Do we stay or do we go?

My MLS moratorium is about over. For those of you who don't know what the MLS is, it's the Multiple Listing Service, aka the houses up for sale. When we bought this house, we got $6,500 from the IRS. Why? I have no idea; it was Congress's stupid idea to revive the housing market. But, hey, they offered it. We took it. As part of the agreement for that $6,500, we had to stay in the house for 3 years or pay back the $6,500.

We closed on this house on December 14, 2009. Not that I keep track of these things...

So we can sell the house as of December 14, 2012 without having to pay anything back. Which means we're in an acceptable window to put this house up for sale to potentially have a mid-December closing.

I don't like this house. I always wanted to have a big house. I can now say I've had one. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. Now get me out!

The house is too big. The yard is too big. I've never felt like it was home. It is nice to watch the water from almost every room in the house. That part is nice. But we can get a smaller house with a water view. Something more homey, more manageable.

My husband really likes the house. It does have some really nice features. He wants to stay.

I want to go.

I think I could persuade him if I found a cool house with a water view up for sale.

Maybe.

4

I've been trying to exercise a lot more in the past two months (moved from my traditional 3 hours a week to 6 hours a week). And eat less or at least be more mindful of what I was eating. It was rather frustrating last month because NOTHING was happening other than my abs and thighs were hurting and my stomach was growling. Hunger and soreness without weight loss just make me cranky, along with multi-level marketing "parties."

I'm happy to report that in two months I'm finally down 4 pounds. I think. I've probably gone through my weight loss math before, and it's rather hard to follow. It's so hard to follow that I get lost myself. So I'm either 4 pounds down or 6 pounds down from two months ago. 4 is more conservative, so that's the one I'm going with. I'm at my pre-pregnancy weight. Actually I'm down to what I lost in anticipation of getting pregnant.

* breathes sigh of relief *

I'm actually also below my driver's license weight. I think if your weight is ever below your driver license weight, you should get a free redo of your license. Wouldn't that be nice? (Aren't you proud of me for putting down a weight that's somewhat close to my actual weight in the first place? I'm not one of those who claims to be half the weight I actually am. Sometimes I have a somewhat realistic view of reality.)

I hope I can keep up the trend or maintain. 7 more pounds would be awesome. If it I was feeling really greedy, then 17 would be even more awesome. But let's face it, 7 more will be even hard enough for me to attain.

Permanent Stamps

I can't remember if I blogged about this subject. If I already have, sorry for the repeat.

Tattoos.

Call me passionless, but there's nothing that I would want etched onto my body forever - or until I am incinerated or my skin decomposes (for the literal, sorry for the macabre). It seems like many people have tattoos with pictures, quotes, names, symbols, etc. Maybe it's only half. Or even less than half. Or maybe that the people with tattoos are likely to wear less clothes.

We should commission a study.

Maybe it's a medium that many people use to show the rest of the world (or significant others, for those more "hidden" tattoos) what is important to them. I choose not to partake in that medium. The pain doesn't deter me. I just don't see the point in getting a tattoo. Whenever I get a stamp on my hand for one reason or the other, I'm ready to scrub it off in a few minutes. I think I'd have a similar disgust for tattoos on myself.

Ultimately, it's a personal decision. If tattoos are the way to display your passions and what's important to you, have at it. My un-tattooed self will sit on the sidelines and watch you get your tattoo.

I hate soccer

These past few weeks have been kicking my butt: going back to longer work hours (I know, a whole HALF HOUR longer each day), soccer, Miss J's upcoming surgery and...ummm...I don't know what else.

Soccer gives me angst. Two practices a week that I have to be sitting on the sidelines, 1) pretending to care about soccer and 2) pretending to care about trivial discussions that the parents have about the first day of school, redshirting, food allergies & Groupon deals. Let's not forget that soccer starts extremely early so I have to pack all the soccer sh&% before I leave for work, try to squeeze out of work a few minutes early, race across town to pick her up, change her in the car or the bathroom at school really fast, and race to the soccer field.

She kind of sucks at soccer. I mean, I know I'm supposed to tell HER that she's doing great. And I do. But she really does suck at it. She skips across the field at a snail's pace. She will only kick the ball if it rolls precisely to her, and there's no chance of anyone else getting it. Compared to her, everyone on her team is practically professional (do they start these kids in soccer before they can walk???). I feel like she's holding back the rest of the team, which makes ME anxious. On the bright side, she hasn't had a soccer field meltdown like the other kids because she doesn't ever get close enough to the ball or the other kids to get any sort of injuries. She just skips across the field with a smile on her face and her tongue sticking out while everyone else kicks each other.

I was obviously smoking crack when I signed her up.

She does seem to like it though. 

Not very substantial

Sorry so long since I posted. This past Sunday we had 25 people at our house for a BBQ. Clean - get ready (grocery shop, food prep, etc.) - BBQ - clean - put everything away - get ready for the week.

I'm still recovering. I really don't like hosting things, but I know I "should." And it was on my summer to do list to have a BBQ.

This week is full of soccer, trying to get things done, and falling asleep rather early - which results in waking up at 3 or 4am. When I wake up that early, I usually just listen to music with headphones. I don't want to wake up my husband by getting out the computer.

Just checking in, I'll try to post something more substantial sometime soon.