Jumperoo

Oh the Jumperoo.  Best.  Invention.  Ever.

Kaylee absolutely loves to kick.  So we always knew we would have to get her some kind of contraption that would allow her to kick.  Now that she can almost sit up on her own, her Grandma got her a Jumperoo.  She was hesitant at first, but now she loves it!

And what makes the Jumperoo even better is that it helps her stomach and back muscles.  The more she uses it, the better she is when we try to sit her up on her own.  Now, it takes her a little bit before she inevitably topples over sideways or falls forward onto her belly.

And watching her in the Jumperoo is hilarious.  We stick a pillow under her feet so that she has something to kick since she is still a bit small for it.  When she realized that there was something underneath her that she could kick, she went nuts.  Now when we smile and talk to her, she gets all excited and bounces up and down.  It is the cutest thing to watch.

Besides being adorable, the contraption also keeps her entertained.  When I need to, for example, do some work for class (papers, posts, blogs, projects) or maybe have some lunch, it keeps her busy just long enough for me to get a little something done.

I love the Jumperoo and I think it was a great purchase.  I hope Kaylee continues to love it as much as we love watching her in it!!

Video Games

Today, I want to bring up the topic of playing video games.  I never used to play any video games, except the occasional game of SSX Tricky on the Playstation in my parent's basement.  I just loved the snowboarding.  But when I met my husband, everything changed.

Of course, I thought Plants vs. Zombies was such a stupid, pointless game.  But what happened?  Mike got me to try it and then I was hooked.  How about Left 4 Dead?  I thought that I would never be able to play a game like that.  I'd never been into shooting games and I figured running into a crowd of zombies might freak me out.  It was creepy just watching Mike play that game.

But....one day, he got me to try it.  And yes, I was horrible.  I didn't play for a while after that, but then Mike decided to buy the game for me.  Of course I had to give it another try then.  And the more I played, the better I got.  And the more I enjoyed it.  So we were able to play a video game together and we both had a great time.

We stopped playing the game together for a while when our daughter Kaylee was born.  Mike would occasionally ask me to play, but I was exhausted and never felt like playing.  But Kaylee is 6 months now and lately we have been playing Left 4 Dead 2 after I put her to bed.  I am really glad that we started again because now I remember how much fun we used to have.

When you marry a gamer, this is something to keep in mind.  Playing video games with your significant other is a good idea.  It allows you both to have some fun and it does not have to be extremely time-consuming if you don't want it to be.  It also shows your husband/wife that you are interested in what they enjoy doing.  I love playing Left 4 Dead with my husband.  And according to him, that makes me a pretty awesome wife.  And I like being awesome. 

Early Internet

I'm finding that the history of early Internet is not keeping me interested for very long.  I keep trying to write this paper, but my mind starts to wander.  Apparently, I would rather do anything else right now...like blog...

Maybe I am going about this the wrong way.  There are no specifications, so maybe if I tried to transform the paper into something I find interesting, like specific parts of Internet history, then I will be more apt to actually sit down and write more than a couple of sentences.  This is definitely an idea worth looking at more closely.  I wonder if it will work...

Negotiating a Price for a House

Buying a house, as I mentioned in a previous post, can be extremely stressful.  Once you get deeper into the process, things become more complicated.  One thing that I think could be easier is the part where the buyers and the sellers negotiate the selling price of the house.

Our buying agent told us that houses usually sell for 97-98% of their asking price.  His aim was to do better than that.  We had a price point that we could not go over.  And obviously, the sellers had a price point that they would not go under.

So negotiations begin with us making an offer that is far below anything we know would be accepted.  As buyers, we do this knowing that they will hopefully come down a bit in price, then we will come up, then they will come down, etc.  Eventually, we will meet in the middle and all will be good in the world.  This is just ideally what will happen, but it is not always the case.

In our situation, it is obvious that our top price possibility was the sellers lowest price that they would accept for their house.  So after much back and forth, which only took 2 days since we were all pretty committed to making this sale happen, we finally came to that middle number that we could all accept.

My question is, why couldn't we just skip the in-between stages.  Obviously, they had a number in mind and so did we.  The bidding was just a waste of time.  I know that people want to get the most for their house.  But if a couple bids low on a house, then they are obviously not willing to pay the full asking price.  It would be easier to just sit down and work it out if that is possible, especially if there has not been any other offers for the house and the sellers are paying 2 mortgages because they have already moved.

After all is said and done, we will end up paying about 96% of the original asking price for the house.  So our buying agent got exactly what he wanted and did his job well.  We are happy and now we just have to worry about the inspections going well.  And if everything works out, we will be moving our family into our very first home within the next few months.  It is crazy and exciting!!  :-)  Yay!!

