People ask me if I’m tired of all the paperwork that comes with a loan & buying a house, but I’m more sick of all the little things that require annoying errands. Rather than dwell on that, I’ll post on…

Why I Love My Bank

It pays to get to know your bank. When we encountered a problem trying to deposit a Canadian check on the weekend, I went back yesterday to see the manager. We stressed all weekend about what we would do if we weren’t able to get it deposited. But the manager was as resolved as I was in finding a satisfactory solution. It all worked out in the end, with Scott (manager) using a few tricks up his sleeve. As he put it, I’m a loyal customer, there should be some trust between us. I mean, hello, I’m there like once a week. It’s nice when you have contacts that know you. Sadly, I’ll have to train a whole new branch on depositing Canuck checks. Small price to pay for a bank that goes above and beyond for me.

Mary and I had plans to meet at the museum for lunch, but it’s been pushed back a week. I hope we’ll still be able to get together even though I’m moving to Aurora, and she lives on a whole other side of Denver. She’s never quibbled at a little bit of driving. Plus her girls would be crushed if they couldn’t see Elijah once in a while.

We have the house inspection today, which Colin says is neat and enlightening. I would hope that since the house is only 3 years old, it won’t have big fixes. But I feel like I’m prepared for anything. I’m bringing Elijah’s swing (so he can be amused), the camera (to take more specific pictures), and the tape measure (to measure rooms, and the back yard for Glen who wanted to know how big it is). We are anticipating it will take about 2 hours, and he came recommended by someone Geoff respects. I may try to get Geoff to post about the inspection.

I’ll close with a quote from Tomorrow Never Dies (Geoff is sweet on Michelle Yeoh).

James Bond: You were pretty good with that hook.
Wai-Lin: Thanks. It comes from growing up in a rough neighborhood. You were pretty good on the bike.
James Bond: Thank you. It comes from not growing up at all.

I feel like our whole life is revolving around the house. It’s mostly what we talk about, all our decisions now are based on the house, it’s all other people want to talk about with us. We feel very blessed to be where we are, and we’ve waited a long time to be here, so I don’t feel bad wanting to celebrate this step. We’re 28 years old, we have 8 years of marriage behind us, and Geoff finally has a permanent job. We’ve paid our dues, now we get to pay a mortgage. 🙂

I feel just ill when I think about the devastation in New Orleans. I feel such sorrow for those who lost loved ones, all their possessions, and for a city that will never be the same. I pray these people can rebuild new lives, and I pray that we can stop blaming others and just try to move on. I understand the hurt though, and I understand that like a death in the family, everyone will respond to it in their own way.

This week (this whole month) I got a lot going on. Tuesday morning is Elijah’s 6 month check up, and a trip to the bank. Wednesday afternoon is the house inspection, which I think may be fun. Thursday is Mom To Mom. Somewhere in there, I’m still hoping to pack.

Well, that’s about it. I’m going to close with a quote from Contact.

Michael Kitz: Your having sent this announcement all over the world may well constitute a breach of national security.
Ellie Arroway: This isn’t a person-to-person call. You can’t possibly think that a civilization sending this kind of message would intend it just for Americans.
Michael Kitz: I’m saying you might have consulted us; obviously, the contents of this message could be extremely sensitive.
Ellie Arroway: You want to classify prime numbers?

We bought a washer & dryer today (Kenmore, from Sears). It will get delivered after we move in. There is a huge sigh of relief in knowing my days of needing quarters to do laundry are numbered. 🙂 Imagine, not having to leave my house to wash & dry our clothes.

You might want to check out Geoff’s blog today. 😉

There are rumors circulating that the 2006 season of Scrubs may be its last. Or at least Zach’s last season. This would be a shame, because it’s the best show on tv, and I would still tune in to Scrubs without Zach. Time will tell what will become of this.

There was a very funny ad on tv months ago, and it has since been altered. Did you notice the Aspercreme ad changed? It went from the funny, “You bet your sweet Aspercreme” to “You bet if it’s Aspercreme”. Did people complain? “Cause I thought it was clever marketing. Who knows! I still sing the previous version when I hear it.

I had a great time at my Mom To Mom meeting. We have a wide range of ages and family sizes. Elijah did fine in the nursery, he was one of 3 babies there, and the cutest. He was happily playing in the saucer when I went to get him.

Not much else is going on. I’m looking forward to a weekend of relaxing, cleaning, and organizing. Throw in some window shopping and a trip to Peet’s.

I’m closing with a quote from The Daily Show. Lewis Black is hilarious.

(Back In Black segment)
Lewis Black: Now, we all know the best medical advice doesn’t come from the church or some machine, but from the people you trust the most: celebrities! Actor and lovestruck Scientologist Tom Cruise appeared on the Today Show last Friday, where he shared his beliefs on mental health.
Tom Cruise: I’ve never agreed with psychiatry, ever. Before I was a scientologist, I never agreed with psychiatry. And I know that psychiatry is a pseudo science.
Lewis Black: Unlike scientology. I mean, that’s got science right in the name!

