Grrrrs, Grills and Girls

Camping was a lot of fun although a "jobsworth" Ranger tried his best to disrupt our plans. If he'd have had his way there would have been a large sign at the entrance saying "No fun allowed". Any how here's a picture of the Beast in it's natural environment...Grrrrr!

I'm rapidly becoming assimilated into the American way of life with a new addition to the family. I'm now in possession of a propane gas grill which I was given for free. After a bit of cleaning and a new part it fired up first time ready to cook last night's dinner of tuna, mahi mahi, shrimp and grilled veggies.

Last week we finally got to see inside the house we put an offer in way back in January. We've been pressing to get inside since we put the offer in but the occupier (who's not the owner) was refusing to let anyone inside on the advice of their attorney. We've still yet to hear from the mortgage holder whether or not they'll accept our offer so the waiting continues. Let's just say that the place needs a lick of paint, new flooring and some new fixtures and fittings to make it liveable to Mrs P's standards. Good job she didn't come to see my house in England until it was nearly finished otherwise she'd have been on the first flight home again!

I know I'm biased but isn't this the cutest picture ever? Baby C is doing really well and is nwo sleeping from about 9 or 10 at night through to 5am next morning. Mrs P is ecstatic to be able to get 7 hours sleep a night.

I'm off on a course this coming week down in Daytona. It's called Income approach to property valuation and is heavy on the maths. The geek in me is looking forward to it.

Anyway must dash the grass is looking a bit parched at the moment and I need to adjust the automatic sprinkler system as it looks like it's missing a few patches.

Busy as the Easter bunny

It's been superbusy around here again and last Friday was Raina's 8th Birthday. We held a family party out our house as it's now big enough that we can do that. Dinner was taco's at Raina's request. We gave her a Nintendo DSi as her main present along with Super Mario Bros as a game.

Saturday we hosted a pool party at the Community pool and over 20 kids turned up.

Sunday morning the Easter bunny had turned up and spread tons of eggs around the pond. The kids next door as well as some friend's kids from down the street.



Sunday was our turn to host Easter for the family and this time we did an Easter lunch. Sunday afternoon I lay on the sofa and watched the conclusion of the Master's golf. It was about as much as I could do after drinking Poinsetta's (champagne and cranberry juice) and white wine at lunch time. I swear that drinking during daylight hours counts double.

After all of this the house looks like a disaster zone and next weekend we're all off camping too.

Oh and I've bruised or cracked my ribs. I was larking about with kids in the yard the other weekend playing ball and I took a diving catch (think Gordon Banks at his prime) and I landed rather awkwardly and dug my elbow into my ribs. I think I would have utter some foul language but I had the wind knocked out of me and couldn't breathe.

March in a nutshell

Apologies for not posting sooner but it's been a VERY busy time. Firstly my parents flew out for a week to see us and more importantly their first grandchild. They stayed in a wonderful condo just a couple of blocks away that overlooked the ocean. They were treated to some wonderful weather while they were here and had a great time with baby C. Mrs P's uncle and his family also came over from Texas for the weekend and so we all spent a fair bit of time together. We ate and drank like kings and queens and Grammy and Walter entertained the entire troop (all 14 of us) tirelessly.

Granddad enjoys a cuddle

and Nana has a little chat with Charlotte

While everyone was here the space shuttle Discovery launched from the space center and we all went down to the beach to watch it. Mrs P was most surprised at the number of people there too as she was expecting us to be the only sad losers watching.

Secondly we've moved house. We've not heard anything from the bank about the one we're trying to buy but we've moved into a PHAT house in the same neighborhood. It's a 4 bed 2 1/2 bath that has a big bonus playroom for the kids. We moved ourselves with tons of help from several friends without whom the job would have taken more than the 4 hours it did.

Thirdly we've closed Mrs P's house and so there's no going back now. Mrs P and Raina were understandably nervous and not sure the new house was them. To be honest the first few dasy were tough as we had boxes everywhere and nothing was unpacked and it felt like a house and not a home. However this weekend we'vw managed to sort a ton of stuff out and everyone is happy again.

Lastly we've had no landline or more importantly internet access from home but all that has been fixed. That's the orange flags you can see in the picture of the front of the house

Wish I could sleep this well

Well firstly Baby Charlotte is doing great with tons of eating sleeping and crying in that order!. She's gained weight and is now a 9lb baby.

On the house front our threat of legal recourse appears to have paid off and the seller has withdrawn the second offer. These buyer's are apparently interested in another house and have withdrawn completely, so our offer alone has gone to the lender.

