Summer Break in December & Leaving post early

  For the past couple of weeks I have been trying to get into the Christmas spirit. I have two kids who love Christmas and I always try to adhere to family traditions and make it special for them. Admittedly, I always look to my mother in law to really keep the traditions going but since she's not here it is up to me. So I will keep all but one of the family's Holiday traditions. No cake!
  One good thing about being so far away from the Scottish side of the family is that I don't have to serve Christmas Cake. I'm not exactly sure what it is made out of, we've never actually eaten it but it resembles fruit cake. After dinner we drench it in brandy and light it on fire then oh and ah over it and pretend to be excited about eating it. So, even though we will have Adrian's brother and partner over for the Holidays, I am putting my foot down and not serving cake.
  It is funny though to decorate the Christmas tree while singing carols that include snow, roasting chestnuts, sledding, etc. We were all sweating by the time our tree was done.
  It is also summer break for the boys. They don't go back to school until February! We have plenty of adventures planned for after the holidays but none of them involve sledding, skiing or building snow men. So, while most of our family will be keeping warm by their fires back in the USA, we will be on a gorgeous beach enjoying our last summer break in New Zealand.
  We are beginning to realize that our time here is coming to an end and while we are looking forward to going back to the USA for a bit, the boys seem almost sad to leave here. We've had a few (5) earthquakes this past week, one sent me running from the Embassy while another sent all of us running from the house resulting in  Adrian and I having a serious conversation about the boys and I possibly leaving early. When I asked the boys how they felt about that they looked at me in horror. They didn't want to leave early, they really like it here and don't share our fears of earthquakes (another reason to be grateful that they weren't in Christchurch with us during last Spring's deadly quake). So, basically it is up to me to try to decide if we ( I ) can be brave enough to finish the whole tour. No pressure.

And the verdict is...Genius

I just got back from another whirlwind trip to the USA to inspect my new old house. It is exactly what I expected and what I was hoping for. It needs work but not too much. The major working parts are functioning and aside from a few nonlevel floors, it is perfect. I love it.

I met with contractors, picked out appliances, tile, flooring, and paint, signed a bunch of checks to leave with my father in law and am now happily home in NZ waiting for the work to begin. Project number one is to take down some old rotten trees that are dangerously close to falling on the house. The tree guy that I hired suspiciously doubled the price as soon as I left town....not a great beginning.

I hope my father in law is honing his negotiating skills or my newly acquired geniusness will be in jeopardy.

Ahem, scratch that, reverse it. We bought a house.

Well, exactly 6 days after blogging about how happy I was to NOT own a house, I bought a house. Off the Internet. Without ever seeing the inside of it. The crazier thing is....I've done this before.

It is hard to believe, especially since my college roommates used to accuse me of being middle aged when I was 19. I never did anything "crazy" or unplanned.  I analyzed everything to death or thought about things for weeks on end before making a decision. I would start searching online for airline tickets months before a vacation just to be sure I didn't miss a good deal. I subscribed to consumer reports as a teenager.  I had to compare every price, option, amenity, feature. I NEEDED to know that the decision I made was the best option. It was frustrating to be me.  There were times I drove myself crazy.

Then I met my husband. I'm not sure that he has ever planned anything in his life. He is very spontaneous and loves adventure, bargains be damned.  We were engaged after knowing each other 4 months and married just one year after our first date. I still managed to over analyze every big purchase and career decision, but then I started to see the benefits of his way.

Flash forward to 2005. Whilst on vacation is Costa Rica, we bought a house near a lake with the most beautiful view we had ever seen. The realtor didn't have the key and we never went inside. We bought it anyway. It was fantastic. We gutted it and made it ours and enjoyed it until our move to NZ.  It turned out ok, right?  Sadly we had to sell it since it was too risky to own a house in a foreign country that still had squatter's rights.

 Now that we were truly homeless (government-provided housing in NZ excluded) we got the itch to own something. We needed a home base,  just for our mental well being. Yeah, it's probably not the wisest financial decision, but we rarely make decisions based on money, so we decided to jump back into home ownership. If you've read my previous post, you know that my house hunting trip tot he USA back in July didn't work out. I dragged my poor Realtor, Jeff Miller of Remax,  to every house in our price range in Polk County, NC.  That poor man.  I knew what I wanted and was not going to settle for anything less than exactly what I wanted for exactly what I could afford. So, I fell in love with a totally inappropriate 2 bedroom cottage that was over priced by roughly $100,000.  We contemplated buying it anyway, but in the end it just too stupid.

