House Hunting

I had a realtor to my home on Saturday after which we went to see a few condos. The tour of my house went fine, he seemed to like my house well enough, liked what I've done with it and thought that it showed well. Of course the real information will come from the market analysis that he'll do, so I'll know more once he's done that number crunching. He did say that the market has picked up some and that he is seeing the most activity now from first-time buyers, which I think may be an advantage for me. Mine is the type of place that appeals to the first-time buyer, I think. It's a 3-bedroom, 2.5 bath house for an entry-level price, It's in a complex where lawn care and plowing/shoveling is provided and it's one of only two properties in the complex that has a fenced-in backyard (one of the big things that appealed to me, as a buyer). Larry (the realtor) also said that right now the rates are relatively low which is also helping to motivate buyers, the tax credits that are available now help too. So, it will all come down to, first, what asking price his analysis comes up with and then, whether there is someone out there who is willing to pay it. I'm not desperate, I don't have to sell, so I am in a pretty good position in that regard. Whether I even put it on the market will depend on that market analysis though, so I should have a decision about that in a few days or so.

After all that it was on to see the condos. I am really only interested in properties in this one complex. I figure that if I'm going to go to all the trouble and expense to move, I want to be in a very specific location. This place is located about three miles down the road from the barn where I board Ruby. It's also only about fifteen or so minutes from work, so this is probably the most attractive part of it for me. Additionally, however, the townhouses are quite nice, and there are some great advantages to the property like extensive walking trails, river views/access and a swimming pool, among other things that appealed to me.

The first property that we looked at was the nicest. It had been somewhat renovated with new flooring -- beautiful Australian cyprus in the living room, slate hallways and kitchen (I LOVE slate, always wanted to do some slate flooring in my home), stone tile floors in the bathrooms and high-end, lovely berber carpet on the stairs and upstairs. There are two good-sized bedrooms and a loft area in the master, which would work for an office, a little den or perhaps as a location for my treadmill. This unit also has a finished basement with a walkout and a very large laundry area. There are a few things that need some work, definitely the kitchen needs some upgrading and new appliances. And the bathrooms could use a little upgrading too, although, not really a huge necessity, a big renovation wouldn't be needed on the bathrooms, a little facelift there would work wonders.

The second property was the exact layout as the first, only without the renovations and without the basement/walkout. It was nice to have seen the other property first, to help to have a vision for how this one could possibly look. However, it's hard to get around the absence of the basement/walkout space. This one only had a crawl space for a basement (the laundry was a stackable on the second floor), so the overall useable square footage is much less. The asking price was also about 25K less, so that's a big thing to consider.

We then saw one or two (I can't even remember, I'm already losing track and it's only been one day!) with an alternative layout. This one you enter into the living room, the kitchen is at the back and the glass doors and deck are off the kitchen. In the other units, you enter into a hallway, the kitchen is off the hallway and then the hallway opens up into the living room, with the glass doors and deck off of the LR. The units with the LR in the front are smaller and more narrow, the bedrooms are smaller and there is no loft in the master bedroom. I definitely preferred the other layout, I found it much more spacious, felt that it flowed much better and I preferred having the deck off of the living room. One of these was obviously a bank-owned foreclosure and was an absolute MESS, so it would need a ton of work.

Lastly was a unit that Larry had been unable to get access to. It is still occupied and the listing realtor had not responded. But we took a walk by it anyway, to see the location and I have to say that I was intrigued when I saw how it was situated. This unit is my preferred layout and it looks out over the walking trail (the trail passes right beside the deck) and the river just beyond that, so it seems like it could be lovely. There is no walkout with this one however, so there would be a tradeoff (and I haven't seen it yet, so I don't have an idea of what shape it's in).

So, overall, I liked the first place the best as it is move-in ready and I loved what they've done with the flooring. It's got the most space and having the finished basement/walkout would provide the most flexibility and options. It is the most expensive, however, it is also empty and has been on the market for 30 days (and counting) so perhaps there would be some negotiation possible there. Also, the argument can be made that the kitchen needs some work, so, despite the upgraded flooring throughout, it still should not be commanding top dollar.

