Catching Up- OKC Feis

My oh my, I got behind again!!  Jon came down with strep and simultaneously work became insane.  I wish I could tell my boss I need personal time to make sure I'm staying connected with my blog friends.  Hah!  If only...

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First I owe you all pictures from the OKC feis I participated in September 17th.I, personally, had an absolute blast.  Jon was there, as was Leo, and it was so nice to have them there for support along with my great ID family.  I did well in my dances, screwed up right in front of the judge on my reel though, so I rightfully placed second (though her comments were very positive overall, so I think she liked me).  My two main goals were to dance well, better than my last feis, and to have fun.  Mission accomplished!!  I even looked forward to getting back on stage after dancing twice.  I cannot begin to tell you how big this is. Huzzah!!

A new addition to the Goode Academy (my dance school) is this little guy, Greer.  He's my dance teacher's first son and kinda like the school's kiddo too. lol  He made it through the entire day very well, sleeping for the most part, and was held by many moms at my school.  Can you blame them?

Another new thing, well for me, is that I decided to wear a wig.  That's right, I have jumped on the wig bandwagon and I don't intend on getting off.  It is just SO much easier to get ready in the morning sticking a wig on than it is curling my hair for over an hour.  Don't get me wrong, I love having my hair curled, but, as these competitions start at 8am, I'd rather spend a little extra time sleeping and warming up than on my wig.  I'm going to tinker with the look of this one, but, overall I was rather please with it.  

Leo was a HUGE hit at the feis!  I had so many people come up to me and ask to pet him, or ask what training a service dog to be is like, and I even had a couple of people thank me for being a trainer!  Initially, I was worried that fretful dance moms would freak out about his shedding (which there is a LOTof) and tell their daughters in their nice dresses to stay away, but, that didn't happen.  In fact, I was the one who was telling dancers to watch out for dog hair! lol

Leo was also useful as a pillow for worn out dancers. ;-)

Yeah, I just had to post this picture.  What a great leap by my uber talented friend, Susan.  She placed third in the highest level, Open Champion, at this feis.  I was so bummed I didn't get to see her dance as Jon and I had to book it back to Tulsa in the late afternoon.  Feisanna (plural for feis) are an all day affair, and the champs get the benefit of not having to dance first thing in the morning.  Which is just, as they've worked their tails off to get at that level.

Susan!!  Love this girl!

Greer was such a great baby during the entire feis.  He just napped or was patient with the many moms who held him so that K.t could coach and watch the dancing. I know it's a bit of overkill to have two pictures of him sleeping, but, he's so stinkin' cute how could I not??

Of course, no feis blog post would be complete without the 'Goode Academy feis camp' picture!  These are many of our dancers and their moms hanging out and eating lunch after a long morning of competition.  Thank goodness for Jon, he went out and bought me a really good hamburger, and checked us out of the hotel room, AND took care of Leo while I competed.  I didn't have to worry about much except dancing, which is a first for me!  When I completed my last dance Jon brought Leo over to me as I left the stage and I got a big hug from him and Leo.  It was wonderful to have him there and he actually told me he had fun too!  Unfortunately, Jon can't make it to the next competition as he'll have class.  I'm hoping, however, he'll be able to go to another one or two next semester.  The younger dancers have feis moms, but, I have a feis boyfriend and service dog!

What else can I say?  It was such a freakin' fantastic day!  I cannot express fully how lucky I feel to be part of such a fantastic and unique sport and to be surrounded by such lovely people.  And to have a supportive boyfriend on top of it all??  Brilliant.  Simply brilliant.

Good News Everybody!!

A couple of weeks ago, I made mention of some potentially exciting life stuff. Well, now I can share what's going on as the plans are in motion. A couple of weeks back Jon called me from work and asked what I thought about him working towards becoming a patent attorney. I didn't hesitate in expressing my 'approval', if you will, of that idea. Jon loves technology, new toys and such. He has always read blogs and articles pertaining to emerging technology from computer software to biotechnology. He also is artistically inclined to boot. This job field would allow these passions to merge with his schooling, not to mention, an increase in pay and opportunity as being a patent attorney is a fairly exclusive field within the legal world.

