For my Francophone friends

Je surfais sur l'internet aujourd'hui et j'ai trouvé une photo d'une mannequine de Monoprix, un grand magasin français comme notre Target.

Elle a un petit problème, n'est pas?

Hiatus or sabbatical?

I'm not in class. I'm not working. Am I on hiatus, on sabbatical, or merely on break?

Anyhow, I was reading a few of my fabulous friends' blogs tonight and was thinking I should write an actual entry myself. I know things have been pretty narrow, what with the exercise and the condo-buying and all, but I'm going to try to branch out.

The Sex and the City movie's coming out this weekend, and I want to see it. Problem is, I just spent about $65 at Schnucks, and that leaves me with about $90 for the rest of the month. Which is okay, I guess, because this week is the last of the month... Money's stupid. Hopefully money won't be quite as stupid once I get my loan money for the summer. I talked to my mom - whose birthday is tomorrow (well, today) - and I explained to her that I'm channeling my gambling kick via cheap scratch tickets because I can't afford casinos right now. I didn't win anything. But it's better to spend $5 and win nothing than to spend $100 and win nothing. Right? I bring this up because summers are our opportunity go to Baraboo, WI. We stay at the casino and I make a mild attempt to hike at Devil's Lake. I so cannot afford that either, so we might do that next summer.

And that got me thinking about travel. I've still never stayed in Canada, with the exception of that layover in summer 2006. I would hate to only have first-hand Francophone experience with only France. I mean, I've never even been to New Orleans. Maybe that'll be my first summer stop. I have a meeting with the French teacher at the school, so I'll ask her how often French students are typically given the chance to go to La France. I'm also going to do some heavy duty research on French restaurants "near" my future city so that I can call that place and arrange a special lunch or something. I guess the current teacher will have some info on what the club has done, and I want to give the kids the same opportunities they have now, but also add some of my own.

Also, I got a manicure on Friday and the polish is all chipping. I want another and am totally hooked.

It's late. Off to bed.

oh really?

I just finished watching Lars and the Real Girl (wow, what a sweet movie...). I'm wearing my pj's, which means, no bra. Also hadn't put in my contacts yet. I get a knock on the door as I'm heading to the bathroom. I assumed it was UPS or something.

NOPE!

some guy in a suit and two people. They're here to look at the apartment! "Didn't you get the notice?"

Ummmmm, no. I SO would at least be dressed right now.

Oh well. At least I wasn't working out yet.

at the five yard line!

I finally accepted a counteroffer from the seller, and now it's just a matter of closing. I'm unable to do so until the last day of June. However, I'm screwed royally if the seller backs out; however, it's come to my and my agent's attention that she had her eye on a home to purchase, so she really wanted to sell her condo.

So now it's a matter of getting everything organized: I might beg my mom to keep my cat for a couple weeks while I stay at my sister's and move into the condo. I have to make sure I have enough money to pay for my half of the warranty -- if anything goes wrong (well, lets face it, not "anything") withing like 9-12 months of the closing date, it's covered. Sweet. I also have to look into petitioning the association to install a stackable w/d unit. The I need to purchase and install said unit ... it'd be nice if I could get that all taken care of by the first day of school, but I guess we'll see. Maybe I could buy one around Christmas for a decent price....

Okay, I know this is horrible to read, but it's almost all that's on my mind right now ... eeek!

Quick, sweaty note

I just got back from the gym. I stretched a little. I did the elliptical for about 5 minutes. I did the stationary bike WITH FREE WEIGHTS (I felt pretty badass). I tried to do another cool bike with a pacing screen, but I'm too short. Seriously, the height and seat were adjusted as much as possible, and I couldn't complete the stride ... without excessive use of momentum. Then I went to the track and almost ran a whole lap. I really love my ipod because the music helps keep me pumped. Finally, I went back into the "room" and cooled down, using a lot of the "yoga" moves from my DVDs. I felt kinda stupid. Then I walked home.

I still have lots of energy, so today's gonna be a double.

*home deal news* it turns out that there is a precedent of owners in this condo complex installing washer/dryers. So I'm gonna keep going and give the seller my counteroffer this afternoon. Bad thing is, stacking w/d units run over $1,000. But theyre pretty cool.

kicking it up a notch....

Okay, so ever since May 12 I've been working out 6 days a week (my rest day is Saturday). The first two days, I did double workouts, but those were the only days. I do at least 50 minutes of "circuit training with cardio" ... but if I go to the gym I'll try to battle the elliptical machine as long as I can stand after walking to the gym. It's not a long walk.

