Speaking of walls, we have finished our first project in our new house. It was nothing major. We painted our dining room. The room itself is large enough to hold our dining table, granted our table only seats four or five people at a time. However, when we saw this house, the previous homeowners had a table that sat their family of six. So there is room for a larger table if so desired. The problem with the room was the color. It was a darkish red. The pictures below are the progress of painting the room. The pictures don't do it total justice, but what I will say is that putting lighter colors on the wall definitely makes the room feel bigger.
16 November 2016
First Project!
We have been in our house for just over a month. We have settled in nicely and have gotten our everyday stuff unpacked and put away. The only things that are left are things that aren't used on a regular basis. You all know them as the boxes that remain packed for years after moving in. We eventually want to paint our living room, so we haven't put pictures or art or shelves up. Our walls are bare, but we do have the Christmas season coming up in the next three weeks, so we'll probably have holiday decorations take up space.
Speaking of walls, we have finished our first project in our new house. It was nothing major. We painted our dining room. The room itself is large enough to hold our dining table, granted our table only seats four or five people at a time. However, when we saw this house, the previous homeowners had a table that sat their family of six. So there is room for a larger table if so desired. The problem with the room was the color. It was a darkish red. The pictures below are the progress of painting the room. The pictures don't do it total justice, but what I will say is that putting lighter colors on the wall definitely makes the room feel bigger.
Speaking of walls, we have finished our first project in our new house. It was nothing major. We painted our dining room. The room itself is large enough to hold our dining table, granted our table only seats four or five people at a time. However, when we saw this house, the previous homeowners had a table that sat their family of six. So there is room for a larger table if so desired. The problem with the room was the color. It was a darkish red. The pictures below are the progress of painting the room. The pictures don't do it total justice, but what I will say is that putting lighter colors on the wall definitely makes the room feel bigger.
02 November 2016
Two Paragraph Short Story
Back in college, I took a couple of writing classes. In retrospect, not the best way to spend money in college, but whatever. I don't regret taking the classes. There were many different writing exercises that our professor had to get us to write. One was to try and write a short story in two to three paragraphs. It was to try and get the plot across without excessive writing. It was fun. It challenged you to leave a little to the imagination of the reader. To let them try to fill some things in for themselves. Anyway, here's one I came up with just a couple of days ago. The idea just popped in my mind and was reminded of this exercise. Enjoy!
Smoke rose from the barrel of the pistol. The body fell. My ears rang. As the blood pooled around my feet, I stepped back. Jesus fucking Christ. Oh man, they came out of nowhere. How did I even wrestle the gun away from them? Is there anyone else around? Did anyone see that? What do I do. Shit. shit shit shit shit. The alley. They came from the alley. I should see if anyone else is down there. It's pretty dark here. Maybe no one saw it. Maybe no one saw my face. Maybe I should call the cops. Maybe. Or maybe I should just...leave? Are they even dead? Do I check on them? A step towards them. Sirens wail in the distance. Footsteps turn to sprints.
I
Smoke rose from the barrel of the pistol. The body fell. My ears rang. As the blood pooled around my feet, I stepped back. Jesus fucking Christ. Oh man, they came out of nowhere. How did I even wrestle the gun away from them? Is there anyone else around? Did anyone see that? What do I do. Shit. shit shit shit shit. The alley. They came from the alley. I should see if anyone else is down there. It's pretty dark here. Maybe no one saw it. Maybe no one saw my face. Maybe I should call the cops. Maybe. Or maybe I should just...leave? Are they even dead? Do I check on them? A step towards them. Sirens wail in the distance. Footsteps turn to sprints.
You
Your hands shake as you ponder how best to go about this. You're justifying it in your mind. This is for the family. Your family. This will help put food on the table. For at least one day. That's your thought anyway. That's your hope. You weighed the pros and the cons. You tell yourself this is a one time thing. You're close to getting back on your feet financially. No one will know it was you. You picked up the gun a few days ago. You could only afford two bullets. You waited until it was dark outside. You hid behind a trash dumpster in an alley. Footsteps approached. Alright. This is it. Your last thoughts.
27 October 2016
MegaWho?