Finding New Books

There are so many different websites that help people to find books to read that are similar to books that they already know they enjoy.  Some of these include: Whichbook and What Should I Read Next.  However, I've tried these sites and I don't love them.  They're okay sometimes, but definitely not my first choice.

Where do I go to find new books??  I use Amazon.  I have to say, it is the best.  You can narrow things down by category and easily find tons of books that will fit what you're looking for.  And every time you are looking at a book on the page, you have "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" and "Tags Customers Associate With This Product."  These are extremely useful.  You also have reviews, which generally give you a pretty good idea of whether or not you will like a book, if you know what to look for when you read them. 

Some people say that they do not want to just trust other readers when they are looking for new books that they might like.  But it really is the best way to find something new to read.  If you and another person both love the same book, chances are that there will be other books you will both love.  Also, I prefer reading the reviews of people who have actually read the book than having something like Whichbook or What Should I Read Next connect some dots and give you books that might be similar to the book you liked, but it also may be missing a key element.  You might like vampire books, but hate a specific series because it just isn't the same in terms of writing, myth, etc.

When I'm searching for new books to read, I usually go straight to Amazon.  And most of the time, I find a plethora of new reading material to keep me busy for quite some time.  Gotta love Amazon!!

Buying a House

Buying a house for the first time inspires a lot of emotions:  it's exciting, nerve-wracking, and it kind of makes you crazy.  Not crazy in a bad way.  Crazy in a "I can't believe this is happening!" kind of way.  Seeing house after house can be a little overwhelming, until all of a sudden, you walk into a house and it is somehow different. 

For some reason, everything you see in this one house seems perfect.  You start to see the possibilities, picturing your bed here and your television there.  Wondering what it would be like if you ripped up those carpets and had the hardwood floors that you know are lingering underneath.  What could you do to that sunroom with the pellet stove?  Don't you just love that fridge?  And the house comes with all the appliances?!  All these thoughts float around in your head while you are looking at the house, when you are lying in bed that night, and as you look at all the houses thereafter.  This house is always in your mind.

Then, you start to think about finances.  How much is it?  Can we afford it?  How much will it cost to heat it in the winter?  Air conditioner in the summer?  How much should our down payment be? 

If you decide to make an offer, where do you start?  How low is too low?  I mean, you don't want the offer to be insulting.

Once you make an offer, then you have the house inspections.  Which are more expensive than you thought, but obviously worth it when you're spending so much money on a house.

In the end, buying a house is a crazy, nerve-wracking experience unlike any other.  But it's also something amazing and wonderful.  Something that brings you into the next stage of life.  Something that allows you and your family to grow into a whole new life together.  It's overwhelming for a reason.  So that it is taken seriously and with the proper amount of thought and caution.

But when all is said and done, it is an exciting step to take with the person you love.  Your family is possibly buying the house that your children will grow up in.  And it's just awesome.

Eureka

Simply because it is Monday and this happens to be on my mind, I figure that I might as well share.  I am severely disappointed in Fox and SyFy...and not just because they made the decision to change over from Sci-Fi.

Let us rewind just a little bit.  Way back when, Fox cancelled an amazing show called Firefly.  Granted, I never watched the show when it was on TV, but that is beside the point.  Once I was introduced to the show, I was hooked.  And then...I ran out of episodes.  So I watched the movie Serentiy, which was based on Firefly.  And then that was over.  I found myself furious that Fox would cancel such an amazing show, especially considering the ridiculously large fan base who, like me, are STILL outraged that the show was cancelled.  We still hold out hope for a comeback.  But it seems like Sci-Fi is simply no able to keep amazing shows running.

Fast forward to the present.  Once again, I am in love with a show on what is now called SyFy (::sigh::).  My husband and I religiously watch Eureka because it is action-packed and hilarious.  We love the town; we love the characters; we love everything.  You know what we don't love??  The fact that SyFy is cancelling Eureka.  The show was supposed to be all set for a 6th season (of course, they still intended to cancel it after that).  But now there is not even going to be a 6th season.  They have decided to wrap things up with the 13-episode 5th season.  All the wonderful story lines, all the amazing characters...Done.  This saddens me today, Monday, because Eureka is on tonight.  It is the next to last episode of the 4th season.  The only thing positive about the 4th season ending is that I have all the time between now and the premiere of next season to look forward to more Eureka.  Of course, once the next season begins, that will be the beginning of the end.  Oh SyFy, why must you torture me so.