Guess what I'm doing today...

PACKING!

And feeling a little edgy, I don't know why, but watch out.

My sentiments today, unfortunately minus the "done" part...

RIP Dextie

Dear Dextie,

May you rest in peace.  You came to us new in 1998, making you 13 (close to 14) when you passed.  For the grand total of about $13,000, we got a brand new car with no upgrades to be seen.  A Civic DX (I keep wondering if this is how I came up with Dexter) 5-speed, you were driven so carefully by Uncle Bob, and I know he cringed when he signed you over to me in 2006 for only $1,000!  I learned to drive stick with you, which until the age of 19 was a huge point earner with the boys for me.

I'm sorry I didn't treat you better, as I have no doubt that you could still be running today.  From the first time I crashed you, I took you for granted, and the oil changes and car washes got further and further apart.  You turned into a traveling storage locker and I'm sure the added weight of all of my crap took a toll on your suspension.  After your hood was shut too hard last June, your stitched on bumper proved to be the least of your problems.  I wasn't too worried about not being able to give you an oil change - you HAD lasted over 17,000 miles once - but I also knew that once something went wrong, we couldn't crack your chest another time.

I'm sure giving you a rest from May until October was not my finest idea (you poor, neglected beast), but you really came through when I needed you these past few weeks.  You held back your tired sighs and dutifully started and delivered me safely to work when I forgot my keys to the truck in Pat's car.  Then, when the Beemer died on us and I needed you again, you got me where I needed to be - and back - before switching your check engine light on and throwing the towel in.  I respect that you're tired, and you will be cleaned out before we move and donated to charity, where I am sure they can use you for parts.  Think of it as organ donation, my friend - an honorable way to go.

(Don't think there haven't been tears shed, or that there won't be more when he gets towed away.  Dextie has been an institution in this family, and this feels like the end of an era.  Moving into a house that we own AND saying goodbye to my teenage car at the same time is a big "hey you're an adult now" wake up call and I don't like it!!)

Cars.

I just highlighted half of a completed post about the story of the last 2 nights and pressed backspace.  It was longwinded and honestly just a big whine about how much I hate cars right now.

Cliffs:

Got in a trade at work that Pat was interested in.  A beautifully maintained 2003 BMW 540i with the M-Sport package and the price was right.  Brought car home on overnight test drive.  Car battery light came on 10 miles from home, that's not good.  Wouldn't turn on when we got home.  Charged from truck battery with our brand new jumper cables (not an exciting purchase, by the way) for a while, then again at 5:40am (I get the award for the best girlfriend of Wednesday, even if I couldn't pop the truck hood because the latch was a bit rusty).  Bimmer got 100 feet down the driveway and the dash lit up like the 4th of July, damn, not going to make it to work in that.

Pat takes Truck (it's not a badly capitalized noun, Truck is its name), leaving me with the Civic.  The Civic had gotten me out of a jam earlier in the week when I left Truck's keys in Pat's car, but this would be 2 trips across state lines after it hadn't run since May, and I was nervous to take it to work.  Read more about Dextie here.  Oh well.  Reup my AAA membership because it obviously expired on 11/1/11, and here we are on 11/2/11.  Shower and get to work.

Leave work yesterday, sit in traffic for a good 30 minutes.  Dextie is not happy.  He's doing this weird rev-then-relax cycle whenever he's in neutral or the clutch is in.  Hmmm.  Call AAA to come pick the BMW up for its 40 mile journey back to the used car lot at work, get to the 2nd to last stop light on my way home, and the Civic throws its first check engine light in 13 years.  That can't be good.

I'm keeping it revved and about to run the red light when it finally turns green and I got into my apartment complex as fast as I semi-legally could.  Dextie's next trick was to violently buck front to back whenever I wasn't in neutral (his previously least favorite non-gear).  It was ugly, really ugly.  I almost gave an elderly neighbor a heart attack when I bucked past him. 

AAA called at 5:21pm saying they would be there within 30 minutes, so I didn't start dinner or do anything really except sit and eat Oreos I had left over from the cheesecake crust.

At 7:15pm a very nice man from Herb's Towing showed up to take the pretty BMW to its home, and my night was finally over.