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Our excitement led to a LOT of research. Once again I say, thank God for Google! We found out that Jon would have to go back to school to gain enough science credits to qualify for the patent bar exam. The requirements vary, giving you three-four different science class combinations. Jon decided that eight hours of consecutive chemistry courses combined with twenty four hours of various biology courses would be best, and shorter option for him. It will take roughly a full year to get all he needs out of the way, if he went to school part time while still holding down his full time job.

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Next, Jon had to gain permission from his firm to be allowed some time to pursue this. Many classes he can take during the evening and there are even some courses that are offered for several hours on a Saturday. However, not all classes will be that convenient so he needs the ability to go to a morning or afternoon class during the work week. Much to our delight, Jon was given the green light to go for it. Fortunately, Jon works in the pre-paid legal division, so he isn't always having to worry about heading to court for stuff. He mainly deals with clients over the phone and writes a lot of letters on his behalf. Thanks to his ability to do all this quickly and well, gaining permission to go back to school was, to use the phrase, easy as ABC.

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Last we had to figure out a cost effective way of doing this. Though our Alma Mater offers all the courses Jon needs and is easy to get to, it's impractical as it is expensive and Jon isn't going after another degree, just some classes. We decided that going to the local community college downtown, near Jon's work office, was the place to start. Once he got his basic requirements out of the way, he will attend an Oklahoma public university that has a satellite campus in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma- a 20 ish minute drive away from our house. We've already been in contact with them and they have informed us that whatever credits Jon takes at the community college will be accepted, no problem. Both of these options won't cause us a lot of financial distress even when you take getting books into account. Jon's father has even offered to chip in for some expenditures if need be.

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So we are good to go! I'm so, so excited and nervous about this. It is about time that we start taking the steps to being productive adults! This process will take probably up to a year and a half as Jon has to, obviously, get the requirements and then take the grueling exam and pass that. I think he's up for it, as Jon is not one to commit lightly to anything. I'm hopeful that this won't be too difficult of a journey, and that cutting back on my after school piano lessons will help us during this 'phase'. I may even have to cut back more, but, we're going to see how things go through December and go from there. But hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

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Anywho, that's the big exciting news that I was holding back. Wish us, mainly Jon, lots of luck! School starts next week!!

Because We All Need More Cute Dog Pictures...

At the end of a much needed lazy Saturday the dogs decided to pay far too much attention to Jon. With their tongues. Like the good girlfriend that I am, I took grabbed the camera and took advantage of his plight.

Look at Lou. Oh you know, Louie knows exactly what he's doing. Can you tell? At least Leo is young and doesn't know better. What a poor example Louie is setting here. Speaking of Leo- do you see how big he is. The growing will just not let up! Imagine that much puppy on top of you/in your face/good morning wake up call. Let me tell ya it is as much 'fun', and as heavy, as it sounds.

Don't ask me what kind of noise I had to make to get Louie's head to move that way. It's better to remain in ignorance and soak up some serious doggy cuteness. Not sure if Jon appreciates it though- he has some not so happy looks aimed at me right now. lol Meh, doggy cuteness trump boyfriend crankiness anytime, right?

Different Perspective

I want to share some photos taken by different people at yesterday's Farmers Market.

Courtesy of the mother of the littlest dancer who danced with us. A pretty good air shot, and let's face it getting a great shot of a jump/leap is really, really hard! Fun stuff. Thanks to Mrs. S for this picture!

Jon took this picture of Louie-lou. Louie loves, and I mean LOVES crowds. He was pulling around a bit too much (still not out of control though) as he was just SO excited to be around people and other dogs. I think this picture captures his excitement for the Market perfectly. I think we'll have to go the there again, if not for the awesome produce and such, but, at the very least to get Louie accoustomed to crowds.

And here's my [not so] 'little' guy. Loveable Leo, just checking things out and taking things in as calm and placid as can be. He and Louie are a perfect pair. They balance one another out perfectly.
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I love seeing different perspectives. Looking at the same surroundings, but, through a different lense is refreshing non?

Pretty Things

I am a Christmas junkie. I love decorating the trees, baking desserts, wrapping presents, buying gifts (as long as I minimize my exposure to the mall- I still get ticks when I go there thanks to my retail days), and so on. So, when we put up the tree at Jon's new house and decorated it I just got giddy inside. I can't help myself!