After thinking awhile about the properties that I saw, I think that I've decided that I am not interested in the second layout option (kitchen in the back). But whether I can live without the basement/walkout is still on the table. If there is a huge price difference and there are some other advantages (like the view and immediate proximity to the walking trail with the unit I didn't see), then maybe I can get over having that extra space. I still have to think about all this. I CAN say however, that a few things have stuck in my mind since yesterday.

They are:

* The lovely, lovely hardwood, slate and berber flooring in that first unit. I keep thinking about how nice the place was. (Yes, I'm shallow, always going for the appearance).
* I loved how all the units have forced hot air (from a town gas line! no oil or propane delivery required) and central air.
* LOVED the walking trail. I just think that I would get so much use out of that. I especially keep thinking of how nice it would be to right beside it in that one unit.

The more I think about it, the more I think that my quality of life would be improved by moving to a place in this location. The proximity to the barn is one of the biggest advantages. I'm losing about an hour a day driving back & forth and I can tell you there are plenty of days where I've talked myself out of it for this very reason, not to mention those days in the Fall when I just run out of sunlight. Also because of the access to trails (both on the property and town & state trails very close by), I would have more time and ability to get the dogs out for decent walks or runs. Less wasted time driving, more stuff immediately available. These places are going to be much more energy efficient -- my current house has electric heat (UGH!) and because there is no duct work, central air is not doable. I cool it adequately with a ductless, split-system A/C, but it would be nice just not to have to deal (I worry about the maintenance of the external duct thing on the outside of the house). The condo units would be smaller than I have now, but I think perfectly adequate for my needs. And certainly if I want to renovate something (like the kitchen), it will be a lot more doable with a smaller space anyway. I know people who live in these condos and I have not heard one negative thing about it, so I feel pretty good about it so far. So, I don't know. Bottom line is, I don't hate where I am, but I think my life would be better there. So, I've decided to continue to move forward. I'll see if the market analysis stops me cold in my tracks.

I always have one fantasy or another going

I've been fantasizing this week about downsizing a little bit. Selling my house and buying a townhouse close to where I board my horse. The more I think about it, the more I like the idea. But the thought of it also completely overwhelms me. So, I'm making out a pro & con list. Here is what I've come up with so far:

Pros

* Cheaper (smaller mortgage, less property taxes, may be less HOA (not sure about that last one)
* MUCH closer to the barn. Like by 25 mins each way -- this is HUGE to me.
* A bit smaller (less to clean and less area to keep track of), might be a warmer space in the Winter (lower utility bills).
* Central air (at least the place I was thinking of).
* Closer to Nashua amenities (like Trader Joes, hello!)
* Less stuff to maintain (yard, outside stuff).
* This particular place has a swimming pool.
* The condo place I'm thinking of also has walking trails.
* There are at least three other areas of conservation land trails very close by.
* It's just beside the border to my favorite town (Hollis).
* I'd be closer to some of my cousins and some other people I know from the barn.

Cons

* No backyard or screened porch, smaller deck. much less personal outdoor space.
* Attached walls.
* No garage.
* Smaller space (can be looked at as both a plus and a minus).
* Only 1.5 baths, no master bath (I don't think).
* Selling and buying and closing and moving is enormously expensive, not to mention a huge pain-in-the-butt.
* I currently have an excellent mortgage rate, it would piss me off to have a higher %.
* I'm sure I couldn't get as much for my house right now as I paid for it.
* All the work I would have to have done on my house in order to even think about selling it.
* Sure would miss being able to just let the dogs out all the time.
* Being in an attached townhouse, the dogs might bark more (I don't care so much, but neighbors might object).


Break-even stuff

* About the same distance to work (give or take maybe 3 minutes).
* Both locations are pretty close to grocery stores, etc.
* With the outlay of money it takes to sell, buy and move, the money part might actually break even for a while.

