M is for Mama 6: M is for Mama 6: Temper Tantrum over Twins Twice

[Hane]

It’s insane how widely house prices vary by location in the US. A kid from central Pennsylvania, back around 1990, was bragging about his mom’s huge new $125,000 house in a gated community. I told him, “Wanna see a $125,000 house here in Connecticut? It’s the little Cape Cod next door.” And neither my town nor my neighborhood is remotely fancy. My sister’s little Cape Cod down the street would have sold for nearly a million bucks in her friend’s San Diego neighborhood or in parts of Fairfield County, Connecticut.

My daughter, MIL, and I visited relatives in Germany some years ago. Everyone in the family lived in apartments there, but one day we were invited to a party at the home of the “rich cousin,” who owned her own house out in the country!  It turned out to be what an American would call a medium-sized duplex in half an acre.

[JermajestyDuggar]

Watching any home Reno show in hgtv or diy that takes place in TX let’s you know how cheap homes and land can be in TX. Of course this isn’t counting the large cities. But the vast majority of TX is so cheap. You can get a big piece of land and put a big house on it because not only is land cheap, but so is labor! Even when Braggie hire out some work to be done, she’s not paying as much as someone who live in LA. 

[SuperNova]

32 minutes ago, Hane said:

It’s insane how widely house prices vary by location in the US. A kid from central Pennsylvania, back around 1990, was bragging about his mom’s huge new $125,000 house in a gated community. I told him, “Wanna see a $125,000 house here in Connecticut? It’s the little Cape Cod next door.” And neither my town nor my neighborhood is remotely fancy. My sister’s little Cape Cod down the street would have sold for nearly a million bucks in her friend’s San Diego neighborhood or in parts of Fairfield County, Connecticut.

My daughter, MIL, and I visited relatives in Germany some years ago. Everyone in the family lived in apartments there, but one day we were invited to a party at the home of the “rich cousin,” who owned her own house out in the country!  It turned out to be what an American would call a medium-sized duplex in half an acre.

So true. We moved an hour away from the city that Mr. Nova works in because the real estate prices are insane. It allowed us to buy a much nicer house than anything we could afford in the immediate area. Cost of living is cheaper as well. Like @JermajestyDuggar mentions, services like plumbers and electricians are cheaper as well. Even Target prices are lower here than where we came from. My mom consistently pays 1 or 2 dollars more for every day items like TP and dish soap. Mr finds the commute well worth it. 

[TuringMachine]

32 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Watching any home Reno show in hgtv or diy that takes place in TX let’s you know how cheap homes and land can be in TX. Of course this isn’t counting the large cities. But the vast majority of TX is so cheap. You can get a big piece of land and put a big house on it because not only is land cheap, but so is labor! Even when Braggie hire out some work to be done, she’s not paying as much as someone who live in LA. 

My dad likes to say: The caveat is you have to live in Texas.

[DundeeUnFundie]

Braggie: I'm a homeschool gradute, and I homeschool my kids too!
Also Braggie: Does not understand the concept of a 'renaissance man' and wrongly credits her husband with it...

The Renaissance was a time of political, religious, political, and artistic upheaval. Henry VIII was a classic example of a Renaissance man. Very manly (in his prime) and interested in sports like hunting and jousting, but also interested in theology (we know how that all went but he was very devout), and interested in fashion, and is also highly artistic, frequently composing and playing songs for the court. I might have possibly given it to her if she had led with 'godly and sensitive man who can also build us 2 houses from scratch', but she essentially just said 'he's smart and also can build stuff.' Honey... that's not it.

Edited May 1, 2020 by DundeeUnFundie
wrong wording in an area

[Red Hair, Black Dress]

7 hours ago, Bazinga said:

She says Shaun is a software writer

Software writer??!!??

Um ........Does she mean software developer -- the person who creates applications by writing code?  Does she mean a technical writer who works in IT? Does she mean a computer engineer?  A computer programmer? A system architect? A full stack developer? 

I haz a confused. Asking for a friend who works in the IT industry

5 hours ago, luv2laugh said:

Capital H Creative http://www.capitalhcreative.com/

That's the worst website I've ever seen. The website notes Shaun builds websites -- if that's an example of his work I'm severely unimpressed.

Edited May 2, 2020 by Red Hair, Black Dress

[TuringMachine]

13 minutes ago, Red Hair, Black Dress said:

That's the worst website I've ever seen. The website notes Shaun builds websites -- if that's an example of his work I'm severely unimpressed.

Yeah honestly I thought it was a parked domain at first

[AmazonGrace]

He's had that site since 2008 and hasn't noticed Dekstop? 

 

[Hane]

14 minutes ago, AmazonGrace said:

He's had that site since 2008 and hasn't noticed Dekstop? 