I swear I was a raccoon or a moth in another life. I love the glow of Christmas tree lights.

The ornaments are from a package Jon bought at a store. Not very personal, but, better than nothing! I do love how they shimmer.

Jon does have a couple of fun ornaments- Simpsons of course!

Had to get a shot of the puppy in front of the tree. It's his first Christmas afterall! (I know like I need an excuse to photograph my dog!)

Just you all wait- you haven't seen the tree and decorations at my house yet! ;-)

Forgive Me Blogger for I Have Sinned....

Okay so it's been a little bit since a new 'here's what's going on in my life' post. To be quite honest life just got busy and thus I was T-I-R-E-D. Too much going on, info scattered and jumbled in my brain, and lots of fatigue made it difficult to sit down and sort through it all on my blog. So I will try to give a little recap to catch everyone up on the latest and greatest. Again no pictures because yeah... the camera has just not been taken care of. I think I'm going to make some serious threats to Jon to get that thing fixed... stay tuned.

On with the show!

Thanksgiving was celebrated at Jon's sisters house on Wednesday night. Everything went well- and I didn't have to bake a thing! Jon's sis is amazing, very much like him, in that she LOVES to cook and she handled it all with calm and holiday cheer. If I had to be in charge of an entire Thanksgiving meal for 15 people I would be having a series of mini-meltdowns- at best! We ended the night playing Cranium with Faith's whole family plus a boyfriend. Jon and I totally lost, but, I did know the answer to a little known factoid proving once again I have way to much random information in my brain.

Thursday Jon and his father cleared out the way too small storage unit and dropped everything off at his house. This proved to be helpful come Sunday when the big move occured.

Friday Tia and I rented a U-Haul to pick up the piano in Broken Arrow (a city just south of Tulsa). Thank goodness for Tia's brother and father though! The piano is a spinet or console, meaning it's the smallest upright piano you can get. Still, that sucker weighs easily 300-400 pounds! Fortunatly man power (literally), wheels on the piano, and a ramp got the piano safely in the truck. Add some scarves (yes I said scarves! We didn't pack any rope- real smart move) and we got the piano safely into our house. I've been playing LOTS! The joy of having a piano in my home after 6 years of not having one has been bliss!

Oh and Jon braved Black Friday madness and bought a fridge and a couple of random items for the house. Give me piano moving any day over retail madness!

Saturday brought about moving two loads of small boxes from Jon's parents house to his new abode. That took all afternoon. So the evening was spent in proper style over at a friends house with Wii playing and pizza eating good times.

Sunday- ie "D-Day" ie "The Big Move". Four friends volunteered to help with the promise of two paid for meals as payment. Jon rented a U-Haul and I drove it. Yes, I drove a U-Haul around as I wasn't going to be able to be much help when it came to the heavy lifting- had to contribute in some way! Of course Sunday was cold and dreary with the threat of rain. Still we managed to clean out most of Jon's stuff from his parent's house and all the stuff that was stored at my place (due to the before mentioned storage unit being tiny). This was accomplished in about four hours and we beat the rain. Some doors had to come off their hinges, but, large items were put in place and our friends were rewarded with a large Indian meal bought at a nearby restaurante.

So to summerize... several days of on and off packing and three days of moving culminated in Jon finally out of his parents house and into his own place- FOR GOOD! If I hadn't been so exhausted I think I would've done cartwheels all over Tulsa. However, for me, the adventure didn't stop there. Monday I went down to Norman in a rental car (my roomie works for a large car rental company and it was going to be cheaper than filling the tank my big hooptie car) to see an aunt and uncle I haven't seen in over 8 years! They live in California and they were in town to see my cousin's family. So, I made the trek in hopes of reconnecting with more of my family. The trip was a success. Nothing major really went down, just lots of catching up, and helping with a project my aunt and cousin were working on. I finally got home around 11pm and in bed after midnight.

As a result of all of that 'activity', yesterday I woke up EXHAUSTED beyond comprehension. So that's why this rather long and drawn out post came today.

So there's what I've been up to! How are you all doing?

Finally

It's done. Jon closed on the house this afternoon!! He's moving in over this next week.

