Bitch!

Here's a story:

Anybody who follows me on Facebook is ultra-aware of the fiasco that is Our Upstairs Neighbors. We hear every move they make. We hear every raunchy sexscapade (I give the guy credit, he can last a LONG time, but now that you're officially grossed out....) and, most recently, we can even hear early morning puke sessions. Hurrah!

I've been fed up for awhile, but a few weeks ago I decided to start fighting back - it simply would be out of character for me to not be a fiesty bitch. So I began throwing objects at the ceiling whenever they were making ridiculous amounts of noise with the hopes that they would just get the point.

I think I had only done it a few times prior to tonight.

But yes, tonight. Tonight put a solid kabosh to my new sport.

As usual, we were innocently watching TV and they were being annoying. I gave Tom the "I'm so fucking over this" look several times before I decided it was time to strike back (hey, at least I gave them a chance to clean up their act!) I took Aiden's bottle and threw it at the ceiling. They continued with their noise. I continued with my throwing. Finally I hear a foot pound in a steady pattern and I know it's a purposeful move. So I get even more pissed, crawl on top of the couch, hold the bottle to the ceiling and pound for quite a long time.

We then hear the door open upstairs. Tom says "Oh you're going to get it now..."
I wait at our door, gearing up for a smack down.
Dude finally knocks, I open the door, and he goes, "Are we being loud or something?"

HE WAS SO. NICE. ABOUT IT. He was so ridiculously nice and apologetic that I, in turn, tried to apologize for myself (though it didn't go very well because I was so taken aback by his niceness).

After I closed the door, I crawled into the couch, hugged my pillow, and whimpered about what a bitch I am.

Tom went back up and talked to them about how horrible I felt. They apparently thought it was kind of funny. So now, not only are they super nice about my ridiculousness, but they also can be cool enough to find humor in it. They then preceded to ask Tom if we wanted to join them in a game of cards.

Fuck them for making me look like a shitty human being. Yes, now I have an entirely different beef with them.

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Life in a Blurb

School is easy. Aiden is hysterical. Tom actually wants to get engaged (come onnnnnnn financial aid refund money!!!!) I might be planning a Boston trip for October.

WOAH. Back up!

Boston?

Yes, Boston. I left a piece of my heart there, so I have to go back and visit it every once in awhile. Oh, and there's a really awesome doctor there that specializes in my craziness (who woulda thunk?) and I'd like to catch up with him a bit. I might possibly even be talking to a group of people with my same sort of crazy and be telling that them that, while they'll never be completely de-crazied, a normal happy life IS possible afterall.
Me being inspiration (again, who woulda thunk??)


Watch out Beantown!

A Quickie

I am officially back to being wayyyyy too busy for this.

We're back from vacation! I don't know why there's an exclamation point at the end of that, because I'm certainly not happy or excited about it. We had such an amazing time in Eagle River. Aiden experienced so many new things that I'm quite shocked his little curious head didn't pop off. Despite not getting naps at his usual times, and going to bed late, and not being in his house, he was absolutely perfect the entire time. He was even pretty good during the 4 hour trip up and 4 hour trip back.

Evidence of how tired the poor guy was: He went to bed at 7:30 last night and slept until 8:30 this morning. 13 hours!

We all wasted no time getting back into the ho-hum of life. Tom went off to work, and I packed up my bookbag and hurried off to school. Yes...school. Before I ever got to campus I logged onto my online courses and realized that I had a whole bunch of assignments already waiting for me to complete. Then at campus I got a huge wake-up call: my Anatomy & Physiology class is probably going to be the single hardest and most rigorous class that I have ever taken. There's no rest for the weary in this class. Quiz, lecture, lab. Repeat at every. single. class. Luckily enough for me, my Written Communication class is a complete joke (I just completed an assignment on simile's and metaphor's, a la 5th grade), my Sociology class requires very little outside work, and I've already taken Intro to Psych twice. Still, Anatomy & Physiology is alllllll memorization and that is definitely my weakest point when it comes to school and learning. The icing on the cake? IF (I say IF) I pass this class, I get to move on to Advanced Anatomy & Physiology next semester.
Shoot me now.
I should put up a poll for people to vote on how many times it takes me to pass these damn classes, but I can't afford to have my ego knocked down any lower when it comes to this.

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Apartment Update!

That amazingly adorable townhouse located within walking distance from our current location is OURS. We signed the lease last night! I will shamelessly admit that I still drive past it whenever I have the time because I love to stare at it and think about how perfect it is. I didn't think we would end up finding the perfect place, but it happened, and I'm so relieved that the looking process is over.

