Vacation all I ever wanted...

Exposing my advanced age yet again with that title.

Yesterday marked my first official day of vacation this time around. It was my intention to have a couple days of "MH" stuff going on before departing for the Great Up North, where I will spend a week with my beloved Grammy. I just needed time to sit around doing my most favorite thing in the world: calculating my budget every which way. It's the most fun ever.

I love it when I get some bright idea in my head like, "Hmmm, wonder how much money I'd have left over at the end of the month if I ONLY ate salad with no dressing?" or "Hmmm, if I bought a condo with a patio or a yard and grew my own salad, THEN how much money would I save?.... Well then I could afford a higher mortgage payment, right? So how much more can I spend on a house if I grow my own salad?" Stuff like that, you know important things.

In between calculations and other serious endeavors, I found the time to convince two different real estate agents to show me some townhomes. One was COMPLETELY out of my price range. Not, mind you, more than I'd been approved for- but one thing I've learned from watching everybody else lose their houses is to buy based on what I know I can pay. Not what some guy TELLS me I can get a loan for. So then I looked at a unit that is about $75,000 cheaper than #1. The only thing I can't stand is that I will have neighbors on EACH side of me. Ugh. I asked the agent if she knew anything about them, and she looked at me like I'd stepped out of one of those Nazi propaganda films. She said, "I'm sure you understand that these types of discussions are not prudent." Well, why not?! It's not like I asked her if they were Irish Catholics. What I REALLY wanted to know was whether or not they had any kids. Specifically TEENAGERS. Because I know exactly what I'd have to deal with if a teenager lived next door. I used to be a teenager. I wouldn't have wanted to live next door to me. So anyway, I didn't get anywhere with her. She referred me to the HOA president, who I'll talk to later if I decide to show up with my tape measure.

I also looked at a new-build. Wasn't impressed, and it must be bad if I'M not impressed. I could probably count on one hand the amount of times I've actually stood in a home that hasn't ever been lived in. But the whole development looked somewhat thrown together. I opened a closet and saw a bunch of boxes and leftover pieces from the furniture that apparently didn't need to be put together all the way. The bedrooms were tiny. What if I wanted to get a king sized bed? Lastly, the REAL hurdle would be the ugly spiral staircase, which leads to the "loft" "master suite." WTF were they thinking? How are we supposed to get our master suites up there? I don't know.

So in the morning, bright and early, I'm off to see my Grammy. She is at the point where she can't be left alone anymore and I volunteered to go up there for a week. I can't wait to see her! She loves to play Scrabble and I might be able to get her to tell me some stories about her "Momma" and "Nana."

When I return, I intend to waste ZERO time in finding a house and getting moved in. Have to keep moving on and up!