Happy Birthday, Hubby

My husband turns almost-50 today. The stress of the last few weeks is telling on him, but still, we celebrate. Life goes on, right? I made cupcakes and brownies yesterday to take to work today, for a party they are having for January birthdays. Boy it was hard not eating any. Hmmm.. chocolate cupcakes, fudge brownies, yellow cupcakes with coconut pecan frosting. From boxes and cans but still...

After he gets home from work, we'll grab his gifts that the Kid and I painted at the paint-your-own ceramics store and head on to the Outback where we're meeting his Mom. They have a really extensive gluten-free menu there, including a delicious dessert called "Chocolate Thunder Down Under".

So... happy birthday, honey.

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Got a call late yesterday from our agent who said the sellers got that wake-up call from me. When I said I want this taken care of by this morning or we'll walk. They came back with yet another counter offer, but this time it's more reasonable. Here's a part of the e-mail I sent our agent just a few minutes about... after all-night discussion and much contemplation between Hubby and me:

Per your Wednesday afternoon telecon to me, we discussed the seller's "counter offer"... that they close on Thurs Feb 25, and give over possession at noon on Sunday Feb 28 2010. (That's 3 days after closing.)

We agree to this on the condition that we have the same inspector who does the initial inspection, come back on Monday March 1 2010 and if anything is damaged or different from the original inspection, and in general, if there is any obvious damage or dismantling, then the sellers agree to pay for all repairs within 60 days of closing to get it back to the same condition as the original inspection condition. In addition, the utilities must stay in their name until possession change (Feb 28 noon). They will leave the house, workshop, garage and grounds clean and broom-swept, with all trash removed. All fencing and the big pile of rocks/gravel stays.

We also want the garage door openers and all remotes included in the amend extend. It wasn't mentioned anywhere and we want them.

Feel free to play with the wording but this is what we require. We don't have a good feeling about these people at all, and wouldn't trust them as far as we could throw them.

If they agree to this, we want the signed documentations to your office by close of business Thursday, January 28 2010, which will then start the deadline clock.

Are we being too much of a hard-*ss? After all, they DID want to stay there rent free through the end of March, after closing on Feb 26. We really think this alternative is fair, and covers us. If they agree to this, then we'll go forward with the sale. If not, a house I fell in love with in October but was snatched up from under us, is just now back on the market. We got elsewhere to go.

Thanks for all of your sentiments and good wishes. It helps, believe me.

Have a great Thursday, all.

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Update Jan 28 at 10:46 a.m.: Just got off the phone with our agent. He walked me through our contract/offer and how the condition of the property is very specific in the verbiage. He's calling the seller's agent right now so we should have signed documents by the end of business today. Keep your fingers crossed!