Coming along

There's a meaty vacation post still to come, I sense, but in the meantime I thought I'd give an update on the whole moving thing. I'm officially in the new place - the only things left at the apartment are my couch and the biggest portion of my dismantled desk. In fact, I'm typing from the dining room table right now! The photo is what I see when I look up. Things are, mmm, not quite unpacked yet. There's a distinct possibility that my 4th of July holiday will be spent not watching fireworks and eating hot dogs, but making 400 trips up and downstairs carrying stuff. I'm really eager to have everything put away, though. Painter for the living room arrives on Monday, and cable/internet/phone get hooked up Thursday. (I'm currently mooching WiFi off an unknown neighbor. Thanks, neighbor!) After that I have to decide if I'm going to try painting any other rooms myself, because I want to put things up on the walls if not. I think I lived at the apartment for about a year before I actually decorated my walls. I shall not make the same mistake here!

Mine

It turns out that the downside of having two months to slowly move a few boxes and random items across town after work every day ... is that instead of being super exhausted for a day or two, you're moderately exhausted all the time. Still, though, I soldier on. (I say this as if I've been moving for more than three days now.)

Yes, on Monday I officially closed on the condo. There was much rejoicing. I got some gifts I didn't expect - a gift certificate for Menards from my realtor, and a large bag full of handy stuff like Pledge wipes, Shout, Ziploc bags, Saran wrap, etc. from my mortgage lender. (Actually my realtor let me choose between a gift certificate from Menards or one for the same amount from a local pizza place. I was like, "Woman, please.")

Over the past couple of days I've been moving things in after work. I'm trying my hardest to actually put everything away every day before I leave, which may end up falling by the wayside. I've noticed a couple of things that I hadn't really thought about before - first of all, I get traffic noise from the highway close to the subdivision. That's never been something really bothersome to me, and it's not conversation-impeding-loud outside, but still more prominent during busy times than I'd prefer. Also, my bathrooms have nice big mirrors, but they don't have medicine cabinets. I did not notice that until today. There's room on other walls to put them in - or I could replace the mirrors, I suppose - but how weird! That is weird, right? On the more positive side of things I hadn't noticed, the lake about a mile away is really adorable. Also, I was a little worried about where I'd be able to put TVs/computers/etc. based on where the cable jacks were - but I needn't have feared, because there are cable jacks everywhere. That makes me happy. And in general, I love walking through the place with the knowledge that it's mine. I measured one of the spare bedrooms today - there's plenty of room on both sides of the window for dollhouses.

My hood

One thing I'll really miss when I move is walking around my current neighborhood. Within a couple miles of our apartment there are parks and bike trails and elementary schools and a creek (okay, it's more of an irrigation/drainage canal, but it runs through the woods and is pretty when it's full of water) and some really nice houses. In the past year or so I've become a complete real estate whore, so walking through these neighborhoods is endlessly fascinating to me. Many people would probably find it boring - there are no funky little shops (any sort of shops, really) or restaurants or anything like that. There's a swimming and tennis club, but that's about it. In fact, I might have once assumed I'd find it boring. But I don't, at all. I love that it's not busy, and it's quiet, and there are all of these trees and big yards and interesting architecture. (A lot of Frank Lloyd Wright's disciples built homes around here, it seems.)

The street names also entertain me, and I'd love to know who came up with them. There are interesting pockets of theme going on - national parks (Grand Canyon, Yellowstone), Civil War (Sumter, Antietam, Gettysburg, Appomattox). The most baffling one to me is the nautical theme - Island, Jetty, Landfall, Driftwood, Nautilus, Masthead, Offshore, Frigate, Eddy. We're not exactly the seashore over here on the West side.

Anyway, my new neighborhood has more of a "condo sprawl" flavor. The downtown area is painfully cute, and not too far away - but I don't think it'll exactly feel like my neighborhood. (Though the local Mom & Pop grocery store already won my heart by carrying SnapeaCrisps, which are the most addicting and delicious things on the face of the earth and I'd only previously found them at Trader Joe's.) There is a nice park (with a lake and a water slide) within a mile or so, which I look forward to checking out. Speaking of which, closing is twenty days away. Holy crap. I still have to decide if and what I'm going to paint, and I recently got a nice set of Mission style dining room chairs at St. Vinnie's for $12 each but I don't really have a matching table, and I need bookshelves and a new bed and a million other things I may or may not actually buy, and oh my God I'm so glad our current lease isn't up until the end of July.

Hey, mice on a girl

I was disappointed when I confirmed that this entry's title is not, in fact, the chorus of Beck's song "Girl."

