happy! :) and broke...

I know it's been a few days (ok a lot of few days)... but we've been busy... with our NEW HOUSE! :) das and I are super happy that things have finally closed (on july 1) and we can just move on from all this negativity and chaos that has encompassed our lives for the past three or so weeks. packing, though, is another story completely. and THAT sucks.

of course, the closing couldn't go on without a hitch. (sigh) we went to the pre-closing walkthrough to visually inspect everything... just kind of look at the work that was done based on our requests and see if it met our standards (to the best of our ability, of course). it was all going swimmingly until we get into the basement. we had requested to have the cracks in the basement sealed because there were small puddles... nothing wicked huge, but enough that it would potentially cause standing water without drainage. so we're walking in the basement and we get to the bottom of the stairs... and das, our agent and I just look slackjawed at each other... the one drain that was in the basement was SEALED OVER WITH CEMENT! yeah. I can't make this up anymore. so we're obviously pissed off... now the puddles are much larger than those that we'd originally seen. we call a whole bunch of people... their realtor, their realtor's manager, our lawyer... ugh. it was a mess. and we're supposed to be closing in, like, half an hour. so, like any sane person would do, we then went to mcdonalds and got some lunch. I mean, why not, right? :) we went to the closing... explained our situation to our lawyer and decided what we wanted: some money to cover the cost of un-cementing the damn drain. so we settle on an amount we're interested in and think will cover it... and then we start signing our paperwork before the sellers get there (much less for them to deal with). they arrive and they sign their part of the paperwork... then we start discussing the issue. this guy, in all his infinite wisdom, said it was his professional opinion (as a contractor) that the drain was actually causing the water problems, so he sealed it up. of course, unbeknownst to him, our inspector had tested the drain and found it to be functional, so obviously if he had done the same, he would have had the same results. however, it's pretty obvious that he didn't. we think he just did it to spite us... because we made him do more work to the house. kind of makes me wonder what else he may have done that we couldn't check... but I digress. so, because it was his *professional* opinion as a contractor... he said he shouldn't have to do anything. we asked for money... he said no. we asked for money in escrow so that we could try fixing it and then if it didn't work, we could hire someone on their dime... he said no (and again, that there was nothing wrong with what he did). even with mentioning that there were still puddles... and slightly larger puddles now that the water has no place to drain... he still said no. he kept commenting that it was an "old house" and to expect things like that. BULLSH!! anyway, finally he offered to come over to the house and chip the cement off for us. at which point we said NO, we don't want you in our house. so our first "home improvement project" at the new house is to chip the cement off the drain. (sigh) he so totally took advantage of the fact that we were emotional about the house and that it was our first one... and played us like fiddles. is it frustrating, HELL yes... are we going to let it get to us, not anymore. it's so not worth getting worked up over... besides, who has time considering how much we have to pack still!! the big move is on sunday... yikes!

oh, and I also failed to mention that even with all the chaos over the "shed" in the backyard... and the dumpster that got rented to haul away all the debris... well, WHATEVER - he totally didn't even haul it all away. we have glass shards, rotten wood, and even a rusty saw in a pile on the side of our yard still. wtf? (sigh) we know the name of his contracting company... and as far as we're concerned, no one we know will ever use him.

last thing... since I have to go leave work, unpack the car, then go home and start packing again... we only have ONE outlet in the basement (half of which will be my new sewing studio). but we're waiting until das's uncle comes up from FL to help us with it rather than hire an outsider... so I have to wait until OCTOBER to get my own outlets down there. :( boo hiss!! but, das knew how much I want to start in on stuff... so he said I could run an extension cord down to the basement. we'll have to set up the iron someplace else, too, temporarily since I don't want to have my iron on an extension cord... talk about a power sucker!

ok, that's all for now... I must get a move on! I do hope to have some pics soon. and I have some details from our awesome fourth of july vacation, too! fun times!