Now we just have to move. And I hate moving.

So far it's looking like October 1st or a little after is our move-in date. I will be negotiating a move-in date with the people who are coming into this place because I'm not entirely sure I want to be homeless for so long.


But now I sleep. =)

And The Winner Is...

The apartment decision has been made!

I might get e-stones thrown at me, but we didn't choose either of the two previous apartments. ::ducks behind computer screen::

But let me explain!

We were driving to Tom's parents house via the back route.....



...when we drove past a sign similar to this:



Since we already passed Felix St. I quickly whipped a U-y....



...and began searching for the address. I knew I already liked the location, and the plethora of trees surrounding the street was a good sign, so it already had stuff going for it.

About 3/4 of the way down the street I spotted another one of these a few houses down:



We came to the end of the street, and at the end of the street, in a cul-de-sac, rent sign out front, we saw this:



The first thing out of my mouth was "Noooo wayy....." while looking much like this:


(yes, it was windy inside the car)

So I took a closer look:



And it was still just as beautiful.

There was a little tube by the For Rent sign that said INFORMATION so I made Tom get out in the rain and grab a sheet from out of it. It quickly entered my head that I shouldn't get my hopes up because it was probably way out of our price range.

Tom came back with the piece of paper which read:

FOR RENT

LUXURY TOWNHOUSE

155 Felix Street
Wales, WI 53183

2 Bedroom / 2 1/2 Bath; powder room on first floor, two baths upstairs

Living Room, Kitchen/Dinette with snack bar, Laundry Room

Full basement

Attached one car garage with automatic door opener

FEATURES:
- Sliding glass patio door leading out to a wood deck
- Living room has vaulted cathedral style ceiling with a gas log fireplace
- Appliances include washer/dryer, stove, refrigerator, and dishwasher
- Master Bedroom has a six foot arched window with cathedral ceilings
- Central Air
- Energy efficient gas furnace

AVAILABLE:
October 1st, 2009

And finally, at the very bottom, it listed a price. A price that falls PERFECTLY within our price range..

Which led me into unimaginable excitement.



Tom called right away and spoke to the lady for awhile. We set up an appointment for 7pm today to see the inside of the place.

I have to say, if I hadn't been as busy as I was today, it would have been hell waiting for that time to roll around. I was really optimistic because the outside of the place was so nice, and the description had a lot of great things listed. I couldn't imagine it being something we wouldn't end up wanting. We already knew everything about the place, so unless it was a complete junk yard on the inside, there wasn't much left to find out.

For the most part I would say it lived up to everything we hoped and dreamed it would be. The only two negatives are that it's a tad bit smaller than we had been wanting( Aiden's room will be smaller than it is now, and our room will be smaller than it is now), and we still have to deal with carpet in the dining area. Besides those two things, the place is perfect. The basement is even nice enough for us to set up a gaming area and play area for Tom & Aiden.

It's a cozy little place with a stunning yard full of huge trees, a beautiful deck for us to enjoy summer dinners on, and we only have neighbors to ONE side of us. Nobody walking above our heads, nobody running bathroom fans below our feet. The neighborhood is exceptional, the location is ideal.

Our application is in, and we were the first people to see it, which means if everything checks out, we will be the ones to get it.



So now we wait.

Moving On...(no pun intended)

It's time to talk about something other than the apartment situation, but don't be fooled into thinking that it's not still consuming my life.

For a brief moment I'm going to focus on the big hoorah that is going to be my last weekend before school starts. (I feel incredibly weird saying that.) We're driving into the great Up Nort' with my parents to visit with my crazy grandmother. Luckily we're staying in a hotel, and Tom, Aiden and I have our own room. It's going to be the only summer vacation for this year so I'm pretty happy that we're going. It will be Aiden's first stay in a hotel, and the hotel has a pool so swimming should be fun. We're also planning to go horseback riding and take a lap or two around the go-kart track.

Perfect timing, really, because we all need a break from life.

And speaking of a break - I have no idea what's going on with him, but Aiden is the KING of crabby lately. Maybe he was over-tired this afternoon, but not a single thing was making him happy and this seems to be a continuing problem. It could be teeth. It could be utter boredom. It could be something completely out of my realm of knowledge. Whatever it is, it's testing every level of my patience. Solution? Send baby to Grandma's for a fun afternoon while mommy gets her head back on straight. So that's what tomorrow has in store for us. I'll probably use the time to run some errands in preparation for our weekend. Me-time will be enjoyed no matter what I'm doing though.

