Monday's here again, but this time it's not so bad. I'm on vacation this week and we're in San Diego to visit Jen's mom for Thanksgiving. Jen typed up a good post about our recent troubles with her vehicle so I won't repeat them here. However, I am gaining more confidence and after hearing Pastor Hal yesterday talk about hope deferred and what to do when your dreams are unattainable, I'm seriously re-considering my post Marine Corps hobby ideas. See, I've said before that I would love to build my own model railroad world, but that's kind of a selfish hobby in my family. While I'm pretty sure that the kids would get a kick out of watching the trains, I'm equally as sure that Jen and I would come to regret the money and time that building a MRR would take. However, if I get an older muscle car that maybe needs some work and tinker on it when time and money are available, I'd have something that we could share and enjoy together. I'm not saying that the transformation would be a quick as Bumblebee in "Transformers" but it would get there and I think there would definitely be a pride factor involved in doing most of the work myself. I just need to find a car that runs reliably to start but needs some love to bring out the potential. Any offers?
Our trip down here was a lot less eventful than our trek to Denver earlier this summer. For one, Jen was able to drive for a stretch on Saturday so I could catch a nap and rest my eyes. That was a great help. Also, we didn't get into any accidents as we got into town on Saturday evening so that was nice as well.
We went to church yesterday and were able to see the newest trailer for the movie that they shot last year while I was deployed. It's gonna be amazing and I can't wait to see it. "To Save a Life" is set to open Jan 22 and if you thought "Fireproof" was a good movie then you definitely need to make plans to see this one. Of course, before and after the service we tried to spend a few minutes with as many people as possible to get caught up a little. Apparently 'our' small group is planning to meet this Wednesday just because we're in town... Thanksgiving Eve is usually an evening off from church activities so people can prepare for the feasting and festivities (and football) that the following day promise to provide, so we'll get to chat with almost everyone then. On Thursday we'll head up to Moreno Valley to have dinner with friends and family. It's become a tradition for us. I'm pretty sure my wife will have more to say on the subject so I'll just leave it at that.
We brought my son's popcorn stuff with us. I had hoped to get it mailed out to our long distance contacts (everyone except Jen's mom and ourselves) but we simply ran out of time, so that's what the plan is for this morning. I'll take him to the post office and get that stuff shipped out. With any luck it'll get 'there' by Thursday, but I'm not counting on it. Still, Friday or Monday should be pretty good and will be well timed to help set the holiday spirit for the Christmas season. =)
I guess that brings us up to speed about what's going on in this part of the universe. How do things look from where you are? Happy Thanksgiving!
Monday, November 23
Friday, November 13
November past, present, maybe future
Happy Friday the 13th! (Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!)
Okay, now that THAT is out of my system I can jot down a few thoughts about the first half of this month and my plans for the rest of the month. Hopefully I'll be back and write a post about what actually happens, but let's take this one step at a time.
This week the United States Marine Corps celebrated our 234th anniversary. For anyone who doesn't know, the Corps was founded by a resolution of the Continental Congress that declared that two battalions shall be raised and that they shall be called the first and seconde battalions of United States Marines. This resolution was passed on 10 November, 1775. "Since that time, many thousands of men have borne the title 'Marine' and it is only fitting that we who are Marines today take time to commemorate our humble beginnings." (John LeJeune, 13th Commandant, Birthday message written in 1921) We celebrated last weekend as our drill period for the month. We went to the Renaissance Hotel where we had dinner, took our annual portrait, hung out with friends, danced, and then came home. Where were the kids? One of Jen's new friends allowed our children to have a sleep over all night. We dropped them off mid-afternoon and didn't see them again until after church the next morning. They didn't have as much fun as we did apparently because both of them opted out of lunch to go straight to bed and slept the whole afternoon away. Still, WE had a good time. =)
So that was last Saturday. Since we had done drill related stuff that morning we got Monday off as a comp day. I spent it swapping out the alternator in my wife's car. It actually took much longer to get to the alternator than it did to swap it out. Why did I swap it out? Well, there's a bit of a story to that but I already covered it in my last post. Suffice to say that when I went to get the booster from my new friends at Autozone I asked about the alternator and they happened to have one in stock. Since we're planning to travel soon I figure "better safe than sorry" and swapped it out... All was not lost. I got $25 back for my core deposit when I took the old alternator in. So that was Monday. Tuesday was a "normal" work day for me. The command had suggested that anyone who wanted to take Tuesday as a day of leave would be allowed to so the office was very empty. I took advantage of that to leave just after lunch time and go to the gym for most of the afternoon. Why was Tuesday allowed as a leave day? Well, for one, it was the 10th and nobody likes to work on their birthday according to Jim Gaffigan. Also, we were going to get the 11th off for Veteran's Day so there was little point for many people to come in and get started on two or three day projects. So we were off again on Wednesday. I figures changing the brake booster would take all day so I got started early. By the time my physical therapy appointment came around I had almost gotten all the bolts off the stupid thing. When I left the PT clinic I swung by AZ again to see if they had... there it is! A deep socket that should speed up the process considerably. When I got home, that last bolt didn't stand a chance and I got the old booster out and the new one in all in about an hour. It's amazing what you can accomplish with the right tools.
Anyway, yesterday and today were/are regular work days and then we're back on a weekend. I love this duty schedule!
So, what are the plans for the rest of the month? Well, next Friday we'll pick up our son at school at the end of the day and head South... planning to stay in NM for the night. Then on Saturday we'll be in the car for a looooong time but when we get done, we'll be in San Diego for Thanksgiving! The plan is to drive back up here on Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving so the kids can go back to school and I can go back to work. (bummer) Still, it should be a great time. That's why I've spent more time than money on the truck. Yes, my Saturn would get better mileage, but did I mention that there's a DVD player in the truck and the seat recline?
Well, that's pretty much it from here. Hope you have a great weekend and I'll let you know how the trip goes. TTFN!
Okay, now that THAT is out of my system I can jot down a few thoughts about the first half of this month and my plans for the rest of the month. Hopefully I'll be back and write a post about what actually happens, but let's take this one step at a time.
This week the United States Marine Corps celebrated our 234th anniversary. For anyone who doesn't know, the Corps was founded by a resolution of the Continental Congress that declared that two battalions shall be raised and that they shall be called the first and seconde battalions of United States Marines. This resolution was passed on 10 November, 1775. "Since that time, many thousands of men have borne the title 'Marine' and it is only fitting that we who are Marines today take time to commemorate our humble beginnings." (John LeJeune, 13th Commandant, Birthday message written in 1921) We celebrated last weekend as our drill period for the month. We went to the Renaissance Hotel where we had dinner, took our annual portrait, hung out with friends, danced, and then came home. Where were the kids? One of Jen's new friends allowed our children to have a sleep over all night. We dropped them off mid-afternoon and didn't see them again until after church the next morning. They didn't have as much fun as we did apparently because both of them opted out of lunch to go straight to bed and slept the whole afternoon away. Still, WE had a good time. =)
So that was last Saturday. Since we had done drill related stuff that morning we got Monday off as a comp day. I spent it swapping out the alternator in my wife's car. It actually took much longer to get to the alternator than it did to swap it out. Why did I swap it out? Well, there's a bit of a story to that but I already covered it in my last post. Suffice to say that when I went to get the booster from my new friends at Autozone I asked about the alternator and they happened to have one in stock. Since we're planning to travel soon I figure "better safe than sorry" and swapped it out... All was not lost. I got $25 back for my core deposit when I took the old alternator in. So that was Monday. Tuesday was a "normal" work day for me. The command had suggested that anyone who wanted to take Tuesday as a day of leave would be allowed to so the office was very empty. I took advantage of that to leave just after lunch time and go to the gym for most of the afternoon. Why was Tuesday allowed as a leave day? Well, for one, it was the 10th and nobody likes to work on their birthday according to Jim Gaffigan. Also, we were going to get the 11th off for Veteran's Day so there was little point for many people to come in and get started on two or three day projects. So we were off again on Wednesday. I figures changing the brake booster would take all day so I got started early. By the time my physical therapy appointment came around I had almost gotten all the bolts off the stupid thing. When I left the PT clinic I swung by AZ again to see if they had... there it is! A deep socket that should speed up the process considerably. When I got home, that last bolt didn't stand a chance and I got the old booster out and the new one in all in about an hour. It's amazing what you can accomplish with the right tools.
Anyway, yesterday and today were/are regular work days and then we're back on a weekend. I love this duty schedule!
So, what are the plans for the rest of the month? Well, next Friday we'll pick up our son at school at the end of the day and head South... planning to stay in NM for the night. Then on Saturday we'll be in the car for a looooong time but when we get done, we'll be in San Diego for Thanksgiving! The plan is to drive back up here on Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving so the kids can go back to school and I can go back to work. (bummer) Still, it should be a great time. That's why I've spent more time than money on the truck. Yes, my Saturn would get better mileage, but did I mention that there's a DVD player in the truck and the seat recline?
Well, that's pretty much it from here. Hope you have a great weekend and I'll let you know how the trip goes. TTFN!
Saturday, October 31
BOO!!!
Happy Halloween! Okay, it's not really that scary, but I couldn't think of a better title for this post. It's been a couple of weeks so here's what's going on...
We went to Mr. Biggs for the boy's birthday. We thought about it and realized that we could either spend a bunch of money to have the neighborhood boys over and let them trash our house (which still has at least one box in every bed room) or let him pick a friend to take with us and go where he wanted to go. He'd originally said Dave and Buster's but we heard about Mr. Biggs and decided to check it out. It was just okay for us but the kids had a good time and that's the point, right? So we came home late and had a quick piece of cake and opened presents before off to bed. It's so hard to believe that we have an 8 year old. He and I are in Scouts now as well. He'll get jumped in officially at our next pack meeting. I should be able to have his uniform shirt done by then. If he was a little older I'd make him sew his own patches on and work on his arts and crafts badge at the same time, but my military side says that his uniform should look good so I'll do it for him... this time.