Monday evening I was walking through Owen Conservation Park and came to a fork in the path. I wanted to take the higher path through the woods, but I had only gone a few yards when a loud gobbling sound stopped me in my tracks. I looked ahead and saw four gigantic turkeys blocking my way. I hesitated. I really wanted to take that path. But the turkeys looked pretty comfortable, and they must have been at least three and a half feet tall. If you took their beaks into account, I figured there was a decent chance that the four of them could actually take me. I conceded the path. You've won this round, turkeys.

My home inspection was tonight. The downstairs bathroom and master bedroom doors don't quite latch - the placement of the holes needs to be lowered slightly in the frames - but that was the only thing wrong with anything inside or outside. The inspector was actually excited about the basement. That makes two of us.

Finally, does anyone know of any good uses for fresh mint? I made some tzatziki the other day, but I still have a bunch of mint leftover.

What a difference a week can make

Remember that condo I had a crush on? It had only been on the market for a week or so, and I noticed that an open house was scheduled for Sunday. I thought, if I really want this place, I should probably make an offer. So that's what I did on Thursday. On Thursday I also found out that someone else had already put in an offer, but they were in the "countering stages" so I could still compete. We wrote up an offer, faxed it over, and waited. By Thursday night, I was 95% convinced they'd gone with the other buyer. But I was still 5% hopeful, and that 5% was really annoying the crap out of me.

When I got to work on Friday, I noticed I had a message on my work phone and a message on my cell phone, both about ten minutes old. They were from my realtor, who had an update. I quietly freaked out, and then called her back, ready to finally have a damn answer.

They accepted my offer. Holy crap, at the end of May I'll officially be a homeowner. Or, you know, I'll own some small percentage of a home and a bank will own the rest, but whatever. I get to live there and decorate it and do what I want! I hung up the phone and jumped up and down for awhile, in a very dignified manner, and knocked over half a bottle of water onto my keyboard, also in a very dignified manner. All this happened before 9:00 a.m., so, needless to say, I was a little distracted for the rest of the day.

On tap early this week - deciding on a lender, deciding exactly how much of my savings I want to kiss goodbye (for awhile) as a down payment, and the home inspection. I'm still a bit overwhelmed, but I'm happy. It will be such a different experience to go back for the inspection, and know that it's actually going to be mine in a couple of months.

The hunt continues

I have now viewed twelve properties in person, and countless more on the internet. After an intense dilemma over whether I want to buy a condo or a house, I think I'm pretty much decided on a condo. It mostly comes down to the fact that condos take much less time and effort to maintain - and I can get a nice condo in a nice area for the price I want to pay. Houses ... I can get a decent house, but not in the areas I'm really interested in. Five years from now, who knows? But for now, I think a condo is what I want. I saw quite a few of them today, actually, and liked them all. I kind of have a crush on one particular place, but we'll see.

(Cartoon from http://toothpastefordinner.com)

Midweek bulletin

There is nothing exciting going on right now, but there will be this weekend. It'll be Chock Full o' Brion Weekend in Chicago, and it will be awesome. Slumber party!

I actually viewed a property on Tuesday with my realtor. My quest to buy a home has moved from the giddy "wee, I'm going to buy a home!" stage to the semi-terrified, "oh my God, I'm going to buy a home" stage. Basically, any time between now(ish) and, say, early June would be the ideal time for me to make the purchase. Actually, late May or early June would be absolutely perfect, but I can't exactly wait around until then and just expect to find the right place within that small window. So suddenly every new listing I get is truly a potential candidate, and it's freaking me out. I liked the place I saw Tuesday, but I can't just snap up the first place I see. But what if that really is the right place, and I just happened to see it first? Well, that's enough from my brain for now. But holy crap, I'll be so relieved when I have made a purchase.

Finally, the composed Thai and Vietnamese salads served in our cafeteria have on the side the tastiest dressing in the history of ever. It causes everything it touches to become instantly delicious, and I must find out what is in it, so that I may recreate it and eat it always. I think I can taste cilantro, vinegar, and perhaps ginger, but beyond that I'm clueless.

For real

I have an appointment early next week to meet with my very own realtor. I'm excited. Nervous, of course, but excited. Hopefully at this meeting I'll get pre-approved for a loan (a local lender is also invited), so I'll have a clearer idea of what I can afford. I am not totally decided on whether I want a condo/townhome or a house ... but I'm leaning toward a house. Extra work be damned! (Sure, I say that now.) I know I'm opening myself up to countless potential headaches, and stress, and expenses galore ... but hot damn, you guys. By the end of this year, I might be living in a place I actually own. (Well, except for the 80% or so that's owned by the bank.)