Back Again Part 3: Back with a Vengeance

Yes... again, I'm back to more regular blogging. For those of you who had been sending emails asking where I was, here it is.

Let’s start from the beginning.

Frequent readers will know we put an offer on a house a few months ago… a house we liked SO much, we put our old house on the market, by owner.

It sold in three weeks (I swear we didn’t make a pact with the devil)…

Things were going smoothly… we had a closing for the new house, we had a closing for the old house, and we had all our ducks in a row.

Then came the home inspection on the house we wanted to buy… and… well… let me just say this; son of a bitch.

The sale fell through when the home inspection revealed that there was close to $50,000 worth of needed repairs (who needs a foundation anyway?)

Knowing we hit the mother lode in selling our old house this quickly in THIS market, we decided to move forward on the sale of our house and build on the lot we bought last year.

So we started looking at housing options in between selling our old house and moving into the newly constructed house.

Many ideas were floated… stay with my in-laws (eep) until we decided upon renting a small apartment… we looked at half a dozen, and each one was worse than the next…

Until… manna from heaven…

We found an apartment in the new school district that The PB & The J would be attending, under $750 a month with all utilities included (I imagine those of you reading this on the Coasts are shaking your hands to the sky screaming… ya gotta love the Midwest).

We signed the lease, paid the security deposit and first months rent and were all set to move as soon as we closed on our house.

The contract we had our attorney draw up called for the closing to happen before June 15th.

The buyer, or more specifically, the buyer’s MOTHER, had other ideas.

Herein lies the rub…

When we started this endeavor and the buyer, more specifically the buyer’s mother, did everything.

She called to express her daughter’s interest in the house…

She called to express her daughter’s desire to see the house…
After seeing the house, she called to express her daughter’s desire to purchase the house…

She called to express her daughter’s wishes to sign the contract…

And she called to express her daughter’s agreement on a date to sign the contract…

So we signed the contract saying that they would be out of the house by June 16th… this was around April 26th.

Foolishly thinking that we were going to sell our house in a few weeks, we had a moving sale and unloaded The PB & The J’s playset (which they had outgrown anyway), our washer and dryer (over 10 years old and were on its last legs) and a few other large items we didn’t want to take with us…

The Monday after the sale we were told that we would be closing the next week, so we started vigorously packing.

The next week came, and we heard nothing from the buyer, nor had our attorney.

This is when things started going downhill fast…

Our attorney contacted the buyer and, when got no response from them, the buyer’s lender.

He was then told that there was a problem… the buyer was listed on her mother’s mortgage… and we couldn’t move forward until the mother re-financed and taken her daughter’s name off.

Problem is, the mother – who works for a title company so one would think she would know this would create havoc – decided to do some upgrades on her house at this time and had it cut up and messy.

Lovely…

Our attorney, being an attorney, started to push for a closing date… the mother started pushing for everyone to mind their own business.

Then… suddenly, weeks after the initial offer sheet was signed; a glimmer of light appeared.

The mother was having her home appraised and re-financed while taking her daughter’s name off the mortgage and the closing was slated for July 1st (2 weeks after the closing was contracted to occur). We lined up help to move us on June 28th…

Hallelujah, we were closing!

…

Not so fast there chuckles…

The Friday before the closing our attorney called us and said the lender was backing off of the closing because “they had concerns about her (the buyer’s) income.”

WHAT!!??

She was pre-approved… everything was falling into place… what the hell happened in that short amount of time??

Turns out nothing… the attorney was told that by the mother, who had decided things were moving too quickly for her and decided to slow things down a bit.

Long story short (to late)… we closed last Thursday…we (technically movers, thank GOD!) moved out Saturday… handed keys and possession over on Saturday night… and we are now, officially, apartment dwellers whilst they build our house… which is expected to start now the first part of September.

This is a long-winded way for me to say that my life is starting to level off now and I’ll have more time to write… including a blogging first on Kemp’s Blog.

Next week I join my Dad on a road trip… a road trip in his 2006 red corvette convertible to the Black Hills of South Dakota.

I plan on blogging the trip… so stay tuned.

Ya remember that post a few weeks ago wherein I said I wasn’t going to do this blog anymore and how I had lost my spark to write and yada, yada, yada?

.....

I’d like you all to forget that post mmkay? Thanks…

And the curtain drops...

Sorry about the cryptic post earlier this week, but I was in a rush and didn’t want to be talked out of something.

I know I’ve flirted with this in the past but now it’s time.

It’s time to end this blog.

In the last few weeks, readership, comments and visitors have dropped dramatically and, as a result, I have not been in much mood to write.

I plan to continue with TBWA, The Blogfathers (if they still want me) and DDS (which I hope makes me elligible for the Blogpound next Fantasy Football season - hint, hint Tony...) it's just that I feel it’s time to bring this blog to an end as I have been in a severe case of writer's block for a few weeks now. I have the second and third part of my Vegas story ready, but it's... for lack of a better word... off. It doesn't make sense, it's unfunny and, in all honesty, it's cruel to a certain demographic.

I will be keeping the URL active on the off chance I am ever hit upside the head with a sledgehammer with a thought and need to express it.

Having said that, however, this will cease to be an "active" blog.

I seem to have lost my "blog muse" if you will and I don't know where it is.

For all of you that have been loyal readers, and I know there are a few, I want to give you a sincere "Thank you… and goodbye."