Oh and also I am getting a piano (for free!!)! It's coming home this week!

Oh and there's Thanksgiving which means stuffing, dessert, which makes me happy!

I am having serious issues sorting the degrees of excited I am about these things.

House Buying Post Number...Wait I've Lost Count!

Seriously, buying a house in one heck of an intricate dance- and I'm not much of a dancer! I'll attempt to look pretty in a leotard, but, that's about it. Anywho, the bid that Jon made on the house was accepted first go around as is. I discovered that 'as-is' means everything, the price, the conditions, that we put on the bid were accepted, period, end of sentence.

Are you kidding me?!

Today we did the mold test- gee wonder why that was on the inspection to-do list first! The results will be in Monday. Which is nice, we won't have to wait too long to know if we can continue or jump ship. If all checks out then the other hurdles shouldn't be so bad. Of course that's in theory. The saga continues and btw I am SOOOOOO ready for this to be over with!

Yes Another "Stay Tuned" Entry

Seriously, do you ever tire of these, "wait and see" posts? You don't?! Excellent.

So I as I said we planned on bidding adieu to the house, and we did. Monday the contract was canceled. It was a major bummer and we really didn't want to, but, it was neccessary as our time frame is just too limited to wait and see what'll happen.

Today we put a bid on another house. Yes I realize it has only been roughly 36 hours since we said, 'buh bye' to the other house. I swear it's not like we were ready to jump to bidding on another house so quickly! It just so happened that Sunday Jon's sister saw a house, in a historic district, that had been recently reduced as it had been on the market since June. We did the look through Sunday night, Monday his father and sister came over, and yesterday his uncle (an architect) looked through it. That's right folks, to buy a house with Jon's family there is a three visit minimum requirement.

The verdict? Everyone loves it. The only catch is that it needs updating- like kitchen, bathrooms, knock out a wall here and there sorta way. That said, however, it is in great condition especially considering it is 84 years old! Jon is actually gun-ho, getting out of his long 'funk', and wants to go for it. Holy crap! I've been sick and wasn't quite prepared for a renovation house, but, I've warmed up to it and if we did do it- boy howdy would we get some money back.

The contract was sent in this morning... and now we wait- again! Stay tuned!

It's So Hard to Say Goodbye...

No worries, I'm not going anywhere (or maybe that's what you're hoping for? lol). Anyways, we are going to, 99% probability here, bid adieu to the house. The owner has not contacted us and unless she calls out of the blue with a very sweet deal we'll have to back out and we have to do that by Friday to be free and clear or the realestate gods will get angry. Well, actually the state laws of Oklahoma, but, those can be the same right?

Goodbye little bungalow on 18th Street in Tulsa. Hopefully, you'll have the right owners soon. And please God let us find a better house, with better potential, and most importantly that's not mold infested.

Three's

Bad things come in threes- or at least so they say.

Inspections had been going well. Of course, there was this and that, things that needed to be taken care of. However, all was looking well. The bank paperwork is nearly complete and Jon's father was actually excited about the whole situation(which if you knew him you'd be surprised at that adjective too).

Then- WHAMO! The fan in the h-vac unit goes out. Being that it's a 30 some-odd year old unit it has been an ordeal as to what to do. If that's not stressful enough we then get a call from the man who did the ambient mold test. Apparently, the results are shocking. We don't know the exact measurements though and we don't know where the mold is. All we do know is that the preverbial ball is now in the home owners court. She must decide whether to do her own test, which it would be wise to do what's called a destructive test which is when they take samples out of the walls, floors, etc to determine what is mold infested where. If we were to back out she would have no choice but to disclose the 'mold history' before anyone made a bid.

So now we wait. The scarlett M is on the house. Now we haven't folded yet. If the mold is in the air ducts and wallpaper in the bathroom (which you can tell there's some on there) then that's easily fixable and as long as it is documented it won't be an issue for future sale. We all are hoping and praying it's the airducts! The h-vac unit is old and this woman hasn't been actually living in her space for awhile. The next 'scratch your head' thought is the fact that during attic and crawl space inspections no one saw any indicators of bad leaks, mold, severe rot, and so on. Lastly, no one who's allergic to mold had any problem when walking through the house!

Ugh, ugh, ugh!!

