webbpage.org

Sorry it's been so long since you heard from us. With the beginning of baseball season, the Boxscore auction which basically serves as the Rotojunkie staff league taking place last weekend and general busyness we haven't really had the time to do much.

However, we do have a good excuse!

For the first time in a while, the Webbs have some really big news.

Big News
We're buying this house! We hired a Real Estate Agent - who happens to be our leasing agent- and had her do a market analysis on the area. Once she provided those numbers we came up with an offer to the owner and he has accepted. Our closing date is scheduled for April 29th. That said, due to the tornadoes in the area last night there are some minor repairs that are going to need to be done and we also found out that from a home inspection that there is a little bit of hail damage on the roof so we're going to have to work that out as well. Shouldn't be a big deal though. So yeah - we're nearly home owners.

We did have some very nasty weather last night...I have to admit that I was scared. I've been in tornadoes before, but nothing close to this. Nasty!

Other than that I had a really good time in my auction this past weekend. It was great meeting all the gang in person. I was also fortunate enough to go to the Rangers home opener this past Tuesday thanks to Byron over at Rotojunkie and had a great time.

On Monday I nearly had an anxiety attack waiting for jury duty because they crammed way too many people in. I left and need to send a doctor's note.

This weekend we're going to Shakespeare in the Park production of Romeo and Juliet as well as a Renaissance Fair with Todd & Brooke on Saturday.

So in short...the Webbs have been busy. Now that you're all caught up I'll try and keep you updated on a daily basis.

...just call her Bailey for short!

...short list of times I've been really, really scared: last night.

Yesterday was a long, productive day. I took a personal day from work and Stephen and I were getting house-related things out of the way. We went to Lowe's and began the prep work for our storm door installation (scheduling the measurements). We tried out a new pancake joint for breakfast (gingerbread pancakes = yum!). We drove into Dallas and began the process of adopting our new puppy. We had our house inspection done. All in all, pretty jam-packed day.

Last night, we went to bed kind of early because we were worn out. I'm not entirely sure what it actually was that woke me up around 3:30-ish, but I was wide awake instantly (not something I'm really known for, that). A flood of sounds and sensations hit me: a loud popping sound, objects pounding on the walls and roof, torrential downpours of rain sounding like a power washer on the ceiling, an eerie purple-gray lightning-filled sky, the house swaying back and forth, and the screaming, howling sound of the wind. Stephen woke a moment or so after me, climbing out of bed to throw on clothes and shoes and check on things. Usually, in storms, he tells me it's nothing to worry about and to go back to sleep. I asked him what he thought, and he started to tell me his usual "go back to sleep" but then the tornado siren began to wail. He changed his direction to "grab the cats and get somewhere safe". There is of course no power.

Of course, we only have one flashlight with batteries and our portable TV/ radio doesn't have any batteries in it, so I hand both off to Stephen and grab Nolan while he tracked down Paige. Nolan had come upstairs looking for us, but Paige was apparently standing on the windowsill downstairs staring at the wildness outside. We throw the boys into the hall closet and wait. And wait. We eventually raided remote controls to get the portable TV working, and found a news station that we watched until the worst of the storm was past us and the tornado warning was called off.

It's creepy quiet, then. We can tell there is some damage to the trees outside, but it's too dark to see much of anything. I discover that somehow, the wind had forced rain through closed, locked windows at the front, creating minor puddling. Candles are lit, and we sit up until morning.

We eventually find out that the popping noise was a power transformer blowing. The pounding on the house? Rain, fence boards, tree branches, flying shingles, and our neighbor's siding. The wind? 75-85 MPH. We wandered out when it grew light and the neighborhood convened in the street. It's a mess. No power, large signage and trees down everywhere. People are saying that it's the worst they've ever experienced- and while it is reassuring that this won't be happening often, it kind of makes it worse. It was easier to write the experience off as scary only because it was new and unusual to me. Once I found out other people were scared too, it was scarier. Does that make any sense?

Tonight we are going to the On Stage Bedford Shakespeare in the Park production of Romeo and Juliet.

Should be fun.

Tomorrow we're heading to the Scarborough Renaissance Festival in Waxahachie. Anji's actually never been to one and I'm guessing she'll love it.

We opted not to do the Romeo & Juliet last night. None of us were really feeling like it so we went and had dinner instead.

I spent most of yesterday doing yard work to get the backyard cleaned up after the Tornado and ready for the arrival of Miss Bailey.

Thanks to Brooke's mom we now have a very nice crate for Bailey for training and we were able to secure a perfect bed for her. Not too girly, but feminine nonetheless.

Okay - the shower calls to get ready for the Ren Faire.

Hopefully, I'll have some pictures for you later.

I'm very emotional as I type this so I can't really get into a lot of details at the moment, but Bailey isn't working out. We had a very nice, but stressful 24 hours with her and have returned her where I'm sure her adorable self will be adopted soon.

I don't really want to get into the Bailey thing, but I do appreciate all of the checking in that was done. Thanks gang!

Anji and I are creeping closer and closer to our closing date. One more week now as everything is done.

We're both coming down with a big case of the blah's. I suspect it's stress related.

More later.

This week is shaping up to be involved and both Anji and I dealing with annoying colds isn't helping.

First of all - the NFL draft is this weekend. I'm actually really looking forward to it since I have a team that I devoted to in the Cowboys. Should be a lot of fun on Saturday.

The doctor wants me to give blood for routine testing so I have to find a time I can fast at 8:00 until the next morning and all of this stress of the closing hasn't accommodated that too well yet.

Next Monday morning they are coming into install our storm door. FINALLY. Lowe's hasn't won over a devoted customer. I'll try and chronicle that a bit later.

Tuesday the 29th is our official closing date. We think it's happening relatively early in the morning and then we'll be home owners.

Lots of stuff going on!

As we get closer and closer to closing on Tuesday the pressure continues to build. Obviously, buying a house is a big deal, but we keep getting calls from our lender asking us questions that seem to have nothing to do with buying a house.

What level of education do you have? I realize that is a standard question on applications - but we've going through the paper work. At this point, we've been approved everything is done and now they're asking us that?

Every time that our phone rings my throat lurches a bit.

Not to mention the "credit profile freeze" that we've been in. It's a good thing in the grand scheme of life that we really can't go out and buy anything via credit or do anything that would change our credit profile (like buying Blackberrys), but it's not good when I freak out a little bit every single time I buy a soda.

Now - before I get emails and comments referencing the world's tiniest violin - I fully acknowledge that we're blessed and all of this is a luxury...but it doesn't make the acid reflux any easier. ;)

I hope everyone is having a grand ole Wednesday.

You can always tell when it's spring in Texas when you have little peeping Tom's on your window.

Everything is signed, sealed and delivered. We own a house! Weird.

Anji's peeps got us this awesome house warming basket.

Mr. Paige loves the storm door!