Most likely this is all a moot point because I suspect that I would not be able to sell my house for near enough for it to make any sense. I think the biggest reason that I'm fantasizing about this right now is because I really, really, really want to be closer to Ruby, while not adding any time to my commute. And the idea of paying less per month, in general, is a very attractive idea too. If I could get what I paid for my house it would absolutely make sense. But it is a whole lot of trouble, not to mention up-front expense, to jump through the hoops to be in a position to even think about selling. Well, maybe I'll look into it come Spring, see if I can find someone to recommend a real estate agent. Or maybe I'll put the thought on the back burner and think about it again in another year. Food for thought anyway.

Fighting Demons

I somehow stumbled upon this book, I’m not even sure how or where I found it, to be honest. I sometimes will hear about a book, or see a description somewhere or someone mentions some book on a message board some place and I’ll order it, where it will sit amongst the piles of books sitting in queue around my house. And then, based upon my mood, I eventually get around to reading it, usually by then having long forgotten how the book came to be in my possession in the first place.

Anyway, I picked this book out of the pile a few days ago and I have to say that it immediately spoke to me (as many books do) but deeply, on an actual physical and psychological level, much as this book spoke to me on a spiritual level. You see, this story could easily have been a chronicle of my own life, or at least part of it anyway. Maybe not exactly or literally, and certainly I have not reached the levels of resolution (nor do I have the talents or the incredible insights and understanding) that the author has. Not yet at least, but her journey deeply moved me, it hit home for me on an intense gut level that I find hard to even describe. Even now, here late, late on a “school night” I find myself awake and weeping with the raw feelings that these writings have exposed in me. Awake with thoughts and ideas and frustrations and hopes and hurts and self-loathing as well as an anguish for the person I should have been and hope for the person that I could be, with my mind spinning with the regrets of lost opportunities, and feelings of worthlessness, unworthiness, uselessness and, yes, even the anger of the past & present and hopes for what could be in the future. Maybe.

You can say that people over-eat, or drink or take drugs or gamble or compulsively spend or whatever because of unhappiness or bad childhoods or abuse, but I think the reasons are far more complicated and myriad than those stale explanations. Unhappiness is just a trite and easy answer, a label or category that people want to slap on to explain something they really don’t understand. This chronicle is not all happy endings and pat answers and resolutions but a window into the deep and complex feelings of a person who went through the lows & highs of trying to conquer her demons.

Shorter Days

I rushed home today to try and get there in time to catch enough remaining day light to take the dogs for a walk. That's the bummer with these shortening days (as much as I absolutely love the Fall) and the time change makes it even worse. Fitz decided to be squirrely about putting on his harness & leash (I'll never understand why he has a problem with it) so he got left behind (with a raging tantrum once he realized what was happening, of course) while Tig and Lola and I took a new-ish route across the way. We meandered through a church yard and then a school area and were going to try a road that would have taken us farther away from home, but it was getting dark fast and there was also a lot of ground fog making things murkier and I thought better of it. Instead, I found this trail through the woods, that was kind of creepy, but also kind of cool in the deepening gloom, that I correctly suspected would lead us into a neighborhood with which I was familiar where we finished up our walk. So, it only turned out to be about a half an hour or so for the walk, but at least it was semi-interesting. And there aren't going to many more opportunities for post-work dog walks now, unless I invest in some reflective gear for the dogs (especially Tig who is pretty dark) and a headlamp or something with myself.

When I got home since the walk was shorter than I had wanted, I decided to get on the treadmill for about twenty minutes -- I even threw in a couple of running intervals and kept the belt on an incline. I hadn't been on the treadmill in a long time as I had lost the magnetic/key thingie in my move last year and just got around to ordering a replacement (for $5, I might add). So, I feel a little better today and managed to forget my dental issues and work worries for a little while. And now that we're in my most favorite time of year, I really should be trying to get out and walk at lunch or something more. Hmmmm, maybe I should buy a pedometer.