Jen was doing really well the week after my last post. The sun came out and the fall decorations sprang up all over the neighborhood. Then the snow came... and didn't leave! Seriously, it was all over the news back in my home town so you know it had to be big... or nothing else interesting was going on. Still, it snowed constantly for 2 days straight. I even got snowed out of work for a couple of days. In fact, the roads were bad enough that our kids' school even called off going to classes yesterday. Sheesh! Of course, today the sun is shining again and the white stuff is turning brown and black along the major roadways. The kids don't quite understand that it can be sunny and still be cold. They wanted to go out in their flip-flops and short sleeves this afternoon. How about... NO! While we were snowed in I got the garage cleaned up enough to get the Truck into it. That was good. Now here's the bad news.
I took the vehicle to our local dealer ealier this week. (Let me back up a bit.) As we were trekking across the mountains, our check engine light came on. I had just had the car serviced before we left San Diego so I ignored it thinking that the mechanic had just forgotten to reset the light and besides, we were planning to get the oil changed again soon after we got to Denver. So, I took the car in... told the desk guy that the engine light and battery lights are on steady. Also, there's a hiss under the brake pedal and the heater vent in the back doesn't blow hot air and there's a switch clicking whenever we turn it on. He says no problem... we'll take a look. I called back later in the day and he runs down a list of things wrong with the car. What's the damage? Oh... about $2800. That's not a typo. They wanted almost 3 grand to put in a new alternator (the one that's in there is fine) and install a new brake booster and pcv line (BTW, WTH is a pcv line?), new aux motors for the rear heater and nearly $1000 to change out the fluids for winter. I said thanks but no, would you just change the oil and give me a detailed write up? Sure. So we go pick up the truck only now it has a power problem. There's hesitation on acceleration and the check engine light is now blinking at me. The owner's manual says that means "misfire" which would explain the hesitation and rough idle. I took the truck back to Ford. Dude looks me in the eye and says, "We didn't do it." So now I'm waiting for the tech manual to be delivered and I've ordered a brake booster from Autozone. It should be here on Wednesday or Thursday which is fine since the manual won't get here until next weekend at the earliest. I do not like dealerships and this is just one more example of why.
So, in the spirit of the 'holiday' I've decided to just put that all aside for the afternoon and get the garage ready for tonight's trick-or-treat crowd. I'm planning to wear my flight suit and my new snow boots and try to look like a Ghostbuster. If that fails I still have the retro outfit that I bought for Jen's 30th birthday party and I can be Disco Dan or something. Anyway, hope your weekend is off to a better start. Don't eat too much candy and I'll see you next month. Bwahahahahahahaha!
We went to Mr. Biggs for the boy's birthday. We thought about it and realized that we could either spend a bunch of money to have the neighborhood boys over and let them trash our house (which still has at least one box in every bed room) or let him pick a friend to take with us and go where he wanted to go. He'd originally said Dave and Buster's but we heard about Mr. Biggs and decided to check it out. It was just okay for us but the kids had a good time and that's the point, right? So we came home late and had a quick piece of cake and opened presents before off to bed. It's so hard to believe that we have an 8 year old. He and I are in Scouts now as well. He'll get jumped in officially at our next pack meeting. I should be able to have his uniform shirt done by then. If he was a little older I'd make him sew his own patches on and work on his arts and crafts badge at the same time, but my military side says that his uniform should look good so I'll do it for him... this time.
Jen was doing really well the week after my last post. The sun came out and the fall decorations sprang up all over the neighborhood. Then the snow came... and didn't leave! Seriously, it was all over the news back in my home town so you know it had to be big... or nothing else interesting was going on. Still, it snowed constantly for 2 days straight. I even got snowed out of work for a couple of days. In fact, the roads were bad enough that our kids' school even called off going to classes yesterday. Sheesh! Of course, today the sun is shining again and the white stuff is turning brown and black along the major roadways. The kids don't quite understand that it can be sunny and still be cold. They wanted to go out in their flip-flops and short sleeves this afternoon. How about... NO! While we were snowed in I got the garage cleaned up enough to get the Truck into it. That was good. Now here's the bad news.
I took the vehicle to our local dealer ealier this week. (Let me back up a bit.) As we were trekking across the mountains, our check engine light came on. I had just had the car serviced before we left San Diego so I ignored it thinking that the mechanic had just forgotten to reset the light and besides, we were planning to get the oil changed again soon after we got to Denver. So, I took the car in... told the desk guy that the engine light and battery lights are on steady. Also, there's a hiss under the brake pedal and the heater vent in the back doesn't blow hot air and there's a switch clicking whenever we turn it on. He says no problem... we'll take a look. I called back later in the day and he runs down a list of things wrong with the car. What's the damage? Oh... about $2800. That's not a typo. They wanted almost 3 grand to put in a new alternator (the one that's in there is fine) and install a new brake booster and pcv line (BTW, WTH is a pcv line?), new aux motors for the rear heater and nearly $1000 to change out the fluids for winter. I said thanks but no, would you just change the oil and give me a detailed write up? Sure. So we go pick up the truck only now it has a power problem. There's hesitation on acceleration and the check engine light is now blinking at me. The owner's manual says that means "misfire" which would explain the hesitation and rough idle. I took the truck back to Ford. Dude looks me in the eye and says, "We didn't do it." So now I'm waiting for the tech manual to be delivered and I've ordered a brake booster from Autozone. It should be here on Wednesday or Thursday which is fine since the manual won't get here until next weekend at the earliest. I do not like dealerships and this is just one more example of why.
So, in the spirit of the 'holiday' I've decided to just put that all aside for the afternoon and get the garage ready for tonight's trick-or-treat crowd. I'm planning to wear my flight suit and my new snow boots and try to look like a Ghostbuster. If that fails I still have the retro outfit that I bought for Jen's 30th birthday party and I can be Disco Dan or something. Anyway, hope your weekend is off to a better start. Don't eat too much candy and I'll see you next month. Bwahahahahahahaha!
Wednesday, October 14
October... already?!?!
I'd ask the question "Where has the time gone," but then I wouldn't have a reason to post right?
The end of August was tense and boring at the same time. It was boring because there was a lot of waiting around and staring at each other (and getting on nerves) while we were stuck in our hotel room waiting for the home buying process to run its course. It was tense because there were a couple of times when it looked like the deal could have fallen apart. The house appraised for less than what we'd offered. The problem is that we used a VA home loan guarantee and they'll only approve up to the appraised value. Fortunately we were close enough that the sellers were willing to come down a bit. We also had a couple of issues from the home inspection. Did you know that even though radon is a naturally occuring phenomenon, it can still hurt you with long term exposure? Well, the inspection revealed that the level in the house was just barely above the federal limit, so we needed to install a mitigation system to address that. We got a credit from the sellers to cover most of the cost of putting in a system that will suck the radon out of the ground water (in the sump) and out of the dirt in the crawl space in the basement and pump it into the atmosphere. We were also advised that we may need a new water heater sooner rather than later. So far we're good, but we've been looking at bigger heaters and trying to figure out when will be the best time to get one. Ideally, it'll be before my folks come to visit for the holidays so my Dad can help me install it. Failing that, maybe we'll use a few of our tax return dollars next year to get a new one. Since we're first time home buyers, we're qualified for the tax credit from earlier this year. Even though I honestly disagree with the idea that it is the government's job to help me buy a house, I can also tell you that I totally plan to take advantage of the program. For the record, we did NOT apply this credit to any down payment. We were planning to buy a house back in CA last spring but with our orders we just changed the location and pushed the date back a little bit. So now we're home owners... Or at least we're making payments to become home owners eventually... like in 30 years!
Anyway, we finally closed at the end of August and got our keys at the document signing. Since then we've received shipment of our stuff from TMO (another military perk), primed two rooms upstairs for paint, got Comcast to install our home bundle, registered my car for new liscense plates (Jen's are still good), unpacked most of our boxes, and have tried to settle in a little bit... Then I had surgery on my martial arts damaged right shoulder and I've been in a sling for the last month. I just got cleared to take off the sling and I should be starting physical therapy soon.
The kids are in school full time now. They're in a year round track system and they seem to like it. They also have a BUNCH of new friends here in the neighborhood. We've also found a church that we like and Jen's joined a small group that started right after we started attending. It's based on a book, "After the Boxes are Unpacked" and the class is called "Moving on After Moving In." It's been good for her. She's already met a couple of new friends and even though she really misses her friends in San Diego she's adapting a lot better than I feared she would... and then the snow came.
Last week brought snow and cold temperatures for pretty much the whole week. Did you see the Phillies/Rockies game 3 and 4? That was here. It was cold. Then we went to a pumpkin patch on Saturday to find some decorations for Halloween. Do you know what we did? We found our pumpkins by kicking the SNOW off of them! Even for a guy from Ohio that's just cold.
This week the weather's getting warmer and this coming weekend is supposed to be in the upper 60's to low 70's... and I have to work. A down side to working with reservists? I have to work during their drill weekend. A plus side? The work during non drill periods is usually pretty slow so I can take off a bit early and get back to school. I'm looking into area community colleges that will take my credits and transfer to a four year school. I'm hoping to start up in January with a goal of being very close to my degree by the time I retire in just a couple of years. I guess that means I should figure out what I want to do when I grow up. Dangit! I don't want to make a mistake with a family to support. What to do? What to do?
So that basically brings you up to speed. I'm sorry for having to put the comment moderation on, but I've gotten a few spam comments. Now that you know what's up with me... What's up with you?