Oh and what's the third thing? Minor in comparison, but, the nice digital-slr camera that Jon lets me hog fell over. Nothing seemed wrong until I tried to take pictures. Seems the lense is 'off' and since I know nothing about nice camera equipment I don't know what the problem is. It can take pictures, but, the fine focus just doesn't focus that well.

So crap on a stick, deep fried in sewage. It's been a crummy week.

The Hangover*

Home sweet home!

*aka Why I haven't been able to blog the past few days

What a ride.

Ever since Jon's deal was accepted on the house we've kept saying to ourselves, 'Is this really about to end?' When we began to look at houses for Jon we knew it would be a bumpy road- but, we were in NO way prepared for the big growing pain it would become!

Allow me back up a bit. Jon's father told Jon that he would help out with the downpayment. Suffice it to say it was a generous offer and of course who would want to say no to a little extra help?! But, boy that little extra help proved to be a bit of a problem!! Jon wanted to live in a particular area of Tulsa, known as Midtown. His father was a little reluctant as he didn't think any home that wasn't the super nice old ones in that area are worth much. Jon figured he could just use his usual power of persuasion and work his father into the idea of a midtown house.

He was wrong... oh so very wrong.

Months dragged on. Jon became more disconnected and well downright depressed. Communication with his father was nill and no house shown by Jon to his father satisfied him. Little did we know his father believed that a house in Jenks would be worth more in the next few years as that area is 'in development'. Finally the situation came to a head. I was furious, frustrated, and upset that Jon wouldn't stick up to his father leading me to be uncertain about our future.

Fortunatly Jon and I worked through our rough patch. Then as soon as we began to settle things Jon's father hit a breaking point and issued an ultimatum to Jon, a house in Jenks or no gift. Suffice it to say I was amazed when Jon stood his ground- the first time he really had to do so to his father! At the same time, I was so proud, worried about what this would mean in terms of getting a house, but, somehow by Jon taking that step I knew things were going to work out.

And they did!

Jon's father backed off and relented. We began looking at houses with a realtor who was a friend of Jon's family as opposed to looking online, arranging a time to see things, all on our own. In about two weeks we walked into the house. It was serendipty from the start.

The neighborhood was one of the original neighborhoods we were looking at. The owner was a former co-worker of Jon's. So far so good. Then the concern came up that Jon's father would take forever to look at the house because he had just undergone galbladder removal surgery. However, Jon's father asked his son-in-law and brother to look at the house. After getting postive reviews he said, 'Okay let's go for it!'

The bargaining phase as I said was intense. Jon had to do more standing his ground, but, it turned out to be so good for him. His father actually respected his position and thanks to Jon's cunning and a lot growing up he's done over the past months he was able to take control over the situation and get the deal accepted. Now we wait to make sure the house is okay after inspections- but, major victories have been won and no matter what happens I am so very proud of Jon and us for taking some hits, learning from them, and growing up.

Now you have an idea as to why I'm so drained!

Good News!!

I can tell you!! This is the good news!!!!!

Jon's offer was accepted today. It was a tough bargaining phase which was why I was so hesitant to say anything earlier- we weren't sure if it was going to happen. Now we can move on to the inspections and all of that. If all goes well, closing will be November 12th and Jon's moving in right after that. Like seriously... probably an hour after papers are signed. lol

I will go into the details of this long, long journey later. For now, however, take a look at the link and let me know what you think. :-)

PS- good job to Sarah for guessing correctly!

Big News on the Horizon...

Or at least I hope so! I'm not going to say much as I don't want to jinx anything. Buuuut, the crappy start to October for me has been balanced out with some big, positive, developments in the past three days; which is why I haven't been around. I will only say it involves Jon, the situation needs a bit more time to come together, and no there is no ring involved. ;-)

I will let your imagination run wild. Hopefully I can update you all soon with good news!

Birthday Dinner

My busy weekend included a rehearsal, recital, some minor home reno (pics to come later of course!), but, the most important occasion was Jon's birthday and the dinner for family and close friends Saturday evening.

Jon's niece and brother-in-law
Jon's baby cousin pretty much stole the show!

Jon and I and his goofy nephew in the background. I love that kid!

Love that man of mine! Happy Birthday Babe!