In just 24 short hours, we went from having 3 working cars, to a potential 4th, and then down to 2.  What gives!?

Baking vs Cooking

I like to think that I'm a fairly good cook.  At least, Pat eats everything I make for dinner.  That might be because he knows how sensitive I can be and he doesn't want to lose his backrub privileges (no, that's not code for anything else).  But even I like 99% of the food I make.  Cooking, to me, is fun, and is all about taste.  It's become more of an experiment since Pat and I have lived together and I like challenging myself to be more adventurous and better than the last time around.

Baking and I have always had trouble, though.  Baking is chemistry.  And not the easy-high school-Mrs. Kilmartin-goof off while taking tests-kind of chemistry.  No, baking to me is the really tough-gotta take it during the summer because I failed it in the spring and the summer teacher is easier-better study and bring the teacher coffee-ORGANIC chemistry.  I like to think I'm on the road to getting better since as a 23 year old aspiring housewife (just kidding), I finally learned that over mixing makes things SUCK (gluten and whatnot).  My last homemade boxed pumpkin bread came out fantastic and I credit it to NOT overmixing.  Feeling confident, I decided to take on cheesecake.

What?!  Cheesecake?!  I don't even LIKE cheesecake.  The boy does, though, and in honor of my birthday (...?) I decided to make him a fall treat - pumpkin cheesecake with an Oreo crust.  So, the other night at work I printed out a recipe and of course forgot to bring it with me when I went shopping so I got the ingredients by memory.  Yesterday while I was refusing to get out of my pajamas becauseit'smydayandIdon'thaveto, I started to mix things together and realized that I was missing 1/3 of my cream cheese and so instead added a yogurt.  Does this make sense to anyone but me?

I mixed what I was supposed to mix and set the timer for 60 minutes like my recipe said and settled down onto the couch for the next hour.  I decided to Google cheesecake baking tips and realized that there was not a single one that I followed because my "Super Easy Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe" from about.com did not mention any of them!

• I didn't originally know that my springform pan was going to leak, so I warmed up the butter for the crust in the stove and now our kitchen smells like burning vegetable oil.
• I knew nothing of a water bath instead of direct baking and of course have huge cracks in the surface.
• I took the cheesecake out of the oven at 60 minutes instead of leaving it inside to slowly cool.
• I used the wrong ingredients (see above).
• I may have overmixed.  I thought I was safe because this is a gluten free desert, however eggs hold air.

You know what, though?  Pat thinks it tastes great.  I still don't like cheesecake.

From about.com:

This dessert is super-easy and makes a really impressive presentation. Plus, the whipped cream topping will hide any "cracks" in the cake's surface. There's no way you can mess it up, so give it a try today!
Note: This is a great recipe for making the day before a big event, such as Thanksgiving. Just be sure to allow yourself plenty of time to make the cheesecake and allow it to chill for several hours or overnight.

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs A bunch (12?) of Oreos smashed up
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) melted butter Original 1/2 stick plus another 1/4 after it all leaks out into your oven
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 lbs. cream cheese, softened 1 lb spreadable cream cheese, fridge temp, plus 1 serving of Oikos honey flavored Greek yogurt
• 1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 14-oz. 15-oz can pumpkin puree
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon However much cinnamon you eyeball because the pouring spout really sucks
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 1/2 cups whipping cream
• 1/4 cup confectioner's ("powdered") sugar Haven't added the whipped cream yet but I will before I bring it to work!

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 350º F.
2. Add the 4 tablespoons of butter to a 10-inch or 12-inch springform pan and place it in the oven to melt.
3. Add the graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Stir.
4. Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan and 1/2 way up the sides.
5. Bake at 350º F. for 10 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, yogurt and sweetened condensed milk. Beat at medium-high speed until well combined.
7. Add the pumpkin puree, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves.
8. Beat at medium speed until smooth.
9. Scrape the sides of the bowl and beat again until the mixture is completely smooth. This may take 1-2 minutes.
10. Pour the mixture into the prepared springform pan.
11. Bake at 350º F. for 60 minutes.
12. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool. Run a knife blade along the rim of the springform pan to release the edge of the cake; but do not remove the outer ring of the springform pan just yet.
13. Leave the cheesecake on the wire rack until it is completely cooled.
14. Remove the outer ring of the springform pan and place the cheesecake in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours or overnight.
15. Shortly before serving, prepare the whipped cream. Simply beat the whipping cream and confectioner's sugar until stiff peaks form.
16. Spread the whipped cream over the cheesecake. This will hide any "cracks" in the cake's surface, too!
17. Chill again until you're ready to serve.

