so it should have been tomorrow really but our Real Estate agent will be at the wake for her aunt and nobody else was available so it's going to be today. we are *so close* now, we will be closing on wednesday morning! The day after the ::shudder:: election (i had a stress dream about the election yesterday, ugh).

So that is happening. also i will be making this Vegan potato curry today with a little less curry powder and a little more tumeric and replacing peas with cauliflower and sugar snaps.

I'm pretty anxious about the impending move and if we can get all of the renovations done in time (a lot depends on the condition of the floor under the carpet and how much sanding it will need, and we just don't know that until we take up all of the carpet).

Note to self: "Honey Moon" Viognier is a nice pre-dinner white wine

wow, 15 years!!! Crazy.

Not sure what we will be doing really, we were going to take a few days off and go somewhere but our house closing is next week so we figured we'd save up that time so we can do the renovations together next week (which honestly isn't "fun" since it's going to be hard dirty work and we will have no less than 2 fights probably but ::shrug::) so we have nothing planned. Between the Cubs being in the World series and the upcoming election we've been so distracted ...

maybe i should make a secret reservation somewhere? hmmmm.

gave out 300+ pieces of candy and 8 dozen cookies (minus 4 cookies that i ate).



our tempting table of goodies:



and a close-up of my hat and makeup (it was super glittery)

but that day is not today! i made another pot of Matzo soup, and of course we ate it all up - though this time i actually got a whole bowl-full. the wonderful thing about working from home is putting the veggies in to make a vegetable stock first thing in the morning and 6 hours of simmering later having a super flavorful and healthy stock! we will try the asian version of this next (though K will be the only one having the chopped jalepenos, i'm a pansy).

The attorney review is still going because our attorneys can't agree on the property tax exemption*, ugh. I hope they figure it out tomorrow so we can tie up the remaining escrow and get our mortgage sorted. We are approved pending the damn escrow going though and THAT is pending attourney review! *sigh* i'm not terribly worried, i'm sure we'll get it done but i'm still worried a little about getting all the "t"s crossed and "i"s dotted.

*previous owner had a "senior freeze" on taxes to the tune of $2,500.00

so i made the eggplant schnitzel and spicy vegan sausage and cabbage yesterday and it was pretty fabulous. Today i not only made a version of Tzimmes made with spiced apple cider but i also made home-made matzah balls and soup! it's cooking now as we speak. I put all of the ingredients for a vegetable broth in this morning and it finally reduced enough a few minutes ago so i strained out the solids, chopped some onion, celery and carrots and got everything simmering again, dropped in my matzah dough* and ::crossing fingers:: hopefully it all comes out ok! I added seltzer water (splashed it all over the house when opening of course *sigh*) per the recipe and i think it worked because they are floating and very pretty.

feeling very kitchen goddess-y today if i do say so myself!

*i put in extra fresh garlic in addition to garlic powder and onion powder ... it felt like they would be bland otherwise? we will see.

no idea how it will all taste, but damn my house hasn't ever smelled this good!

It's pretty eyepoping and hilarious :D We also have a seal and i inherited my aunt's ring that has the imprint on it but was told that hot wax could marr the finish so i've never used it.



the Legend of the crest according to Wiki source: According to the legend, an English king died without leaving a properly perfected testament, so his last will was expressed from the world beyond. He left a crown and all immovable property to his son, and all movables – to his daughter. Being instigated by his councilors, the Prince decided to fulfill his father's will nominally. He ordered to drive a black bear (which undoubtedly was a unit of king's movable property) to a Princess' bedchamber. In case of Princess’ death that seemed inevitable, the King's wish would be fulfilled and Princess' failure to manage the movables would be proven. However, the Princess did not only tame the beast but even rode out her chamber on its back, upraising her hands and calling for justice. Her brother made sure that truth and heaven take sister's side. He asked her pardon and married her off to a Duke of Lorraine, with all due property as a portion. As a keepsake Princess gave her descendants a coat of arms with a girl riding a bear depicted on it. This coat of arms was called "Rawicz". It symbolizes ability to overcome difficulties with honour, to change confusion into victory.

...i like that last bit!

Because this is such a great Strega sweater if you wear it right. But i'm saving for house closing costs AGAIN *sigh* ... kind of wish i could sell about $500 worth of stuff right now but it's not looking promising, too bad nobody wants to buy that lovely Volks Carol :(

In other news, LJ continues to be awesome for actually having meaningful conversations w/ people. I adore you guys so much.

Truly, walking over to the post office today w/ the Earnest money check, i felt such joy. It's lovely today, a brief flash of warmth before the temperatures drop tomorrow, sunny and warm and all of the leaves are changing and everything looks amber and burnished.

Inspection is scheduled for tomorrow, K will be accompanying the inspector. I will be handling the mortgage documentation (last 2 months worth of both our pay-stubs, both our checking accounts, savings account - luckily the other paperwork is already supplied from our last go-round) and the insurance. At this point we feel like we are a well oiled mortgage-getting MACHINE.

We are about 1/4th packed already, so it's time to start up that process again. Once we get the keys it's just a matter of taking up the carpets, sanding the hardwood floors, painting, then either stain or finish it with a water-based polyurethane ... i doubt we can make that call before we see what is under there. The bedrooms have the original hardwood so we have some idea, but you just never know. Then the moving in ... ooh boy.

So still a lot of work ahead, but i'm looking forward to it. It'll get colder and we'll be in the mood for nesting. First Thanksgiving, first Christmas in our own house (lol, first time the water heater breaks down). I feel like a weight has been lifted off of me, I feel like i can breathe easier.

Also for my solitary witch friends, i read this today. You might not find it all to your taste but a nice short read - maybe it felt good today since i do feel like i've just gone through a real trial and come out the other side. for the record, my path seems to have diverged a long time ago into some side-garden but that's fine ;)

Saw a great house today, clearly priced to sell. In exactly the area we were hoping for, in good clean condition without major issues. It went on the market friday, we put an offer in this afternoon. Please universe YOU OWE US SOME GOOD MOJO!

Also, the last batch of cinnamon spice cookies is in the oven. looks like this batch of dough made only 3 dozen cookies because my cookie cutter was huge ... sigh. thinking about making some green lime witch cookies next week and that should do it since i still need about 2 dozen or so.

K thinks i'm making too many cookies, but he is wrong, this is going to be a good Trick or Treating year unless it rains, i can feel it.

Got another pumpkin for the house, hoping to carve it either tonight or tomorrow after seeing the Waveland Mystery House. I give all potential houses that we see names so when we talk about them we can remember which was which - the Waveland Mystery House is called that because there are no pictures ... i stumbled upon it just because we are looking in exactly that area and it's in our price-range. There are no pics because, according to the listing agent, they just finished some renovations and didn't have time to take them ::shrug:: so who knows.

Looking forward to ordering dinner (randomly got a 10% off Grubhub coupon) and hanging out w/ K tonight. I'll report on what we find tomorrow. WM House is supposedly in good condition w/ a new roof and features large bedrooms, a dormer upstairs and one of the bedrooms leads to a sunroom (kind of an oddity in chicago bungalows).