You Know You're Not Fully Awake ...

... When leaving the house in the morning, instead of giving the dog her morning doggy treat, you try to hand her the cell phone instead. You know, in case she wants to make a phone call during the day or something. Sheesh.

Spring is about change

What is it about Spring that makes you want to get organized, clean up, get rid of clutter? Why do I start feeling restless this time of year, tired of being cooped up inside, sick of TV? I guess it's the opening up of windows and the fresh air -- still fresh even if it's raining outside.

I woke up on Saturday morning and felt invigorated to unpack some more boxes, go through papers, throw a lot of crap out. Last week during our impromptu, unseasonable "Summer" weekend, I very much enjoyed sitting out on the deck reading and listening to music. I've been taking the dogs for walks around the neighborhood after work and Fitzie and I are on week 3 of obedience training at the Nashua Petsmart. It's great to get out of the house on a weekend, but it's especially been a hoot just to go there every week and socialize with all the dogs and let all the people we encounter admire and fawn over him. Anyway, more and more as Spring burgeons I'm enjoying cleaning up and getting out more. During the Winter it was lovely to be cozy inside with the dogs piled on top of me with a fire going and the latest Netflix delivery, or "Grey's Anatomy" installment playing. Not that I don't enjoy these things during this time of year too, but I also feel motivated to clean up and get some fresh air.

There have been some recent changes at work as well. There was a big personnel change on the project where I am assigned. Basically, all the major business project managers and sponsors have left the group or moved into different roles. This has been stressing me out quite a bit over the past couple of weeks just with the uncertainty with everything and what this was going to mean for me. But I finally had some information about who I was going to be working with and had a meeting first with the head of the tech group I'll be aligned with and then with the entire group later in the week. They all seemed great, very open and with good communication and I really feel like I will be integrated with the daily workings of the business and with the end users like I never had the opportunity to be before. So, I came away from last week encouraged and excited about these new changes and the opportunities they represent.

Signs You're Getting Old

It must be a sign that I'm getting old when I actually prefer Mondays to Fridays. Used to be, Friday was my favorite day. Usually the weekend would start on Thursday with Happy Hour and then on Friday it was out directly after work until all hours, Mondays were to be dreaded. Nowadays, by Friday I'm tired and running down on energy, yet Mondays are fun! I'm well-rested, re-invigorated with energy and enthusiasm for the work at hand. I always seem to get a lot done on a Monday and the day just flies by. Preferring a Monday to Friday ... what's up with that?

Reason #5,654 why I love living in New Hampshire

The smell of woodsmoke every time I step outside of my house (because pretty much everyone has a fire going in their fireplace).

Oh, and

I have to say, I just LOVE that it snows here! It is snowing here as I write this. I'm like a kid that way, I still get excited when it snows.

Yes, It's been a very long time

I just don't know why I'm having such a hard time posting on a regular basis. I think of something to write almost every day, but by the time I have a chance to log in and post, I've either forgotten what I was going to write about, or I just don't feel like it.

Anyway, there really hasn't been anything too interesting to write about, I've just been working and trying to settle into my house and cleaning up dog pee & poop (Fitz knows that he he's not supposed to "go" in the house, he just doesn't know enough to ask yet).

I've finally started the painting process at the house. Painter Guy started today with my living room. I'm painting it Benjamin Moore "Shaker Beige" (HC - 45) with a crisp, white trim. It's a nice neutral sandy beige, a bit warmer and richer than your typical beige. Anyway, I hope I like it once it's done. The kitchen I think I'm going to go with the color I painted my kitchen in Queens last Fall "Straw" (Ben Moore, of course). The rest of it, I'm not sure about. I think I want the hallways just a little darker beige or taupe color to compliment the living room and for the bedrooms (at least the guest rooms) I am thinking of "Philadelphia Cream". At the moment I only have a commitment from Painter Guy for the living room, he's got other jobs to work around -- I guess it's probably a good thing he's so popular, hopefully that means he's good! Anyway, I'm not sure when the other rooms are going to get done, but I feel great that the process has started at least. I still have to find someone to build me some bookcases in the living room though, I haven't had any luck there. I will be so glad when the bulk of this work is done, I think I'll continue to feel a little disoriented until it is.