I have lost ONE measly pound and an inch here or there. I haven't really been eating very healthily, but I've been under the bar as far as how many calories to intake. This is according to thedailyplate.com, and I do log my activity. However, I don't think that's going to cut it. I know, I know, it takes time, but I should have lost either more inches or more weight by now. So, I'm going to be smarter about what I'm eating. Which sucks, because I love crappy and/or indulgent food.

I bought some cute (but pricey) running shoes on Monday, but I have to return them today because they're just too big. Also stinks because they were the only wide width running shoe I could find in a store. Nike Pegasus. However, I found a smaller size online, and hopefully it won't hurt to wear the non-wide-width ones. We'll see. While I'm waiting to get those in the mail, I'll be using my newer generic ones from wal-mart. booo. Theyre too tight.

And as far as the condo thing goes, we're in the offer, counter-offer phase, still. The seller is being stubborn because she has to pay the closing costs, etc, and I'm being stubborn because I think it's crazy that there's no washer-dryer hookups. I asked my realtor to do some research for me to see if I can rig something up and install my own stacking w/d. Apparently the challenge will be the vents necessary for the dryer.... If the seller doesnt budge, I might take a closer look at another condo that just went up for sale that needs quite the TLC. It needs new carpeting, paint, new cabinets (small kitchen), and new flooring in the kitchen (vinyl should be fine). Dad's thinking he might try to co-sign with me if our attention needs to be drawn to the TLC condo because that way we can close earlier and get work done by the time I move out of DK.

One thing must be said: it's a darn good thing my class hasn't started yet. I'm already stressed out enough as it is! :)

Thanks for reading....

Meanwhile, at the gym...

Oh my goodness, people. Amanda worked out today. Twice.

I turned in my 333 paper and made ELEVEN copies of my 48-page unit (while irritating just about every person in the library computer lab, I'm certain). I was going to go to the rec after that... but I was dragging. My Special K Red Berries breakfast was dwindling fast because I walked to campus. Neha kept me company while I chowed down a sub at the HSC 'way (Subway) ... then I walked to the gym (=rec).

I'm usually pretty apprehensive about the gym. The weight room is exclusively testosterone-y (though not mandated as such), and the weight machines in the cardio room seem to be likewise man-handled (haha). However, I have learned to STRETCH before doing anything else, and this has helped me be able to stay at the gym for more than 30 minutes. That and my iPod, of course. Then, I attempt the elliptical machines (which have it "out for me" -- they kill me after about 5 minutes) and then succumb to the stationary bikes. Now, I like the bikes. I get some good mileage in a short time, and I like being able to say "I biked 5 miles today." But I hardly burn any calories. That's what the 6 minutes on the elliptical is for, I suppose. Then I walked around the track. I was in a pretty good state; I even RAN. But uh-oh. Manda doesn't have a sports bra. Yep, I couldn't run because of the chest. How much does that suck? So I went online and just purchased an Enell sports bra. It's supposed to be pretty TQ: Oprah endorsed it. I'll let you guys know if I'm able to run once I finally get it; my size is on back order. Every color.

I also decided that I would stretch this burst of energy as far as it would go -- I also did a 50-minute workout at home. Hopefully I will be able to walk tomorrow! :)

Mother's Day

Hey kids!

I hope everyone had a serene Mother's Day. I was staying at Heather and Dave's place in Shirland, and I had pretty much just watched them tear up their front lawn in order to create some pretty awesome landscaping. I tried to help, but I'm a weakling. If I'm getting dirty but it's not on an ATV, it's really just not worth the soreness and dirt, you know?

Anyway, we were planning on taking our mom to a later lunch (2-ish), and Brandi had to cancel because of impending storms in Rockford, which never showed. But Heather and I went to The Machine Shed (sigh with the big greasy food) with Mom and bought her and ourselves lunch. It was crowded and crazy. The crappy brunch buffet was ridiculous (small selection but pretty pricey), so we just ordered our own meals. We were the smallest table there; people had pushed tables together for parties of about 16, and there we were, three of us.

I didn't call my step-mom because I really wasn't in the mood to talk to her by the time I got home. It's awful, I know, but sometimes my fam is too messed up to acknowledge. I have some great, free therapists: my sisters and my roommate!

So I found out that I can put down a minimum down payment of 3% (I think) and still get my "okay" rate. When I went to Chase to deposit my coin (sad story ... I have to save save save), I saw that their home loans are 1% lower than the one I got. However, they were going to charge me almost $400 just to apply for the loan.... Ugh, whatever!

Jo is testing me this morning by whining a LOT. She wants to see if she can get attention by "talking" again, maybe because I was gone this weekend. I'm wondering if shutting the door on her would still constitute attention....

