campfire anthems

i’m back from vacation.  sorry about my disappearance the past week.  its been a crazy ride moving into and setting up our new house.  i just want to say that i love it there.  i love the house, the neighborhood, the location, my neighbors - i love everything about it.  we stayed their for the first time on friday night.  we moved our bed over and some dirty laundry so that we could wash them over night and have clean clothes for the next day.  yes, that’s right.  we have our own laundry machines now.  no more laundromats!  tim and tabitha came over and slept on an air mattress so they would be there in the morning to help with the move.  saturday  morning i went to get the uhaul truck and start the process.  after nearly escaping death at the uhaul store (it was actually a gas station that was in the middle of the ghetto.  if there is a hell on earth i’m pretty sure it was that street corner.  tim can vouch for me.) i hopped in the 28 foot behemoth and drove to lakeland.  it was pretty fun driving such a large vehicle.

once in lakeland, our friends started trickling in to help load up.  it took us a couple of hours to load the truck with all of our stuff.  my legs were killing me after carrying sofas and other furniture and boxes down the stairs.  i’m glad its over.  when we go to the new house it took us maybe 15 minutes to unload everything.  the fathers came over and fixed the garage door opener.  it involved some rewiring work in the attic.  i helped and got to go up there for the first time and hang out a bit.  our garage door now opens, which is a huge win.  the rest of that day was mainly spent situating furniture and unpacking some boxes.

sunday morning was church, as usual, but we only live about 2 minutes away now.  its very nice to be so close when sunday morning begin so early.  timm talked about anger.  i usually don’t struggle with the long lasting anger issues and the building up of anger to become bitter.  i struggle more with rage - not like hitting people or putting my fist through a wall, more like verbal release upon people.  he did a really good job with describing how this affects our lives, mainly our relationships.  i can’t wait to see what he talks about this sunday.  after church i went to lakeland to get a haircut and swing by the old apartment to get some things out of the freezer.  during my hair cut bright house called to let me know they were 5 to 10 minutes away.  perfect.  i am 15 minutes away.  i finished the haircut and rushed home in hopes of catching the technician.  i didn’t.  with some careful wording, i called them back and got them to swing back by the house.  we now have proper working hd television and high speed internet.  very exciting.  sunday night we had a family group bbq for memorial day.  it was really fun hanging out and getting to know everybody better.  as part of our weekly routine, we finished up the night with some cards with travis and kfj.

monday morning travis, my dad, and i started painting the living room.  emily and tabitha arrived a little later and helped.  it took a few hours but we finally got it done.  it really looked great.  the rest of the day we just continued to work on the house and unpack more stuff.  tuesday may dad came back over and the two of us painted the kitchen and dining room.  it also looked really good.  i like the color a lot.  that night we got to babysit for gary and deanna while they attended family group.  the two of us, plus a 2 year old packed up in the car and went to orlando to go to ikea.  we walked out with a new coffee table, light fixture, to floor lamps, throw pillows, pillow covers, some sort of mountable rod for the kitchen that you can hang hooks off of, and 3 bar stools for only $160.  we dominated ikea.  when we got back home we assembled all of our new furniture and called it a night.  i don’t know if i have been sleeping so good lately because of the new environment or because of all the hard work i’ve been doing around the house.  probably the latter.

i woke up yesterday to a displeased look on my wife’s face.  when questioned about it she informed me that she no longer liked the color of our living room and we would be repainting it soon.  hooray!  not only does that suck, it also put a damper on my plans to mount the flat screen tv on the wall.  no sense in doing it until after we repaint the room.  i met the guys for lunch at outback for wingsday, you should be able to read my full review next week.  after lunch i headed to lowes to buy a grill. after picking out the one i wanted, i made the purchase and rolled the fully assembled cooking device out to my car.

it. would. not. fit.

i had to roll it back into the store and make them check to see if there was one still in the box.  after i loaded the box in my car, drove back home and set up in the garage i began to build my new charcoal grill.  it took 2 hours.  it wasn’t the hardest thing i’ve ever done, but it wasn’t exactly simple either.  i can’t wait to cook something.  that night i relaxed with a little halo and ufc ultimate fighter.  once again i slept like a rock.

this morning i woke up and got ready to go back to work.  i left the house around 8 because i didn’t know just how long, or what traffic would be like, to get the work.  it only took 10 minutes.  with the extra time i had i stopped and got some bagels for breakfast.  once at my desk, bagel in hand, i checked my email and caught up from my time off.  found out that i’m going to tennessee next month for 3 days.

its been a long and busy week since i last talked to you guys.  i’m glad the mayhem is beginning to die down.  see you tomorrow.

we signed the papers.  we got the keys.  we are home owners.

hey world.  we just got back from st. augustine a couple of hours ago so let me fill you in on our adventures.  we arrived yesterday, just after lunch.  luckily, our hotel room was ready, so we got to check in early.  our room was pretty much the nicest hotel room i have ever stayed in.  we walked in to find a huge bed and a jacuzzi in the main room, tucked away neatly in the corner.  this thing even had ceramic tile steps leading into it.  fantastic!  after a quick look around the room, and after ditching our bag of luggage we headed out into the heart of the city.

