The WaxNation » Uncategorized http://waxman.org Two vs. world Sun, 03 Oct 2010 22:46:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Where to find us http://waxman.org/2010/10/03/where-to-find-us/ http://waxman.org/2010/10/03/where-to-find-us/#comments Sun, 03 Oct 2010 22:46:23 +0000 Dave http://waxman.org/?p=465 Greetings,

It’s become quite clear to me that Kate and I have given up on posting on this blog in favor of the many forms of social media that are quicker, faster and certainly more interactive.  We’d like to welcome you to participate in our lives using the services below where you can continue to read what’s going on, see pictures and be informed about the many exciting things we’re doing.  We are both active users on Facebook and in order to interact with us you’ll require a Facebook account.

Kate:

Facebook: http://facebook.com/kate.waxman

Dave:

Facebook http://facebook.com/davewaxman
Twitter: @dwaxman

]]> http://waxman.org/2010/10/03/where-to-find-us/feed/ 0 Summer! http://waxman.org/2010/06/24/summer/ http://waxman.org/2010/06/24/summer/#comments Thu, 24 Jun 2010 22:54:22 +0000 kate http://waxman.org/?p=461 I can’t believe it’s June… the end of June.  It has been the fastest 6 months ever, I swear it’s March 3rd, but the calendar keeps arguing with me.

Dave and I have been feverishly working on the house, trying to get projects done whenever we have the time and energy.  We’ve successfully gutted the walls and ceiling of our kitchen, moved the light fixture, added a light switch, patched the hell out of it, and painted.  That was about 3 months worth of work spread over 6 months.  We’ve also painted the dining room, mulched around the entire house, and acquired a ride-on mower, a weed whacker, and a new dishwasher.  Whew.  You don’t even want to know what’s left.  But, we’re going to do it and in about 2 months, this place will be awesome… because the housewarming is in August.  LOL!

So, if we haven’t invited you over, please don’t take offense.  This place is a disaster but it will be open season to drop by come August.  I promise!

]]> http://waxman.org/2010/06/24/summer/feed/ 0 Another complicated chapter closes on 9.10.09 http://waxman.org/2009/09/04/another-complicated-chapter-closes-on-9-10-09/ http://waxman.org/2009/09/04/another-complicated-chapter-closes-on-9-10-09/#comments Fri, 04 Sep 2009 21:08:05 +0000 Dave http://waxman.org/?p=419 As stated in a this post Kate and I have been house hunting for a while.  We’ve had some pretty rotten luck with the entire process and have learned that it is true; nothing goes really smooth and easily in life.  Kate and I stayed strong, we were diligent and we refused to give up.  Finally, after months of stress that I can only equate to mental hell I think everything has finally paid off for us.  An abbreviated recap of the events follows.

After we lost the house as mentioned in the previous post Kate and I went back to a house we had looked at and placed an offer on previously.  When we initially placed an order they countered us with a number that was above what we wanted to pay and knowing the work we needed to put into the home we were scared off.  We went back and fell in love with the house again.  It has a very nice layout, beautiful property, all the modern and luxury features you want and really great bones to be made what we want in a home.  Unfortunately the kitchen was terribly small and we knew that in time we’d be forced to get involved in a major renovation project to build a new kitchen.

We were willing on doing this and made another offer which was accepted.  While moving forwards with the process we learned that the house would require flood insurance due to its location.  When we investigated flood insurance we learned it was in excess of $5,600 a year.  Due to this ridiculous cost we opted to walk away from this house.  Again we were saddened but we knew we were doing the right thing.

On July 8th we placed an offer on another home.  After 7 weeks we have learned that indeed, third time’s the charm!  Of course nothing is final yet as we haven’t closed yet but for the first time in this entire ordeal I feel confident enough to now share some of the story with the public.  The events were very dramatic for us as it was a lot of time where we just had no idea or control of the situation.

We found this home, which is a lovely four bedroom ranch house with 2.5 bathrooms, a full walkout basement and sits on 1.15 acres of beautiful land.  The house is much larger than we expected to be able to afford and comes with a lot more land than we ever thought we could own.  We’re very excited and know this house has the bones to make an amazing home.  The layout is great, the rooms are large, the kitchen is large enough and with some TLC everything will be amazing.  The house was built in 1966 and unfortunately that shows in some areas such as horrible wood paneling that needs to be torn down and an outdated kitchen that we’ll need to upgrade to meet our style and usage.

