When we started our house search, interest rates were awesome. We figured out how much house we could afford given those rates. However, when it came time to lock in the rate, they were much higher. We decided to go ahead and buy, planning on refinancing when the rates came down again. Well, if you haven't noticed, they're down again! So, the appraiser was just here. His figure was $33,000 more than what we paid in July! That more than doubles our investment (ya know, excluding the labor we put in). So glad it was worth it, not only mentally/emotionally, but also financially!


This next bit is for you, Londa. Part of the deal when we bought our house was that we got a "home warranty." I'm still not certain what all it covers, but I'm glad we have it! The other day, I had turned on the oven to preheat and meanwhile was going to "live chat" with a customer service gal from a website I was having problems with. All of a sudden, Aaron heard something POP in the oven! (There was nothing in it yet.) He gasped and ran in. When he opened the oven door, I could see a lovely, warm glow fill the kitchen (through the window we made). I asked the CS gal to hang on a moment and ran in to check it out. There was a small flame (just slightly larger than a normal candle flame) and the entire heating element was glowing orangey-white! Yipes! Quickly determining there was nothing I could do, I went back to my live chat. It was only later that I realized I missed a golden opportunity for blog photos. So, this is all you get: the aftermath (see the white scortch marks and the broken element?).

The fix-it man comes tomorrow to tell us what needs to happen next. Meantime, I'm using the secondary, convection oven for my holiday baking and other needs. Thankfully it has a "normal bake" setting, because I'm just not sure about the whole convection business still.

But, hey, maybe mama gets a new stove for Christmas!