since the hotel was right on the corner of the main strip of historic downtown st. augustine, we were able to walk everywhere we went.  the very first store we visited was an art store (i think emily had a scheme to go home with a piece of art for our new house).  emily fell in love with an original oil painting on canvas.  it is pictured below.

we negotiated a little, since it was the off season, secured a price, and headed to see if there was anything better out there.  this is how we spent much of the day, walking from art gallery to art gallery.  we found nothing that we liked, so we called it a day.  we headed back to the hotel to shower and relax before dinner.

we once more trekked across town to o.c. white’s for dinner and a drink.  the food was pretty good, but the service was pretty horrendous.   our waiter was training a new girl.  i think that should pretty much sum up our entire experience.  i ordered a gouda stuffed crab cake portabella sandwich.  heavenly.  after dinner we walked back down the strip to the st. george tavern.  this place was pretty cool.  we always walked by it every time we visited the city, and even mentioned that we wanted to go, but never made it inside.  we finally went and i think we both really enjoyed ourselves.  that night, the king sized bed spoiled me.  i don’t know what i’m going to do tonight when i have to go back to my measly queen matress.

after we checked out of the hotel room this morning, we grabbed a quick coffee and bagel from our favorite little coffee shop on st. george street and headed back to the art store to buy our painting.  i was telling emily that it was really weird for me to be buying art to hang up on the wall of our house.  i say this because i always pictured myself a bachelor, living in a town house, simply decorating the walls with posters of my favorite bands.  i guess i have grown up a little since college.  with art in hand, and packed snugly in the back of my suv, we headed back to our home.  i knew we wouldn’t be able to make it in one fluid trip though.

when we hit orlando, we decided to get off the interstate and spend a couple of hours at ikea.  this place is pretty fascinating, and i think i may have written about it a couple of months ago just before the finger/knife incident.  for under $50, we solved our side table in the living room problem, and we managed to knock out 2 of the 3 light fixtures that we will be replacing at the new house.  all in all i’d say it was a pretty successful trip.

as much as i’d like to say that we stayed out all night last night and lived up our night on the town, i’d be lying if i did.  at 8:40 last night we decided to head back to the hotel so we could catch the office.  lame huh?  ok.  you have to leave me a comment on this post.  do it.  5…4…3….shake my hand…do it…comment…2…1 and a half…comment…do it! (you won’t get that if you don’t watch the office.  i promise i’m not crazy…ok, maybe i am just a little)

it happened again last night.  you know, the thing where our friend doesn’t let us leave their house.  i’m tired.  it’s going to be a long day, i can feel it already.  i actually had a pretty constructive weekend though.  saturday i played guitar in a wedding.  sunday i did all the usual church stuff.  i realized that i need to start being more friendly at church and begin to meet people that are new.  as outgoing as i am, their is just something about the church environment that makes me uncomfortable with talking to new people.  maybe i don’t want to be asked any questions that i don’t have the answers to.  who knows.  i won’t be their this sunday because i’ll be on vacation, but next sunday i will be setting a goal to meet 8 new people.  4 from the first service and 4 from the second.

emily and i turned in our mortgage application this morning.  i think i have carpel tunnel syndrome after initialing and signing so many lines.  we are getting the ball rolling on our home owner’s insurance and getting all the necessities to the title company.  it looks as though we will be able to close early.  i’m hoping to be in there soon.  i’m getting anxious.

well i’m going to go get a cup of coffee and plow my way through the morning.  have a good one.

except i really don’t get one this time.  tomorrow, i have to go up to gainesville to do a preview for an auction we have next week.  so there goes my day.  leaving at 6:30 in the morning and probably not getting home until about 5:30 that night isn’t exactly how i would envision my perfect saturday away from the office.  and if you have ever read my blog before, you know that sundays are not days off either, no matter what week we are talking about.

i’m pretty excited about tomorrow though, even with my full work day.  our bank has ordered a home inspection, which it to happen at 12:30 tomorrow afternoon.  now we really get to see what all is and isn’t going on with this place.  i’m sure everything will turn out fine, at least that is what i’m praying for.