We put an offer in on the house and the sellers came back pretty quickly with a very fair counter-offer we were willing on accepting.  We quickly moved into Attorney Review and things seemed to be moving along nicely.  Of course as soon as I feel something is moving nicely, going well or just perfect we must find bumps in the road.  Sometimes, like in this case, they turned out to be hurdles.

We scheduled our home inspection and were expecting pretty smooth sailing as I had looked the house up and down and tried to identify issues myself but found nothing.  This is probably because I have no idea about construction, plumbing, electrical or really any skilled craft.  The home inspector was great and very detailed making certain to find everything he could that could pose a problem in the future for Kate and I.  Boy did he find some problems.

The home inspection showed multiple major issues and a few minor issues.  We made up a list of all the issues we had discovered and sent it off to our lawyer who made it all nice and legal like and sent it to them.  I think it was well over a week before we heard anything back.  Thankfully they had addressed some issues; but the major issues they just stated were still pending review.

After five plus weeks of continuing in this fashion we are now satisfied with the work done except for one moderately large concern of ours that they have however granted us a cash amount at closing so that we may address it on our own. Now we’re very excited to be moving into the new house and trying to get ourselves ready for the adventure ahead of us.

We’re nowhere near ready to move however and closing in just a bit over two weeks time!  We don’t own a single packing box and unfortunately have still not sold our condo; which is a very sore subject for us.  We’ve had a couple of offers that were too low for us to accept and both buyers have shied away from the purchase rather than accepting reasonable counter offers.  We’re seeing a good amount of traffic but no bites.  It’s nerve racking to say the least.

]]> http://waxman.org/2009/09/04/another-complicated-chapter-closes-on-9-10-09/feed/ 1 Where are the small posts? http://waxman.org/2009/08/27/where-are-the-small-posts/ http://waxman.org/2009/08/27/where-are-the-small-posts/#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:19:08 +0000 Dave http://waxman.org/2009/08/27/where-are-the-small-posts/ I’ve been asked where the small posts about our day-to-day updates are?  Well, the answer is very simple.

This blog is 100% public.  Anybody and everybody can read it and thus we try to keep it’s content very censored and controlled.  If you’d like to tap into the more personal occurrences in our lives please join our friends networks on Facebook.  With the “Privacy Controls” on Facebook we feel more comfortable posting our weekend plans, what awesome things we’re doing, how stressful our days are and even some awesome pictures of me eating huge sandwiches :)

]]> http://waxman.org/2009/08/27/where-are-the-small-posts/feed/ 0 Plastic bags http://waxman.org/2008/09/28/plastic-bags/ http://waxman.org/2008/09/28/plastic-bags/#comments Mon, 29 Sep 2008 01:39:19 +0000 kate http://waxman.org/?p=308 Dave and I have slowly moved to using the new green grocery bags you see everywhere.  We’re amassed about 8 bags and 2 insulated bags.  I really believe that reusing what we have is a small way that we can contribute to keeping the Earth alive for generations to come.  I just got this web presentation sent to me from my Aunt Karen in an email, and I found it very disturbing.  if you haven’t started using green reusable grocery bags, please reconsider, if not for the future, at least for the animals we’re affecting.

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080506/MULTIMEDIA02/80505016

]]> http://waxman.org/2008/09/28/plastic-bags/feed/ 0 Cat Sitting Day One http://waxman.org/2008/08/22/cat-sitting-day-one/ http://waxman.org/2008/08/22/cat-sitting-day-one/#comments Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:28:48 +0000 Dave http://waxman.org/?p=284 My parents dropped their cat Dylan off this morning.  At first he was doing great.  Playing with a toy under the table, sniffing about the house.  The people next door are getting new floors put in and I think the noise freaked all three cats out.  Krispy is hiding in the kitchen, Dexter is hiding on top of the kitty box and Dylan is now under the coffee table in the living room.  I am hoping to get him out and playing again within a few hours.  I don’t want him to be scared the entire time he is here.

Kate is, as of me writing this, 20 minutes from Chicago air space.  She is at a medical conference as a representative of her team.  I’m very proud of her.  Beyond the awesome job and the trust they’ve put in her she has overcome a lot of self confidence issues to be able to do this all on her own.

