Gena is...

... obsessed with Facebook.

... nervously awaiting the outcome of an offer we made on a house yesterday.

... stunned that we actually wrote up an offer on a house yesterday.

... too much in love with a house that we made an offer on yesterday.

... trying to remember that there are a gazillion other houses that are in foreclosure that will be available soon that are just as good if not better than this house we made an offer on yesterday.

... wondering if any of them will have a fireplace in the master bedroom.

... needing to distract her thoughts.

... Okay. I'll stop.

Facebook has seriously changed the way I communicate and keep in touch with the world. I love it! Everyone I know should get on Facebook - and then I would look so much more popular! :) I probably update my "status" 3-4 times a day!

So yes! We looked at five properties on Saturday. The first was absolutely disgusting -- I called it Smelly House the rest of the day. The people who lived there smoked, randomly punched holes in walls, cut out carpeting, ripped the door off the oven, left bedroom doors hanging precariously from their hinges (one almost fell on me), and apparently ran around and painted aimlessly, perhaps drug-crazed, however they wanted, be it on the walls halfway up and sloshed around, on the carpet, or a beautifully painted green and purple door. You like?

And how about that brown wall with the hot pink baseboards?? This corner was the only part of the room that actually had baseboards. The rest of the walls had been torn out, as had most of the baseboards in the rest of the house. The house itself was beautiful, just trashed. Seriously, if we tore out and replaced all the flooring, repainted, and put in some new cabinets and a new oven, that house would be awesome! In fact, tomorrow I will be calling contractors to get a ballpark estimate on doing just that and we may put in a lowball offer (deducting from their asking price the expenses we'd have to pay to get it livable).

Anyway, the properties got substantially better after this one. The third property being my favorite and the one we made an offer on. I want to get excited, but you just can't when you are dealing with the foreclosure market. The banks are supposedly responding more timely than they were a year ago, but it could still be weeks before we hear. Most likely even if we do hear, they will counter, with what I've been told could be ridiculous conditions. We'll see. Like I said, we may put in another offer on smelly house, and we certainly aren't done looking. We expect to be putting in several offers over the next few weeks until one pans out for us.

I have to stop thinking about it. Back to Facebook. I love Facebook. I have a MySpace, but I just never felt comfortable there. It's just not my style. But Facebook, now that's a good fit. I'm talking to people who have gone on to live lives I never thought would ever cross paths with mine again. People I've always wondered about, but never - even after Googling their names repeatedly - had a way to track down unless I went all psycho-obsessive and hired someone. I may be crazy, but not that crazy.

Just today, I got friended by a girl we'll simply call L since I'm sure she doesn't expect that I'd ever blog about her. I met L in high school when she was a freshman and I was a senior. She showed up as summer practices for the cross country team. She wasn't a natural runner, but she had more heart and determination than anyone else on that team! I've never, ever forgotten her. She was just the sweetest girl - and I loved running with her. Since she wasn't a natural runner, it was sometimes a battle for her, but I would stay with her, encourage her to press on, never give up, and she didn't. She also went on to marry my high school boyfriend. I love this because I always knew she had a crush on him. And today she sent me a little note on Facebook, wanting to say hi and see where life had taken me, but if it was too weird, I need not write back. Silly girl! I was thrilled! And there you have it. Another reconnection thanks to Facebook!!

Not on Facebook yet? Well, come on! What are you waiting for?? Click here, and then be sure to "friend" me!!