The end of August was tense and boring at the same time. It was boring because there was a lot of waiting around and staring at each other (and getting on nerves) while we were stuck in our hotel room waiting for the home buying process to run its course. It was tense because there were a couple of times when it looked like the deal could have fallen apart. The house appraised for less than what we'd offered. The problem is that we used a VA home loan guarantee and they'll only approve up to the appraised value. Fortunately we were close enough that the sellers were willing to come down a bit. We also had a couple of issues from the home inspection. Did you know that even though radon is a naturally occuring phenomenon, it can still hurt you with long term exposure? Well, the inspection revealed that the level in the house was just barely above the federal limit, so we needed to install a mitigation system to address that. We got a credit from the sellers to cover most of the cost of putting in a system that will suck the radon out of the ground water (in the sump) and out of the dirt in the crawl space in the basement and pump it into the atmosphere. We were also advised that we may need a new water heater sooner rather than later. So far we're good, but we've been looking at bigger heaters and trying to figure out when will be the best time to get one. Ideally, it'll be before my folks come to visit for the holidays so my Dad can help me install it. Failing that, maybe we'll use a few of our tax return dollars next year to get a new one. Since we're first time home buyers, we're qualified for the tax credit from earlier this year. Even though I honestly disagree with the idea that it is the government's job to help me buy a house, I can also tell you that I totally plan to take advantage of the program. For the record, we did NOT apply this credit to any down payment. We were planning to buy a house back in CA last spring but with our orders we just changed the location and pushed the date back a little bit. So now we're home owners... Or at least we're making payments to become home owners eventually... like in 30 years!
Anyway, we finally closed at the end of August and got our keys at the document signing. Since then we've received shipment of our stuff from TMO (another military perk), primed two rooms upstairs for paint, got Comcast to install our home bundle, registered my car for new liscense plates (Jen's are still good), unpacked most of our boxes, and have tried to settle in a little bit... Then I had surgery on my martial arts damaged right shoulder and I've been in a sling for the last month. I just got cleared to take off the sling and I should be starting physical therapy soon.
The kids are in school full time now. They're in a year round track system and they seem to like it. They also have a BUNCH of new friends here in the neighborhood. We've also found a church that we like and Jen's joined a small group that started right after we started attending. It's based on a book, "After the Boxes are Unpacked" and the class is called "Moving on After Moving In." It's been good for her. She's already met a couple of new friends and even though she really misses her friends in San Diego she's adapting a lot better than I feared she would... and then the snow came.
Last week brought snow and cold temperatures for pretty much the whole week. Did you see the Phillies/Rockies game 3 and 4? That was here. It was cold. Then we went to a pumpkin patch on Saturday to find some decorations for Halloween. Do you know what we did? We found our pumpkins by kicking the SNOW off of them! Even for a guy from Ohio that's just cold.
This week the weather's getting warmer and this coming weekend is supposed to be in the upper 60's to low 70's... and I have to work. A down side to working with reservists? I have to work during their drill weekend. A plus side? The work during non drill periods is usually pretty slow so I can take off a bit early and get back to school. I'm looking into area community colleges that will take my credits and transfer to a four year school. I'm hoping to start up in January with a goal of being very close to my degree by the time I retire in just a couple of years. I guess that means I should figure out what I want to do when I grow up. Dangit! I don't want to make a mistake with a family to support. What to do? What to do?
So that basically brings you up to speed. I'm sorry for having to put the comment moderation on, but I've gotten a few spam comments. Now that you know what's up with me... What's up with you?
Sunday, August 16
Anything new? Not really...
This past week was pretty much the same ole same ole. We're all very tired of living in a hotel room and even though we have light at the end of the tunnel, we're still in the tunnel for now. Ugh!
I posted a quote request to the Denver BBB website for a plumber to tell me how much it would cost to run a gas line up to the 2nd floor laundry area in our new home. I've got a few who said they'd come out and give me a free estimate so I scheduled them for the first day in our house... While we're trimming and priming the bedrooms and there won't be any furniture to deal with. We've been pricing electric dryers as well since the set we have has about 10 years of use on it. Thinking longer range, if we decide to move back to CA and keep this house as a rental property, then maybe we can include the washer and dryer with the property. That's still years down the road but it never hurts to think about stuff like that, right?
We did make some progress this week. We met Tim Duvall and signed our loan application paperwork. Actually, I did most of the signing. Since Jen's not working up here (yet) he advised us that she doesn't need to be on the application. Plus, we have some debt that's only in her name (student loans) so that helped our debt to income ratio. When all was said and done, it looks like our payments, to cover mortgage, HOA dues, insurance, and taxes will be lower than we were expecting. Of course that's great news. To be honest, I think/fear that the biggest challenge will be to maintain the curb appeal of the house. The lawn is a nice thick green carpet and the landscaping is just about perfect.
The Boy starts school on Tuesday. I think that will help everyone's sanity. It will get him into a schedule and break up the daily hum-drum of living in a hotel room. The Girl starts Kindergarten the following week. Then, the week after that is closing and possession! Jen made a paper chain for the hotel room. Each night the kids take turns removing one link from the chain so that the last link will be taken down the day we take possession of our house. We'll probably actually sleep here for that night (since I will have paid for the room for that night) and then go to the house early in the morning the next day. We'll pack up the car with everything we've loaded the hotel room with over the last couple of weeks (clothes somehow seem to expand when they're not locked into a suitcase) so that all that's left to move will be the cats and kids. Of course, now that we've been here for a couple of weeks, we just learned that we have access to the pool at a sister property just up the street. Why didn't they mention that when we checked in?! Still, better late than never, right?
I'm slowly gettin merged into the folks at work. I've been assigned to go with the color guard to a "PR gig" on Wednesday. I don't know what the job is. I was thinking it might be a ball game, but the Rockies are in Washington, so I kind of doubt it. =) Other than that, there's not much to report about work. I'm still trying to get into a routine myself, but with all of the time I have to take for house related stuff it's been tough to get settled. I am very grateful that the command has been very flexible in allowing me the time I need. I'm even going to be able to take a week + off when we actually take possession to get settled; have our household goods delivered; paint; get cable, phone, and internet started; and spend time with the family.
Speaking of spending time with the family... We're going to try another church in the area this morning. The church we tried last week seemed very home-folk oriented which seemed fine for them, but we're not home-folk and only one person said hi to us... after the service. Hopefully today will be a better experience.
Have a great week and keep looking up!
I posted a quote request to the Denver BBB website for a plumber to tell me how much it would cost to run a gas line up to the 2nd floor laundry area in our new home. I've got a few who said they'd come out and give me a free estimate so I scheduled them for the first day in our house... While we're trimming and priming the bedrooms and there won't be any furniture to deal with. We've been pricing electric dryers as well since the set we have has about 10 years of use on it. Thinking longer range, if we decide to move back to CA and keep this house as a rental property, then maybe we can include the washer and dryer with the property. That's still years down the road but it never hurts to think about stuff like that, right?
We did make some progress this week. We met Tim Duvall and signed our loan application paperwork. Actually, I did most of the signing. Since Jen's not working up here (yet) he advised us that she doesn't need to be on the application. Plus, we have some debt that's only in her name (student loans) so that helped our debt to income ratio. When all was said and done, it looks like our payments, to cover mortgage, HOA dues, insurance, and taxes will be lower than we were expecting. Of course that's great news. To be honest, I think/fear that the biggest challenge will be to maintain the curb appeal of the house. The lawn is a nice thick green carpet and the landscaping is just about perfect.
The Boy starts school on Tuesday. I think that will help everyone's sanity. It will get him into a schedule and break up the daily hum-drum of living in a hotel room. The Girl starts Kindergarten the following week. Then, the week after that is closing and possession! Jen made a paper chain for the hotel room. Each night the kids take turns removing one link from the chain so that the last link will be taken down the day we take possession of our house. We'll probably actually sleep here for that night (since I will have paid for the room for that night) and then go to the house early in the morning the next day. We'll pack up the car with everything we've loaded the hotel room with over the last couple of weeks (clothes somehow seem to expand when they're not locked into a suitcase) so that all that's left to move will be the cats and kids. Of course, now that we've been here for a couple of weeks, we just learned that we have access to the pool at a sister property just up the street. Why didn't they mention that when we checked in?! Still, better late than never, right?
I'm slowly gettin merged into the folks at work. I've been assigned to go with the color guard to a "PR gig" on Wednesday. I don't know what the job is. I was thinking it might be a ball game, but the Rockies are in Washington, so I kind of doubt it. =) Other than that, there's not much to report about work. I'm still trying to get into a routine myself, but with all of the time I have to take for house related stuff it's been tough to get settled. I am very grateful that the command has been very flexible in allowing me the time I need. I'm even going to be able to take a week + off when we actually take possession to get settled; have our household goods delivered; paint; get cable, phone, and internet started; and spend time with the family.
Speaking of spending time with the family... We're going to try another church in the area this morning. The church we tried last week seemed very home-folk oriented which seemed fine for them, but we're not home-folk and only one person said hi to us... after the service. Hopefully today will be a better experience.
Have a great week and keep looking up!
Saturday, August 8
with apologies to Jerry Garcia... what a long strange week it's been
When we first got to Denver last week, I was unsure about a lot of things. I didn't know where we would live, where the kids would go to school, where we'd go to church... you know, minor detail stuff like that. A lot can change in less than a week.
We started meeting with our realtor, Wendy, in person shortly after we got to town. Last Saturday was our first day of actually driving around and looking at properties. See, Jen and I had decided before I deployed last year that we wanted to buy a house this spring. Well, when I got home and got orders we made the easy decision to modify our plans to buy a house when we got to our new duty station. Fast forward to my last post about our trip up here from San Diego...
