Lisa Writing Wild

We put our first offer in Monday afternoon and wasn't sure if we'd even hear anything back since we went so low. Six hours later our realtor called. He talked for a few minutes about how he'd been going back and forth with the other realtor (he's slow at getting to the point). Mike had just put him on speakerphone when he said, "Are you guys ready for this? (we were) They accepted your offer." I accidentally yelled, "Holy shit!" into the phone (luckily he laughed) then proceeded to do a happy dance and basically couldn't sit still for the rest of the night. It was almost as fun calling friends and family to tell them as it was calling them when Joey was freed for adoption. The woman who lived in the house passed away and her kids were selling the house. They had just lowered the price by $7K and we went $10K under that. We thought for sure we'd be going back and forth all week negotiating. We never thought they'd accept right away. We a...

Yesterday we had plans to go look at two houses we were interested in with my brother and dad. They're both extremely knowledgeable about houses and we needed their input. The first house was shot down almost right away because it had an old electrical box and system that would need to be updated. The second house, and the one we assumed we'd end up putting an offer in for, wasn't much better. It needs a lot of cosmetic work and there's a definite mold problem in the basement. It was treated for mold in October but it's back like crazy in that short amount of time. It's guaranteed for life, but it's $90 every time they come to treat it. Not much of a guarantee if you ask me. My dad and brother still thought it might be worth having the house inspected. It was built in the 60s and hasn't had any updates since. The kitchen floor, wallpaper, counters, some of the houses moldings and trim would all have to be replaced. Not to mentioned the entire hous...

I never thought the day would come when I didn't want to look at houses, but it's here. For the last ten years I've wanted nothing more than kids and a house. We finally have our kid and next is a house. We've looked at approximately 23 houses, including three today. There is one house we've liked all along, but it needs cosmetic work. I have no problem painting, tearing up carpets, fixing drywall, etc. But we're afraid there's a mold problem in that basement. They had a "treatment" done that's guaranteed for life, but the walls look a mess, so it's obviously back. This is where my brother comes in. Having built houses before he knows what to look for. This house has four bedrooms, two full baths, a laundry room, enclosed back porch and .28 fenced in acres. The downside (besides the possible mold) is it's not in a neighborhood and on a busy road. I guess we'll see what happens tomorrow when we all go to look at it again. We look...

The past ten years were the hardest I've been through, but I've also grown a lot in the process. In a nutshell I: Lost my mom and aunt (my two best friends), moved seven (soon to be eight) times, quit a thirteen year career, divorced, remarried, became a foster parent, became an adoptive parent, made two movies, lost my grandma, didn't speak to my brother for two years, reconnected with old friends, got rid of toxic ones, became comfortable with who I am, stopped letting people walk all over me, and started standing up for myself and my family (this was huge), almost lost my step-mother twice to suicide, found my voice as a writer even though I struggle daily with the actual writing, built and ran a writing website for writers, learned who my real friends were when I got divorced, reconnected with my ex-husband and his wife, and we're all good friends who get together now, struggle with family and learned how to say no. I'm sure that's not everything, but it...