Tag Archives: putting house on the market

Why is Michael Bolton messing with my life?

August 16, 2013 Rebecca Gaunt 1 Comment

Why does life have to be so damn frustrating? You know how everything just fell into place with selling the house? Of course it couldn’t be that simple. Also, I’m really struggling not to drop an F bomb in every sentence today.

Everything was going along swimmingly until Michael Bolton showed up at my house. Well, at least some guy trying to look like the 1989 version of him, hair and all. The appraiser of our current property. After a few days of him dragging to turn it in, we all had the distinct feeling he wasn’t going to meet the sale price. We began to prepare for the possibility that we needed to make some more cash appear on our money tree in the backyard. We threw around some figures that it might be. None of those figures was as high as $20,000, but indeed, that is how much he undervalued our house by.

So now everything is a mess. A mess for the people buying our house, for us, for the people whose house we are buying, and the people whose house they are buying. Good old Michael Bolton wannabe has jacked all of us up big time.

Our realtor is fighting the appraisal. Especially since he used a pending sale as a comp (a comp has to be closed) and he did not use one property from the Autumn Lake neighborhood (remember the one I complained about stealing all our buyers because they have the same builder and floor plans and are right behind us?) He is ignoring her at this point and she’s talking to the supervisor. But if we can’t get this one adjusted, we have to get another appraisal, which ain’t free, plus, now we are looking at major time restraints, which mean that to continue we must reschedule the inspection of our new house that we cancelled for fear we’d be paying for it for nothing. We will have to do it without knowing if a second appraisal will do us one damn bit of good.

Basically, I’m making the call to potentially flush more money down the toilet that could go into fixing up our current house if this blows up in my face. My anxiety has me feeling like I could throw up. We’re both frustrated, and Chris is at the point of just wanting to fix this house up. But I can’t let go of the fact that if we can make this work, I think long-term, the new house might be the better solution. But the thought of continuing to flush money makes me want to throw up. What if I’m making the wrong call? If we can’t get this appraisal raised, should I just throw in the towel? To even make a second appraisal work, the buyers would probably have to change lenders, too.

Thank you, Michael Bolton, the appraiser. But a couple days ago I was feeling positive and excited. Now I want to punch someone. You.

Have a lovely undervalued day, sir.

Parenting, Tuberous Sclerosis

Self Prescribing Some Wine for my Whine

June 27, 2013 Rebecca Gaunt Leave a comment

My frustration and irritation level is way up this week. We’ve been looking at the possibility of reducing the price on our home since we’re getting so many looks, including three second looks, but no offers. Then we got the heads up that another jerk in the neighborhood is going on the market this weekend priced almost $10,000 less and with a bonus room we don’t have. So we preemptively dropped the price and are hoping for a miracle before they hit the market. And unlike the other house that went on the market in our neighborhood that is under contract despite rotten wood and a lousy yard, this one actually has great curb appeal. Oh, please let it be a brass-infested wonderland inside. And if they go under contract first and accept an offer below a certain price point, we’re screwed and stuck where we are.

We had some people view the house yesterday that reportedly loved it. Except they have a second child on the way and they want more room. I’m not real clear on why they looked at all. Stop getting my hopes up, people!

Then, to top every thing off, Connor’s neurologist called yesterday with the results of his EEG. The stupid tuber in his left occipital lobe is acting up again. It has put out spikes before, but apparently Connor is having subclinical seizures again. Those are seizures that have no outward appearance, but show up on EEG. The tuber he had removed when he was four months old was causing him to have a couple subclinicals an hour, plus a handful of clinical (ones we could see) a day. We haven’t seen any on EEG since then. Yay. Here we go again. He assured me that this was nothing like when Connor was born but he did see more than one in the eight hours. Mother F. When we started him on Trileptal, we upped the dose once per directions, but never upped the second time — per directions — since we weren’t really seeing anything anymore. So now we are upping and will have another EEG once Connor is totally off the vigabatrin.