Anyway, we met Wendy and started looking at houses. We looked and looked and looked some more until our daughter got to the point where she said she doesn't want to look at any new houses. As we looked, we totally played like we were a couple on an HGTV show by saying what we liked and didn't like about each place and whether or not that particular house was still on "the LIST" of options. Finally we were able to narrow down our choices to about 4 properties. Two were bank owned (foreclosures) that were still in decent shape and had a lot of potential with open floorplans, neutral carpeting and white walls. Of course, there were some minor issues with those, but nothing that I felt was beyond my skill level or experience (except maybe the yards, but that's a different story) so we wanted to see them for a 2nd time. However, they went under contract before we got to see them again, so they were taken off the list for us. One house was just about perfect for us... right now. The decor was great and the lot is big enough to play in the yard. Plus it's right next to a green space which I figure is common property so the kids could play there as well. However, everything on that house is done which leaves very little room to grow. (Side bar: We're not planning to have more kids, but we haven't taken any permanent precautions, and the kids we have aren't likely to get any smaller.) We also looked at a house that was an obvious flip property. The owner has done a good job, but there is more to be done and we aren't crazy about the neighborhood.
That brought us down to a house that had just gone on the market and a house that already has 4 bedrooms and an unfinished basement with plenty of space for a family room or "granny flat" of some kind. Down sides? Well, the new listing is a bit of stretch for our dollar and since it is a new listing, it's not likely that the sellers would be willing to lower their price as much as we would need them to. The other one is within sight (and sound) of the local high school and you can hear the traffic on the main drag. So, the question comes down to: Will they pick the ready to move house that's too expensive but perfectly located or the house that's priced better and is bigger?
Well, we signed a contract yesterday for the second option. That doesn't mean that we've bought it just yet, but it does mean that it will no longer be available for showing to other buyers. The house is great. It's got a perfect yard with a decent sized deck. The eating area is a bit small if we put our table in there square, but if we funk it up a bit and put the table at an angle we should be good. The living room and family room (as it is now) are separated by a 1/2 wall so the space is defined but still very open. The master suite is a good size with a large walk-in closet. The current owners ran power and water up to the closet and put the washer and dryer in there! The master suite basically takes up the back half of the 2nd floor and faces West... toward the mountains, sunsets, and if you squint hard enough on a crystal clear day... the beaches of California. (;-P) The other 3 BR's are on the East side and will get the morning sun. The basement is over 400 square feet of blank space. Except for the water tank and forced air unit, we can do pretty much whatever we want down there. It's already insulated so we just need to finish the walls and put down a floor and we're good. It was also originally designed to have the laundry down there so there's already water and power. We will need to repaint the bedrooms. The master is a nice mocha color which works with the furniture that's there right now, but will look odd against our cherry pine stuff and painting is a lot easier (and cheaper) than getting new furniture... especially since no one out here sells CA King size beds. (CA King is also referred to as Western King and I thought CO was still a western state. Guess not.) Besides, we (meaning Jen) has some ideas about decorating the kids rooms.
The current owners are camping this weekend so we're going to go back this afternoon and take a super detailed look with an eye toward what can go where, what we need/want to do before our stuff gets delivered and what can wait until later.
Anyway, I want to take a minute to thank our 'sponsors' for this adventure. I called my Dad and put him to work finding us a good realtor in the Denver area and he totally nailed it. Wendy has worked hard for us and even though I know we're not the richest clients she's ever dealt with she's made us feel important. She referred us to Tim Duvall who quickly got us a pre-approval for local financing and has even said that he can't think of a reason why we can't close by the end of the month. Last, but definitely not least, I want to thank God for watching over us during this process. This house has sort of just fallen into our laps and, assuming everything goes well, I can't see this as anything other than answered prayer.
Oh, and I checked into my new unit yesterday. I'm back at work. I will get permissive TAD (free time off) but I'm holding that until we actually move and Jen's mom comes to visit. That will be in less than a month!
Have a great week and thank you for your prayers and support.
We started meeting with our realtor, Wendy, in person shortly after we got to town. Last Saturday was our first day of actually driving around and looking at properties. See, Jen and I had decided before I deployed last year that we wanted to buy a house this spring. Well, when I got home and got orders we made the easy decision to modify our plans to buy a house when we got to our new duty station. Fast forward to my last post about our trip up here from San Diego...
Anyway, we met Wendy and started looking at houses. We looked and looked and looked some more until our daughter got to the point where she said she doesn't want to look at any new houses. As we looked, we totally played like we were a couple on an HGTV show by saying what we liked and didn't like about each place and whether or not that particular house was still on "the LIST" of options. Finally we were able to narrow down our choices to about 4 properties. Two were bank owned (foreclosures) that were still in decent shape and had a lot of potential with open floorplans, neutral carpeting and white walls. Of course, there were some minor issues with those, but nothing that I felt was beyond my skill level or experience (except maybe the yards, but that's a different story) so we wanted to see them for a 2nd time. However, they went under contract before we got to see them again, so they were taken off the list for us. One house was just about perfect for us... right now. The decor was great and the lot is big enough to play in the yard. Plus it's right next to a green space which I figure is common property so the kids could play there as well. However, everything on that house is done which leaves very little room to grow. (Side bar: We're not planning to have more kids, but we haven't taken any permanent precautions, and the kids we have aren't likely to get any smaller.) We also looked at a house that was an obvious flip property. The owner has done a good job, but there is more to be done and we aren't crazy about the neighborhood.
That brought us down to a house that had just gone on the market and a house that already has 4 bedrooms and an unfinished basement with plenty of space for a family room or "granny flat" of some kind. Down sides? Well, the new listing is a bit of stretch for our dollar and since it is a new listing, it's not likely that the sellers would be willing to lower their price as much as we would need them to. The other one is within sight (and sound) of the local high school and you can hear the traffic on the main drag. So, the question comes down to: Will they pick the ready to move house that's too expensive but perfectly located or the house that's priced better and is bigger?
Well, we signed a contract yesterday for the second option. That doesn't mean that we've bought it just yet, but it does mean that it will no longer be available for showing to other buyers. The house is great. It's got a perfect yard with a decent sized deck. The eating area is a bit small if we put our table in there square, but if we funk it up a bit and put the table at an angle we should be good. The living room and family room (as it is now) are separated by a 1/2 wall so the space is defined but still very open. The master suite is a good size with a large walk-in closet. The current owners ran power and water up to the closet and put the washer and dryer in there! The master suite basically takes up the back half of the 2nd floor and faces West... toward the mountains, sunsets, and if you squint hard enough on a crystal clear day... the beaches of California. (;-P) The other 3 BR's are on the East side and will get the morning sun. The basement is over 400 square feet of blank space. Except for the water tank and forced air unit, we can do pretty much whatever we want down there. It's already insulated so we just need to finish the walls and put down a floor and we're good. It was also originally designed to have the laundry down there so there's already water and power. We will need to repaint the bedrooms. The master is a nice mocha color which works with the furniture that's there right now, but will look odd against our cherry pine stuff and painting is a lot easier (and cheaper) than getting new furniture... especially since no one out here sells CA King size beds. (CA King is also referred to as Western King and I thought CO was still a western state. Guess not.) Besides, we (meaning Jen) has some ideas about decorating the kids rooms.
The current owners are camping this weekend so we're going to go back this afternoon and take a super detailed look with an eye toward what can go where, what we need/want to do before our stuff gets delivered and what can wait until later.
Anyway, I want to take a minute to thank our 'sponsors' for this adventure. I called my Dad and put him to work finding us a good realtor in the Denver area and he totally nailed it. Wendy has worked hard for us and even though I know we're not the richest clients she's ever dealt with she's made us feel important. She referred us to Tim Duvall who quickly got us a pre-approval for local financing and has even said that he can't think of a reason why we can't close by the end of the month. Last, but definitely not least, I want to thank God for watching over us during this process. This house has sort of just fallen into our laps and, assuming everything goes well, I can't see this as anything other than answered prayer.
Oh, and I checked into my new unit yesterday. I'm back at work. I will get permissive TAD (free time off) but I'm holding that until we actually move and Jen's mom comes to visit. That will be in less than a month!
Have a great week and thank you for your prayers and support.
Sunday, August 2
Welcome to Denver(?)
Okay, so July was an 'interesting' month. Fortunately I spent the whole month on leave so I could concentrate on getting the family moved. Allied sent a three person crew to our house on the 13th to pack everything up and get us ready for the actual movers. They were there pretty much all day and even worked through lunch but by the time they left just about everything was in boxes and ready for the movers to pick up the next day. I say 'just about everything' because they missed our drawer of cooking utensils and they weren't allowed to pack up our chemical cleaning supplies, but other than that, they got it all. The movers showed up the next morning with a HUGE truck and a five man crew. I gave them a quick tour of the house and they got right to work. They did take a break for lunch, but not a very long one and they loaded just about everything and drove off with our stuff around 4. I say 'just about everything' because I forgot to take a mirror off the wall and there was a medicine cabinet type item behind the door of the bathroom that no one saw. Still, it was pretty impressive (and scary) how much stuff we got onto the truck. In fact, the foreman/driver said he thinks we have more than 11,000 pounds of stuff, which is our limit as far as the Gov't is concerned. I don't know what that means as far as money, but I guess we'll find out. For the rest of the week, the four of us slept on the floor in the family room (too hot upstairs) and Jennie and I cleaned while the kids were at church camp (aka VBS). We got that all done and our landlords came down with their new RPM guy to look the house over on Friday. Since they agreed to change out the carpet before putting it back on the market, I cancelled our appointment with Stanley Steemer... Why pay $300 to clean carpet that's going to get ripped up, right? I also fixed the hole in the wall put there by my son in a classic AFV clip. He had the treadmill up too fast and fell and... well, you get the idea. We got everything cleaned up and ended up leaving the keys in the lock box provided by the RPM agent. Jen had taken the kids to church Saturday evening to "graduate" from VBS so. I didn't go because I was waiting for the landlords to come back (they never did) and I was pretty nasty from working all day. After church was over we all moved in with Jen's mom and had a camp out! Actually, we all went to Souplantation for dinner and had a pleasant visit before we all crashed out. The cats had spent the whole week at Grandma's and were very happy to see Jen again. =) So that was July week 2...
