We have received the clear to close from the bank and are doing so this Thursday, the 24th, at 3pm.  I hope it doesn’t take too long, because I also have an 8pm flight to Phoenix that day.  Going to be a busy, but awesome, day.

Also, I just thought of another thing I am looking forward to in having my own house.  Cupboard doors that stay closed.

It was actually worse than this when we first moved in.  Mr. W went to a hardware store and purchased magnetic closures which he installed on five of the doors.  These are just the ones that have broken while we have lived here.

Don’t know if you can tell in the picture, but the cupboard on the top right is pulling away from the ceiling.  I’m worried it will come down entirely, so I have removed all breakable items from this cupboard.  It is half-full of plastic lids and bowls.

In other fan-freaking-tastic news, Mr. W’s ex-Bossman has decided to up and move to New Mexico.  And he’s giving all his clients to Mr. W.  This is huge for us.  We were making do when Mr. W had 20 clients and now he will have 60-70… are you kidding me?!  So amazing.  I am very excited for him because he has really needed a win lately.

This is a lot of good news to receive in one week’s time, and probably all I will have for the rest of the year in order to compensate.  I am totally all right with that.  2012 has already proven itself to be a wonderful year.  There isn’t anything more I could ask for at this point, other than not to lose it all now that we have it.

For those readers that may not have seen my Facebook or Twitter updates, we have found a house.  We made an offer, the offer was accepted, we have had the home inspection (there is an electrical problem which the seller is in the process of fixing), and we will close on June 4th, assuming all goes as it should with our financing.  We even got a lower rater than expected, 3.875%.  Very exciting.

Even more exciting is the fact that this house has no wood paneling or creepy basements.  No basement at all, actually, just a crawlspace.  That is a-okay in my book.

Meet the house:

There are many things that I am looking forward to in moving into my own home, and I decided to share my top ten.  In no particular order, except for the one that I came up with, they are:

10. No more needing quarters every week for laundry.

9. No more relying on the unreliable CTA.

8. Having two bathrooms.  (It seems like whenever Mr. W goes to bathroom is the exact moment my bladder decides that IT MUST BE EMPTIED RIGHT! FREAKING! NOW!)

7. Better access to and utilization of the public library.

6. Having my own car again.

5. Gardening! (Who knew that this would ever be something I would be excited about?  Not me.)  Here is a shot of the backyard:

4. Not having annoying people live right above us who pace the creaky floors in the morning, vacuum late at night and either do a lot of jumping jacks or have disturbingly rhythmic sex.

[Not pictured and you're welcome.]

3. Not driving around in circles looking for parking at 2am on a Saturday night.

2. Setting up some kind of lounge chair in this room and reading while cats sit in the windows and watch the birds outside.

1. The Kevin Bacon marathon that I am apparently having. (It started as a joke, so I don’t know if we are actually having it, but it has reminded me that I have not seen Footloose.  I like things related to dancing, so you would think that I would have seen this.)

Mr. W and I have looked at a fair number of houses — some not so good, some not so bad, and almost all containing at least one wood-paneled room.  Seriously what is wrong with these wood-paneling people?  I am not a middle-aged man from 1955 who smokes cigars and drinks cognac.  I do not need wood-paneling on my walls, thank you.

Lest you think I am exaggerating, there is this…

And this…

And this…

In this picture I am studiously taking notes about something, most likely about the horrid throw pillow before me.  They are the wood-paneled wall of throw pillows.

None of those houses are contenders.  We have one more house to look at, hopefully this week, but have our sites on one house so far.  It needs some updating, which I am not crazy about, but also has these weird intercoms from the seventies in every room.  And I mean, every room.  If I need to tell Mr. W that we are out of milk while he is showering in the random basement shower, there’s an intercom for that.  He thinks it’s awesome, and I can admit I can see some great possibilities featuring a new speaker system and iPod docks, but as they are right now they really creep me out.

Mr. W didn’t get any pictures of the weird intercoms, but I Googled them and found the exact one that is in the kitchen (for those all-important out-of-milk updates):

It’s like something out of those cheesy B movies that they watch on Mystery Science Theater.  “Increase the Flash Gorden noise and put more science stuff around!”

And then I’m throwing this last picture in here… it has nothing to do with houses, but we look cute even if my neck does look a little broken.

Teri’s Ten Most Favorite Books

The Book Thief – Markus Zusak
The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
On Writing – Stephen King
From the Corner of His Eye – Dean Koontz
The Walking Dead series – Robert Kirkman
Bridge to Terabithia – Katherine Paterson
House of Leaves – Mark Z Danielewski
The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
1984 – George Orwell
Outlander – Diana Gabaldon

Teri’s Ten Least Favorite Books

Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
Demon Seed – Dean Koontz
The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
Anything by Dan Brown
Cell – Stephen King
Wicked – Gregory Maguire
Gravity’s Rainbow – Thomas Pynchon
The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
The Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger
The Box – Richard Matheson [whatever you do, do not watch the movie either]

In more music-related news, I really enjoy reggae music.  I think you would be hard-pressed to find another genre of music that is as positive and upbeat.  I especially enjoy listening to reggae in the winter, because every time I hear it I think of bright sunshine, the ocean, and pleasant breezes.  My own temperate island amidst January bleakness.

In fact, my desktop background is currently this:

Though, now, when I hear Three Little Birds, there is also the image of Will Smith crying over his dog thanks to the I Am Legend movie.  He’s still on a gorgeous beach in the bright sunshine and pleasant breezes, but it still manages to dampen the overall carefree feeling.

I Am Legend was a really good movie.

It’s been awhile since I posted a cute cat picture, so…

You’re welcome.