Our loan was approved today, but only because we -didn’t- submit our tax returns. Something about the additional information makes our debt ratio look too high. Everyone has been saying that lenders approve people for more than they can afford all the time, so having our lender tell us we were cutting it close kind of freaked me out.

It’s going to be hand-to-mouth for a while, but we knew we could make the payments before we ever got this far. That’s why we shopped in the price range we did. In fact, this house isn’t even at the top of our range, though it is on the high end of the scale and we’re only putting 5% down now instead of 10 since our stock is taking such a beating. Now all I can think about is mortgage payments and ramen noodle surprise.

Here’s hoping the inspection tomorrow morning will restore the excitement.

I have a sunburn. It has been so long since I spent any real amount of time out of doors that I completely forgot about the concept of sunscreen. So, when Dad asked me to plant his vegetable garden (plus a few rescued strawberries) the other day, I just grabbed a trowel and dug in. The old jeans and sneakers were sensible; it was the braided hair and spaghetti strapped tank top that did me in.

But I planted that entire garden by myself. Even the stinky beets and radishes.

I am so glad that my job doesn’t give me the time to obsess over our soon-to-be first home. Nevertheless, I spent a good portion of yesterday afternoon and this morning on the phone with the various functionaries involved in such a purchase. The inspection is set for next Thursday morning and our lender is verifying our employment history. In the meantime, I’m gathering up bank statements, stock holdings and and name suggestions for our first born to pass on to the undertaker underwriter. We also have to review and sign the condition report, though I’ll be shocked if anything shows up on it. After that, we wait for all the paperwork to be filed and show up on closing day with our check and an IV, ever so grateful that it didn’t drag on into July.