Thanksgiving 2009

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice. -Meister Eckhart

Time to Start Training!

March 13: US Cup Bonelli Park - San Dimas, Calif.
March 27: US Cup Fontana – Fontana, Calif.
May 16: US Cup Big Bear – Big Bear, Calif.
June 5: Bump ‘N Grind – Birmingham, Ala.
June 26: Subaru Cup – Mt. Morris, Wis.
July 10: CTS International Classic – Colorado Springs, Colo.

My Odyssey Continues

My home buying odyssey continues with the closing date less than a week away.

My apartment is littered with boxes piled upon boxes and my stress level has been off the charts at times fueled by fears of a staggering economy and a lot of uncertainty about the mechanics of the home buying process. This is all new territory for me and it often feels overwhelming. I’m relying on others to guide me through this and the slightest lack of information causes me to worry and stress more than I would normally do on my own.

As of last night, I had no information from my realtor about the progress, or lack thereof, being made on the house. All I could do is assume it is still under construction with the Thanksgiving holiday and a weekend ready to consume three days of my remaining time to closing. I started having serious doubts about making the closing deadline. After a few emails and phone calls, my realtor finally gets back with me to say the house is supposed to be completed today (11-25) and should be ready for home inspection that afternoon. Since I didn’t know when the house was going to be completed, I couldn’t arrange for the inspection earlier.

To make a long story short, the house is supposed to be inspected at 3:00PM today with the closing tentatively scheduled for 10:00AM on Monday. I’m still nervous about taking on a mortgage and just want all of the stress to go away.

My Absence

I haven't posted in a while because I'm in the process of buying a house. It's been a time consuming and stressful few weeks for me. The closing is scheduled for November 30th.

A Hallowen Story

A man is walking home alone late one foggy night...
when behind him he hears:

BUMP...

BUMP...

BUMP...

Walking faster, he looks back and through the fog he makes out the image of an upright casket banging its way down the middle of the street toward him.

BUMP...

BUMP...

BUMP...

Terrified, the man begins to run toward his home, the casket bouncing quickly behind him.

FASTER...

FASTER...

BUMP...

BUMP...

BUMP...

He runs up to his door, fumbles with his keys, opens the door, rushes in, slams and locks the door behind him. However, the casket crashes through his door, with the lid of the casket clapping

clappity-BUMP...

clappity-BUMP...

clappity-BUMP...

on his heels, the terrified man runs. Rushing upstairs to the bathroom, the man locks himself in. His heart is pounding; his head is reeling; his breath is coming in sobbing gasps. With a loud CRASH the casket breaks down the door. Bumping and clapping toward him.

The man screams and reaches for something, anything, but all he can find is a bottle of cough syrup!

Desperate, he throws the cough syrup at the casket and...

The coffin stops!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Happy Halloween!

I decided to actually carve a pumpkin this year rather than paint one like I usually do for Halloween. I think I did a pretty good job considering didn't use fancy store bought tools. In fact, I scooped the insides out with an empty cat food can and used an Xacto blade and small saw blade to make the face.

Speaking of scary things, life is a little nuts right now since I'm prowling the housing market. It's been down right stressful at times as the prospect of actually carrying a mortgage can be a little overwhelming in such a bad economy. I think my Scottish heritage tends to bubble to the surface where money is concerned. I've always been a pay as you go kind of person. We'll see how things turn out soon enough. I just hope any place I buy isn't haunted.

For better or worse, my cat is my best friend.