I’m just really baffled by the whole concept of a subclinical seizure. I know what the technical definition is; I just don’t get how it affects him. Yes, I understand it’s not good to have funky brain activity, but if he shows no outward signs, how is it affecting him? Like, if I had one right now, what would it do? Does he feel something we can’t see? Connor is happy and progressing, but would he be progressing faster without them? Maybe. Or would it even matter because so many factors go into delaying a TSC kid? If by some crazy chance, someone with epilepsy reads this and has subclinicals on their EEG, if you could enlighten me to your experience…

Speaking of progression, here is an area where he is fighting us tooth and nail. The bottle. I cannot get that kid off the nipple. He doesn’t care what style or shape the cup is — he’d probably even drink out of Flavor Flav’s chalice — it just better have a nipple on top. The hard plastic sippy cups inspire instant anger and hurling of the container, so we tried the sippy cups that are interchangeable with his bottle. We can either have the sippy cup mouthpiece or the regular nipple. He hates this sippy cup mouthpiece a little less because it’s pliable like a nipple, but other than sticking it in his mouth a few times, he just plays with his bottle. His speech therapist gave us some things to try, but thus far, no luck. Maybe his college roommate will shame him away from it.

I mean, how much difference can there be?!

I leave you with a montage of Connor’s funky sleeping positions. Apparently some people have to plan their whole day around their kid’s naps. Not me!

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Ordinary Life, Parenting, Tuberous Sclerosis, Uncategorized

There’s even room for a beer fridge on the porch!

June 25, 2013 Rebecca Gaunt 1 Comment

So that neighbor I told you about? The one the put his house up for sale? They got a contingent offer of some sort. So I’m annoyed they got one first, but at least they are now out of the running. Plus, according to my realtor, they aren’t set to close until the end of July. At least if they accepted a lowball offer, and I have no idea if they did, it won’t affect our comps. I’ll be curious to see what they get though. We attempted a walk through with our realtor, but when we got there, there was a note that said not to enter without showing instructions. Uncertain what that meant, and if there was an alarm, we didn’t go in as we were unable to get the realtor on the phone (the house is empty). I can tell you there is a lot of rotten wood on the porch.

In the meantime, we continue to have plenty of showings, but no luck yet. I’m starting to hate the Autumn Lake neighborhood near us which shares our floor plan, and has a ton of homes on the market. I know one of our weekend viewers bought one over there because it had a master on main. She didn’t even know she wanted that until she saw it. It was otherwise very similar. Stupid, stupid Autumn Lake.

We’ve had three people come back for repeat showings. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. One of those was also this weekend. We were in her top 3…number 3 of course. She ended up choosing a house on a lake even though at the original showing, she was so afraid of snakes coming up, that she wouldn’t even go in the back. Well, alrighty then.

We went house hunting yesterday for the first time and of course I fell in love with a house. It has everything I want, though the price requires some negotiation. So far, I have been the chill one about having the house on the market, while Chris has been very antsy and agitated. Now I’m irritated. Let’s move this along already. I WANT that house. It’s more space, a screened in porch, and all the upgrades I could want.

In happier news, Connor is crushing it–life, I mean. He just got himself into a sitting position on his own for the first time a little bit ago. He’s babbling mamamamama, too. His newfound mobility has proven to be quite the life adjustment for us. I know everyone goes through this, but we’ve had 15 months to develop lazy habits about where we could set him down. Now his new hobby is hurtling himself off furniture. First it was the couch, which startled him, but he was okay. Then he made it off our bed, landed in a sitting position, and thought it was hilarious. But then it was the changing table, and while he wasn’t hurt, I think he scared the crap out of himself. I know I certainly stopped breathing when I heard the thunk. All I did was turn away to grab a diaper! So now I have to keep reminding myself that he cannot be left on anything at all even for a second.

I’m also excited that after years of trying to have kids, my friends Giovana and Damien are down in Colombia to pick up their son David. More on that when they return in 5-8 weeks…

Gio and Damien's mustache-themed baby shower. — Gio and Damien’s mustache-themed baby shower.

Parenting, Tuberous Sclerosis

If I Were To Unleash Termites on Someone’s House, What Kind of Criminal Charges Would I Be Looking At?

June 8, 2013 Rebecca Gaunt 3 Comments

Today started with me wanting to go into a near rage. Last night we discovered a house in the next cul-de-sac over–we live in a very small neighborhood–just went on the market. We were not thrilled. This morning it was online. Bigger. Same price. I wanted to knock on the door and punch the owner in the face. Pictures didn’t go up for a couple more hours, but after driving by a couple times, and finally seeing the pictures this afternoon, I can offer the unbiased opinion that their house sucks. Sure, they have a little more space, and a little more granite, but ours has better curb appeal and better lot. Plus I emptied a container of termites onto the property. Okay, not really, but I wanted to.

