The taxman!

Being a homeowner is stressful!! It's that time of year, when the county tax assessor updates their records. I got a notice that the "taxable value" of my home had increased by some $20,000! I wasn't aware that I had sunk $20,000 into home renovations lately. And that's because I didn't. What happened, seemingly overnight to raise the "taxable value" of my house by $20,000? IT SOLD. Yes, I bought it last year. Unfortunately that little transaction caught the attention of the tax assesssor, and they re-valued the property for the first time in ten years. Ouch.

I'm just holding my breath over how much this will raise my monthly payment. See, even when you don't have some predatory-lender-backed ARM, your monthly payment can still rise!

Boo.

A little bit of saving grace from this letter that informed me of the $20,000 valuation hike, though: I get an extension in filing for my homestead exemption. I goofed. I thought the deadline for applying was April 15, since that tends to be a widely popular tax deadline... No, apparently for county property taxes, the deadline is March 15. So I missed it. But I get a 20-day extension. That lowers the amount the county can tax by $1,000. So, kind of a big deal. But I can still file! Whew.

Checking in.

I didn't get the mid-century dining set, for a couple of reasons. First of all, the ad was misleading (as things can sometimes be on craigslist), and it actually wasn't located in my town at all, but in a rural area kind of far away. I've been very busy the past week or so and just haven't had time to go out there. Plus, I'd have to use my dad's truck to pick it up, and they've been in and out of town. Sometimes things just don't work out! Oh well.

But, I think I've decided to buy a couple of things for my house in the next couple of months.

First, a screen door for my kitchen door. I have a steel door in my kitchen that leads directly to the driveway on the side of the house, and it has a doggie door in it. She Who Shall Not be Named had a doggie. Well, the doggie door leaks when it rains, when it's raining JUST hard enough and the wind is blowing at JUST the right direction. After I moved in, it took a long time to figure out where the water was coming from in my kitchen after it rained. Then one day I happened to be at home during one of these storms (Summer Monsoon 2k7), and saw the water coming in through the doggie door. It did this again last night as a rather large storm moved through. I don't have a gutter on that side of the house, and I think that would help some, but the wind could still blow it in. So I need a screen door. These are pretty cheap at Home Depot and installation is only something like $29. Can do. Should do. Because I'm not always home to towel up the rain, and it gets under my wood laminate floors, and that's probably not a good thing. Unless there's some attractive way to board up a doggie door? On a steel door, I'm not sure there is.

The second thing, definitely a dishwasher. My kitchen does a neat trick. If you touch the metal top of the dishwasher and a wet part of my stainless steel sink, you get electrocuted! Not a lot, just a tiny jolt, but man, that doesn't seem right! Or safe. I discovered this one day while cleaning. I wonder what causes it? I assume the wiring on the dishwasher is messed up.

So yeah. And still planning to paint the bathroom. Maybe this weekend I'll have time to go look at paint chips. I just don't have much time to get things done.

Back from Dallas

I had to leave the humble abode for a couple of days for a short trip with my mother to Dallas and Ft. Worth. I am back, with IKEA purchases in hand, and exhausted. And an extremely messy house. It looks like an unfinished project bomb exploded in here.

Tomorrow: I buckle down, and GET SHIT DONE. Install new door lock. Clean-up front porch. Hang my bedroom lantern finally. Do massive loads of laundry. Maybe try to fix the kitchen door lock.

I need a house husband...