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Day 1082: Homeownership
Aug. 5th, 2013 04:36 pmOwning a home is a huge step, the least of which is probably mortgage payments. Terrifying, right? But my inner lawyer feels compelled to point out that only a fraction of a percent of the people in this world actually own real property. (As opposed to personal property.) Very few people in this world own the places where they live or the land on which they have a business (if they have a business at all). One of my friends thinks the American mode of landownership - how we own so much - is wasteful and a little arrogant and would eschew landownership altogether, but the rights individuals acquire with homeownership are important protections for a family or a business.
So...my husband and I own a home.
Closing on Monday took longer than any of us would have liked because paperwork was slow. Being a part time loan closer, I know HUD reconciliation is the longest and most painful part of the closing process, so I understood. Cody and I went to see Pacific Rim while we waited for the loan to fund so we could get our keys. It was fun, and a decent homage to Neon Genesis Evangelion without being a cheap ripoff. I really enjoyed it.
It took longer than we'd have liked to get our keys, so we had some Pier 49 pizza and sat around reading. Then we got our keys, and started unloading boxes. We'd unloaded all the boxes by the time Cody's dad showed up with a trailer full of furniture, and then there was even more unloading. Justin (ex boyfriend, almost ex fiance, high school sweetheart and the old boy next door, now just a friend) showed up to help unload. He and Cody did most of the heavy lifting and navigating, and then Justin went home. Tuesday was spent unloading and unpacking and involved multiple trips to WalMart to get supplies, but we got our bed up and working that first night, so that was good. Unfortunately, our house has no AC, so we've had the windows open basically all the time - unless we're both out of the house - and so now there is an abundance of flies and beetles.
In the middle of the night Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, Cody and Bob came on down. There was much unloading of boxes the next day. I got up early to go grocery shopping, thinking the boys ought to have a hearty breakfast before we started work. And then I realized I had little to no cooking utensils (still don't) so we improvised bacon and eggs with nothing but a handful of plastic utensils I packed. Then we unpacked and hauled, and in the afternoon, we met up with Steven. Why Steven? Because we were all going to a Rush concert together. We went to In-N-Out Burger for a pre-concert meal (Yoko Ono and the Band, because Cody, Bob, and Steven were in a band in high school, and then I replaced Steven as the drummer, and he claims he was Yoko Ono'd out of the band), and then we went to the concert. We had a lot of fun people-watching before the concert opened.
The concert itself was amazing. Live music is always a thrilling experience, and going to a concert with three guys who adored the band was fun. They could sing along to all the songs, they cheered. And Rush was incredible. They had no opening act, just themselves, and the stage was all done up with Steampunk devices, because their newest album, Clockwork Angel, is steampunk-themed. The first half of the show was old songs. Whoever did their lighting design was phenomenal. Most bands I've seen just have themselves on the jumbotron thingie onstage with them, but Rush had really cool animation and graphics to go with their songs, plus performance shots of them were digitally added into the graphics, and it was beautiful. They took a short break - because, as Geddy Lee put it, "We're a million years old"- and then the second half featured numbers from their newest album. Neil Peart did two drum solos, the first traditional, the second with really cool digital sounds programmed in. And his drum set was beautiful, red and gold and decked out with zodiac/alchemy symbols. I kinda felt like I'd been dropped into a sea of Supernatural fans. The encore was awesome and full of energy - YYZ and Tom Sawyer.
It took us forever to get out of the parking lot, and when we got home, Cody's dad had arrived at the house and was unpacking boxes. So we finished helping him unload, and then we sat around...and jammed. Bob dug out Cody's guitar, Cody found his bass, and I banged on a box. And what we did? Sounded pretty good. As much as I have fun playing Guitar Hero and Rock Band, playing actual music with really talented musicians (and Bob is a phenomenal guitarist) is just energizing and amazing. Watching him and Cody riff off of each other, make a song together, and then building in the backbone, the rhythm? Was so much fun. We made Bob promise to come visit us once we get the house put together and all the instruments in place.