My one-year anniversary at New Company came and went last week. It's sort of a bizarre feeling, I feel both like I just got here a week ago and that I've been here for forever (how is it possible to feel both simultaneously?) I worked at Old Company for almost seventeen years, so long that it was almost a part of me. Moving to New Hampshire and working for New Company has been such a mental adjustment for me that it really has felt very new for the full twelve months. I'm feeling a little more comfortable now though and hopefully I can relax a bit and start spreading my wings at work some. I spent so much of the past year in total fear that I was going to be fired at any moment, I really need to take a deep breath and get myself out of adjustment mode and to start to assertively move forward.

2006 was a big year of adjustment for me, I really feel like it was mostly all transitional. Now I need to start focusing on the things that have fallen to the wayside while I settled into the new job and the new area. Most notably fitness stuff. I am right now so out shape and so out of balance that I feel overwhelmed with the task of changing that, but I'm never happier than when some semblance of a fitness program is a part of my life.

So, these are the things that I've decided I need to focus on for 2007:

1) Work: Strive to learn, grow, take on more stuff. Full-fill my potential.
2) Physical: Make fitness a part of my life (once I'm working out regularly, try to make running a part of my life again).
3) Home: Get the rooms painted and figure out and schedule other work needed to improve my home.
4) Social: Develop a social network here in New Hampshire.
5) Money: Get out of debt. Wait, I did that last year! heh. (well, I do still have a mortgage). Okay, build a solid emergency fund (well, I do have a savings, but I'll feel more comfortable with more, plus I need some of it for the home improvements). Start investing (in addition to retirement accounts).
6) Dogs: get Fitzie house-trained and somewhat obedient (yeah, right).
7) Recreation: Plan a real vacation (one where I actually go away somewhere and stay in a hotel or something) this year. I think I kind of need one.

That should be enough to worry about for now, sheesh.

So, here I sit at the start of a lovely long weekend sipping a nice strong glass of egg nog with a fire going in the fireplace of my very own house, as two pugs scamper from room to room. Life is good.

Merry Christmas

I know, I know, I haven't written since Thanksgiving, what's up with that??? Well, there are no excuses, I've been pretty busy with work and settling into the new house and it always seems the longer it gets since I've written a blog post, the harder it is to start a new one. It's just a bit overwhelming to think about having to catch up, so I guess I'm not even going to try.

I do want to mention, however, how much I'm really loving living in my new house. It is completely, blissfully quiet here, I hear no noise from other people at all. And it's equally great to be able to stomp around, allow the dogs to tear through, or watch loud movies late at night without worrying about disturbing anyone. This is almost a weird concept for me after so many years of apartment living. Anyway, I'm loving it. I have yet to do much in the way of home improvements, I'm still trying to decide what color to paint my living room to start. The color samples I brought home from the paint store I think are going to end up being darker than I want, so I'm going to go back there next week and pick up some new ones. I did find an unfinished furniture place nearby however, so I think I'm going to be able to buy some bookcases there and have them installed in my living room, in lieu of having them custom built. So, I think I'm going to do that, hopefully the store will be able to recommend someone to install them for me.

My father and his wife came up for a visit a couple of weeks ago. They luckily stayed at a local hotel as I (conveniently) do not have guest room furniture yet. It was a nice enough visit, but geez Lorie (the wife) exhausts me. She likes to constantly ask these probing questions, half the time I feel like I'm on some kind of interview or something. And the most disturbing questions are the ones about my childhood, my family and my mother. I frankly don't think most of this stuff is any of her business, but it's hard to blow her off without being rude. Anyway, my father was kind enough to do some odds & ends around my house for me. Replaced some light fixtures, a towel rack, put up a coat hook, etc. When we went to Lowe's on the Saturday morning he insisted on paying for the odds & ends as my Christmas present. He said he'd rather do that since it was easier for him and he then wouldn't have to shop. I was upset as a bunch of hardware odds & ends isn't a very exciting Christmas gift (not to mention what it says about his lack of interest in putting any thought into a gift for me), but he wasn't going to give in, so I just caved. Merry-freaking-Christmas to me. Oh well, at least I don't have to be in New Jersey this year to watch Lorie's daughter open the shower of gifts bestowed on to her. I've always found that particularly depressing.

