Author: Benford

And the search officially continues….

I got estimates back on potential foundation work and one from a general contractor on the house I was looking at. With these two items combined (not to mention the unknown after the foundation work is done), I’ve decided to terminate my offer and keep on lookin’. I was kicking around maybe seeing if the current owner would pay for the foundation repair (and have it done by closing) and also pay for part of my closing as credit towards the other repairs necessary to the house but being that all that would end up costing close to (or over, depending on what other repairs the foundation would cause) $20,000. Yup, that’s 4 zeros you see there. Not worth it, seeing as we negotiated the selling price at $126,200. The search continues but not until after contest & the trip next week.

I’m so stessed out right now, I don’t know what to do. Knowing now what I do and terminating the offer on this house has certainly taking some of it off my shoulders but my rehearsals are getting more and more stressful and the students are becoming less and less cooperative daily. Maybe they don’t want the same things as I do. If they don’t want to take every opportunity to be successful at any level, maybe I don’t want to work with them. I know, it sounds harsh but I bust my butt doing all I do to help the program grow. It has grown and it is getting better but everytime we think it’s ready to go the next step, we just hit the tallest, thickest brick wall. Sounds like my past relationships…maybe it’s a sign! No house, no relationship, nothing but beating my head on a wall at work…grad school, here I come!!! No, I am going to wait at least 3 more years before that decision happens.

Well, another long day awaits me tomorrow so I’m off to bed.

Yummy!

Last night, I hung out with my best friend Cathy and we had yummy banana daiquiris. Here’s the recipe:

Banana DaiquiriIngredients

  • 1 1/2 oz Light rum
  • 1 tblsp Triple sec
  • 1 Banana
  • 1 1/2 oz Lime juice
  • 1 tsp Sugar
  • 1 Cherry

    • Mixing Instructions:
    Combine all ingredients (except for the cherry) with 1 cup crushed ice in an electric blender. Blend at a low speed for five seconds, then blend at a high speed until firm. Pour contents into a champagne flute, top with the cherry, and serve.

    We actually drank them out of frosted mugs but did the cherry thing…it was fun! We also floated banana liquor on top which made them even more yummy. Does having real banana in it make it at all healthy?

    Back and forth and back again…

    I’m going to stop posting about this house thing until I get more ‘concrete’ details about the foundation issue. I’ve got a foundation guy coming out to give me an estimate on Monday. I have to decide to go forth with the deal or back out completely by the end of Tuesday. I’ll probably update about everything after that.

    Next two weeks will be soooooo busy. I have the big contest (UIL Concert & Sightreading) on April 5 and we leave for our Spring Trip (we’re going to Dallas) on Friday. Once we get back from that, thing should settle down for about 15 minutes before we’re off and running again for the end of the year!!

    Birthday’s a comin’. May 20. I’m having a party…house or no house. Plan on a trip to ATX!!

    Argh…

    It’s Friday and I’m so tired that I can’t focus on anything! I’m really proud of my band right now, though. Even though I wasn’t the nicest to them today during rehearsal (however, I have been much worse), they really are working very hard and they’ve come a long way. I just want them to put in that little bit extra to push them over into the “No problem, they’ll feel successful coming off the contest stage” category. Sometimes, wanting someone else to do so well really sucks!

    Life, explained…

    This sums it up.

    On the first day, God created the dog and said, “Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years.” The dog said, “That’s a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I’ll give you back the other ten?”
    And God agreed.

    On the second day, God created the monkey and said, “Entertain people, do tricks and make them laugh. For this, I’ll give you a twenty-year life span.” The monkey said, “Monkey tricks for twenty years? That’s a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the Dog did?”
    And God agreed.

    On the third day, God created the cow and said, “You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer’s family. For this, I will give you a life span of sixty years.” The cow said, “That’s kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I’ll give back the other forty?”
    And God agreed again.

    On the fourth day, God created man and said, “Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I’ll give you twenty years.” But man said, “Only twenty years?

    Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?”

    “Okay,” God said. “You asked for it.”

    So that is why the first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves. For the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family. For the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren. And for the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.

    Life has now been explained to you.