLD! to the higest bidder!

Yep! Condo is under contract - yippee!!! Now we can relax a bit, stop picking up so much (it was even too much for crazy/organized/anal retentive me) and start thinking about packing & moving.

*Sigh*

Well, things are chugging along in the real estate side of our world. Sorta. I'm wiped out from all the talking, budgeting, strategizing, blah, blah, blah. An update, as quick I can summarize all the shit that has gone down:

• We are still fighting with the mortgage company. Our broker is a complete assclown. We've gotten multiple financing extensions and he still can't get his shit together. Then, once he did, the contract stated we cannot receive cash from the seller at closing. Which totally screws us out of $10,000! So, we called up citimortgage (our current mortgage lender) and started working with them. *Hopefully* it will all be straightened out by Tuesday. Hopefully.
• We received two offers on our condo on Saturday! One was a low ball and their agent let us know they were up for bargaining. The second was $20,000 higher, which is great! But, their financing looks a bit shaky.
• A third buyer was sort of in the mix. Our agent really thought this couple was going to put an offer in this weekend. He called them to give them an update and was informed that the buyer bought another unit in our complex that just went on the market this TUESDAY! I'm so ticked. We did the hard work for them with all the showings, getting them familiar with the complex and then the other unit just waltzed onto the market and swiped them from us. Must have been a good solid offer too since they are already under contract.

Ugh. I just want this nightmare to be over with! I know I should be thankful we have two offers. But I'm nervous. And actually two units joined us on the market this week. The one that sold and another one in the same building. I snooped through their open houses today. They are nice units. Very nice. And their kitchens have ours beat any day. Double ugh.

Hopefully we'll have a resolution soon. My head may explode if we don't.

Oh and to add to the mix, I earned a new patch on my Motherhood sash this weekend. I've now been puked on. Yep. Little man has a lovely, projectile vomiting illness. And to add insult to injury, he seems fine during the day and then vomits all night. Triple ugh.

Money management for lazy folks (like me)

I used to be meticulous about budgeting. When I got out of college, I *literally* wrote down every dime I spent and then compiled it into a spreadsheet to track my expenses. As I got older and life grew more complex. I relaxed a bit. No tracking every penny, just the major expenses. Then I got married. Balancing a checkbook? Nah - we're fine without that. Budget? Huh? Don't get me wrong, we save lots of money and are in good financial shape, we just aren't very organized in this regard. Scary coming from me, Mrs. Anal Retentive.

Anywho - enough about me & my continually building laziness. Mint.com is like Quicken for slackers & on-line junkies. Join up, add your bank info and viola! Beautiful pie charts showing your break down of spending, easy budgeting, automatic updates for new transactions, the list goes on and on. I am simultaneously mesmerized by the beautiful charts and horrified by the amount we spend dining out!

And, it turns out the back engine of this whole thing is yodlee, which is already used by tons of major financial institutions so that makes me feel safer about entering my info.