So a friend of mine also has a blog. He posted recently about his dad wanting to pay for their car that had broken down. He asked his readers whether or not taking the money was a good idea.

I myself have been in that situation. Even though I am grown, my parents still want to help us out occasionally. I know that it makes them feel good that they are helping us, even though we do fine on our own. They also send Emily clothes quite often. In fact, we received a box of clothes just yesterday. I appreciate their generosity so much. No, they don't have to do it, they do it because they want to and it makes them feel good to help us out.

A gal at work does the same for her kids. She buys her grandson clothes and buys her son and his girlfriend food occasionally. Her feeling is that she and her husband are in a position where they can help their kids, and it's something they want to do.

My boss just paid for his entire family to take a trip to Hawaii. Now, all three of his daughters have great jobs and make plenty of money. His son in law works with us at the oxygen company, and he makes good money as well. They could all afford to buy their own plane tickets, but it makes him proud that he's been so successful and is able to do things like that.

I only hope that when Emily is grown we are in a similar position. I want to be able to help her out if she wants the help.

So we have been pretty busy.

We have actually been pre-approved for a home loan. It really makes this whole process seem real. I feel like working hard to dispute inaccuracies on our credit reports paid off. It also makes it easier to know what we can afford. That way, we can avoid looking at homes that are out of our price range.

However, I think Miles is a little nervous about the whole thing. He says he wants to wait to actually purchase the home until the car is paid off in January. Yes, it's true, it would be easier as far as the payments go, but there is no guarantee on how long the car will last. It could break down tomorrow and we have to run out and buy a new car.

I guess I can see the fiscal sense in waiting, but part of me wants to go ahead and find something. I am sooo sick of renting and I am so ready mentally to own a home. I know it wouldn't be that long, and we would definitely reach our goal of owning before Emily's birthday, but I just feel like we've waited so long, and gone through a lot financially, and finally something good is happening. I think Miles just isn't sure how to react. No bank has ever said yes before, and I think he's not really sure what to do. I know that it will be a struggle, but I think that everyone goes through that initially when they buy a home.

Well, whenver we decide to buy, whether it is now or in January, I know that we will find the right home for us. Everyone keep your calendars free for the housewarming!

Okay, okay, I'm still alive.

I haven't felt much like posting anything lately. I've been just kind of laying low. In fact, I took a couple of days off work to just hang out with myself and recharge my batteries.

Work has been stressful once again. I swear, I have never met people more opposed to change. I really like my job, but sometimes I feel like at my work we are all one big disfunctional family, which means sometimes we say stuff to each other that other people wouldn't normally say. One of the ladies at my work has been more stressed than the rest of us, and she nearly bit my head off the other day. I said "Look, I'm not the source of your stress. I feel for you, but don't take it out on me." Of course, this woman is the anal-rententive type. Everything has to be perfect, and that's part of the reason she is under so much stress. I really think if she would just let it go and relax a little, everything else would follow.

Also, last weekend Miles and I were without the Nut, so we went out two nights in a row. Man, I cannot do that anymore. I was soooo tired. He loves going out and being at the bar scene. I enjoy socializing, but the bar scene just isn't my thing. I hate coming home smelling like smoke and alcohol. It gets in your hair and you get that weird ashy feeling to it. Ick. And I would have been fine to go out one night, but both just was too much.

Emily has been really cute lately as well, so I've been spending some time just hanging out with her. Usually she is kind of sassy with me but she's been really good lately. She and I are going swimming at the local pool on Saturday. It should be a g0od time.

Also, my dad is now retired. It's not exactly his choice. There were layoffs at his work and he got caught in the crossfire. So, he's retired about 9 months sooner than he planned on. The girls at my work said that he should think about getting a lawyer, since he was so close to retiring and he is 60. I really don't think it's about that, I think it's just an unfortunate situation. So he retired. It's a weird feeling for him, knowing that he doesn't have to get up and go to work. I know it would be weird for me. I'm hoping that next year once my mom retires, they will be able to travel here more. That would be ideal.

I'll try to keep up on the blog more. Who knows, one day maybe I'll even have something interesting to say.

Landlords suck.

To give you a little background, the duplex we live in was previously rented by two good friends of ours. They bought a house at the same time we were moving to Eau Claire, so we got in touch with their landlord and signed a lease. They didn't really have too many complaints about the landlord, so we figured it would be okay.

The day we moved in, the landlord asked us for a copy of the key as he didn't have one. We thought that was kind of strange, but it didn't seem like that big of a deal, so we just wrote it off.

Anyway, last night our air conditioning broke. If you read my last post you know that I love my air conditioning. We call the landlord this morning. He came over to look at it. He called Miles later and said...

"I don't know what you're talking about. It was plenty cool in the house. I also hosed off the unit outside."

Miles says, "Mike, it's not the outside unit that needs cleaning. It doesn't work because no air is coming up through the vents. "

Landlord: "Well I just spent $200 on it last winter, so I don't want to spend that kind of money again!"

Time for more background...Last winter, on the coldest night of the year, the furnace broke. The air conditioner and the furnace run off the same fan. When we called the landlord about the broken heat, we assumed he would call someone right away as it was very cold, probably 10 below, and we have a small child. That conversation went like this...

Landlord: "Do you have a space heater?"

Miles: "Yes, why?"

Landlord: "Use that tonight and tomorrow I will call someone.

Moral of the story is, the motor that was "replaced" last winter is crap, it has smelled like burnt motor ever since it was replaced, and he is just going to have to spend more money to replace it again. That's the burden you take when you rent out property.

I cannot wait to move and stop feeding his bottom line, without getting anything in return.