July week three was spent up at Forest Home, on Mt. San Bernadino. It's a family camp and the week is spent getting closer to God and leaving technology behind for a week. The whole camp is very similar to Ridgecrest or Glorieta, but more primitive. The camp's construction tries to minimize the impact on the the woods around it so there are trees used as pillars and supports for beams. It's actually pretty cool. There were a couple of reasons we chose this particular week to go. For starters, with moving out and trying to time our departure for CO, this was the best week to go. Also, since we got to prorate our rent for the month, we could use the money to pay for our camp fees. We went to FH a couple years ago and the speaker was just amazing so we picked the week that he was scheduled to preach. Lastly, we figured we needed to have a good family week to draw closer together because Jen and I figured we'd get on each others nerves living in a hotel for an extended period of time. So, we got home from FH after hearing an awesome series on the Wisdom of God from Proverbs by Dennis Keating, pastor of Emmanuel Faith Baptist in Escondido. Jen and I had a good time with our friends from church, Kelly and Sheryl and our kids had a blast with their programs and our CCA (Child-Care-Assistant) who happened to be the daughter of one of our small group members. I think that's probably the coolest thing about FH. They will provide you a babysitter for the evening so you can spend time with adults and you can even bring your own 'sitter if you desire. Week 3 three was a much needed calm before the storm.
When we got home from FH, we moved into the new South Mesa Lodge on Camp Pendleton for the weekend. I originally had reservations at the old Ward Lodging up on main side, but for just a few bucks more I was able to give my beach bunny wife a view of the ocean for our last couple of days. I figured I had to. =) Anyway, we did laundry and got ready to leave again. On Monday the 27th I got to spend the day at the garage. I took the Ford in for an oil change and asked them to check on why the battery light was on. Half an hour later I'm told that I have a bad alternator. (AutoZone had already tested my battery and alternator and told me both were good to go.) He put in a new one and then told me that it was putting out the same amps as the first one. His thought was not that there was nothing wrong, but that he'd gotten a bad part. So he put in a brand new alternator (we're after lunch by now) and told me... same test results. (Grrrr...) So, he put the original alternator back in and sent me on my way. I paid $13 and my entire day for an oil change and tire rotation. (Did I say "Grrrr..." yet?) Oh! And to top it all off, I had to push back our dinner reservations by an hour. Did I forget to mention that Monday was our anniversary? We went to dinner at Donovan's and had a wonderful dinner experience. It didn't completely make up for the rest of the day, but it was a great dinner. The next morning I got up early and ran out to U-Haul to pick up an auto transport that I had reserved. (I borrowed the mechanic's car to run out to the U-haul dealer to sign paperwork while he had my Expedition on the lift.) I grabbed it and went back to the base. Our friends Kelly and Sheryl allowed us to keep my Saturn at their house while we were at FH and I went there to load up. That was actually the easiest part of the day. I got back to the hotel and rearranged stuff to keep the back of the Ford open for the cats. I loaded up the Saturn and put some stuff on top of the Ford. I had planned/wanted to get on the road by 8 because we were planning to drive for about 11 hours on day 1 and I wanted to get going. We were on the road a little before 11... just a bit late. :-P
Well, I was accurate in my estimate of how long we would be on the road. We got to Beaver, UT right around 10 after a very long day. We checked in and got to our room. I would highly recommend that anyone stopping in Beaver for the night that you find a different hotel than the Paradise Inn Best Western. There were bugs all over the place! We got out of there in the morning after a decent breakfast at the restaurant right there and got back on the road. We got to Eagle, CO later that evening and had a MUCH better experience at the Best Western Eagle Lodge there. Since I'd signed up for their members club when I made the reservation they bumped us up to a deluxe room and we were right next to the pool. After dinner the kids and I took to the pool for about 45 minutes which allowed the kids to burn off some energy. Since we only had a few hours scheduled for Thursday, we took advantage of the full breakfast bar and then the kids jumped back in the pool while Jen took a shower and packed up. We checked out right at 11 and headed for the pass. The weather was very wet and quite chilly. I don't care who you are... 40 degrees is chilly! We got into the Denver area around 2:00 and got into an accident at 2:10... seriously. I was slowing down for an interchange... it was crowded... the road was wet... the car in front of me stopped short and I ran out of room... HOWEVER, Jen had taken a picture of the interchange sign for scrapbooking and you can see the car in front of us. More importantly, you can clearly see that her tail light and bumper already have damage. I took a picture of her car right after the accident and the pictures look virtually identical. I made two calls right after the 'wreck' one to 911 to get a cop out to us and the 2nd to our insurance. The agent advised me to take the 'after' pictures and Jen found the 'before' picture as she scrolled through her camera later that evening. Unfortunately, I now owe the city of Denver $110 and I'm going to have 2 points on my DL. Yep, I was cited for "following too closely" and found at fault. The officer was apologetic and wished us luck, but that's a heck of a way to announce our arrival in Denver. Anyway, we finished the last 15 minutes of the trip and got checked into our Extended Stay Hotel, which we'll call 'home' for at least a month. We called our realtor and she met us yesterday. My dad had called her to get us connected. Thanks, Dad. We spent a few minutes at her office just talking about the plan for the day and then we got into her car and started driving. We looked at 5 or 6 houses (I can't remember which) and then went back to her office to pull up a few more and make a plan for today. I liked the 2nd house, but the lot is odd shaped and there's a long shared 'drive-way' that we'd have to either back up or down (or use the neighbor's driveway to turn around). Still, it's a solid possibility. We saw one house that is way over-priced for us and we didn't like it anyway. It's not ready for showing in my opinion... Nevermind, we scratched that one pretty quick. The last house we saw also had some possibility, but it would take more work than the 2nd one. After lunch we drove past a few more houses and called Wendy back to set up some more viewings for this afternoon. These would be much closer to the base where I'll be working so that's a plus. They're a little less expensive so that's another positive. There's one that we both have high hopes for. It's at the end of the street, which is a cul-de-sac. There's a paved path from the end of the street to the community center on the other side and it's in a good school district. I'll post more on FBook this afternoon after we get to see inside. I have high hopes and I'm very optimistic that we'll be able to find something we can make an offer on maybe even before I check into my new unit on Friday.
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading and please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We're tired of living in a hotel and even if we make an accepted offer tomorrow, we'll still be here for at least a month while we close.
July week three was spent up at Forest Home, on Mt. San Bernadino. It's a family camp and the week is spent getting closer to God and leaving technology behind for a week. The whole camp is very similar to Ridgecrest or Glorieta, but more primitive. The camp's construction tries to minimize the impact on the the woods around it so there are trees used as pillars and supports for beams. It's actually pretty cool. There were a couple of reasons we chose this particular week to go. For starters, with moving out and trying to time our departure for CO, this was the best week to go. Also, since we got to prorate our rent for the month, we could use the money to pay for our camp fees. We went to FH a couple years ago and the speaker was just amazing so we picked the week that he was scheduled to preach. Lastly, we figured we needed to have a good family week to draw closer together because Jen and I figured we'd get on each others nerves living in a hotel for an extended period of time. So, we got home from FH after hearing an awesome series on the Wisdom of God from Proverbs by Dennis Keating, pastor of Emmanuel Faith Baptist in Escondido. Jen and I had a good time with our friends from church, Kelly and Sheryl and our kids had a blast with their programs and our CCA (Child-Care-Assistant) who happened to be the daughter of one of our small group members. I think that's probably the coolest thing about FH. They will provide you a babysitter for the evening so you can spend time with adults and you can even bring your own 'sitter if you desire. Week 3 three was a much needed calm before the storm.