 

But he’s “working for you as though for Him”! That should be WAY more important than spelling and basic design skills. (I could do better and I’m a 67-year-old idiot.)

[Bazinga]

So right about housing. A nice large house out in the country where I live would easily cost 500k+, and that night be for an older farmhouse. It would probably be cheaper to buy land and build. But alas...I don't live in Texas, haha.

Also, I totally agree that owning a mcmansion would suck (unless you could really afford the upkeep) I have a smaller home, and it feels like a lot to keep up with sometimes. I couldn't imagine double or triple the size. I do always imagine having just one more bedroom though..... 

[klein_roeschen]

11 hours ago, Hane said:

My daughter, MIL, and I visited relatives in Germany some years ago. Everyone in the family lived in apartments there, but one day we were invited to a party at the home of the “rich cousin,” who owned her own house out in the country!  It turned out to be what an American would call a medium-sized duplex in half an acre.

Depending on where you live in Germany, you have to be "rich" to own a house or aparment, because it's not as easy to get a mortgage than it is in the US. I read so time ago that if you want to buy land to build for a small single family home on the outskirts of Munich or Frankfurt, you pay nearly a million Euro for 1/8 of an acre of land. To compare to where I live, semi- rural thuringia in a mid- sized town of 50,000 residents the same piece of land would be around 50,000 Euro. And the house itself will be another 200,000 Euro at least depending on if you buy a planned house from a catalog or engage an architect to plan it. And houses here are brick and mortar, even the interior walls.

[Zebedee]

@klein_roeschen I'm from Oxford, officially the least affordable city in the UK: 14 times the average income. The average is 8. When I was a kid in Cambridgeshire, my parents (teacher and nurse) bought their first house in the very early 80s for under £10000. They could save the deposit in a few years while renting. Second house, late 80s, was £11000. Sold in 2000 for £140,000 and now going for £260000 ish. They were all terraced or semi detached; a detached house in my childhood village is averaging £950000. Even the new ones.

I really don't know why house prices aren't controlled somewhat. The banks were giving mortgages of 10x income pre-bust, people lost their houses during the recession and they were bought as investment properties for rent by rich people. My rent in Oxford was more than a mortgage repayment would have been: but now they are lending much smaller amounts, so you basically have to try and save up (in Oxford, anyway) a hundred thousand pounds plus, while spending most of your income on rent. Meanwhile, even some part-time workers on my street had taken advantage of the crash, and bought extra housing, now worth nearly half a million, which they rent out. The greed is incredible. As is the lack of social conscience, there is a severe lack of housing there, and nasty developments are being built in all the green belt and floodplains so people can actually afford to buy. All the property owners are complaining about it ruining their views and decreasing their property values. They just seem to expect that other people's work should pay their mortgages, and then, when they retire and have little income or savings, they can be kicked out and go where, exactly?

The worst thing is, after the expensive rent, that you have no protections. We lived in the same house for 13 years. Then got told to move, as the owner wanted to rent it to a friend. Like, thanks, We've paid nearly half your mortgage, have no appreciable savings, and now we have to move as well. And I would not want to move into a modern house in the UK: my brother and mum have, larger than our old houses, but much smaller gardens, and my God, the build quality is typically appalling. I do not want to hear my stepfather snoring, but the guest room is separated from his room by an en suite (I can hear him pee), a linen closet, and the main bathroom. At least my rented house was a lovely 50s one with solid walls. You couldn't hear through them at all.

At this point (plus Brexit) I decided we should just settle permanently in Germany. We'd love to live near-ish to Munich, Frankfurt or Berlin one day. Small house but land (I want to rescue donkeys and small animals). Near-ish means maybe 1-2 hours drive to the S-bahn, though my choice is Dresden, my partner is less keen! My partner has a student flat in Munich where he lives and runs his business during the week and we have a 2 bed flat in BW (about 90 mins drive): rent in BW is much cheaper than MUC. But German houses are awesome. The build quality is amazing, they are really well insulated - even in the summer when we've had nearly 40C, I've rarely wished for AC. They are so warm and quiet. And you often get a kachelofen

 

[luv2laugh]

Braggie Abbie is reading here. Her latest Instagram pic is of her with a vacuum in hand. That’s a first.

[danvillebelle]

If her book is anything like her blog posts and her instagram posts, it will be 500 pages long.  

Her editor should be paid in massages and alcohol for dealing with that overblown wordy shit.

[luv2laugh]

1 hour ago, danvillebelle said:

If her book is anything like her blog posts and her instagram posts, it will be 500 pages long.  

Her editor should be paid in massages and alcohol for dealing with that overblown wordy shit.

She will need eye drops for the amount of eye rolls. ?