The End

Buh-bye...

It's a pleasure to just be nominated...

Lisa over at My Thoughts, Ideas and Ramblings has nominated The BushWhacked Administration for the Blogger's Choice Awards - Best Political Blog.

So if you agree with her (and really, who wouldn't?), head over and give Scott and I a vote:

http://www.bloggerschoiceawards.com/blogs/show/698

It's a moral imperative...

And now... The Blogfathers

I have been… asked… to join The Blogfathers… and you all know what one does to a request from The Blogfathers… you comply with a request from The Blogfathers…

Seriously though, I was one of seven to be offered the chance to be a Capo over there, and I have accepted, so I am excited about this new opportunity to expound on being a father of twins.

If you came to Kemp’s Blog via Blogfathers, please take a look around… you can click on my 100 Things About Me post, or check out my Top Ten posts over on the right, or just click around and explore…

I’ll be posting my Introductory post at The Blogfathers later this evening, so be sure to check that out as well…

Thanks… and enjoy…

What do you think?

I've made some aesthetic changes and I want to hear YOUR opinion...

Like it.

Hate it.

Have mass indifference to it.

Inquiring minds... okay fine, inquiring mind wants to know...

Reader Mailbag Volume I

Time to reach into the official “Kemp’s Blog Mailbag” and answer some e-mail/comment questions…

• Becky asked: “What does Kemp mean?”
  
  First of all let me clear up the misconception that it’s short for anything; it’s not (you would not believe how many people ask me that question – so I though I would take the preemptive measure of getting that out of the way). Kemp (originally a surname) is a family name of Celtic/Gaelic origin that stands for “Warrior and Champion”. So my first name is Celtic, my middle name is Armenian and my surname is Spanish… figure that one out…

• Becky also asked: “Besides sausages, what's your favorite dish to cook?”
  
  I love making my special bar-b-que ribs. I start with my “special” dry-rub, and then splash on my secret sauce. Also Spanish Tortilla, Toasted Raviolli and my Abuela’s Arroz con Pollo.

• Becky then asked: “Do you bake?”
  
  Technically, yes. If she had asked if I bake well, I would have to alter my answer a smidge…

• And finally Becky asked: “Was I only supposed to ask one question?
  
  Matters not one whit how many question you ask…

• Samantha Jo asks “If you were to be a Sesame Street character, who would you be and why?”
  
  Well, most people would say Oscar the Grouch because, at times, I can be a bit of a grouch – but nowhere near the grouch that my brother is… any-hoo… I would have to say Grover. Why? Because he can do anything… he’s smart, fearless (Super Grover!), eloquent and erudite, and he is a direct descendent of Yoda… at least in my mind he is seeing as how they both were/are brought to life by Frank Oz… what do you think? Did I put too much thought into that?

• Sarah asks “If the PB & the J were boys, what would their names have been?”
  
  The PB would have been Nishan Kemp (after my Uncle Nishan, who was more like a grandfather to me, and for whom I was given my middle name) and the J would have been Marshal Kemp (after one of my wife’s Uncles).

• Ronnie asked: “What other names did you consider for The PB & The J?”
  
  The PB almost was Isabella and J was almost Maria.

• Jeanine asked: “Are you still considering ending your blog?”
  
  As of now, no. I’ve reacquired my creative spark (on both this and TBWA) and will continue doing it until I either lose it again or the people in the black, windowless vans take me away… whichever comes first.

I enjoyed the questions. If you have any more , leave ‘em in comments or send me an email – kempsblog at gmail dot com

Thanks… and enjoy…

Allow me to pat myself on the back

Along with my good friend Scott.

Why?

Well, who would have thunk it... but Scott and I are "famous"... and I'm using that term loosely.

The internet/blog reporter for McClatchy-Tribune News Service, Wendy Zang, has picked our The BushWhacked Administration as their 'Blog of the Week'.

See links HERE and HERE.

Here's a snapshot from the National Federation of Independent Business' site...



She also mentions this blog right here; Kemp's Blog.

So... allow me to bask in the glow of being mentioned by an honest to God news outlet.

I (somewhat) take back everything I've ever said about the Fourth Estate... though I'm not sure how long this feeling will last.

The De-Lurker Knows...

It's de-lurking week.... so what are you waiting for? De-lurk already.

(I stole the picture from Gidge, who stole it from somebody else, so it's all good...)

QUICK!

I’ve been very, very lax in posting lately, and for that I apologize… my life has been in a bit of flux lately, and, while it hasn’t totally leveled out yet, it’s getting there. And since Mr. Big Dubya posted my daughters picture on his mantel, I thought I better spruce the place up a bit before more people stop by…

I have a story to tell…it’s about sex… murder… and debauchery…

It really isn’t, but those three words should get me some interesting visitors via Google, don’t ya think?

Actually, it’s a quick post to say to you all: thanks for stoppng by. I’ll be funny and informative again soon… I have one post ready to go, but it’s on my laptop at work (the bastards took away my blog access at work so I can only work on this and my other blogs at home – let me rephrase that, I can only POST at work, I can still type posts up at work)

Have a good day, and for all of you visiting for the first time, check out my Top Ten Posts on the right… no, not there, lower… no, farther down… keep scrolling, keep scrolling… there ya go.

Also be sure to check out my ever-famous ‘100 Things’ post… also on the right.

Thanks again for stopping by.