I do have some sort of news on the apartment topic, but I'm not quite ready to share, so check back tomorrow for a potential update if all goes well.

The List

We're done searching for apartments. We're both tired of it, we've seen all we need to see, and we have two solid options.

Here's the magical pros and cons list.

Stone Creek Apartment

GOOD

- Cathedral ceilings make it seem very open

- Two bathrooms so Aiden can have a monkey bathroom

- Pantry in kitchen

- Tons of storage

- Both rooms have walk-in-closets

- Nobody above us

- Garage!

- Extra den area (however it's NOT closed off)

- Can paint, but have to paint it back before we leave

- Community pool

- Cheap utilities

- Perfect location

BAD

- Only two bedrooms, no room to grow which would mean having to move if we need more room

- Bedrooms are on the smaller side

- No yard

- Feels like an apartment

- Dining room has carpet (not good with a baby)
-Rent is more expensive

Lower Unit Townhouse in Waukesha

GOOD

- Three great sized bedrooms provides room for Tom to play games in, and expansion area if necessary

- Nice layout

- Large dining room with hardwood floors

- Felt very home-y

- Great deck that we could actually put a table and chairs on

- Yard for Aiden

- Good storage

- Nice closets

- Walking distance to the park

- Priced well

- Ability to paint

- 9ft ceilings
- Cheaper than Stone Creek by about $100

BAD

- People living above us

- No pantry

- No covered parking

- Driveway is VERY steep and we are responsible for snow removal

- Utilities would be a bit more costly

- We aren't huge fans of ghetto downtown Waukesha




So, it's that time again.....
(and feel free to leave comments!)

Eating My Words

I have no idea why I ever got so excited about this "let's be absolutely crazy and move!" business. Well, okay, hearing every detail of the upstairs guys puke-session yesterday morning might be some of the reason, but other then that? I can't figure it out.

I thought it was going to be a relatively easy search because I found endless possibilities while I was looking before I really should have been looking (if that makes any sense). But now that I really should be looking, we're hitting dead-end after dead-end. Hitting the 'Refresh' button on Craigslist every two minutes and buying a newspaper daily is getting a bit annoying now.

Here's what I've learned though: Apartments are in high demand. And apparently, townhouses are in the highest demand. We fell in love with a place in downtown Waukesha that was completely renovated yet still had loads of character, put in our application, the chick called all of our references - and then we found out she gave it to the first people that applied. I think that was my official point of being SO over this.

But since the people taking this place have already signed their lease with a move-in date of October 1st, there's really no turning back now. So I'm going to see yet another townhouse today. It has the potential of being perfect (3 beds, 2 baths, central air, attached 2 car garage...) but I don't have my hopes up too high. Things tend to sound a whole better than they are.

Dazed & Confused

The mass tour of apartments began this afternoon, and I now remember how hellish this was the first time.

We visited two side by side town homes, and then re-visited The Lodge, and I am not a step closer to figuring out what the right place is for us. There's one town home left in the running, and then of course The Lodge, where we saw a brand new floor plan that I love even more than the original we saw. I'd still like to keep looking, but I need help first.

Here's the rundown:

Chic Apartment Complex



We love the new-ness of The Lodge. It's modern, it has tall ceilings, we can paint, it's within our price range, and it has almost everything we want (plus it's never been lived in before!!). It's also in the perfect location for us. Problem? Its just enough space for us now and offers NO room to grow. I was hoping for some extra space for Tom to play his stupid video games in and Aiden to have his own playroom. Is that necessary? Probably not. Also lacking in these fancy apartments? A garage, and most importantly - A YARD! We have a growing boy who, in a years time, will probably be dying to play outside. If we had a yard, he could have a playground and a pool and all of those fun kid things.


Pleasantville Townhouse

It doesn't get much more family-friendly than this. Sidewalk lined neighborhoods, a great backyard with a deck and a two car garage. Also a huge bonus? The FOUR bedrooms. That's more space than we even know what to do with! So where's the hang-up here? Well, price is a huge factor. It's about $100 over our comfort zone, plus the utilities would probably be pretty rough considering the size of the place (however if I go the townhouse route I can always keep looking for a more budget-friendly place). The location also isn't ideal, although it's not bad either. And lastly, it's definitely been lived in. And yes, Tom and I are suckers for some fresh drywall and never-used bathtubs.

So folks, I need your opinions here. Do you think we should go for the cool new apartment despite the fact that it's not 100% perfect? Or should we be a bit more practical, and, for the same amount of money, get something that has everything we want?

Let's hear it!