7 more work days until my vacation.  how exciting.  i don’t think we are going anywhere, or doing anything special, which really will make this a vacation.  just sit at home and do nothing.  maybe read a new book.  so have i mentioned that i’m reading again?  this is strange to me because for years i hadn’t read a book, not even if it was for a class in college.  i always just faked it.  i just didn’t have the desire anymore.  out of no where i began reading again.  i don’t even watch television at night because i’d rather just make it through a book and begin a new one.  i don’t know whats going on, but as for now i’m ok with it.

i’m really pissed about whoppers.  not the delicious flame broiled hamburger from burger king.  oh no.  i’m talking about the whoppers that come in the faux milk cartons - the chocolate candy.  you know the one.  what’s the deal with these thing anyways?  they are supposed to be a crunchy, malted, chocolate covered candy - i understand this.  how come sometimes when i eat them they are chewy and soft?  i’m outraged when confronted by a chewy whopper.  honestly, if i wanted a chewy whopper i would have just purchased mild duds.

so friends, i pose some questions for you.  what are you doing this weekend?  can you recommend any good books to read (i like political, historical, religious  fiction kinda reading)?  what pisses you off?

what’s your favorite color?  we need to figure out how to paint the walls of our new house.

we are now home owners.

…we are now home owners. i’m not trying to get our hopes up just yet, but our realtor called and had me initial an addendum to the sales contract. the bank didn’t dispute our offering price. it was a simple change for the closing date. it looks like we will be closing the deal on may 16. what a great birthday present for me that month. if you want to get me something for my birthday i will be accepting lowes gift cards.

the only thing we have left to wait on is the seller, a.k.a. the bank, to sign the finalized contract. i’m pretty excited, as you might well expect. anyone who is good at laying tile is welcome to come help me do that. also, if you have any good suggestions on which washer/dryer to go with i’m sure my wife would love help.

p.s. thanks god!

man did i have a busy weekend. saturday morning emily and i had to be in winter haven at 8:30 to meet the home inspector at the house we are trying to buy. tabby bottoms did us a huge favor and got her dad, who is a home inspector in orlando, to drive over for the morning and give us the complete run down of the place. first of all, her parents are awesome. we all walked through the house, attic, yard, etc. after about 2 hours, a bloody finger, and a little sweat tabby’s dad told us that it is a great home. there were a couple of minor issues to take care of, like the structural warranty from the builder and putting some gutters on the roof, but all in all this place turned out to be in good shape.

after the home meeting we were starving. there was much debate about where to eat lunch, and it was only about 10:45, which made the prospects even slimmer. we drove over to lakeside village because i wanted a greek salad from louis pappas, but they didn’t open until 11:00. to pass the time we wandered around bed bath and beyond for a bit and then drove back over the restaurant…and decided we didn’t want to eat there. heading back down the road we finally agreed on fred’s market, which was a good call if you ask me. chicken, ribs, mashed potatoes, green beans, and peach cobler is a good lunch any day in my book. our next stop was carlton music center. i decided that i wanted to buy a glass slide and teach myself how to play slide guitar. it has such a cool sound. i hope i am successful.

we finally got home in the early afternoon. emily decided to take a nap, so i changed the strings on my acoustic guitar and watch ultimate fighter on spike tv. i love that show. by the time i was all done with this, emily was awake and it was time to get ready to go to betsy’s wedding. i was originally suppose to play guitar and sing in it, but then i had the tragic knife accident and was replaced by my beautiful wife. good call betsy. the wedding began at 5:00 and laster for just over a half hour. on to the reception we go. dinner, toasts, and and hour and a half later we decided to leave due to the early morning we have every sunday. when we got home we decided to hang out together and watch a movie. i got to choose. normally this could be a bad thing for emily, but she actually liked what we watched. let me tell you, blades of glory is very funny. bed time.

awakened by music at 5:30 sunday morning, i knew it was church day. everything went really well for the services. we did a stripped down acoustic set, due to everyone being on vacation. timm gave the second sermon in the squeaky clean series, and overall it seemed like there were more people in both services. a few of us decided to go to abuelos for lunch. i love that place. their pappas con chile is simply divine. after lunch we were still in house mode, so we drove way down into south lakeland to visit famous tate. i was very disappointed with the prices and selection. since it was on the way home, we stopped in the home depot next. once again, i was very disappointed with this establishment. we had been to lowes earlier in the week shopping for appliances, and i’m pretty sure that this will be where we do business. when we got home it was nap time again. this time i actually took one as well. i’m not sure if it was on purpose though, since i was watching csi and the next thing i knew it was 2 hours later. sunday night we had plans to go out to tampa to watch timm bottoms perform his senior recital for his masters degree at usf. he did very good. i’m proud of my buddy, and let me tell you, that boy can play a tuba. we did a little celebrating and hanging out afterward and finally arrived back home at 11:30.

monday morning. here i sit at work. overall it was a great weekend. i can’t wait to hear about the offer we made on the house. i can’t wait to go to lowes again and actually buy kitchen appliances. i can’t wait until saturday so i can sleep in.

so i took yesterday off from the blog world. what you missed was huge. we pulled our offer on the house in lakeland and made an offer on a house in winter haven. its a better house, bigger, cheaper, lower property taxes, and would be on teco rather than lakeland electric. i’m pretty excited about all of this. tabby bottoms is hookin’ us up too. on saturday morning her dad is coming to the house to inspect it, since he is a home inspector in orlando. so once again we will see how this goes. this time, however, there will be a pool party in addition to the bbq. do you have a bathing suit?