The Mercury Mistake

Argh. Are Mondays icky for everybody out there, or is it just me? It just seems like they last about twice as long as every other day of the week. Why can't SATURDAYS last twice as long as every other day -- now that would be cool ! At least this Monday is over with -- woohoo!!

Unfortunately, Jeff, the restaurant on the BARGE was closed. Evidently they JUST closed it this past week -- they closed it on my birthday - the last day of summer! Bummer! I have heard such great things about the place -- so we'll have to go next year sometime.

We signed a 6-month lease with our apartment today -- since we have basically decided to build a house, 6 months is a good time-frame to work with. Our builders have said that they usually shoot for a 5-6 month work period. Soooo -- that puts us into March/April. Now we've just got to decide on some land -- and get the ball rolling. We looked at several lots of Saturday -- -and only two of them were possibilities. One of them I love the location -- and it's nice and wooded with almost four acres (woohoo!) -- so we're going to see how much the land improvements (clearing for the house & driveway, utilities hookup, etc) will be for it and then possibly put in a bid on it. The building company said that the max land improvement costs are usually around 12,000 - 13,000. Whew. But that's if you have to have EVERYTHING done to it. The land we're looking at is already pretty level -- and that is what usually costs the most -- so we're hoping to have a LOT less expensive improvement estimate.

We've already chosen a basic houseplan -- but we haven't sat down with them and changed a few things around. The only thing I'm not wild about in the houseplan is the kitchen area -- but I think if we flip it around and maybe add another cabinet in, it will be good. I'm going to see what they think about it -- hopefully it's feasible! It's just really wild that you get to choose everything. From the color of the carpets and walls and countertops --- to even WHERE on the land the house sits. The builders say you get to go out and stake out where you want the house to sit --- and then they ask where you want the front porch to face, etc etc. Just wild. Really cool. Lots of decisions to make too. It should be fun though!! I'm excited!!

We have GOT to get rid of my car -- the 95 Mercury Mystique -- otherwise known as the Mercury MISTAKE. Grrrr. When I first got it in 96, it was beautiful and ran perfectly, and I LOVED it. It was, up until that point, the nicest car I had ever had. (My first car was a DIESEL Volvo, then a baby blue OLD Ford Escort, then a red Chevrolet Cavalier, and then the Mystique. I could talk for days about the many many car problems and breakdowns I've had. When I was in highschool, I basically had a stand-up routine about all my car troubles!). Anyway -- in the past year -- everything has fallen apart on it. Now it just keeps dying. All the time. This is NOT safe when you are driving in rush-hour traffic. Grrrr. I've been letting Steve drive the Escape (our new vehicle) because he is very tall (6'4") and was having knee problems from driving my little car -- he could barely fit in it anyway because of his height. So when we got the Escape - I wanted him to drive it so his knees could stop aching and getting twisted. I think we're going to be doing another vehicle transaction within the month though. It's getting ridiculous! I don't need a fancy super-nice car --- just something that runs and that I know won't die on me when I pull out into traffic. Grrrrrrrr. I think we'll try carpooling the rest of the week --- it's just not safe for me to drive it anymore the way it's going. (Anybody out there want a green 1995 Mercury Mystique? I'll give it to you for $10? LOL )