Thursday was a lot more unloading and unpacking. We found out the dishwasher could flood the basement if left unattended, so poor Cody has been borrowing tools and cutting holes in walls trying to get the system fixed. Friday was even more unpacking, and on Friday night Cody and I went to dinner with Justin and Shannon. They barbecued fish and shrimp (I think that's the first time I've liked shrimp). While the boys were barbecuing, Shannon gave me a tour of the house and we talked about her baby (due early next year) and, surprisingly, we got along. I felt like our time together at Rose's wedding was super awkward, but Shannon is smart and nerdy and funny, and I think we will make good friends. She helped me unpack stuff on Saturday, and after she left Rose came over, and we had a grand time, going through boxes, hauling boxes, and laughing at the memories we dug up. (There was one tense, frightening moment when Rose found the letter Justin left me before he moved away at the end of sophomore year.) We pawed through old yearbooks (Ethan had a crush on me? Why didn't you tell me? Oh wait, I was dating Justin at the time) and old stories I'd written, and it was wonderful.
Cody showed up late Saturday night...with little Miss Ivy. Who is adorable and smart as punch. That first night she figured out how to escape two boxes (apparently the whole husky escape artist thing is true) and she cried like mad, but we took her out regularly, and there hasn't been an accident in the house yet. (Cody took one look at her little puppy face and agreed to let her sleep inside till she gets older.) On Sunday we went to our new ward - and wow. Everyone there is super nice. An elderly couple lives next door to us, and they gave us fresh produce out of their garden (corn, cucumbers) and they sat next to us in Sacrament meeting and again in Sunday School. The wife - Sister P - was kind enough to introduce me around to some of the other sisters in Relief Society. It's a smaller ward, less than 200 people, maybe not even 100 people - but everyone is super nice, so we're going to the ward social thingie tomorrow night. Some of the people in the ward are the people Cody used to work with when he did charity work down in Mexico, so we kinda have some built in friends.
Little Miss Ivy has discovered her reflection in the mirror Cody has stored in the den. She also knows she can squeeze between the fence posts, and she even dragged down half of the fence when I tried to close her in the dog run behind the house. She's super smart (except she got her head stuck in the fence the second time) and she has mastered the stairs, despite her fears. Even though I feed her and water her and walk her the most, I am pretty sure she loves Cody more than she loves me. I think maybe it's because she drove down with him that first night, but she loves to follow him around when he's doing repairs around the house. She'll come if we call her, so maybe she recognizes her name, at least a little, and she's housebroken for the most part, and I love her so much. She's adorable.
We figure her crying all night will be good training for when we have a baby. I feel bad - usually Cody takes her outside, but then I have to get up early for work, so fair's fair.
My new home office is also a writing and crafting space, and even though it's a bit cluttered now, it's functional, and I've been working from home and enjoying it lots. Here's to hoping work goes better.
So...my husband and I own a home.
Closing on Monday took longer than any of us would have liked because paperwork was slow. Being a part time loan closer, I know HUD reconciliation is the longest and most painful part of the closing process, so I understood. Cody and I went to see Pacific Rim while we waited for the loan to fund so we could get our keys. It was fun, and a decent homage to Neon Genesis Evangelion without being a cheap ripoff. I really enjoyed it.
It took longer than we'd have liked to get our keys, so we had some Pier 49 pizza and sat around reading. Then we got our keys, and started unloading boxes. We'd unloaded all the boxes by the time Cody's dad showed up with a trailer full of furniture, and then there was even more unloading. Justin (ex boyfriend, almost ex fiance, high school sweetheart and the old boy next door, now just a friend) showed up to help unload. He and Cody did most of the heavy lifting and navigating, and then Justin went home. Tuesday was spent unloading and unpacking and involved multiple trips to WalMart to get supplies, but we got our bed up and working that first night, so that was good. Unfortunately, our house has no AC, so we've had the windows open basically all the time - unless we're both out of the house - and so now there is an abundance of flies and beetles.
In the middle of the night Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, Cody and Bob came on down. There was much unloading of boxes the next day. I got up early to go grocery shopping, thinking the boys ought to have a hearty breakfast before we started work. And then I realized I had little to no cooking utensils (still don't) so we improvised bacon and eggs with nothing but a handful of plastic utensils I packed. Then we unpacked and hauled, and in the afternoon, we met up with Steven. Why Steven? Because we were all going to a Rush concert together. We went to In-N-Out Burger for a pre-concert meal (Yoko Ono and the Band, because Cody, Bob, and Steven were in a band in high school, and then I replaced Steven as the drummer, and he claims he was Yoko Ono'd out of the band), and then we went to the concert. We had a lot of fun people-watching before the concert opened.
