HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIKA!!!

How's the new place shaping up, Aimee?

Really nicely, I think. I'll be keeping myself occupied in Joe's abscence by painting the cupboards and ceiling in the kitchen and putting in the new floor in there, too. Also doing the touchup painting where the tape pulled away some of the paint. Painting the wicker bench in the kitchen. I'm hoping to post some pictures soon. (Hopefully, Robin won't min that I totally copied her living room color for my living room AND dining room.

When do you hear on your offer?

My Joe is away for a few days too. I was talking on the phone with him as we drove up to our house yesterday and Ellie saw his truck in the driveway. She yelled, "Daddy home!" It broke Joe's heart just a bit when I told her no, Daddy was still on his trip. Her response, in a very sad voice, "Daddy working...airplane."

I feel bad because Joe's mom is taking him to the airport. With Em. I'm really hoping that Em doesn't flip out.

Happy Birthday, Erika!

Thanks, Aimee. I'm very sorry about all the sad. I miss you all a lot. Squeeze Em extra tight for me.I'll take good care of Joe the few times I see him (given the nature of working opposite shifts). Oh, and I spent three hours de-trashy-trailer-parking the house and patio last night because I couldn't overcome my mother's voice in my head.

Oh my gods am I tired. I am posting this via my phone because I'm avoiding the harsh truth that I should have gotten out of bed 15 minutes ago.

I'm really hoping that Em doesn't flip out.

Me, too - it's hard to leave when they aren sad about it. I'm letting my mom take Ellie on a plane in October (so nervous about that) and I'm already worried that Ellie will be crying when I leave her.

Happy Birthday, Erika!

Happy birthday, erika!

Exciting house news, Sparky! My only (unsolicited) advice is to know where your line is and don't waver about walking away if you need to.

In some nice news to come out of the McWarnigle household, Tom placed 2nd in his category of American Wheat/Rye Beers with a quite respectable score of 35 (out of 50). (the highest in the entire competition is 43.)

The beer he brewed was an American Wheat with a european style yeast that has many of the same spicy characteristics as a belgian yeast- and oddly enough, it is unnamed since we started drinking it greedily before Tom got the chance to make one of his adorable and well thought out labels. I like to think he would have humored me and called it "Wheat's Happening?!?!" (which in my weird brain is an homage to Fred Willard in "Best in Show") but that may in fact not be the case.

Here's a link to the results page; Tom's category is on Table 12.

t disclaimer He asked me to be sure to stress that he only came in 2nd in his category, not the overall competition. So, OK, now I've done that! t /disclaimer

Happy Birthday Erika!

Happy second place beer! I want some!

What kind of calculus to business majors need?

None - at least at UW-Madison when I was there. Unless you were an Actuarial Science major - then you needed the three semesters of calc as a prerequisite for the stats and actuarial mathematics classes.

When do you hear on your offer?

It's being presented this morning, so we should have a counter-offer by the end of the day. I'm thinking that if the counter offer isn't below X amount, then we just send back a "no" and walk away rather than move by inches.

I feel sorry for all the parents and kiddos now. I was that kid that never cried, and I wonder if it has something to do with having been the 3rd child and used to my parents' having to divide their attention amongst us.

eta:

know where your line is

It's only about 5K above what we bid, and we under-bid the asking price by 25K. We learned last night that when they bought the house it was in great shape, so they didn't put a lot of money in repairs.

The beer he brewed was an American Wheat with a european style yeast that has many of the same spicy characteristics as a belgian yeast

Ooh, sounds nummy. How did I not know that Tom was a brewer as well as an afficionado? Is this a recent thing?

House and Offer~ma Sparky!

Happy Birthday, Erika!

Yesterday I bought a book for my mom that I might seriously have to get for myself, called Small Batch Baking. Hopefully we'll test some recipes when I go visit my parents.