House Trauma... part 1

I have been living in a lovely apartment for about 2 years now, and with the market the way it is, I decided to start looking at buying a house. The weekend before Thanksgiving, I got a lead on a great house in Braselton. I went to look at it the next day. I put an offer on it the day after that. After much hassle between me, the bank and another buyer, I thought I had lost the house. Oh well, I thought, I'll find another one. The day of my dinner party, Dec. 12th, all I could think about was the food I was going to cook, and the timing to get it to all done... When I get a call from my realtor. The seller decided to take my offer! I was now under contract for a house! I couldn't believe it. They were even telling me I could close as soon as the end of December. How exciting!
Well.... it's mid-January. I have found that dealing with a foreclosed house is very difficult. My people got me all worked up for a quick closing, so I was lining up moving men, and utilities to be turned on, I pissed off my apartment management with a short notice... And I shouldn't have been in such a rush. After several "false alarm" closing dates, it looks like it will close next week, around the 23rd. Yay!
The house is in good shape, it needs paint, and some appliances. My original plan was to buy new appliances once I closed the deal. However, I've become a "craigslist" convert. I scoured the ads for a fridge and stove. I couldn't believe it, but I found a package deal - fridge, stove and built-in microwave for a really good price. You always wonder when dealing with craigslist, is it on the up-and-up? Even the story the gal told me seemed a little funny- "My neighbor had to move to Florida suddenly, and she asked me to sell her stuff" Ok.... After talking to her, she seemed like a nice person, and I had all of her contact information should anything happen.
So, last night, I borrowed a truck, bribed a guy friend of mine to help, and headed to CARTERSVILLE to pick up some appliances. I had no idea where Cartersville was in relation to Flowery Branch. Let me tell you, there's no good way to get there from here. It was a long drive. And when we got there, the house is a split-level. With no electricity. The temperature is dropping like mad, and we're trying to get the microwave separated from the cabinets. The guys did all the heavy lifting - I held the flash lights... I know it's a tough job.
Now I hope the house deal doesn't fall through! :)

I've been "Blackberry'd"?

I have dodged the Blackberry/Treo/PDA bullet for the last 7 years. I got by with taking my laptop home with me at night, and if there was a problem, someone would call me. When I lived up in the mountains, I couldn't get data service anyway. Now that I'm in town, I hoped to stay under the radar... I didn't really WANT to be clued in to my work email on my off hours. I liked having a pile of email to delete on Monday mornings because they were usually "informational alerts" and didn't require me to do anything but put them in the trash. Well, I avoided the ultimate in techie geek for as long as I could. Yesterday I got assigned a Treo. The guys in Infrastructure think it's absurd that I haven't had one for this long - they each have a Blackberry permanently attached to their hip. So, reluctantly, I took the darn thing home. It's bright and shiny and it makes all sorts of beeps and boops. Anyone who has seen me try to send a text message with my phone, knows that this will take some getting used to. I learned this morning that I am not skilled enough to check my email in the car on the way to work. I'm pretty sure this gadget will hang out in the very bottom of my purse like my phone does - and it will be one more thing to keep up with a charger for. But hey, if it helps solve some monster problem before it gets to my boss - it might be worth it. (that and I got to check the weather on it before I left the house - how cool!)

Happy New Year!

Yes, I realize that it is already January 6th...and I will probably write -08 on my checks for at least another few weeks. But all the same, I wish you a Happy New Year. At the beginning of every year we open our hearts to the promise of good things to come. I am thankful for the blessings in my life, and look forward to the year ahead. I was even thinking this while nursing a hangover New Year's Day.