Last off season, Calvin Johnson retired from the NFL. Citing the recurring injuries to his knees and legs, he walked away. And more power to him. I read an interview with him and he said there were times when he could only shuffle around his house the day after a game because his legs and knees were in such bad shape. As a fan of the team he played for, the Detroit Lions, it brought flashbacks to the last great offensive athlete to wear the uniform. Barry Sanders also walked away with seemingly years left to play. We, as fans, have to respect the athletes' decisions as tough as they may be to deal with. Tomorrow your favorite athlete can make a retirement announcement and that is just something we have to deal with. Some fans get mad at these decisions, others just deal with it, and others worry about the future of the team. When Johnson retired, most people wondered what it would do to the team. How would the team look with him gone. And you know what, it seems to be just fine. At least the start of the season anyway.
Before I delve into this post, let us be clear: Calvin Johnson was a once in a generation talent, but was so humble and team oriented that he wasn't a diva. Not a Keyshawn Johnson. Not a Terrell Owens. Not a Chad Johnson. Not a Dez Bryant. You see some players that are so talented, but they are so self-centered that they distract from the team. Watching interviews with Johnson, he always seemed to focus on the team winning. It didn't matter if he had a three touchdown, one hundred fifty yard receiving game or a game where he caught one ball for five yards. He wanted to win. He wasn't always wanting the ball. He didn't want Matt Stafford to throw to him first and then maybe throw to someone else. Stafford would throw to him when he shouldn't have at times because Johnson had the ability to go up and catch balls that no one has the right to go up and get. The best ever was against the Bengals when he was triple (almost quadruple) covered and Stafford hit him for a fifty yard touchdown. Bananas. Look it up.
Because he was so talented, the team seemed to have a tendency to lean on him for clutch situations. When you do that, other teams know that and focus mainly on that. The Lions have won four games so far this season. In all those games, they were trailing near the end of the game. I'm not going to go through and look at all the details, but what I know is that Stafford is spreading the ball around at the end of the game. He is taking charge, finding different receivers, and putting the defense on their heels. In the past, they could focus on Calvin Johnson. Because that is who everyone in the universe knew Stafford was going to look for at the end of the game. Now that Johnson is gone, he has other options. And he did have other options in years past, but you lean on your talent.
After the grieving period of Calvin Johnson's retirement, I came to the realization that the Lions could be better off without him. That's not to say they're going to win eleven or twelve games (because they still aren't great), but it helps to develop other players. There were plays that they could take off because Calvin Johnson was such a focus for the team. Now they can focus more on spreading the ball around. It allows the team to be more fluid. It's almost like a team should be. Not just a quarterback looking for a singular player, but a quarterback that has options. More offensive weapons means more chances to win. Stafford has always had the ability to throw the ball to whomever and wherever he wanted, but with Johnson retiring, he could take the next step to becoming a top tier quarterback. So it's good for him as well.
The Lions are always going to be the Lions. Every year they win eight or nine games will be considered a successful year. If they win ten or eleven games will be outstanding. Will they ever win a Super Bowl? It seems unlikely, but then again, no one ever expected the Chicago Cubs to make it to the World Series yet here we are.
Before I delve into this post, let us be clear: Calvin Johnson was a once in a generation talent, but was so humble and team oriented that he wasn't a diva. Not a Keyshawn Johnson. Not a Terrell Owens. Not a Chad Johnson. Not a Dez Bryant. You see some players that are so talented, but they are so self-centered that they distract from the team. Watching interviews with Johnson, he always seemed to focus on the team winning. It didn't matter if he had a three touchdown, one hundred fifty yard receiving game or a game where he caught one ball for five yards. He wanted to win. He wasn't always wanting the ball. He didn't want Matt Stafford to throw to him first and then maybe throw to someone else. Stafford would throw to him when he shouldn't have at times because Johnson had the ability to go up and catch balls that no one has the right to go up and get. The best ever was against the Bengals when he was triple (almost quadruple) covered and Stafford hit him for a fifty yard touchdown. Bananas. Look it up.
Because he was so talented, the team seemed to have a tendency to lean on him for clutch situations. When you do that, other teams know that and focus mainly on that. The Lions have won four games so far this season. In all those games, they were trailing near the end of the game. I'm not going to go through and look at all the details, but what I know is that Stafford is spreading the ball around at the end of the game. He is taking charge, finding different receivers, and putting the defense on their heels. In the past, they could focus on Calvin Johnson. Because that is who everyone in the universe knew Stafford was going to look for at the end of the game. Now that Johnson is gone, he has other options. And he did have other options in years past, but you lean on your talent.