Defeated, I went to my friend Kristen's house to complain about the housing market and let our boys hang out. Kristen has two boys who Ewan adores. They hung out often when we lived in Tryon. As I was bitching, I asked her what was up with the house across the street.  This magnificent house had been under renovations since I'd been visiting Tryon - roughly 15 years! The owners would do a bit of work, rent it out, do a bit more work and then nothing. This seemed to go on forever. The house just was not getting finished. I had wanted to buy it 3 years ago when the last tenant moved out and serious renovations started. A new roof was put on, new windows installed, the beginnings of a nice kitchen.  I would walk past it when I took Ewan to play with Sam and wonder why they just didn't sell it and give someone else the chance to bring it back to its former glory.

The house was built in 1885 and sat majestically on a hill overlooking the foothills. In the 126 years since, a neighborhood has grown around it and blocked most of the view, but it still sits on a slight hill overlooking a quaint tree-lined street. There is one of those old timey stone walls in the front, the kind that you wonder how they ever stayed put with no concrete or mortar to hold the stones in place. I told Kristen many times that if that house ever went on the market, I'd buy it instantly. And that's just what I did.

A few weeks after I returned to NZ, my favorite house in Tryon, NC, went on the market. Unbelievable.  The only drawback was that I found out at 4pm on Friday and bids on the house were due by noon on Monday; and I was on the other side of the world with a major time difference. It was impossible to arrange for inspectors to check it out. My only hope was that my in-laws would be able to walk through it and tell me if it were a lost cause.

Well, the inside needed work. It had been vacant for a while and renovations had been started but not finished. The power was turned off and there was no running water, but the structure looked solid. It had 2 working fireplaces and all of the bedrooms were finished. New roof, new windows, and no termites. We decided to gamble.  Since it was in foreclosure and bank owned, we had only two working days to get our ducks in a row. We had to somehow come up with 10% cash to put down and prove that we could come up with the remaining $$ within 10 days. Let's just say I called in a lot of favors that weekend, even calling my financial planner at home on a Sunday! Miraculously, she answered and offered to help us any way she could. (Raymond James of Landrum, SC-if anyone is looking)

Thank goodness I have a scanner, VOIP, fax and plenty of computer ink here. I didn't get much sleep in those four days, since I had to make my calls when the east coast was awake (midnight to 2pm) but it was worth it. We managed to squeak by with the winning bid.  My dream house is mine!!! I only hope the inside is as beautiful as the outside.

 My new, old house.

 Cute stone wall with stairs leading to front door.

 Almost finished kitchen with granite counters. mmmmmm.

 I LOVE pocket doors. These lead from the formal dining room to the living room. Cool right?

Foyer

So, I am either a lucky girl or the biggest idiot in the world, but I bought a 126-year-old abandoned house off the Internet without looking at it - and paid cash.  Please stay tuned for an update. I head to NC mid-October to see it and have it inspected!!  Wish me luck.



Happily Homeless

  My youngest and I went on a house hunting trip back in the States. He had a 3 weeks break from school and I had high hopes of finding my dream home at a bargain price. So off we headed to the in-laws for two weeks of warm weather and high hopes.
To say my in-laws house is spectacular would be an understatement. They probably have one of the most magnificent homes I've ever been in not because it is a million dollar mansion or high tech heaven but because it is stately and tasteful. Spacious yet comfortable. It is old for US standards, having been built in the 1800's. Their 13 or so acres of land on the top of a small mountain in NC used to be a vineyard with gently sloping terraces that have been transformed into beautiful English Gardens surrounding a simple, elegant, farmhouse that has been transformed into quite a nice place to call home. My family and I were lucky enough to live there for 9 months while waiting on the PD register. It has been my in-laws vacation home for the past 14 years but after it was loaned out to us and they didn't have access to it on a regular basis, they realized how much they enjoyed it and decided to make it their full time home.

                                                           The new patio and fireplace

                                                                     Ahh, the pool

                                                          Porch, and yes, it wraps around

                                                        My father in law enjoying a cigar

                    My handsome brother in law, Jamie, who flew down from NYC just to see us

The spoiled king of the castle, Boris with Ewan in the background

Changes have been made, patios created, bedrooms enlarged, windows updated.....full kitchen renovation, the works.  It is perfect. So, when it came time to house hunt in the same town, I hated everything. Nothing measured  up and I came home empty handed. I fell in love with one house that I would be happy with but the owners were not clued into the fact that the USA is in a recession and house prices are dropping. They are asking well over the appraised value and 20% higher than others in the neighborhood. I hope it sits there for a year with no offers and they lower the price.
For now I will have to be content with my government housing in New Zealand (hey, we all have to make sacrifices) and give up on the USA house idea for now. It's probably a good idea since we don't know yet where our next posting will be and may not be able to live back in the States for quite some time. I will have to also hope that my in-laws enjoy having us as house guests because that was the best "resort" I've ever stayed at even if the help was a bit uppity (those were my father in laws words when describing himself as host).