[SuperNova]

2 hours ago, luv2laugh said:

Braggie Abbie is reading here. Her latest Instagram pic is of her with a vacuum in hand. That’s a first.

In the post Abbie says she has day old make-up on. She seems to have poor hygiene. She doesn't wash her hair very often and sleeps in her make-up. That's just nasty. If you can exploit your older children to watch the little ones while you stupid shit like wallpaper your closet, have them babysit for half an hour while you take a damn shower. 

[Hane]

6 minutes ago, SuperNova said:

In the post Abbie says she has day old make-up on. She seems to have poor hygiene. She doesn't wash her hair very often and sleeps in her make-up. That's just nasty. If you can exploit your older children to watch the little ones while you stupid shit like wallpaper your closet, have them babysit for half an hour while you take a damn shower. 

It’s probably just her way of saying, “See? I’m just like all of you imperfect peasants out there!”

One thing I’m surprised she isn’t bragging about: having not one but *two* sets of identical twins, one of each kind! It’s all about appearances to her.

Edited May 2, 2020 by Hane

[JermajestyDuggar]

5 minutes ago, SuperNova said:

In the post Abbie says she has day old make-up on. She seems to have poor hygiene. She doesn't wash her hair very often and sleeps in her make-up. That's just nasty. If you can exploit your older children to watch the little ones while you stupid shit like wallpaper your closet, have them babysit for half an hour while you take a damn shower. 

I think the last time I slept in my makeup was in college. I was drunk as fuck and just passed out in my bed without brushing my teeth or washing my face. I woke up with dragon breath and mascara all over my pillow. Gross. I can’t sleep if I my face and teeth are dirty.

[SuperNova]

13 minutes ago, Hane said:

It’s probably just her way of saying, “See? I’m just like all of you imperfect peasants out there!”

Yeah, I agree that she's trying to be relatable but all her efforts to seem like the young, hip, cool mom just fall flat. She tries too hard and makes an idiot of herself with all the stupid lingo and special nicknames like anthro, ho-cho, twunks, twirlys. Just typing that out makes me feel embarrassed for her. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

4 minutes ago, SuperNova said:

Yeah, I agree that she's trying to be relatable but all her efforts to seem like the young, hip, cool mom just fall flat. She tries too hard and makes an idiot of herself with all the stupid lingo and special nicknames like anthro, ho-cho, twunks, twirlys. Just typing that out makes me feel embarrassed for her. 

I agree. I’m her age and I rarely use some of the phrases she does. If I do, I am making an obvious joke of it. But I’m also the opposite of cool and I’m very aware of that. Braggie is the opposite of self aware. 

[luv2laugh]

45 minutes ago, Hane said:

It’s probably just her way of saying, “See? I’m just like all of you imperfect peasants out there!”

One thing I’m surprised she isn’t bragging about: having not one but *two* sets of identical twins, one of each kind! It’s all about appearances to her.

She has bragged about having two sets of identical twins. She bragged about it in an instagram pic and her blog post.

Edited May 2, 2020 by luv2laugh

[klein_roeschen]

Eh, sleeping with mascara on, my eyes even itch when only reading that.

@Zebedee In my late teens and early twenties I lived in an apartmentblock the GDR are (in)famous for. The walls where made of concrete and not really soundproof. I could hear my neighbors pee, too, and can say that not all of them washed their hands afterwarts.

And when looking for enough land for animals, look around Berlin. The prices an hour away of there are reasonable and you can maybe even find a lovely old farmhouse you can restore to it's former glory. That would be my dreamhouse. And I understand your love for Dresden, lovely city with a wonderfull old heritage and the surrounding nature. But sadly, a lot of bigoted people living there.

[Zebedee]

@klein_roeschen Yes, Dresden is gorgeous, and I adore the Semper Oper, but the number of Pegida and AfD people is off-putting. Bavaria has a horrific number of AfD voters and racists in places too. too  Berlin would be ideal, 3 opera houses! Plus, it's pretty cool (TBF so is Munich, but they have a severe lack of Indian restaurants). I loved Frankfurt when my BF was living there, so different to how I thought it would be, and distinctly Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani stores and restaurants is a definite plus!

Oh God, hearing neighbours peeing is gross. At least you knew whose hands you could shake safely, back in the hand-shake-days! 

[Hane]

@luv2laugh, thanks—I haven’t seen her Insta, but now feel compelled to!

[SuperNova]

13 minutes ago, Hane said:

@luv2laugh, thanks—I haven’t seen her Insta, but now feel compelled to!

Grab a glass of wine, take a puff, or whatever vice you partake in because she gets annoying so fast. I don't think you can really know Abbie till you've been irritated by her Insta. Can't wait to hear your thoughts.