When we got home from FH, we moved into the new South Mesa Lodge on Camp Pendleton for the weekend. I originally had reservations at the old Ward Lodging up on main side, but for just a few bucks more I was able to give my beach bunny wife a view of the ocean for our last couple of days. I figured I had to. =) Anyway, we did laundry and got ready to leave again. On Monday the 27th I got to spend the day at the garage. I took the Ford in for an oil change and asked them to check on why the battery light was on. Half an hour later I'm told that I have a bad alternator. (AutoZone had already tested my battery and alternator and told me both were good to go.) He put in a new one and then told me that it was putting out the same amps as the first one. His thought was not that there was nothing wrong, but that he'd gotten a bad part. So he put in a brand new alternator (we're after lunch by now) and told me... same test results. (Grrrr...) So, he put the original alternator back in and sent me on my way. I paid $13 and my entire day for an oil change and tire rotation. (Did I say "Grrrr..." yet?) Oh! And to top it all off, I had to push back our dinner reservations by an hour. Did I forget to mention that Monday was our anniversary? We went to dinner at Donovan's and had a wonderful dinner experience. It didn't completely make up for the rest of the day, but it was a great dinner. The next morning I got up early and ran out to U-Haul to pick up an auto transport that I had reserved. (I borrowed the mechanic's car to run out to the U-haul dealer to sign paperwork while he had my Expedition on the lift.) I grabbed it and went back to the base. Our friends Kelly and Sheryl allowed us to keep my Saturn at their house while we were at FH and I went there to load up. That was actually the easiest part of the day. I got back to the hotel and rearranged stuff to keep the back of the Ford open for the cats. I loaded up the Saturn and put some stuff on top of the Ford. I had planned/wanted to get on the road by 8 because we were planning to drive for about 11 hours on day 1 and I wanted to get going. We were on the road a little before 11... just a bit late. :-P
Well, I was accurate in my estimate of how long we would be on the road. We got to Beaver, UT right around 10 after a very long day. We checked in and got to our room. I would highly recommend that anyone stopping in Beaver for the night that you find a different hotel than the Paradise Inn Best Western. There were bugs all over the place! We got out of there in the morning after a decent breakfast at the restaurant right there and got back on the road. We got to Eagle, CO later that evening and had a MUCH better experience at the Best Western Eagle Lodge there. Since I'd signed up for their members club when I made the reservation they bumped us up to a deluxe room and we were right next to the pool. After dinner the kids and I took to the pool for about 45 minutes which allowed the kids to burn off some energy. Since we only had a few hours scheduled for Thursday, we took advantage of the full breakfast bar and then the kids jumped back in the pool while Jen took a shower and packed up. We checked out right at 11 and headed for the pass. The weather was very wet and quite chilly. I don't care who you are... 40 degrees is chilly! We got into the Denver area around 2:00 and got into an accident at 2:10... seriously. I was slowing down for an interchange... it was crowded... the road was wet... the car in front of me stopped short and I ran out of room... HOWEVER, Jen had taken a picture of the interchange sign for scrapbooking and you can see the car in front of us. More importantly, you can clearly see that her tail light and bumper already have damage. I took a picture of her car right after the accident and the pictures look virtually identical. I made two calls right after the 'wreck' one to 911 to get a cop out to us and the 2nd to our insurance. The agent advised me to take the 'after' pictures and Jen found the 'before' picture as she scrolled through her camera later that evening. Unfortunately, I now owe the city of Denver $110 and I'm going to have 2 points on my DL. Yep, I was cited for "following too closely" and found at fault. The officer was apologetic and wished us luck, but that's a heck of a way to announce our arrival in Denver. Anyway, we finished the last 15 minutes of the trip and got checked into our Extended Stay Hotel, which we'll call 'home' for at least a month. We called our realtor and she met us yesterday. My dad had called her to get us connected. Thanks, Dad. We spent a few minutes at her office just talking about the plan for the day and then we got into her car and started driving. We looked at 5 or 6 houses (I can't remember which) and then went back to her office to pull up a few more and make a plan for today. I liked the 2nd house, but the lot is odd shaped and there's a long shared 'drive-way' that we'd have to either back up or down (or use the neighbor's driveway to turn around). Still, it's a solid possibility. We saw one house that is way over-priced for us and we didn't like it anyway. It's not ready for showing in my opinion... Nevermind, we scratched that one pretty quick. The last house we saw also had some possibility, but it would take more work than the 2nd one. After lunch we drove past a few more houses and called Wendy back to set up some more viewings for this afternoon. These would be much closer to the base where I'll be working so that's a plus. They're a little less expensive so that's another positive. There's one that we both have high hopes for. It's at the end of the street, which is a cul-de-sac. There's a paved path from the end of the street to the community center on the other side and it's in a good school district. I'll post more on FBook this afternoon after we get to see inside. I have high hopes and I'm very optimistic that we'll be able to find something we can make an offer on maybe even before I check into my new unit on Friday.
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading and please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We're tired of living in a hotel and even if we make an accepted offer tomorrow, we'll still be here for at least a month while we close.
Tuesday, July 7
Here's the latest...
Okay, for those of you keeping score here's the latest on the 'haps' at the house.
We've been packing and sorting for a while now but not with the intensity you would expect of a family getting ready to move out of the state. Why? Well, quite simply, since the military has contracted a moving company to move our stuff, we just don't feel the burden of having to get everything done by any deadline. We've gone through old clothes and had a couple of garage sales. We've sorted stuff that we still have that we don't want and Babe has a plan to donate that stuff to charity. In short, we've done just about all we can think to do. The big exception to that is the laundry. However, I'm not allowed to do the laundry, so I don't feel any pressure about that. I can tell you that I'm planning to pack my uniforms tomorrow and load my seabag into my car. Since that's going on a trailer, I will have everything I need when we get there. We'll probably pack our suitcases this weekend and have them out of the way when the movers show up on Tuesday. That will give us clothes for the rest of 'vacation' and to get settled in with when we get there. We need to put aside a couple weeks worth of clothes so we're not too limited when we go shopping for housing, churches, etc...
We've been 'pre-approved' for funding for a house. Now we just need to find a house. We tried to get the kids registered for school where we're looking to buy, but the school district says we need to actually be in the district physically before we move. I guess they don't understand the military up there, but I'm going to call the school liaison and see if she can help us out.
I'm glad we were pre-approved before I took the car into the dealer. Now that I have a new computer in the vehicle I should be good for at least another 90K miles, right? That's what I'm hoping at least... especially since it's not even paid off yet. Ugh!
I did manage to get reservations at a nice steak house that we've talked about visiting pretty much since we got married. Since it's our anniversary and our last night in town, we figured we were pretty much out of excuses. Looking forward to dinner at Donovan's but I'm pretty much not looking forward to the next morning. I'm sure there will be tears all around and I anticipate that even I will have a knot in my throat... very different to the last time I left CA.
We had a nice send-off picnic with friends from church last night. Thanks to those of you who put that together for us.
My Honey is out with her friend for their quasi-weekly coffee talk and I'm listening to the "Fairy Oddparents" in the other room. The kids had their first official swim lesson today and did really well. Now that we're leaving the beach scene, we figure it's time they learn how to swim. We'll probably take skiing lessons as a family the week before we come back home after I retire. That's just how we roll.
Have a great week!
We've been packing and sorting for a while now but not with the intensity you would expect of a family getting ready to move out of the state. Why? Well, quite simply, since the military has contracted a moving company to move our stuff, we just don't feel the burden of having to get everything done by any deadline. We've gone through old clothes and had a couple of garage sales. We've sorted stuff that we still have that we don't want and Babe has a plan to donate that stuff to charity. In short, we've done just about all we can think to do. The big exception to that is the laundry. However, I'm not allowed to do the laundry, so I don't feel any pressure about that. I can tell you that I'm planning to pack my uniforms tomorrow and load my seabag into my car. Since that's going on a trailer, I will have everything I need when we get there. We'll probably pack our suitcases this weekend and have them out of the way when the movers show up on Tuesday. That will give us clothes for the rest of 'vacation' and to get settled in with when we get there. We need to put aside a couple weeks worth of clothes so we're not too limited when we go shopping for housing, churches, etc...
We've been 'pre-approved' for funding for a house. Now we just need to find a house. We tried to get the kids registered for school where we're looking to buy, but the school district says we need to actually be in the district physically before we move. I guess they don't understand the military up there, but I'm going to call the school liaison and see if she can help us out.
I'm glad we were pre-approved before I took the car into the dealer. Now that I have a new computer in the vehicle I should be good for at least another 90K miles, right? That's what I'm hoping at least... especially since it's not even paid off yet. Ugh!
I did manage to get reservations at a nice steak house that we've talked about visiting pretty much since we got married. Since it's our anniversary and our last night in town, we figured we were pretty much out of excuses. Looking forward to dinner at Donovan's but I'm pretty much not looking forward to the next morning. I'm sure there will be tears all around and I anticipate that even I will have a knot in my throat... very different to the last time I left CA.
We had a nice send-off picnic with friends from church last night. Thanks to those of you who put that together for us.
My Honey is out with her friend for their quasi-weekly coffee talk and I'm listening to the "Fairy Oddparents" in the other room. The kids had their first official swim lesson today and did really well. Now that we're leaving the beach scene, we figure it's time they learn how to swim. We'll probably take skiing lessons as a family the week before we come back home after I retire. That's just how we roll.
Have a great week!
Sunday, June 21
Father's Day 2009
It's Father's Day today. What does that mean, really? Is Father's Day a "Hallmark Holiday" created to balance out Mother's Day? Why in June? Is it to remind students who it is that will most likely be paying for their college next year? Is it at the beginning of summer to provide an excuse to cook meat over fire to celebrate being a man? I dunno.
I can tell you this much: I love being a father. I have two wonderful children (well, wonderful much of the time) and I get to watch them grow up cared for by a beautiful California girl. (Thanks, Babe.) I never thought I'd actually look forward to a day like this, but watching my children at their dance recital last night touched something in my soul. I want to take today and redevote myself to their care and up-bringing.
Even with God's help I know this is not an easy task. I have missed birthdays and school events, soccer games and days at the beach because I took an oath to "obey the orders of the President of the United States and all officers appointed over me, in accordance with regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice." Sometimes those orders could be written to read, "For the next six to eight months you will leave your family behind while you travel to some of the most inhospitable places in the world. While you are there you will do the same job that you do back in San Diego, but you will be less efficient due to the intermittent internet connections. To compensate for this, you will be afforded the opportunity to work 24/7 because the people you interact with will remain in the States and continue to take weekends and holidays off." However, I can say that during deployments I do have a tendency to pursue my relationship with God more and I also seem to 'find' more time to hit the gym and catch up on my reading. I guess it's just a matter of priorities.
I have learned over the years by watching other dads that it's not always about the quantity of time so much as it is the quality of time. At least, that's how some view their family obligation. Unfortunately, those who believe this seem to also allow the quality of time to suffer.
God, thank you for blessing me with the title of "Dad." Thank you for my father and the example of living a godly life that he has shown me. Grant me satisfaction in my career to be thankful for having a job that allows me time to spend with my family. Even if I never get promoted again, the Corps has been pretty good to me. Even if You never bless me again, You have done more for me as my heavenly Father than I could ever even attempt to do for myself. You sent your own Son to take my punishment and die in my place. Looking at Trey, I realize that is something I could never do. Thank you for all You have done and thank you in advance for all that You will do for me and my family. Give me the strength to protect and defend those You have entrusted to my care and watch over them when the demands of the service require me to leave them behind. Show me your way for my life and give me the courage to walk that path. Amen.
I can tell you this much: I love being a father. I have two wonderful children (well, wonderful much of the time) and I get to watch them grow up cared for by a beautiful California girl. (Thanks, Babe.) I never thought I'd actually look forward to a day like this, but watching my children at their dance recital last night touched something in my soul. I want to take today and redevote myself to their care and up-bringing.