The very first person that looked at the house this week was a guy that loved it. We were unable to leave as his tour overlapped Connor’s in-home speech therapy, so we just sat on the porch until the therapist arrived. After the realtor left, he even came back and knocked on the door and asked about the neighbors. Then he brought his wife back that night. It just seemed too easy, right? I was nervous about the wife, and was right to be. She is said to have liked it a lot, but thought the living room too small. Ugh, women! Am I right? They only need to be in charge until it doesn’t benefit me. 🙂

I’m feeling a little better about it this evening though as we have another repeat show coming in the morning. A person who toured it this morning has it in their top 3, so fingers crossed.

We met with Connor’s neurologist yesterday, and we’re very excited that we are now weaning him off Sabril (vigabatrin). This is the med he started due to infantile spasms last September. His spasms have been controlled for quite some time, and we are hopefully past that hurdle. We’re really hopeful we’re done with this med. He’s still on Keppra, and now he’s starting Trileptal since he still has what we think are complex-partials that consist of him clenching his teeth, going slightly limp (not losing consciousness), puckering his lips and staring to the side for 10-20 seconds. We see roughly 1-2 a day, and some days none. The vigabatrin wasn’t curbing those, so since the spasms are done, no need we hope. He snaps out of them quickly and they don’t have the lingering effect of other seizures and make him fall asleep.

No more mixing those stupid powder packets, hoping UPS shows up with the meds, and no more ERGs and ophthalmology appointments! Since vigabatrin poses risk to peripheral vision, anyone with a prescription is required to have frequent eye exams and ERGs, which require him to be knocked out at the hospital. Fewer trips to Scottish Rite? Yes, please!

I recently discovered that insurance is being billed $7,000 a month for this particular prescription. And herein lies the heart of why our medical system is so jacked up. We’re so worried about everyone getting insurance, that we’re not paying attention to why everyone needs it so desperately in the first place. Big profit. The jacked up cost of medical care in this country, plus the complete lack of rhyme or reason to why things are priced the way they are, and the lack of uniformity in these prices is the problem. It took a very disturbing recent Time Magazine article to even make hospitals accountable for making their chargemaster lists public. Where else do we walk in to make a purchase completely blind to what kind of charges we’ll be facing in the end?

Sabril (vigabatrin) only received FDA approval a few years ago. Before that, most people got it from Canada. A months’s supply was a couple hundred bucks (I’ve seen people mention figures ranging from $100-$500 per month on the TSC boards). Since it was not approved, it was not covered by insurance. Now, that is a heavy fee on a monthly basis, but what can you do? Insurance isn’t going to pay for a non-approved drug. Well, then it got approved. How nice! Now insurance can pay for this important med that costs hundreds of dollars. Oh, but now it suddenly costs thousands! Now, I will say the manufacturer has a program called SHARE which offers co-pay assistance, so this drug that would probably cost people like us an astronomical co-pay of a grand or more, is actually affordable. We only pay $30. Some people pay nothing. I’m not aware of anyone being turned down. But it’s still profitable. Obviously this drug costs nowhere near $7,000 if Canada can sell it for a fraction of the cost. So even if insurance cuts a deal to pay only $4,000, and the patient gets a pass with the assistance program, those are big bucks. Connor’s last 3-day EEG

cost $12k just in room and board. And I couldn’t even get them to bring him a damn band-aid.

On a different note, I don’t know what rock I’ve been under, but I just became aware of the fact that Colin Farrell’s son also has a rare genetic disorder, even more rare, called Angelman Syndrome. I had only recently become aware of this disorder due to a Facebook page I follow of a woman whose son has it. I think it’s really awesome that he is speaking out about it and bringing attention to rare disorders. He recently spoke at an epilepsy event, as seizures are something that TSC and Angelman have in common. Very cool.