The concert itself was amazing. Live music is always a thrilling experience, and going to a concert with three guys who adored the band was fun. They could sing along to all the songs, they cheered. And Rush was incredible. They had no opening act, just themselves, and the stage was all done up with Steampunk devices, because their newest album, Clockwork Angel, is steampunk-themed. The first half of the show was old songs. Whoever did their lighting design was phenomenal. Most bands I've seen just have themselves on the jumbotron thingie onstage with them, but Rush had really cool animation and graphics to go with their songs, plus performance shots of them were digitally added into the graphics, and it was beautiful. They took a short break - because, as Geddy Lee put it, "We're a million years old"- and then the second half featured numbers from their newest album. Neil Peart did two drum solos, the first traditional, the second with really cool digital sounds programmed in. And his drum set was beautiful, red and gold and decked out with zodiac/alchemy symbols. I kinda felt like I'd been dropped into a sea of Supernatural fans. The encore was awesome and full of energy - YYZ and Tom Sawyer.
It took us forever to get out of the parking lot, and when we got home, Cody's dad had arrived at the house and was unpacking boxes. So we finished helping him unload, and then we sat around...and jammed. Bob dug out Cody's guitar, Cody found his bass, and I banged on a box. And what we did? Sounded pretty good. As much as I have fun playing Guitar Hero and Rock Band, playing actual music with really talented musicians (and Bob is a phenomenal guitarist) is just energizing and amazing. Watching him and Cody riff off of each other, make a song together, and then building in the backbone, the rhythm? Was so much fun. We made Bob promise to come visit us once we get the house put together and all the instruments in place.
Thursday was a lot more unloading and unpacking. We found out the dishwasher could flood the basement if left unattended, so poor Cody has been borrowing tools and cutting holes in walls trying to get the system fixed. Friday was even more unpacking, and on Friday night Cody and I went to dinner with Justin and Shannon. They barbecued fish and shrimp (I think that's the first time I've liked shrimp). While the boys were barbecuing, Shannon gave me a tour of the house and we talked about her baby (due early next year) and, surprisingly, we got along. I felt like our time together at Rose's wedding was super awkward, but Shannon is smart and nerdy and funny, and I think we will make good friends. She helped me unpack stuff on Saturday, and after she left Rose came over, and we had a grand time, going through boxes, hauling boxes, and laughing at the memories we dug up. (There was one tense, frightening moment when Rose found the letter Justin left me before he moved away at the end of sophomore year.) We pawed through old yearbooks (Ethan had a crush on me? Why didn't you tell me? Oh wait, I was dating Justin at the time) and old stories I'd written, and it was wonderful.
Cody showed up late Saturday night...with little Miss Ivy. Who is adorable and smart as punch. That first night she figured out how to escape two boxes (apparently the whole husky escape artist thing is true) and she cried like mad, but we took her out regularly, and there hasn't been an accident in the house yet. (Cody took one look at her little puppy face and agreed to let her sleep inside till she gets older.) On Sunday we went to our new ward - and wow. Everyone there is super nice. An elderly couple lives next door to us, and they gave us fresh produce out of their garden (corn, cucumbers) and they sat next to us in Sacrament meeting and again in Sunday School. The wife - Sister P - was kind enough to introduce me around to some of the other sisters in Relief Society. It's a smaller ward, less than 200 people, maybe not even 100 people - but everyone is super nice, so we're going to the ward social thingie tomorrow night. Some of the people in the ward are the people Cody used to work with when he did charity work down in Mexico, so we kinda have some built in friends.
Little Miss Ivy has discovered her reflection in the mirror Cody has stored in the den. She also knows she can squeeze between the fence posts, and she even dragged down half of the fence when I tried to close her in the dog run behind the house. She's super smart (except she got her head stuck in the fence the second time) and she has mastered the stairs, despite her fears. Even though I feed her and water her and walk her the most, I am pretty sure she loves Cody more than she loves me. I think maybe it's because she drove down with him that first night, but she loves to follow him around when he's doing repairs around the house. She'll come if we call her, so maybe she recognizes her name, at least a little, and she's housebroken for the most part, and I love her so much. She's adorable.
We figure her crying all night will be good training for when we have a baby. I feel bad - usually Cody takes her outside, but then I have to get up early for work, so fair's fair.
My new home office is also a writing and crafting space, and even though it's a bit cluttered now, it's functional, and I've been working from home and enjoying it lots. Here's to hoping work goes better.