In the mean time we've found a place to rent for 3 months in the same subdivision as we're trying to buy and it's a few doors along from one of Mrs P's friends. We're taking possession on 20 May and moving in the next day. We've got boxes and boxes of stuff packed up in readiness and it's all stacked in the hallway making it difficult to get around. We sure do need a bigger house.

STOP PRESS: After 5 weeks of waiting we heard back from the lender late friday afternoon. They countered our offer and so we've gone back to them again. They gave us a totally unrealistic deadline to reply to them of the end of the business day and only told us this at 4 pm. It was panic stations here while we worked out what to do. We hope to hear more on Monday

Breaking the Law

Not us you'll understand, someone else. While Baby C was arriving in to this world, our other world of trying to buy a house was falling apart. We found out that our buyer has accepted a second higher offer on the house that we're we under contract to buy. Because it's a short sale the final decision has to go to the lender to agree and both offers have been submitted.

We're furious at this as our contract with the the seller stated that he wouldn't submit other offers to the lender and would no longer continue to market the property. He's now claiming that he couldn't read the line but as he's signed it any way that doesn't count. The listing agent is a BITCH and denies doing anything wrong, but as she's representing the seller and conveniently the other buyer she would get to keep the entire commission if she sells it to her buyer rather than half of it if she sells to us. Any how glad it's the most litigious country in the world as we're about to unleash the hounds of the legal system in their direction.

It's a.....

....a girl! Charlotte Louise was born at 08:04 on Tuesday 10th February and weighed in at 7lbs 8oz. I know it's cliched and everyone says it about their own kids but she is the prettiest and cutest baby I've ever seen.

Everyone is very happy with the new arrival and Mrs P and Baby C left the hospital and came home on Thursday. I'll post some pictures as soon as I can but it won't let me at the moment. The pictures will show you how happy I am much better than anything I can possibly write.









Mrs P is recovering slowly from her operation but she's up and about and doing way too much around the house. She thinks I'll get annoyed with her calling me all the time. I won't but I do get annoyed when she's up and about doing stuff she shouldn't be! I even rigged up a wireless doorbell so that she can chime me from the bedroom whenever she needs something. Only the very rich and famous can say they've got an English butler!

With President's Day today it's been a 4 day weekend and the kids haven't been to school. With that and a new baby at home it's been a mad mad mad mad time.

Crazy just crazy

Not really sure where to begin, it's been a crazy few weeks around here. Kate is totally to blame as she notified us of a foreclosure house for sale that was a steal at under $270,000. Mrs P LOVED the house and we set about getting mortgage arranged. Although we offered full asking price, the bank unfortunately decided to go with a cash offer and so we missed out. However things didn't end there and we decided to see what else is on offer at the moment. We discussed our options with the mortgage advisor and they told us how much we could borrow, but this was contingent on our current house being on the market for sale. I spent most of January (that's every evening and weekend) sanding, filling, priming and painting the house. I've repainted the master bedroom ceiling and the skirting boards door frame and window frames. Painted the ceiling in the hall, kitchen, second bathroom and dining room. Filled, primed and painted the crown molding, skirting boards, door frames and doors in the kitchen, hall second bathroom and dining room too. Outside of the house I've cut a forest of overgrown stuff out of the back yard.

You can see the virtual tour of the house here


We listed our house in the middle of all this decorating (and before it was really ready) but a couple of weeks later we had an offer. After much offer/counter offer/counter counter offer we all agreed on a price and we're closing on March 25th. We've no place to move into yet but we've offered on a house that's going to short sale. That means that the mortgage lending company has to agree to sell the house for less than the current mortgage and forego the difference. This process takes a long time and there's no set time scale for them to make a decision. In the mean time we'll look for short term rental properties.

Next week is the big event and the baby is arriving on Tuesday morning. Yes time has FLOWN by and we're all systems go here. We think we've agreed on names but that could all change in last couple of days. Mrs P has finished work now for the next 12 weeks and I've only got one day left then I'm off for a week. We have to be at the hospital at 5am on Tuesday with the baby arriving by 8am. Mrs P has a comedy belly at the moment and looks like she's swallowed a basketball.

It's been very cold here for the past week with temperatures near record lows, that's in the 20's F which is about -5C. Still things are improving and it's supposed to be back to the 70s tomorrow. Hopefully that's winter over with for this year.

I'll try and get online next tuesday with some news and pics of the baby, like its name, sex and weight. Who says you can't have a baby and move house at the same time??? Pah, I'll show you how it's done!