All in all, I'm feeling less intimidated by baking.  Two successful projects in a week, one of which should have been a complete disaster, and two pumpkiny desserts (breakfasts).

What about you?  Are you a baker, or a cooker (cook?  chef?)?

First snow

We had assumed that there was a good chance we'd be in the house to experience the first snowfall of the year, since our closing date is December 8th.  However...

Yep, we got the snow, too!  Not nearly as much as New Jersey and parts of Mass got, but I can't ever remember having a white birthday.  (It's actually kind of a funny slap in the face considering how much I hate the cold and wet weather.  Happy birthday wake up to me).  It'll all be melted and gone in the next couple of days, but seriously?!?!

Just hoping this weird weather isn't part of a forecast for the rest of the year...Actually, I'll just ask that it be BONE DRY while we are moving.  Can't stand the thought of the upstairs carpets getting trashed by dirty boots! :-(

Holy crap

Are you loving my sophisticated vocabulary??

The last week has been a WHIRLWIND!  A whirlwind of awesome sauce!

Monday: Got the mortgage approval letter you saw in the last post.

Tuesday: Left my job of 2+ years, which I was so relieved about but also a little nervous.  When I talked to my boss at my part time job, though, she told me that ironically another girl told her she was leaving earlier that morning, and that as of 10/31/11, full time is available to me!  What perfect timing, this whole thing could NOT have worked out better!

Wednesday: Went to see the "K" house - loved it as I knew I would.  Pat told me to go for it sight unseen (he has seen a very similar house) and he spoke with our realtor to draw up an offer.

This morning: We put in an offer ($5k off + $5k in closing costs) and they countered with asking price and $4,900 in closing costs.  Pat accepted!

I think this is the first time this has all felt real...

Like I said, holy crap!

We got it...

I'm scared of white appliances

It has recently come to my attention that I have a new fear I wasn't aware of before this house hunt started.

It's not clowns.
It's not spiders.
It's not the irrational panic I feel when I prop the oven door half open to put something inside because THEDOORISGOINGTOSLAMSHUTONMYARMS.

No, I already knew I had all of THOSE fears.

My newly discovered phobia is one of white appliances.

Call it Oileukophobia. (Oikophobia: fear of household surroundings, often including appliances.  Leukophobia: fear of the color white.  Enough people really HAVE these afflictions that they need to name them????)

I look at a kitchen like this:

 source

and it reminds me of a wholeeeee bunch of houses that I've turned down even considering.  The common factor is the white appliances!  No matter the great bones or the ability to update, I just have this huge natural aversion to white kitchen machines!

(Now, before you guys think I'm calling anyone's kitchen ugly publicly, that's not the case.  They've got some great things going on in this kitchen, and the only reason I even felt comfortable using this picture as an example is because the owners apparently thought it was ugly, too - or at least ugly enough to redo the space, which they did, and it turned out beautifully, and I wouldn't feel right if I didn't show you guys that picture as well) :

source

So, I've decided, I need to get over myself and embrace the possibility of a white kitchen.  Yes, it's true that if we purchase a new house, we're going to either be buying our own appliances (most likely stainless with some black accents) or the kitchen will come fully equipped in a more-modern-than-white color, but if we can't get a brandy new home?  There's a good chance an older kitchen will be donning some less than current electronics.

I've started looking at some pictures of beautiful spaces with white appliances to give myself a little confidence and to try to convince myself that it'll all be okay.  Keep calm and carry on, right?!

A few of my favorites for your viewing enjoyment:

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Buying beauty vs creating beauty

Our realtor had a little accident while setting up appointments for yesterday morning:  she mistook the bright red caution highlighting on our spreadsheet as houses we were eager to get into rather than those we'd like to stay away from for the time being.  They were marked that way because they were all in a price range that is just too much for us to consider right now.  By the time we all realized that the house addresses corresponded with the most expensive properties on our list, it was too late, and plus, we wanted to see the houses eventually anyway.  So, we set the GPS and started the morning.

