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We're not the highest, but not the lowest by a long shot!

Full Price Offer...

We have an offer of $565,000 dollars on the house. The offer is contingent on their financing going though, (which it did) their $5000 dollar earnest check not bouncing (which it did not) and a home inspection. (that will happen in the next 10 days.) We are slated to close on June 9th and then rent back from the new owners until July 9th. This gives the builder of our new home in Kuna, Idaho 75 days to complete the job. I fly to Boise tomorrow to drop off our $5000 dollars worth of earnest money and sign a paper indicating our intent to buy. This is, of course, a giant juggling act and we will continue to try to keep all of the balls in the air. Keep your fingers crossed that the builder comes through for us, or we will be living in a Hotel in Boise with all of our stuff in storage until he gets it done.

Arrow Rock

This is the Community Banner that the developer is working on at the entrance to our neighborhood. There will be 50 houses on a giant horseshoe shaped road. All of the lots are at least a 1/2 acre up to 1 acre.

Panoramic Of The Back Of House

For me, this is the best part of the house! I just can't get over the covered deck off of the master bedroom AND the covered patio below. The view from the deck is 180 degrees of mountains and city lights.

Four Corners Of The Lot

SW corner of the lot.

SE corner of the lot.

NW corner of the lot.

NE corner of the lot.

I had not idea that an acre was this big! Note: vinyl fence along the back yard, 250 feet of it.

A Couple Of Inside Shots

This is a shot from the kitchen toward the family room. This is the main great room on the lower floor.


This is a shot from the family room toward the kitchen. The door goes out to the lower porch.

Idaho House Photo Flood...

Left Front: columns and arches will be done in stucco. Lower windows are to the living room. Upper from right to left are, master bath and main entry way.


Front Right: Three car garage with a drive through on the far right bay. Upper windows are all for the theatre room.


Left Side: Hmmm? What the hell is going on in the back of the house you ask. Lower windows from left to right, kitchen, two for the living room, and the far right one is to the garage. Upper windows are both to the master bath.


Right Side: Back side of drive through garage bay. Bottom window is to the office. Top window is to the laundry room.


Back Side: The top right is a covered deck off of the master bedroom. Below that is a covered patio off of the kitchen nook area. The four windows on the left ground floor are to the main family room. Continuing to the right are the kitchen nook and then the kitchen on the far right. Top floor left to right are, guest bedroom, exercise room, master bedroom sitting room (2 windows and a door) and then the last row of windows is for the master bedroom.

More tomorrow, right now it is time for bed!

We Have Found The House...

Well, we are 99.9% sure we have found the house we want in Boise, Idaho. The house is still 90 days from completion, so we have been able to add many custom features and design it the way we would like. The photos below are from the builders web site and will give you a very rough idea of the general shape of the outside and a shot of the kitchen. The lot size is just over an acre and the house is 3600 square feet. We have taken many photos of the house as it sits right now, but I forgot the USB cable so no real photos until tomorrow night.


This is the general shape of the outside of the house. The outer finish will include stucco, rock, and shakes. The builders web site does not show the back of the house, I will post that tomorrow... You will not believe what you see, we still don't!

This shot will give you an idea of the kitchen layout. The kitchen is just flat huge!

We are exhausted and must go to bed, we fly home tomorrow and I will post a lot more information Sunday night. Until then, have a great weekend.

Greetings From Boise...

Deb and I spent all day Friday looking at houses here in the Boise area. We have found an under construction home that we feel very good about. We are spending today looking at some other options and getting more information on yesterdays prospect. Last night also brought a call from our realtor at home letting us know we had a serious look and probably an offer today.

We are off to breakfast and then back on the hunt. We'll keep you posted...

"Ugly American"

Click title for the full article:

Loud and brash, in gawdy garb and baseball caps, more than three million of them flock to our shores every year. Shuffling between tourist sites or preparing to negotiate a business deal, they bemoan the failings of the world outside the United States.

The reputation of the "Ugly American" abroad is not, however, just some cruel stereotype, but - according to the American government itself - worryingly accurate. Now, the State Department in Washington has joined forces with American industry to plan an image make-over by issuing guides for Americans travelling overseas on how to behave

5 Park-like Acres in Brush Prairie Continued...

Well, we must have made a slight impact on the people selling the land down the hill! Suddenly the lot is cleared of all the old buildings, and the price drops to $375,000.00. We are quite happy that the old trailer and associated out buildings are gone, as they were quite an eye sore, and I am sure they did not help our prospects of selling the house much.

The History Of Easter Candy

Join us as we delve into the delectable not-so-distant past of Easter candy and learn, among other things, just how Marshmallow Peeps came to rule the world.

Forget Bird Flu, It's The Mumps!

The mumps epidemic in Iowa continued to widen this week and reached 605 cases by Thursday, public health officials said. Although the highest concentration of cases remained in eastern Iowa, the virus that causes mumps has infected at least one person in half of the state's 99 counties.

"I certainly would consider this a serious threat," said Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, the state's epidemiologist. "We're doing everything we can to try to address it, get information out, do what we can to try to get it under control."

The state has received about 50 reports of new infections a day, a level which has remained consistent for at least a week. As of Monday, Nebraska has 43 reported cases; Kansas, 33; Illinois, four; Missouri, four; Wisconsin, four; and Minnesota, one.

Iowa Department of Public Health Director Mary Mincer Hansen said questions about how the epidemic started and why it has hit Iowa so hard have not yet been answered.

Deb Joins The Lung Club!

That's right, Deb headed to the doctor today and came home with the same cough, diagnosis and drugs I have! So like the clock work we together take our Prednisone and Erthromycin in the kitchen, of course being careful to not share our water glass, because gosh I wouldn't want to give Deb what I have!

How Do You Treat The Waiter?

Office Depot CEO Steve Odland remembers like it was yesterday working in an upscale French restaurant in Denver.

The purple sorbet in cut glass he was serving tumbled onto the expensive white gown of an obviously rich and important woman. "I watched in slow motion ruining her dress for the evening," Odland says. "I thought I would be shot on sight."

Thirty years have passed, but Odland can't get the stain out of his mind, nor the woman's kind reaction. She was startled, regained composure and, in a reassuring voice, told the teenage Odland, "It's OK. It wasn't your fault." When she left the restaurant, she also left the future Fortune 500 CEO with a life lesson: You can tell a lot about a person by the way he or she treats the waiter.