Even with God's help I know this is not an easy task. I have missed birthdays and school events, soccer games and days at the beach because I took an oath to "obey the orders of the President of the United States and all officers appointed over me, in accordance with regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice." Sometimes those orders could be written to read, "For the next six to eight months you will leave your family behind while you travel to some of the most inhospitable places in the world. While you are there you will do the same job that you do back in San Diego, but you will be less efficient due to the intermittent internet connections. To compensate for this, you will be afforded the opportunity to work 24/7 because the people you interact with will remain in the States and continue to take weekends and holidays off." However, I can say that during deployments I do have a tendency to pursue my relationship with God more and I also seem to 'find' more time to hit the gym and catch up on my reading. I guess it's just a matter of priorities.
I have learned over the years by watching other dads that it's not always about the quantity of time so much as it is the quality of time. At least, that's how some view their family obligation. Unfortunately, those who believe this seem to also allow the quality of time to suffer.
God, thank you for blessing me with the title of "Dad." Thank you for my father and the example of living a godly life that he has shown me. Grant me satisfaction in my career to be thankful for having a job that allows me time to spend with my family. Even if I never get promoted again, the Corps has been pretty good to me. Even if You never bless me again, You have done more for me as my heavenly Father than I could ever even attempt to do for myself. You sent your own Son to take my punishment and die in my place. Looking at Trey, I realize that is something I could never do. Thank you for all You have done and thank you in advance for all that You will do for me and my family. Give me the strength to protect and defend those You have entrusted to my care and watch over them when the demands of the service require me to leave them behind. Show me your way for my life and give me the courage to walk that path. Amen.
Tuesday, June 16
June-teenth
The second garage sale was not as well trafficked as the first, but we still managed to move some stuff (mostly clothes) and raise a few more bucks. Probably going to get that laptop we've been looking for... okay, Jen's been looking for. That will become our main computer while we're in transition.
So, our mortgage guy seems to have flaked out on us. He's not returning calls and I can't even leave him a message anymore. I contacted our financial advisor and he gave me a new number, but haven't heard back from them either. Hmmm...
Jen's out with g/f for the evening. I've got the kids and we had a good day together. The 'baby' (who just turned 5!) is sleeping on the couch and her brother is playing Mario Kart. I'm going to go show him how to drive...
Later!
So, our mortgage guy seems to have flaked out on us. He's not returning calls and I can't even leave him a message anymore. I contacted our financial advisor and he gave me a new number, but haven't heard back from them either. Hmmm...
Jen's out with g/f for the evening. I've got the kids and we had a good day together. The 'baby' (who just turned 5!) is sleeping on the couch and her brother is playing Mario Kart. I'm going to go show him how to drive...
Later!
Sunday, May 31
Too much to do... not enough time to "git-r-dun!"
Wow... I never realized how much work it is to get everything done when you have to relocate the entire family in one fell swoop. We're making progress though and I think we'll be okay by the time M day comes...
We had a huge garage sale yesterday. It threatened to rain all day, but never actually did. In fact, the sun finally broke through the "May Gray" just as we were moving everything back into the garage. (Whew!) We had a good turnout and more important than making money: we moved a lot of stuff we didn't want to move. Most of what went was baby related, and since we're done with that phase of our lives (knock on wood) then we offered up clothes and strollers and toys to other families who might need some of it.
Let me tell you... I didn't ask directly, but advertising WORKS! We had an add in the paper that ran Thurs-Sat and although only one guy specifically stated, "Your ad said..." I'm sure others at least stopped by to see what we had based on that.
We'll do it all again next weekend, then DAV will probably get a call to come pick stuff up. If not them, there's Operation Homefront, GoodWill, Salvation Army, and others who will make good use of stuff that is just taking up space in our garage.
So that's moving... I'm so far behind in my current class that I seriously doubt I'll be able to get a passing grade. That sucks because then I'll have to repay the tuition assistance and this is not a good time for that.
The summer season is typically "moving season" for the military and our unit is no different. We just got a new SgtMaj. We're getting a new CO and XO later and there's such a huge turnover going on that it wouldn't surprise me if I get skipped. The last plaque I received was the last time I was in the band... That was 10 years ago! (I'm not bitter... just annoyed.)
Well, I can hear the kids moving and we have to get ready for church this morning, so I guess that's all the time I have for now. It's a good thing I can type so fast or else I'd never get a word in edge wise. =) Have a great length of time and I'll try to update more regularly. I'll just add that to the list...
We had a huge garage sale yesterday. It threatened to rain all day, but never actually did. In fact, the sun finally broke through the "May Gray" just as we were moving everything back into the garage. (Whew!) We had a good turnout and more important than making money: we moved a lot of stuff we didn't want to move. Most of what went was baby related, and since we're done with that phase of our lives (knock on wood) then we offered up clothes and strollers and toys to other families who might need some of it.
Let me tell you... I didn't ask directly, but advertising WORKS! We had an add in the paper that ran Thurs-Sat and although only one guy specifically stated, "Your ad said..." I'm sure others at least stopped by to see what we had based on that.
We'll do it all again next weekend, then DAV will probably get a call to come pick stuff up. If not them, there's Operation Homefront, GoodWill, Salvation Army, and others who will make good use of stuff that is just taking up space in our garage.
So that's moving... I'm so far behind in my current class that I seriously doubt I'll be able to get a passing grade. That sucks because then I'll have to repay the tuition assistance and this is not a good time for that.
The summer season is typically "moving season" for the military and our unit is no different. We just got a new SgtMaj. We're getting a new CO and XO later and there's such a huge turnover going on that it wouldn't surprise me if I get skipped. The last plaque I received was the last time I was in the band... That was 10 years ago! (I'm not bitter... just annoyed.)
Well, I can hear the kids moving and we have to get ready for church this morning, so I guess that's all the time I have for now. It's a good thing I can type so fast or else I'd never get a word in edge wise. =) Have a great length of time and I'll try to update more regularly. I'll just add that to the list...
Saturday, May 2
it's the weekend... or is it the week-beginning?
Well, it's Saturday... What does that mean? It means that I have a lot of stuff to do today, especially since I'm scheduled to be on duty tomorrow. It's ironic, don't you think, that the guy who makes up the duty schedule hasn't put himself on the roster for three months now and there are people senior to him who are on the schedule. I also find it curious that even though I've mentioned it many times that I attend church with my family every weekend that I've been assigned the Sunday duty this week. Seriously? I know for a fact that there are at LEAST four people in the building who don't attend church at all. Why not put one of them on for Sunday? On the plus side, I do have my Saturday available to clean the garage, take recyclables in for $$, and enjoy the San Diego weather. We'll adapt by going to the evening service tonight and then Jen will have the day to herself tomorrow. Also, since I'll just be coming off of duty on Monday morning, it won't be a big deal when I go home after my appointment to set up TMO... and that's scheduled for 9:30. :-) This will also give me a chance to get caught up on some of my homework for my literature class. I'm way behind... I still owe an essay from two weeks ago and I've already missed two quizzes. I'll jump ahead to where everyone is now and then go back and try to fill in the gaps. Should be interesting.
What are you up to? I had to engage comment moderation because some jerk used my comment space to post his (or her) entire blog from January to now. Seriously? Get your own blog, you moron.
What are you up to? I had to engage comment moderation because some jerk used my comment space to post his (or her) entire blog from January to now. Seriously? Get your own blog, you moron.
Thursday, April 30
100 days... that's it?
Twelve billion dollars a DAY... that's how much the new administration has cost the American taxpayer. That's two dollars for every person on the PLANET. When the American people voted for change, I'd be willing to bet 8.5% of the working population were not thinking that they'd be looking for change as in, "Hey, Buddy, got a quarter?" We have been blessed in this current downturn because of my current occupation which guarantees a paycheck, albeit a modest one, for the next few years. Am I upset about taxes targeting the "rich" people? Well, yeah! I hope to be one of those people some day and I don't want to pay any more taxes than I have to. Here's a thought... everyone pays a flat 10% on gross income and a flat 5% sales tax. If you require emergency services such as fire or EMT assistance, then the responding department will charge your insurance to recover their costs. That would have the impact of rewarding those of us who are careful and encourage more people to be responsible for their action.
So, did anyone watch the press conference last night? I didn't and there's really one simple reason... he's on TV all the time. When the POTUS is on TV and/or radio every day there's nothing special about it. It's like living in San Diego. When I can wake up most every morning to a gorgeous SoCal day with awesome weather, I tend to take it for granted. When I KNOW the President is going to make a press release of some sort, then I no longer bother to watch. Doesn't he have a spokesperson, or did all of his candidates have to bow out because they "forgot" to pay their taxes?
It's been 100 days and I have a hangover...
So, did anyone watch the press conference last night? I didn't and there's really one simple reason... he's on TV all the time. When the POTUS is on TV and/or radio every day there's nothing special about it. It's like living in San Diego. When I can wake up most every morning to a gorgeous SoCal day with awesome weather, I tend to take it for granted. When I KNOW the President is going to make a press release of some sort, then I no longer bother to watch. Doesn't he have a spokesperson, or did all of his candidates have to bow out because they "forgot" to pay their taxes?
It's been 100 days and I have a hangover...
Saturday, April 18
well... look who's back
Okay... the kids are in bed and my Love is out with her friends for chit-chat and scrapbooking. I've got "The Empire Strikes Back" on Spike TV and a drink so I figured I'd jump on the computer and update some stuff. First stop: blog.
So we went back to Verizon the Sunday after Valentine's only to learn that the sale we were looking for had ended ON Valentine's Day. Now they wanted $130 for the phone we wanted... No thanks. We checke the Target flyer that afternoon and found the exact same phone for $19.99. That was even better than we were expecting so we went out and grabbed a couple. Within a week I had used up the available memory space on the phone so I bought a couple of memory cards: one for me one for J. Well, as I was going home I thought she might have preferred a blue-tooth instead so I kept the receipt... I took her memory card back and got her a blue-tooth the next day as she requested. (man, I'm good)
Fast Forward to March...
