I am no house salesperson...

However I am beginning to realize what I really don't find helpful in a house salesperson. For all you salespeople out there, if you ever want to sell me something, please:

1) Do not interrupt me. I am the customer, and I am making a point, please listen.
2) Please listen to me when I tell you that I don't need wider hallways in my house (for the 5th time).
3) Please do not pressure me. I am quite aware that prices are on the rise and that if we wait until spring to build that things will cost more, but I have other reasons for waiting than price.
4) Please do no assume that I am going to build a house with your company. I am only meeting with you to learn about your company and you are the front line of said company, please try to make a good impression on me.
5) Please make the effort to learn my name and introduce yourself.
6) Please do not assume you know more about what I need in a house than I do (when it comes to accessibility issues).
7) Please do not question me and make me feel stupid when I tell you that I want hardwood in my house. (And no laminate is not the same :P)
8) Please do not try to convince me that you cannot tell the difference between granite and arborite counter tops.

I think that is about all I can think of for now. But we have had 2 somewhat negative experiences with Homes by Dundee and Homes by Ens. Homes by Ens seems like a better company that could offer us more of what we are looking for, but the sales person was quite unprofessional and you have to wonder about a company that wants him as their front line to the public. Fraser is still in the lead for us, but we do plan to meet with at least one if not more companies. We are definitely becoming educated on what we want and don't want, and what is out there. I have taken a peek in a few of the Parade of Homes show homes and they are pretty nice. I would recommend checking them out.

:P

We had another meeting last night with a house builder. This time it was Homes by Dundee. I don't think we will be going with them. I think the only positive thing I came away with was that they give you $1000 towards front yard landscaping, as well as the price of the house includes a driveway. The salesman was trashing one of their competitors (which I thought was completely unprofessional), he was putting quite a bit of pressure on us to build NOW instead of in spring, and he just was not overall as friendly as the guys from Fraser. We are going to get a quote from Dundee just to compare to Fraser, but so far Fraser is in the lead. We have one more meeting this week, and we may make some more appointments in the next week or so. We definitely want to do our homework on this!

The other day I was driving home from work listening to the Dixie Chicks new cd. I like the Dixie Chicks, even though they are super twangy...not sure why I like them, I don't like all country music, but I like them. Anyway, I was driving home and I noticed that their voices were really grating on my nerves. I couldn't figure out why...then I noticed that when I had been wiping my dash off the day before (cleaned the inside of my car for the second time in the last year and a half since I've owned it), that I had totally turned down the bass on the cd player. So not only were they twangy and country-ish, but there was no base, so they sounded even more high pitched. Ha! I like their new song "Not Ready to Make Nice", it's kind of angry sounding and I like it. Must just kind of suit my mood. Not that I am angry, but you know how sometimes you just don't feel like listening to fluffy light music. I used to enjoy listening to Alanis Morisette once in a while, but that was a little angrier than I am currently looking for. I would totally go see the Dixie Chicks in concert (they are coming to Saskatoon in November) if someone gave me a free ticket. I don't think I would pay to see them, just because concert tickets are always so expensive. I think one of the only bands I would pay to see in concert would be U2, but I bet if they came here it would be impossible to get tickets. Okay, now I am just rambling...

I'm confused!

Last week I went to use my curling iron. I've had it for about 5 years and it's never had any problems. I plugged it in in the bathroom and it wouldn't work. But I had just used the plug in with my blowdrier so it couldn't be a problem with the plug in (my straight iron also worked in the plug in). Just for interest sake I took my curling iron and plugged it in in the hallway and it worked. I tried it in the bedroom and it worked, and even in the bedroom bathroom it worked! So I am quite confused as to why it won't work in the other bathroom. Everything else that I have plugged in in there works, but just not the curling iron. Hmmmm...