Phew, no gold in sight.

It was a good day. The furniture is better than what I had and way better than none :) Thankfully I didn't get the gold furniture.  The majority of the upholstered stuff is brown. I'm ok with brown. The only thing I will complain about is the amount of furniture we received. We have way more than our house can hold but are required to receive all of it so the overflow is taking up the entire guest room.

Way better than the pink southwestern couches

Yeah, this is the new one!

Looks better in person.

This is new too, looks mysteriously like the old stuff but it has tags on it so it must be new!

Sadly, not much of an improvement.

My redecorated guest room

Guess I'm done.

Not going for Gold.

(not acutal couch, just what I am envisioning)

  So, my house is empty of the old pink themed furniture. It is clean and somewhat organized as well. Kind of a forced spring cleaning. I have no idea what kind of new furniture I (we) am getting but I do have an inventory list with descriptions. 
  Apparently I am not the only one getting new furniture as five brand new sets have arrived.  So, tomorrow I will receive either red, blue, green, gold, or cream furniture.  Please, dear God, do not let us get the Gold furniture. The red would look a bit ridiculous with the pink walls but it would be better than gold. Cream would be nice but the kids would ruin it. I have no say and will be happy with whatever shows up but please pray we don't get the Gold.  Photos to follow tomorrow :)

Let me explain

  Those who know me know that I am very sarcastic at times. I make jokes and exaggerate for a laugh and am, at times, self deprecating. So, when I complain about not being prescribed Valium I am half joking. I am also one of those people who doesn't often take medication unless I am half dead. Mother Nature has blessed me with an incredible immune system and even temperament so I haven't had much need for over the counter help in my life.  The February earthquake in Christchurch was an exception.

  While my mind recovered from the shock of it, my body took a bit longer to get back to normal. After the earthquake I broke out in an all over body rash (literally 3/4 of my body was covered in a red rash) that lasted for weeks and still comes and goes during times of stress. For a person who doesn't often suffer from these sorts of things, it is incredibly frustrating. So, when I joke about needing Valium or some other anti-stress medication, I am half serious because that rash is a bitch.  Mentally, I can deal with the stress but I don't think I can deal with 3 new weeks of itchy.

  As I sit here and write this blog, Christchurch is still shaking. Since the first 4.3 shake yesterday, they have had no less than 30 aftershocks the highest at 6.0. I would have passed out from the stress by now if I were there. I really cannot comprehend how people can stay there. When Adrian and I were caught in the February quake, my body pumped adrenaline continuously for 6 hours, then I got to come back to Wellington away from the aftershocks. Though we've had a few rough shakes here, it is nothing compared to what Christchurch is going through, yet, every time I hear a loud noise or a semi drove by, the adrenaline flows again. I could actually feel it releasing into by bloodstream. I suspect that this is what caused the rash in the first place - my body couldn't deal with all the chemicals it was pumping into itself. Now, multiply that by 100.  That is what I suspect these mothers are feeling every time they send their babies to school, send them outside to play or put them to bed. Will it happen now? In an hour? Tomorrow? Will it just shake the house or crumble it? Will my car fall into a liquefaction hole on the way to work or will a boulder roll of the hill and crush us? You can say that I am being over dramatic and a worrywart and quote statistics all day long but until you've been standing in front of a building that is literally crumbling toward you and until you've run through a park with liquefaction spouting up in front of where you are trying to run and until you helplessly look on while people are bleeding and begging for help and there is nothing you can do....don't judge me when I have that 3rd glass of wine or roll your eyes when I need a minute to compose myself every time the news shows pictures of the destruction. We're on the same freaking fault line.
  From The Independet-an Australasia newspaper.

"For those charged with the unenviable task of trying to predict where the next major quake would strike it was always Wellington that created the most concern thanks to a prominent fault that is expected to produce a major earthquake in the next few decades and runs directly through the city centre."

  There really is no answer. Nobody can predict if and when an earthquake will hit we can just prepare ourselves as best we can and keep living our lives, charging our cell phones and avoiding tall buildings just in case. I am also avoiding tunnels and bridges.