(Back story follows) When I got back from Iraq last year I was told that I'd be transferring to Georgia in March. I really (really... REALLY) didn't want to do that so I pitched a fit and got my orders changed. Now we're not moving until this summer and we're not going to Georgia. (back story ends)
My replacement has already checked in and taken over the office so I am pretty much out of a job right now. I don't really mind because I'm taking advantage of the time to hit the gym every day and get caught up on my medical care... parrallel but opposing objectives. See, when I was deployed last year I went through the training in the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program to upgrade to green belt (level 3). Unfortunately I damaged my shoulder with all of the throws and arm bars and to skip to today, I have a torn shoulder muscle (revealed by MRI) and an appointment with Balboa's orthopedics dept next week. Ironically enough, that's the day I was SUPPOSED to check in to the career course at the academy to remedy a deficiency in my training jacket. But when the doctor said I would risk permanent damage, I decided that maybe I'll retire as an E-6 but have use of both my arms. Anyway, I've been assigned as the Equal Opportunity Representative for the CG's inspection coming up which meant I had to go through training last week. If I end up in the HR field as a civilian, being trained for EO should look good on my resume.
So that's pretty much where we are right now. Since this is now updated, I'm going to hit my togetherweserved profile and update that as well. Jen wants me to get a wastebook page, but I already have a mywaste page, so I don't know if that will happen.
Sorry it's taken so long to update this. I know I probably don't have any readers, but I wanted to post anyway... more for myself I suppose.
So we went back to Verizon the Sunday after Valentine's only to learn that the sale we were looking for had ended ON Valentine's Day. Now they wanted $130 for the phone we wanted... No thanks. We checke the Target flyer that afternoon and found the exact same phone for $19.99. That was even better than we were expecting so we went out and grabbed a couple. Within a week I had used up the available memory space on the phone so I bought a couple of memory cards: one for me one for J. Well, as I was going home I thought she might have preferred a blue-tooth instead so I kept the receipt... I took her memory card back and got her a blue-tooth the next day as she requested. (man, I'm good)
Fast Forward to March...
(Back story follows) When I got back from Iraq last year I was told that I'd be transferring to Georgia in March. I really (really... REALLY) didn't want to do that so I pitched a fit and got my orders changed. Now we're not moving until this summer and we're not going to Georgia. (back story ends)
My replacement has already checked in and taken over the office so I am pretty much out of a job right now. I don't really mind because I'm taking advantage of the time to hit the gym every day and get caught up on my medical care... parrallel but opposing objectives. See, when I was deployed last year I went through the training in the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program to upgrade to green belt (level 3). Unfortunately I damaged my shoulder with all of the throws and arm bars and to skip to today, I have a torn shoulder muscle (revealed by MRI) and an appointment with Balboa's orthopedics dept next week. Ironically enough, that's the day I was SUPPOSED to check in to the career course at the academy to remedy a deficiency in my training jacket. But when the doctor said I would risk permanent damage, I decided that maybe I'll retire as an E-6 but have use of both my arms. Anyway, I've been assigned as the Equal Opportunity Representative for the CG's inspection coming up which meant I had to go through training last week. If I end up in the HR field as a civilian, being trained for EO should look good on my resume.
So that's pretty much where we are right now. Since this is now updated, I'm going to hit my togetherweserved profile and update that as well. Jen wants me to get a wastebook page, but I already have a mywaste page, so I don't know if that will happen.
Sorry it's taken so long to update this. I know I probably don't have any readers, but I wanted to post anyway... more for myself I suppose.
Sunday, February 15
Where have I been?
Wow.
I'm sorry about that. I didn't realize it's been over three months since I last posted. Let's see... what have I been up to?
Well, let's start with the holidays.
I got a nice thick robe for Christmas which I first thought was going to be too warm for me, but it's actually perfect. There are times when I will wear one of my hoodies instead, but that's usually because it has better freedom of movement. I also got a pair of "real" slippers to offset my novelty Ohio State Happy Feet slippers. The kids did well also. We went with the concept of one big gift and a few smaller but related gifts. There was one huge down side... We got the girl a doll house and a few rooms of furniture for her house. When I went to put the house together it was broken. I took it back to Wally World and learned that it had been a seasonal special purchase. Translation: "we don't sell that any more." D'oh! So we looked online and it's not available there either. So that sucked. The boy got some cool Hot Wheels and a track to launch them on. It's a loop that goes into a jump. It starts on a raised level, drops into a loop and that feeds right into a launch ramp. It's pretty cool except one of the cars that came with it is too light and can't get around the loop... it keeps falling. Jen got a new camera and all the toys that come with it. She wanted it. She shopped for it online. I went out and bought it. I have to admit that she made it easy for me, but I kind of feel like I was jipped (sp?) out of the holiday experience of figuring out what to get her and then rushing all over town trying to find it... on Christmas Eve. (jk)
New Year's was fun. Grandma took the kids for a sleep over and we had a couple of friends come to the house. We ate. We drank. We played games like "Boxers or Briefs" and we drank and ate some more. At some point we turned on the TV and watched the tape delayed celebration in New York as the ball dropped and 2009 began. We ate and drank some more and then I crashed. I was the first one to go down and that wasn't until 2:30. That was pretty good considering I'd been up since before 7. I woke up just before 8 on Jan 1 and made it downstairs to turn on the TV and watch the Tournament of Roses Parade. Every year on Jan 1 I like to watch the parade while I'm still in my 'jamas and drinking my coffee. When the Marine band comes marching down the street I look for people that I might know and then I laugh because I didn't have to get up at 3 and march the 5 miles while carrying a 35 pound Sousaphone and playing "The Marine's Hymn" and "Semper Fidelis" over and over. Don't misunderstand me, the five times that I did it were fun, but that's a young man's game. There's nothing like hearing thousands of people cheering just because you came down the street with 100 of your closest friends and wearing the world's most recognizable uniform. Plus, we always got a burger from In-N-Out at the end of the parade. =)
Anyway, that's how the holidays went and the new year got started.
My MIL and I have our birthdays only two days apart so we had combined them up until last year. Last year was a milestone birthday for her so we did a special party and this year she offered to take the kids for another sleep over. We accepted.
Now, it's the day after Valentine's Day and the kids are at Grandma's again. That was my doing. I set it up for her to take them so we didn't have to worry about picking them up on our way home from dinner. We went to our favorite place and had a nice dinner. We had to go because they may not be in business by the time our anniversary rolls around. We'd been invited to hook up with some friends for desert and drinks, but they cancelled so we just added desert to our dinner and enjoyed the time to ourselves. We were going to go look at new phones after dinner, but the store closed at 8. D'oh! So, we'll probably try again after church this morning.
Anyway, that's about it. I have some other stuff to tell, but those stories aren't realy "holiday" specific, so I'll post again later... Hopefully not too much later.
Have a great week!
I'm sorry about that. I didn't realize it's been over three months since I last posted. Let's see... what have I been up to?
Well, let's start with the holidays.
I got a nice thick robe for Christmas which I first thought was going to be too warm for me, but it's actually perfect. There are times when I will wear one of my hoodies instead, but that's usually because it has better freedom of movement. I also got a pair of "real" slippers to offset my novelty Ohio State Happy Feet slippers. The kids did well also. We went with the concept of one big gift and a few smaller but related gifts. There was one huge down side... We got the girl a doll house and a few rooms of furniture for her house. When I went to put the house together it was broken. I took it back to Wally World and learned that it had been a seasonal special purchase. Translation: "we don't sell that any more." D'oh! So we looked online and it's not available there either. So that sucked. The boy got some cool Hot Wheels and a track to launch them on. It's a loop that goes into a jump. It starts on a raised level, drops into a loop and that feeds right into a launch ramp. It's pretty cool except one of the cars that came with it is too light and can't get around the loop... it keeps falling. Jen got a new camera and all the toys that come with it. She wanted it. She shopped for it online. I went out and bought it. I have to admit that she made it easy for me, but I kind of feel like I was jipped (sp?) out of the holiday experience of figuring out what to get her and then rushing all over town trying to find it... on Christmas Eve. (jk)
New Year's was fun. Grandma took the kids for a sleep over and we had a couple of friends come to the house. We ate. We drank. We played games like "Boxers or Briefs" and we drank and ate some more. At some point we turned on the TV and watched the tape delayed celebration in New York as the ball dropped and 2009 began. We ate and drank some more and then I crashed. I was the first one to go down and that wasn't until 2:30. That was pretty good considering I'd been up since before 7. I woke up just before 8 on Jan 1 and made it downstairs to turn on the TV and watch the Tournament of Roses Parade. Every year on Jan 1 I like to watch the parade while I'm still in my 'jamas and drinking my coffee. When the Marine band comes marching down the street I look for people that I might know and then I laugh because I didn't have to get up at 3 and march the 5 miles while carrying a 35 pound Sousaphone and playing "The Marine's Hymn" and "Semper Fidelis" over and over. Don't misunderstand me, the five times that I did it were fun, but that's a young man's game. There's nothing like hearing thousands of people cheering just because you came down the street with 100 of your closest friends and wearing the world's most recognizable uniform. Plus, we always got a burger from In-N-Out at the end of the parade. =)
Anyway, that's how the holidays went and the new year got started.
My MIL and I have our birthdays only two days apart so we had combined them up until last year. Last year was a milestone birthday for her so we did a special party and this year she offered to take the kids for another sleep over. We accepted.
Now, it's the day after Valentine's Day and the kids are at Grandma's again. That was my doing. I set it up for her to take them so we didn't have to worry about picking them up on our way home from dinner. We went to our favorite place and had a nice dinner. We had to go because they may not be in business by the time our anniversary rolls around. We'd been invited to hook up with some friends for desert and drinks, but they cancelled so we just added desert to our dinner and enjoyed the time to ourselves. We were going to go look at new phones after dinner, but the store closed at 8. D'oh! So, we'll probably try again after church this morning.
Anyway, that's about it. I have some other stuff to tell, but those stories aren't realy "holiday" specific, so I'll post again later... Hopefully not too much later.
Have a great week!
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