While my father was here, I had my cousins over for cocktails to see my house, see my father and to meet Lorie, who they had not yet met. All seemed to like my house and we had a great time. Fitz was also a big hit, he spent most of the time sitting in my cousin's daughter's lap like a little hobbit. He's so funny.

Well, there is not much more to say. I have so very much to be thankful for this year. Just looking back on this year amazes me, my life is so different. I've been very reflective over the past few weeks and will probably be even more so in this coming week.

Sundry

Wow, I just realized that I hadn't written in a while, over a week. Anyway, nothing too much is really new really, so there is not much to catch up on with me.

It's that time of year that I love so much and I seem to be enjoying it even more so here in New Hampshire. Today it feels that Autumn has fully and finally settled in. This week we had some pretty warm weather, but then that was all blown out by wild storms yesterday and last night. Today is rather cool and breezy, but very sunny and beautiful. It's feeling rather like Halloween. I actually turned my heat on last night too, it's definitely getting chillier.

I've gotten in the habit of driving home from work the "long" way, down some of the back roads that twist and turn their way through the town that I am moving to (which is one town south of where I have been living all of these months). Not only does it help me to get to know my way around, but it is a lovely drive and a pleasant way to unwind a little bit from the work day. It's been an especially nice drive as the seasons have changed, watching the daily and weekly change to the trees along my route. Once the days get much shorter I imagine I will be back to taking the shortest route home, but for now this has been a very pleasurable alternative. Certainly a far cry from the stress and annoyance of my old Long Island RR commute (or my former subway commute, which was worse). What a difference a year makes.

Things seem to be coming along with the house purchase. I believe all that needs to be in place before closing has been done at this stage. Home inspection, appraisal, title search, second earnest money deposit ... the final thing I did yesterday was arrange for home owner's insurance, so now even that will be in place. I guess it's now just down to waiting these last few weeks for the closing date (scheduled for November 17th). I had a local moving company come by to evaluate my stuff to give me an estimate for moving. They're projecting about $485, so I went ahead and booked them for Monday, November 20th, that's exciting, it kind of makes it "real". Of course, now I need to start to do some packing (I've been procrastinating about that, for sure).

Oh, in my search for the information I needed to establish insurance, I ended up speaking yesterday to the president of the home owner's association. Very nice guy and it was a pleasure to talk to someone who actually lives there. Anyway, he told me that this is actually not a condo at all (here I was all this time thinking I was moving to a condo) but they are what is called, "clustered housing", which is a new term for me. Whatever. Anyway, he said that the HOA offers various discounted landscaping services which sounds great to me! At least now I know I won't have to run out and buy a stupid lawn mower.

Work seems to be going well these days. I just had a meeting yesterday with our customer sponsor who announced that the business has officially decided to adopt our reporting method as their standard. So we are officially out of the experimentation mode and into true development and support mode. This means that there will much more and varied opportunities there for myself and for my team, so it's all pretty good news. I guess I've managed to do something right over these past many months. Because there have been some failures and some successes, it's been a bit of a rollercoaster, so this news is very welcome. After this meeting, I told my manager about this announcement and he seemed very ecstatic (those were his actual words, "I'm ecstatic", LoL). I know he has been working very hard and has invested a huge effort into getting these services in place, and in getting the team entrenched as a force there, so I'm glad that this has worked out so far for him.

