Back in the land of the living!

Woohoo!  So I'm riding high on being done with Physics, whether I manage the C to pass or end up having to take it again.  I keep saying I either aced the final or failed it miserably :-)  But I think it's leaning towards the ace side of that feeling b/c the undergrad I know who was also taking the class thought the final was easy like I did.  I busted my heiny (side note: why isn't heiny in my spell check?  It speaks italian but not euphemisms for butt?  Do I have this thing set to high-brow or something??!?)   studying and prepping and felt confident that I understood the concepts and questions.  The big issue for me with the exams was having to rush/not reading questions carefully enough.  When I'm already nervous and know I've got to work quickly to finish, it's easy to gloss over details like remembering to switch the direction of a predicted magnetic field b/c and electron has a negative charge...blah blah blah.  Basically, when my nerves are up, my attention to detail craps out.  I'm hoping my over-prepartion will counter act that effect for the final, and that I rocked the final enough to counter act the third exam fail.  The lecture and lab are considered separate courses, and both are graded on curves, so we'll see where I fall in the undergrad pool.  And we'll see how long I can put off looking at my grades to keep enjoying the feeling of just being done ;-)

Let's see, in other news, hubby has accepted the job offer previously mentioned.  They didn't want to play the haggle game, but seeing as no other offers were forthcoming, we figured it was a place for him to start. Accepting the position doesn't mean he can't keep his eyes and ears open for other opportunities.  He's got a quitting day at the old job and a starting day with the new one, with 3.5 weeks between. *grumble*  I'm only taking 9 days off between b/c there's so much going on in lab and I needed to start with the beginning of a summer session at VT.  The hubby's first day will be July 1st and my first day in my new lab will be July 5th.  Which means.....

WE FRICKIN' NEED TO FIND A PLACE TO LIVE!!!!!

The nester/planner side of me (which I keep trying to suppress) is shrieking, jumping up and down and pointing at a calendar.  Ok, so we've got a pre-approval letter for a mortgage, and an agent that we like has been contacted in B'burg, and houses have been looked at online.  We're trying to get a bunch of house tours lined up for next weekend.  Why not this weekend you may ask?  Well, I've got a nursing gig in Richmond - the moms had a bionic knee installed so she can kick even more a$$, and I'm here making sure she doesn't try barefoot water skiing before the sutures heal.  And shuttling bits of giant cookie with frosting to her.....it helps with the healing, and don't you say otherwise.


Back to the housing situation.  So we've found a couple of promising places online, but if our previous dalliance with house-hunting taught us anything, it's that every place looks different in person.  Usually worse.  I think with the right lighting, a wide angle lens and a bit of blur, real-estate agents can make a yurt look like the Biltmore.  That being said, hubs and I aren't exactly picky.....as in, if it doesn't have contact paper for counter tops in the kitchen, we'll be thrilled :-)  On top of the house-hunting moving forward, hubs also just found a super-cute rental available that is pet friendly, so we'll probably look into that as well.

Why would we still be considering a rental you may be wondering?? Or not. But I'm going to tell you anyway.  We're pretty much stuck with renting SOMEWHERE for two months when we first get to B'burg.  In order to have the full, official mortgage qualifications go through, they will need two months worth of pay stubs as proof of employment/income.  And darn if those banks aren't bright enough to realize we aren't commuting from B'burg to C'ville to continue working at UVa.  The plan is, if we find a place we really like and want to buy, to negotiate a rent-to-own arrangement for a few months so we can get those pesky stubs, then apply for the mortgage, making the paperwork WAY easier.  Considering the housing market, if we agree to earnest money, have a loan pre-approval and pay rent and all, I think we stand a reasonable chance of negotiating this kind of thing.  But, first things first....FIND A HOUSE!!!

And maybe start packing.  Ugh.