Lily’s healing Journey Through Angelman Syndrome (healingangelmansyndrome.wordpress.com)
‘It’s Not A Sad Story’: Colin Farrell Opens Up About Inspirational Special Needs Son James (radaronline.com)
Heroes summoned to raise money for angels (wiscnews.com)
How One Little Person Changed Our Lives Forever (sunshineshippee.wordpress.com)
Objects in Mirror are Closer Then They Appear (lifebehindthesmiles.com)
Logan is always smiling… but it’s really a symptom of his rare genetic disorder (belfasttelegraph.co.uk)

Ordinary Life, Parenting

To Quote Ice Cube, “It Was A Good Day!”

June 5, 2013 Rebecca Gaunt 1 Comment

Yesterday was a pretty good day. We had our first buyers come through and check out the house. A man came with his realtor in the afternoon, and he brought his wife back in the evening. Even if they don’t buy, that feels like a good start. We had another guy come through today. I got the impression he might be single, as Chris was when he bought the home, so GOOOOOO bachelor pad! I had intended to leave, as the realtor said she would call when they were on the way, but she didn’t and he blocked me in. Connor and I hung out in the 180 degree Georgia heat in the meantime. Fingers crossed. Making the bed AND sweating. Somebody come buy this house!

Yesterday was also a good day because Connor did something new. He has been able to roll over for quite some time. But he really only uses it to get off his stomach, which he doesn’t tolerate for very long. He can actually scoot backwards on his belly, but I have to block him in to keep him from rolling over. Well, yesterday. for the first time, Connor rolled back to front. I’m not sure how long I stared at him before I processed that it really happened. Chris finally turned to me and said, “Did he just…” Then he began to scoot backwards. A voluntary attempt to be mobile! Score!

I just attempted to do some physical therapy with Connor, but he refused to cooperate and would just collapse in every position. I swear he smirked at me, too. He definitely knows how to play us. He knows we are way too tired at 3 a.m. to parent properly, so he puts up a fuss and gets to snuggle into bed with us. He always smiles real big the second we set him down.

I really want to shower after today’s sauna session, but I’m afraid another realtor will call…

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Ordinary Life, Parenting, Tuberous Sclerosis

Anybody Want to Buy a House?

June 4, 2013 Rebecca Gaunt Leave a comment

Connor had a good report from the physical therapist today. She was excited to hear he is pivoting in the sitting position, and he was also much more cooperative in making transitions. We’re at a point where he can maintain a crawling position, rock back and forth in it, and reach out for objects, but he needs assistance getting into it. He’s getting better at sitting back down on his own. He can also maintain a standing position, but needs assistance transitioning into that position as well.

Working on his physical therapy just got a whole lot more aggravating since we put the house on the market this weekend. Decluttering the house meant moving all his PT equipment into the garage. Making myself do PT with him is already hard enough–not because I don’t love spending time with him–but because therapy isn’t exactly what you envision doing with your child when you decide to have one. Going to get something from the garage really shouldn’t be that big of a deal, but that’s me. Not to mention, my attention span has become so awful that a million things distract me on the way and I forget what I wanted.

I spent a good portion of today cleaning scuffs off walls and doors and trying to turn the shower floor back to a non-vomit inducing color. Plan of attack for the shower: Chris laid a coat of Comet with bleach on it at 6 a.m. and every so often I run some water and re-cover the surface. Twelve hours of this should do the trick, right? This is pretty much the last resort.

A couple did a drive-by on the house and I got down on all fours ninja-style to watch them watch the house. My life is pretty exciting.

Yesterday we got so carried away working on the house, that changing Connor’s diaper slipped our mind for an extended period of time. It wasn’t until he was bouncing in his jumperoo, and the downward motion would cause a cascade of urine to gush out onto the floor from his drenched diaper. I’ve always been grateful that the state of his diaper has never been a source for fussing, but I’m realizing that with my easily side-tracked state of mind, it would actually be beneficial if he’d give me the heads up once in a while. Yes, I really just blamed my baby for over-wetting his diaper.

I’m very rarely seeing any seizures with eye movement, but we’re seeing 1-2 a day in which he slumps down, turns his head to side, puckers out his lips and stares. They last 10-20 seconds, and he snaps right out of it.

Fingers crossed we start getting people looking at the house soon. I really hate making the bed for nothing…

Since I didn’t post much during May due to hosting so many guest bloggers, here are some highlights from the past month:

We went to Florida to visit Chris’s parents.