Thursday, February 15, 2007

Finally - a House!

Sarah and I have found a house. After months of looking, we put an offer on a 1200SF ranch with a basement and a two car garage. After a quick counter back from the sellers and a few changes to the counter, we agreed to a contract. On Monday, we had an inspection and the house looked good. It looks like we are a go from here on out! We close on the house on March 22nd. After that, I can start moving out of my ghetto apartment! Hooray! For those of you who know Denver, the house is in Lakewood, west of Sheridan on Arkansas. Stay tuned for news on a open house or something.

Robert and Natalie lucked out. They happened to be over at my apartment when we found out that the house was ours. We had also found out that the realtor, before getting the house under contract, had set up an open house. So Sarah and I assumed different names, jumped in the car, and the four of us checked out the house again. Natalie and Robert seemed to like it and Sarah and I like it more every time we go in there. That's a good sign. I already have a list of things that Sarah/I/both of us want to do to the place, but it is nothing too big. Fun, fun, fun. I am incredibly excited for this. I'm sick of throwing my money away towards rent. Equity, baby!

Hopefully, I will be getting my car back later this afternoon. Worst case scenario, tomorrow. But I am sick of being carless and I am ready to get my baby back.

Thinking of Daytona. . . only three days away. . .

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

This week: Not so Flicktastic

Tuesday began like every other work day. I got up, showered, changed, fed and walked the dogs, had some breakfast, grabbed my work bag, and headed to my car. Upon reaching my car, I realized that my car had been broken into. The took a bunch of random things - CD's (naturally), some marriage prep stuff, my CSU football helmet magnets, my notebook with my mileages, sunglasses, loose change (maybe $2 worth), and who knows what else. They also tried to take my car. The ignition switch was missing and there was serious damage to my steering column. Apparently, this idiot was an amateur and they couldn't steal the car. So they just ripped the ignition out of the steering column and destroyed the steering column. The worst part of this whole scenario is this: the bastard who was trying to steal my car smoked in there as he/she/it was trying to take it. So it smelled like a used ashtray the next morning when I found it. My poor, poor X-Earth.
Obviously, I am quite upset about the whole situation. It pisses me off that people do those sorts of things to other people. I would never in a million years try to inconvenience someone like that. Think about it. I have spent a ton of time on the phone with the police, the insurance company, the towing company, the body shop. I have to pay my deductibles just to get my car fixed and my stuff repurchased. So because of some asshole who is too lazy to work a little bit harder to make things work, I have to spend money I can't afford to spend, waste time that I can't afford to waste, and increase my stress in my life that I can't afford to increase. Thank you, you heartless, waste-of-space, worthless subhuman. Thank you for ruining my day, my city, my state, my country. I hate you and everything you stand for. You are the reason that our society cannot trust anything. You are the reason people live in fear. You are what is wrong with this world. I hope that karma catches you quickly and viciously.

On the better side of things, because of this unfortunate circumstance, my house shopping has been ramped up. I am done with parking on a street and living in a ghetto apartment complex. I am done with it, completely. Hopefully, a house will appear that Sarah and I can get excited about. I'll keep you posted on the hunting. For now, just know this - house shopping is excruciating. Gizmo is doing well too. His in-house accidents have decreased as the days go on. He and Spanky are used to each other now and have a blast together. I think Spanky is excited to have someone to play with all the time. Gizmo is growing (how much, I'm not exactly sure) and only has one more week before he gets his last shots. That means he can play with other dogs! The dogs are fun and they sure cheered me up during my crappy day yesterday.

Nothing else as of right now. Kyle promised me those bachelor party pictures too. Have I seen them? No. Get on it Steve!

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Gizmo


Yes, it is official. Sarah and I have a new dog. His name is Gizmo and he is another miniature schnauzer. This picture is his first night at my apartment. He is 14 weeks old there. He has been a blast. He has been awesome so far. He is quickly becoming housebroken, he sleeps through the night (in a kennel), and he and Spanky are getting along well. The two of them like to wrestle each other for hours at a time! He has been a blast.
On to other news, since it has been a while since I put anything on here. Wedding planning is going well. We have our church, reception hall, flowers, cake, DJ, photographer, tuxes, wedding dress, and bridesmaid and flowergirl dresses set up. Things are definitely falling into place. Planning a wedding is way too stressful for my tastes. Besides the obvious reason, I think I would avoid divorce just to avoid planning another one of these! Thankfully, Sarah and I have had an extended engagement, which give us more time to do everything. I have no idea how people do all this in a couple months! To top everything off, we are also house shopping. House shopping makes wedding planning look like a jog in the park! The good news is that we found a lender we are comfortable with and we are closing in on a house we like. Then the fun (haggling) begins! Thankfully, Harry's mom, Debbie King, has been helping us out a ton. We both went into this blind, having never bought a house before, and Debbie has been an incredible asset. I'm pretty excited to get into a place where I can live for more than a year. Plus, my house won't have roommates that get married and leave me stranded (thanks John and Robert!).
What else? I just finished a great book the other day. It is a book Kato got for me for Christmas that is called "Rat Pack Confidential" by Shawn Levy. It is an incredible, behind-the-scenes look at the Rat Pack (and more specifically, Frank Sinatra). Being a big fan of those guys, it was a page turner for me. Shawn Levy had a lot of information that people do not (or will not) put into biographical literature. He wasn't afraid to bring up the political connections, the mob connections, the fights, the infidelity, the drinking, the gambling, the partying. It showed the true colors of what was then the most powerful group in the United States. Very good book. I would recommend it.
I'm currently reading Bill O'Reilly's newest book, "Culture Warrior". Although I don't necessarily agree with Bill on all topics, his books are always good reads. He is unabashed at calling out people for doing wrongs either against an individual or against our country. He tells it like it is. I have a great amount of respect for the man, regardless of his opinions. I'm a little past half way through the book. I'll let you know how the rest of it goes when I finish it.
The month of February is awesome. The Super Bowl. The Daytona 500. The skiing. The ridiculously awesome depth of the snow on the ground in Denver. Spring training being only a month away. Ahhhhh.