A serious warning

Back in April we arranged to have the carpet replaced at work. They did a pretty awful job. There were a couple of spots where they got something on the carpet, places where they had torn up cement with the old carpet then didn't fill the holes with cement before laying the new carpet, an overall sticky feeling to the carpet, and a very visible seam. They also forgot to bring along baseboards. We didn't hear from them for a month or more, so Jan started calling them to arrange to have base boards put up. Finally she got them to come and put up baseboards, but this time they did not bring enough baseboards to do the whole office as well as our treatment rooms. So they just did the front reception area and the hallway. Then they gave us some samples to pick for baseboards in our treatment rooms (vinyl ones, and the ones in the reception area were made of the same carpet as on the floor). Then a week or so ago they came to see how they could fix all the screw ups for us. We decided they should take out the carpet with the spots and replace it, as well as the places where there were holes in the cement should be filled and the carpet replaced. Well they did that last night, and they did an awful job. There are seams all over the place and the baseboards are coming away from the wall already. They offered the job to us for free, and I can't imagine paying them after all of this. This has been a 4 month process and our carpet looks awful. So if you are ever in the market for carpet PLEASE to not consider First Choice Flooring in Saskatoon.

We had our meeting with the house building guys last night. I would say that it went well. He was a friendly guy and was very upfront about the costs of building. I would say that the actual cost of building was fairly reasonable to us, but the cost of a lot to build on was another thing. I would say that the lots were at least twice as expensive as I thought they might be. Overall I would say it is more expensive than we originally thought, but it is definitely not out of reach. We are thinking about meeting with one or two other companies, just for comparison purposes. I think our next step will be going to talk to an investment advisor to see what our options are financially. We are still hoping to start building next Spring (around March), so we can move in around July, and if that is the case, then we will be living in Phase 2 of Stonebridge. It will be located south of Circle Drive, between Preston and the highway to Regina. Yay for a house!

Jason and I got some pretty good business done today. This morning we went down and signed up for an interest plus savings account at PC financial. It gives you 4% interest as well as an anniversary bonus interest, the only catch is that you need to keep your balance over $1000. Seems like a good offer to us!

Then when we came home I called and made us an appointment to go and talk to a company about building a house. We are going at 6pm on Wednesday to talk to them. I am pretty excited!! I think that this will make or break our dream of building our dream home. We are quite certain after keeping an eye on houses that have come up for sale (even brand new ones) that we should be okay financially for building. Yay!

Supper Tonight

Mmmm bbq chicken, bacon, onion, green pepper, mushroom and pineapple pizza on homemade pizza crust (Lynette's recipe that she gave me at a wedding shower and I haven't tried until tonight...it was super duper good! Thanks for the recipe, we will definitely be making it again!).

Just when I had mostly forgotten about the shows I had been sucked into last season, I saw a preview the other day for the Prison Break season opener. It is on next Monday! Can't wait to see it :)

Old people stench

Yesterday Jason and I went for a drive through the new area Stonebridge (in the south end of Saskatoon) and were amazed at all that has changed in the last couple of months since we have driven through there. We are hoping to build a house next spring/summer in Stonebridge as we feel it is the best suited area to us where there are new houses going up. It kind of renewed my excitement for having a house. There are a lot of benefits to living in a condo, but I am ready to try my hand at a house. As we came home from our drive yesterday we got into the elevator in our building as two older couples got out. The perfume/cologne stench in that elevator was SO strong we were both choking until we got out on the third floor. Definitely will be a benefit of having our own house...no old person smells. Though maybe occasionally I will miss the smell of baking bread as I walk down the hallway, but maybe I can learn how to bake bread!

A few of my favorite holiday pictures for you to enjoy!

It's a small world

Jason and I just came back from Cypress Hills today. It was awesome! I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for something new and different to explore. Lots of wildlife and scenery and I think we went over the Mickey Mouse hills at least 4 or 5 times, and the last time got up to 80km/h (the speed limit is 40km/h there). Last night we went down to the beach to get some pictures and who did we run into but Becky (formerly Friesen), and her new husband and step daughter. That was pretty weird for me because I haven't seen her for a LONG time (maybe just after high school), and she looks quite different. Had a nice little chat with her...but really what are the chances of running into her there!? She lives in Calgary, and just happened to be on holidays out there this week, and we just happened to be out there yesterday until today....blows my mind. Not just that, but that we were at the same place at the same time in that enormous park. Crazy!

Did you know that things in the distance on the prairie are usually much further away than they look?? We got this picture after seeing these windmills in the distance from the highway out to the lake south of Swift Current. We thought we would drive in for a closer look. After a half hour there and back....we got to them....