had a frustrating day wherein we learned that we fell completely in love with this adorable little rustic beach cottage that was for sale for 589k. which, if you are not from this area probably sounds like an absurd amount of money. and if you are from this area you probably realize that it's an amazing deal.

so.

spent literally an hour straight holed up in a conference room at work, talking to a mortgage broker on the phone, going over the intimate details of our finances and running an application to see how much we can qualify for.

turns out?

only 500k max.

which around here might buy a small, medium-quality condo. maybe.

it's absurd given how much we make. on paper it's an asininely high number, but in context of where we live, it doesn't even qualify us for tiny-ass starter homes which need remodeling. also, our debt is too high, as it turns out. we paid off a bunch of it with the money i got for my dad's house. but there is one very-high limit credit card left - which is killing the debt/income ratio. and also, 60k in student loans and two car loans...well. it adds up quickly, yes it does.

so that was really hard to find out. i still want that damned cottage. it was so rad, you guys. it needed work, and it was very small. and it had no garage.

but still. i want it so much.

it makes me so sad that by the time we will finally pay off enough to qualify for a 589k loan, the cheapest house we'll probably be able to find will be 625k.

always one step behind, it feels like.

but you know, i still feel overall okay, oddly enough. i think it's because this is the most my husband and i have communicated about our finances and our future plans and actually looked at homes and stuff, in like....forever?

it makes me feel close to him, which i've told him a million times, but i don't think he gets.

anyway, i'm in a generally good mood right now. it's a nice reprieve from the doom and gloom that has been hanging over my head lately.

and you might have thought i was finally going to get through an entry without mentioning american idol, but you'd be wrong. sanjaya finally went home last night, and while i genuinely felt for him when he was tearing up (he's like a little kid! i wanted to hug him and give him a juicebox!), i am oh so glad that america finally came to its senses.

that is all for now, i think.

bring on friday.