]]> http://waxman.org/2008/08/22/cat-sitting-day-one/feed/ 0 Foodie http://waxman.org/2008/07/10/foodie/ http://waxman.org/2008/07/10/foodie/#comments Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:14:45 +0000 kate http://waxman.org/?p=265 Foodie

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“Foodie is an informal term for a particular class of aficionado of food and drink. The word was coined in 1981 by Paul Levy and Ann Barr, who used it in the title of their 1984 book The Official Foodie Handbook.”

How appropriate that the term foodie was invented the year I was born.  The longer I am on the planet, the more of a food geek I become.  I think I can trace it back to college when I experienced, for the first time, a massive void of quality food.  The cafeteria was a travesty.  My roommates thought Mac & Cheese To Go was a good dinner.  My husband to be burned grilled cheese.  Something had to be done, someone had to do something!

I can also atribute my knowlegde of so many foods to the healthy diet I’ve grown into over the last 5 years.  I am always looking for ways to cut calories and fat, boost my fiber intake, but still have full bodied flavors and variety.  Dave is now a wonder cook and we really love exploring new foods and trying recipes at home.  This past winter I got into a habit of cooking for the therapeutic results it had on my spirit.  When I was in all-day Saturday classes in January and March, I would come home and just cook and cook.  I made soups and salads and comfort food from scratch… all kinds of things. The more I cooked the less stressed I felt.  I didn’t have to be organized or prepared, it didn’t matter if I forgot a step and had to go back.  I was cooking for the soul of it and to get away from classes and work and chores.  Best of all, I made some excellent food!  Saturday nights were gourmet nights in the Waxman house.

Tonight Dave and I made lamb for the first time.  I shoud say, I helped plan it and buy it, Dave grilled it.  It was great and yet again, it was fun to try something I’ve never cooked.  I think the next thing I want to tackle is grilled pizza.  I’ve made pizza dough before, but never grilled!  I think this is the recipe I want to use: grilled pizza at King Arthur Flour.

I’ll try to post a picture before we scarf it down.  Maybe we’ll make it Saturday…

]]> http://waxman.org/2008/07/10/foodie/feed/ 3 Catching Up http://waxman.org/2008/07/09/catching-up/ http://waxman.org/2008/07/09/catching-up/#comments Thu, 10 Jul 2008 02:19:12 +0000 kate http://waxman.org/?p=262 I feel like somehow in the last six months I lost my ability to reflect.  I have to thank my sister-in-law for reminding me that sometimes I have to stop and think about my day or weekend and just absorb it all.  What good is life if I never take the time to stop and realize all that I’ve accomplished?

Things I’ve accomplished in 2008:

Earned 9 credits toward my MBA

Interviewed for a new job and was hired on interview 2

Taught my husband how to drive

Made salsa for the first time

Raised money for CCFA to continue funding research to cure Crohn’s

Started a new job and realized my sanity was more important than school… so I dropped a class for the first time in my school career.

Discovered I love spaghetti squash, thanks mom!

Saw James Taylor for the 5th time in concert, with the three people I love the most

Visited the Botanical Gardens in the Bronx… finally

Reinvented homemade Macaroni & Cheese only light and low fat, and it ruled!

Hosted my first Easter dinner

Helped Dave smoke using the grill for the first time.  Charcoal rules!

This is a good start… that was therapeutic.  I need to blog more.

]]> http://waxman.org/2008/07/09/catching-up/feed/ 1 Reasons why I am having a hard time being productive today http://waxman.org/2008/06/04/reasons-why-i-am-having-a-hard-time-being-productive-today/ http://waxman.org/2008/06/04/reasons-why-i-am-having-a-hard-time-being-productive-today/#comments Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:36:21 +0000 Dave http://waxman.org/?p=242
  • It’s summer and I don’t want to be indoors
  • The average response time from the field on simple issues is 5.5 hours
  • I keep having daydreams of GTA4

    • And the most important reason …

    My computer sucks and is having major memory issues.  Check out this.

    ]]>     http://waxman.org/2008/06/04/reasons-why-i-am-having-a-hard-time-being-productive-today/feed/ 2     Monkey Kickoff == Addicting! http://waxman.org/2008/01/25/monkey-kickoff-addicting/ http://waxman.org/2008/01/25/monkey-kickoff-addicting/#comments Sat, 26 Jan 2008 02:54:54 +0000 Dave http://waxman.org/?p=164 http://totebo.com/mko.php?c=qsosqBoissoEqqosqBoUBotsostrto43jSouqqp

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