Thursday, August 27, 2009

I'm not as lame as this blog makes me appear...

In real life, I follow through with things. I get in touch with friends regularly. I talk to my mom nearly every day. Why can't I get it together to post more often? There's no excuse. I haven't even been that busy. It's similar to my attitude towards the grocery store--I know I should, and once I get there sometimes I even enjoy myself. But I still find reasons not to.

Anyway, everything's good around here. Saw the baby on the ultrasound this week. S/he looks like an angry little alien. Seriously. So angry that I almost didn't hang the pictures on the fridge.

House projects have stalled, but will pick up again this weekend. We went out and got a new pedestal sink for the half bath that matches the trim color. We'll also will eventually buy a new toilet in a lovely "biscuit" color, but that's eventually. We got a nice new light fixture, TP holder, faucet and towel rack, too. Wahoo!

Eric WILL finish the attic ceiling sometime within the next 10 days. I'm hoping he's reading this.

At that point, we'll soldier ahead with the ceilings in the guest bedroom (somewhat ruined by rain from a freak storm that blew through here several weeks ago and demonstrated a previously unknown gap between the window and wall...) and the baby's room. Instead of drywall, we're going to go with the decorative ceiling panels, which should be much cheaper and MUCH easier to install by ourselves. Plus, it'll look great. Eventually, we're tearing out all of the ceilings in this house, which for some reason are all sponged plaster. They must have been replaced in the 80s. Ugh.

In other news, Marion County has released its 2008 home assessments, which will be the basis of our upcoming property tax bills (due October and April/May). Here's the situation... Marion County is a ridiculous place, and is in the process of catching up on several back years of property taxes. Our first year in the house, we did not pay property taxes. The bank paid them, because we bought as a foreclosure and as a closing contingency, we did not want to pay taxes for a year in which we didn't live in/own the home. Immediately upon moving here, we filed for our homestead and mortgage exemptions, and filed for an assessment appeal. And were told that that appeal will take at least 18 months. Ahem... So our assessment for this last property tax bill that we had to pay in July, for our house that we bought for $139,900, was $360,000. WHAT!!????!!! Plus no exemptions because it's the first year, plus no appeal... Let's just say that this little bill put our kitchen plans on the back burner for at least six months.

Anyway, the good news is that our assessment has been revised down to $219K--still more than what the house is worth, but a more reasonable figure--our exemptions are kicking in, and the property tax caps that the legislature has been talking about for such a long time are finally working. We should not get completely and utterly screwed once again. PHEW!!! I don't mind paying taxes. In fact, when I notice my nice newly paved sidewalks, functioning sewer system, and running water, I'm happy for them. However, sometimes things just don't work. This past bill was one of those times.

I am very much looking forward to a visit from my darling Ashie and her sidekick/doggie Banjo. They're coming down this weekend from Chicago. We're planning a very low-key weekend that should involve a lot of dog walking, going to Target, eating, and, as always happens when we're in close proximity, giggling. Ash and I worked together at ANF in Boston, and shared an office. We got a ton of work done, but I tell you, if you'd put two less intrisically-motivated people with lots in common and a shared love of singing Chicago songs to each other in the same office, the results would not be the same. She's my special girl, and I can't wait!

Peace...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Haley,

I didn't know you were going to do cloth diapers! I don't know if you knew that we've done 'em since Kirra was born too! If you have questions PLEASE ask cuz when we started we didn't have many friends to talk to and I've bought a LOT of different types trying to find my favorites (fuzzy bunz and bumGenius all in ones).

Can't wait to see you next weekend!
Megan

NV said...

Enjoy your weekend!