Doug & Kirsty are pregnant! Lillian is getting a new baby brother or sister in May. We’re so happy for them, as I knew they wanted to have another child. Both Mom & Dad are excited, and Lilly loves the idea of a baby.

We’ll be praying for a safe pregnancy. I hope we can get up to E-town maybe next Fall to see all the new babies. This is the 2nd couple from the baby shower to announce a pregnancy. Lisa, did you put something in the water? 😉

We put an offer on a house on Monday, and they rejected it, offering to drop the price $2K. We countered by saying let’s meet in the middle, because Tammy (our realtor) did research and found that they were asking for more then other houses on par with it were selling for. They rejected that saying no way, it is their price or no deal. So we’ve walked away and we’re back out house hunting later this week.

Disappointing, but it’s just not a good money decision to pay more than you should (unless you are desperate). I’m certain the bank’s appraisal would have come to the same conclusion that Tammy did, and then there might have been problems with the loan.

God’s Hand has been over this whole house hunting endeavor, so we put our faith in Him that He’ll lead us to the right house.

In any case, here are the pictures of the house that almost was.

Like yesterday, I feel like today is going to be a slow day. Tick Tock.

Saturday we went out house hunting, with dinner at Chick-Fil-A (again). Mmm. I loves me Chick-Fil-A. Sunday we skipped out on church to go to Peet’s and Safeway before we went out house hunting again. The weather here has been good, hot but not too hot. Today is expected to be too hot (97 F) so I’ll try to get my errands done early.

Once there is anything to announce about the house, you’ll read about it on Geoff’s blog.

No plans for Labor Day weekend, not really. We have couples group Sunday and I think we’ll be bbq-ing together afterwards. I think it would be unwise to try and go to the mountains this weekend because

a) gas prices are high, and I don’t want to fill up anytime soon and
b) the roads to the mountains will probably be busy.

(rant for the day)Sometimes I get worked up over things that I don’t need to. Sometimes I get really annoyed with people taking cheap shots at my faith, and I want to lash out. I’m working on not letting myself get worked up, and realizing that lashing out isn’t going to make things better. If people want to say things, or advertise insulting things on their car, that’s their choice. My choice should be to pray for them.(end of rant)

We bought a new vacuum cleaner, a Dyson. We’ve needed a new vacuum for a long time, the one we have we got for our wedding. It served us well, but we will need something more reliable if we hope to clean this place before we leave. We got a good price on it and I can’t wait for it to get delivered. We’re trying to hold off buying stuff for the new place until we move since we don’t want to pack and move stuff unnecessarily.

I’m anticipating getting some good news from a great friend tonight. I’ll post about it tomorrow, but I suspect someone is getting a visit from the stork. 🙂

I’ll close with a quote from Clueless.

Heather: It’s just like Hamlet said, “To thine own self be true.”
Cher: Hamlet didn’t say that.
Heather: I think I remember Hamlet accurately.
Cher: Well, I remember Mel Gibson accurately, and he didn’t say that. That Polonius guy did.

We’re going house hunting tomorrow, and Elijah is going to be with a babysitter. We’re very excited to look at houses, and have been waiting for Saturday all week. We’re looking in Aurora, it’s closer to Geoff’s work, church, and the housing is more affordable there. Incidentally, the new neighbors, the gay couple, are also moving to Aurora, next month. They bought a townhouse for $100K. I had a nice chat with one of them, I didn’t catch his name though. He said he was in shock over how overpriced houses are here. In Houston, where he’s from, you get more house for your money. He said his partner is a school teacher in Highlands Ranch and he is in the medical field. They went from being well off to being poor. We also talked about Vienna (their dog). I guess I am getting good practice for getting to know my neighbors.

My Mom-To-Mom group starts officially on the 8th, but they have an open house next Thursday to meet your group and the teachers/caregivers for your kids. It’ll be nice to have that each week.

I figure I’m watching too much Star Trek: The Next Generation (again) because I’m starting to question the dynamics between the characters. Like why does Picard refer to Data as Mr. Data or Worf as Mr. Worf instead of by their rank? When did you ever hear him call Riker Mr. Riker? I think maybe because Data & Worf are lower in rank, they don’t merit always being called Lt. Commander. He does address them by rank sometimes, but not always. See, watching too much ST:TNG.

I’m going to close with a quote from Robot Chicken. (Geoff this is for you)

pirate 1: [has a helm wheel on the front of his pants]
pirate 2: Arr! What’s that steering wheel be for?
pirate 1: Arrr, it’s driving me nuts!

Happy Anniversary to my in-laws Glen & Diane! 33 years of marriage, that’s something to celebrate.