(I'm making it sound like everything was hunky dory with me.  In reality, it was actually a pretty intense morning (and evening before) because I was ticked off something fierce.  Once I calmed down, it became apparent to Pat and I that we couldn't ever have a wedding - Bridezilla will not even begin to explain what I would probably be, based on the words that come out of my mouth when I'm stressed.  And no, it wasn't just this tiny mistake - there's been tons of problems with this realtor, in my eyes at least.  Another post for another day.)

Two houses we saw were brand new and one was basically brand new with some huge quirks.  Realtor lady is going to figure out the deal with said quirks (two years old, fully custom, gorgeous, but...things like bolts going through the fridge?!)  The two that were brand new were nice, but were anything but "designer" - very cookie cutter.  After falling in love with the strange property, I got to thinking, there's no reason we can't put designer touches on a less expensive home in good shape.

 (source)

It's really easy to get lost in blog world with ladies like Sarah (Thrifty Decor Chick) and Karen (The Art of Doing Stuff) making it look easy to have beautiful homes.  They both leave you feeling inspired to be crafty, for sure, but the other feeling that I always have when I read their blogs is that I want to BUY a beautiful home!  I'm wondering if it would be as fun...

Look at the difference in two houses we saw yesterday:

The picture doesn't do this justice, but I didn't think to bring my camera in since it was honestly out of our price comfort zone.  It's a stock photo from Trulia.  But, what we have here is a gorgeous fireplace with custom molding that flows through the two formal rooms in the house.  The entire house is like this - completely gorgeous.

This is the other house, brand new, cookie cutter.  Could we not make this just as beautiful as the first house for more than $20,000 LESS in purchase price??

I've rethunk the idea of needing to buy something that has the exact look we want - I'm feeling confident that we can design anything if the slate is blank (and big) enough.

Off-Topic: iTunes find

Hey all!

Completely off topic, but I was super excited when I figured this out about iTunes (how many of us use iTunes or our iPod/iPhone every day?!)

I was looking for a way to tag Pat and I's music as such.  We both like a lot of different types of music, but some of those just don't overlap.  Neither of us like having the other's music come up when we're in the middle of a jam sesh.

I knew that I wanted to change the genre (because we don't care about the actual official genre of music) to either "Pat," "Codi," or "both," for the music that we do both like.  I chose the genre over the grouping because the genre is something you can tell your iPod to choose from.  With over 1600 songs on my laptop and something ridiculous like 24,000 on his desktop, I couldn't stomach the idea of double clicking on each song in the correct spot and typing our name out.  I did multiple Google searches using both my computer-inept language and using terms that I found through said searches (no idea what an ID3 tag or AAC something or other is, but I thought it might get me to where I needed to be.)  The answer, according to many, was that there was no easy way to change these!

Since I had already gone through all of the artists on the laptop, making those correct, I knew that using the per each method would take me close to 10 years to get through (because it's just so boring that you stop after 10-20 songs, even on a motivated day).  Oh well.

Then, I figured it out!

First, highlight the songs you'd like to change info for:

 Next, right-click and go to "Get Info."  It's a little counter-intuitive if you ask me, which is why I never thought of it before:

Type in whatever fields you'd like to change, and make sure the corresponding check boxes are selected.  This would have been super convenient when I was trying to get all of my artist names spelled correctly.

Click ok!  You'll see that now, the rest of the Dashboard Confessional songs are categorized with the genre of "codi."  It may not be what Apple had in mind, but it works really well for us.

That's it, it's really easy!  What can you tell about my music taste from the pictures above?  I'm tagging Dashboard as just me (Pat doesn't appreciate Chris Carrabba; I don't appreciate the females in Chris' life), and while I was taking the screen shots, Chris Cagle (country) and then Deadmau5 (techno) played.  Now Kanye is on!  How's all that for diversity?

Anyway, hope I helped someone!  (And, for humility's sake, I hope I wasn't the only one who didn't know anything about this feature in iTunes).