Anyway, so things are generally pretty good these days. I'm content here. I go through emotional ups & downs at work where I worry about whether I'm doing a good job, but I have to just try to move forward with the assumption that I am, and use this energy less on worry and more on work and focus. I'm looking forward to my move to the new place (I just wish all the logistical details were over and I was moved in already), but I am also lamenting about a few things that I will be missing here too, so it's a little bitter sweet. Still, it will be nice to finally be settled in somewhere, almost a year after the start of this process.

I have no plans for the upcoming holidays, but that's actually okay. I'm kind of looking forward to my first holiday season here. Settling in, making my house a home. Maybe I'll enjoy my fireplace some and get a second dog. In any case, I think I can perhaps finally relax a little bit.

These Days

I'm addicted to HGTV. I. Just. Can't. Stop. Watching. I suppose it's better than being addicted to "The Bachelor" or something.

Gorgeous

It's just gorgeous here now. We're pretty much right at peak foliage now, I think. The weather is cool, but not cold. Good sleeping weather. It's comfortable to come to work in a sweater or a light jacket. This is my weather, I just love it. Probably the best time of year here (and in NYC too, for that matter).

On Thursdays my work and updates for the week move over to production. Sometimes I end up working furiously until the end of the day to have everything ready, but yesterday I had all of my stuff ready by mid-afternoon. I had about a half an hour to kill before a scheduled meeting, so I decided to take a little walk around part of the New Company campus. I followed a drive down a piece of road I had not been down before and then followed it down a wooded path for a ways. At one point I even wondered where I was. That's how big the campus is, I can walk and actually end up being lost, while still being on company property. Amazing. Anyway, my path finally looped back to a drive I know. It ended up being a nice little walk, I should do this more often, it really is a nice perk at New Company and this is the perfect time of year to walk during the day. In the Summer it's too hot, so you don't want to be out sweating in your work clothes.

I wish I was settled in my new place by now, this would be the perfect weather to be enjoying from my screened porch and deck.

Oh yeah, I ended up deciding to stick with the original house, even with the issues the sellers are not willing to fix. I figure it's the yard, deck, screened porch, kitchen combination that made me want the place the most in the first place. The other condo was fantastic, but I was never going to be able to add a porch or a yard to it, and making the kitchen or the porch larger would also not be possible. Whatever may be wrong with the first place can be fixed or updated eventually though. Plus, I just want this whole process to be done now. I've been living out of boxes for almost a year now and I'm just weary of it all. I need to be settled and in my own place, finally.

I just can't seem to stop ...

... buying socks. Seriously. I was just putting away a bunch of clutter in my apartment and I must have come across at least 10 pairs of socks that haven't even been opened yet. This is added to the 5 or so other new pair that have recently been opened and worn. This has got to be some kind of sickness or something. Damn you Target!!!

Rainy Sunday

There is just something I love about a rainy Sunday in the Fall. Being able to sit in my living room with the sliding door open to the deck so that I can listen to the rain pouring down outside, cozy & comfortable in the knowledge that there is no where I have to go, no place I have to be. I know, I'm a freak, most people are upset when it rains on the weekend. I wouldn't want to have this weather for every weekend, but once in a while it is a pure, decadent pleasure.

It's Another Gorgeous Fall Day here in New England

I just love it here ...

(I just had to share)

Wild Turkey. No, not the booze

I took Lola for a walk on the trail behind my apartment building this evening and, upon rounding a turn, we can across a whole gaggle of wild turkeys hanging out in the middle in of the path. It was so freaking bizarre. They were a bit ahead of us and high-tailed it into the tall grass pretty quickly once they saw us, so Lola (being the clueless non-bird dog that she is) didn't even notice them, she was too intent on what was immediately under her nose. Wild turkeys. In my backyard! You sure never encounter anything like that in Queens!

Stars

I just love how I can walk outside here at night and look up and see a sky full of stars. When I take Lola out for the last time each night, I always spend the entire time I'm out there with my head craned back staring at the sky. It reminds me of the sky at my childhood Summer home. It's the little things in life, it truly is.