As some of you may have noticed on facebook, I'm considering getting a dog ... pretty much just because I can in the hypothetical new place (I haven't put in an offer yet).. However, I know that a puppy or dog is a lot of work, so I might wait until next year so that I can devote the whole summer to training and getting to know a new animal. I'll probably adopt a small adult dog like a dachshund or something. But, like I said, probably not until the start of next summer.

Any extra money you got lying around?

So this "buying a condo" thing is costing me some serious cash before I even put an offer on the thing. I paid $350 to lock in a (FIXED) mortgage rate of 6.409% (max it can be at closing). This "lock" is selective because if the rates go down, I can get the lower rate. I'm thinking rates will go down, but I'm no market analyst and don't want to take the chance. And I'm certainly not taking the chance on any variable rate.

I also talked to my "realtor" -- I technically have not hired him because I haven't sign a contract yet -- and he said that earnest money is typically $1,000. I considered typing that as "$1K," but the zeros have a definite impact. I don't know if I can come up with that. I worked on my budget after I talked to Dad last night, and I think I can scrounge up like $900 with subbing, etc, and then maybe borrow the extra $100 from my mom... and still be okay for June. However, I am getting a student loan for this summer, so maybe there'll be $100 in there I can move to the earnest money fund... If something goes wrong that's not my fault, I can get the money back, but then I'll be looking for a place to live come June 30th... I have a feeling my 26th birthday is going to suck!

The other crisis of purchasing a home is, of course, the down payment. My dad, good man that he is, offered to loan me a 10% down payment ... however, I might call my mortgage guy and ask how much it would suck if my earnest money was my down payment or if that's at all possible. I already owe my dad some money, and I would rather not double it.

Some stuff that I still have to get to the mortgage dude is a statement/document from Sallie Mae telling them how much my monthly payments will be, approximately. I place to consolidate all the individual private loans I've taken through them as well as the federal loans, so I'll actually have TWO checks to send Sallie Mae and ONE check to send ACS (SIUe federal loans). It's going to be a mess when I have to start paying these people back, let me tell you, so I'm going to arrange something with Sallie Mae so I can pay the big loans back on a GRADUAL scale.

I'll be checking out the place again next Friday because I'm going to the HS to go over materials with the current teacher. I'm glad I'll get to talk with her again because I'd like to know where the FR1, Fr2, and Fr3 students are as far as ability level. I know I should set the expectations high, and I will, but I want to know what their expectations are right now, I guess.

**ALSO** I got some excellent news last Tuesday! I got an A- and, therefore, don't have to revise my Unit Plan project! This means I can slow down and revise my paper for my other class. However, I DO have to reprint the unit (75 pages) and make TEN copies of it for my colleagues in this class. Whine :-( Bye bye, money. It was nice seeing you in my bank account before giving you away.

Pre-approval? Mortgages?

This is ridiculous. I want to get pre-approved on a mortgage on a Sunday. My own bank will charge me $395. The "residential brokerage" won't. But I cannot apply for pre-approval with the brokerage today, so I'm filling out the info with my bank to find out if I can get the rate. I figure if the bank can give me a better rate, it'd be worth the $395 in the long run. But if I cant get the decent rate, I'll go with the brokerage.

This is such a pain.

Stuff you might not have known about me

Okay, so here's the thing. I never get comments. Well, usually. I know I have some faithful readers who just don't comment. So I'm going to give you guys a reason to comment.

Because I'm not as smart as you guys think.

I.....

• .. often confuse Billy Idol and Billy Joel. I think this has to do with the fact that they have the same first name and their "last" makes have TWO of the same letters.
• .. watch entirely too much television. However, if you read my entertainment blog (www.mavieencouleur.blogspot.com), you know this.
• .. don't know how to handle the idea of BUYING property. I think I might have 2 real estate agents. I'm smart enough to know that this could get tricky.
• .. play video games. This is harder than you would think because I'm a woman and I don't like war and too much violence. I like The Godfather game (PS2) and The DaVinci Code (also PS2), but it's typically VERY difficult to find games that a girl could enjoy. I think the Wii might have more gender-neutral games, though. I don't have TOO much experience with the Wii, though.
• .. have very little willpower. I'm keeping track of my calories and and trying to exercise, but I would rather watch VH1. I went grocery shopping today and bought lots of fruits and veggies ... and then I went to Wendy's on my way home.
• I'm not good with money. No, wait, I'll rephrase, I'm not good with MY money. I could give you a handful of "reasons," but I'm almost 26. This might just be an extension of the previous