Spinning My Wheels

Ok, there is a double meaning to today's title as you will soon see. The first meaning is that Mike has been dragging me out to finally ride our bicycles. Well, he doesn't have to drag me as I actually like riding but it hasn't been easy in this heat. We did 6 miles on Saturday -- almost died cause there was no shade and way too hot. Then we did 8 on Sunday -- not too bad as we went much later when it was cooling off and getting dark. And last we did 4 on Wednesday night -- made the mistake of going after dinner which was so not smart. So, now we know to 1) go when it's cool and 2) go on relatively empty stomachs. Mike was fine cause he used to do this all the time but I got sick on Sat and Wed. I'm ok and feeling pretty good about having done 18 miles this week. We're going when we can and not pushing it beyond the 8 mile mark until I get used to riding again. When you figure that I haven't been regularly on a bike since my freshman year of college. . .not bad. lol

The second meaning of the title has to do with the gap in writing. Good grief, it's been two weeks?!? You'd think with me not being at the store my life would be less frantic. Guess not.

Well, last week I had three days of massive jitters and stuff. Probably hormonal but it was unexpected so I pretty much just focused on grading, straightening, and playing online golf with Mike. You heard me right. He found a website and we've been geekily addicted to it since. It's actually pretty cool and we're evenly matched so it makes it fun. Sad, isn't it? I think the other reason for the jitters was because our landlord has made a decision about the house we're renting.

Ok, see, back at the beginning of the month our landlord, Hite, called to see if we wanted to stay another year. We would like to but wanted a month by month lease because we have been discussing buying a house next year. Makes more sense to own than to rent, right? I told him this and also asked if he'd be willing to sell us this house because we really like it and think it makes a great "first" home. Well, he wasn't sure because he hadn't had it appraised. I told him I would talk with Mike about a year lease and get back to him. During that time, Hite must have thought hard about it because the next thing I know, he's willing to sell it. But see, there's a catch. . .the original owner wants to buy the house back. She's apparently been bugging him since he bought the place in 2004. Apparently she sold the house to her son-in-law who proceeded to trash it and then Hite bought and fixed it. So now she wants it back. Of course she does. . .he did all the repair work.

The house was built in 1972 so it's only a year younger than me. So, the way I see it, there can't have been too much sentimental value in it for her if she didn't buy it back from her dumb in-law. Of course, there could have been other reasons too but I'm sorry, we're here and we want the house. We've been taking good care of it and have ideas of how to improve it. Well, Hite had the place appraised last Friday and let us know on Monday what it's worth. He's not asking for anything more than that. However, we don't have a down payment for a mortgage yet (cause we were looking to save for next year). That might not be a problem since it's possible to get 100% financing but who knows? Hite sent us the appraisal and an intent to purchase contract on which he is giving us a week to give back! He's coming over on Sunday with the woman and her daughter to look at the house. All week it's been like, "Oh my God! We need to get a mortgage and buy this place or we are going to have to move!" Is it the best time to buy? Probably not but we don't seem to have much choice now. Suddenly we're being rushed into doing something we were just trying to feel out. Eeek!

One good thing is that because of the price of the house, any mortgage we get will be less than or about the same price that we pay in rent right now. So, that's not a problem. We'll see. I have some stuff to do today and will keep you posted on what happens. Sheesh.