After the grieving period of Calvin Johnson's retirement, I came to the realization that the Lions could be better off without him. That's not to say they're going to win eleven or twelve games (because they still aren't great), but it helps to develop other players. There were plays that they could take off because Calvin Johnson was such a focus for the team. Now they can focus more on spreading the ball around. It allows the team to be more fluid. It's almost like a team should be. Not just a quarterback looking for a singular player, but a quarterback that has options. More offensive weapons means more chances to win. Stafford has always had the ability to throw the ball to whomever and wherever he wanted, but with Johnson retiring, he could take the next step to becoming a top tier quarterback. So it's good for him as well.
The Lions are always going to be the Lions. Every year they win eight or nine games will be considered a successful year. If they win ten or eleven games will be outstanding. Will they ever win a Super Bowl? It seems unlikely, but then again, no one ever expected the Chicago Cubs to make it to the World Series yet here we are.
20 October 2016
Historic Door
The house we bought was built in 1941. It predates America's involvement in World War II, the atomic bomb, and Reganomics. There are plenty of stories in this house that we will never know. That's kind of the beauty of older houses. They have stories. Whether you know the stories or not, you know there have been plenty of things that have happened. One thing that we do have is the door that leads down to the basement. Someone, at one time, thought that it would be great to document some stuff on it.
Documentation that people lived here. Families lived here. The majority of the stuff written on here is kids' names, age, height. Stuff like that. It's like stuff you see in Rockwell paintings. Hash marks and names. It's cute. The oldest date that we can find on here is from 1970. There's marks from every decade since the 1970s. It would have been awesome if there were dates older than 1970, but who knows, the door could have been replaced. It doesn't seem as old as the house. Most of the dates are in pen and will eventually fade over time. There are some in pencil that are almost gone. The smart people wrote in permanent marker. We talked with the previous owners and they said that this door was one of the best features because of all the documentation. There's another set of numbers of someone's pregnancy. Weeks along and the circumference of the woman's stomach. Sorry to use the word circumference, I don't know how to describe a woman's pregnant stomach without it sounding awkward.
And here is our mark in the house. I took this picture the day we got the keys to this house. It was really the first thing we did here. We added 'our first house' under the date. We don't have kids to mark their heights. I suppose we could mark the height of the cat? It wouldn't change, but we still could. That would be absolutely terrific for whomever owns this house after us.
This is the last up close of the door. The last name is personal for me because it is a family name. It is my mom's maiden name. The funny thing is, my family is from Michigan. And who knows, we could be related to this person in some way, shape, or form. For those who believe in signs or fates or anything like that, if you saw a family name in a house that you were looking at, how could you not buy it? We were convinced that we were going to buy this house before we saw the names and dates, but if this wasn't a sign from whatever you believe in, I don't know what would be.
Documentation that people lived here. Families lived here. The majority of the stuff written on here is kids' names, age, height. Stuff like that. It's like stuff you see in Rockwell paintings. Hash marks and names. It's cute. The oldest date that we can find on here is from 1970. There's marks from every decade since the 1970s. It would have been awesome if there were dates older than 1970, but who knows, the door could have been replaced. It doesn't seem as old as the house. Most of the dates are in pen and will eventually fade over time. There are some in pencil that are almost gone. The smart people wrote in permanent marker. We talked with the previous owners and they said that this door was one of the best features because of all the documentation. There's another set of numbers of someone's pregnancy. Weeks along and the circumference of the woman's stomach. Sorry to use the word circumference, I don't know how to describe a woman's pregnant stomach without it sounding awkward.
And here is our mark in the house. I took this picture the day we got the keys to this house. It was really the first thing we did here. We added 'our first house' under the date. We don't have kids to mark their heights. I suppose we could mark the height of the cat? It wouldn't change, but we still could. That would be absolutely terrific for whomever owns this house after us.
This is the last up close of the door. The last name is personal for me because it is a family name. It is my mom's maiden name. The funny thing is, my family is from Michigan. And who knows, we could be related to this person in some way, shape, or form. For those who believe in signs or fates or anything like that, if you saw a family name in a house that you were looking at, how could you not buy it? We were convinced that we were going to buy this house before we saw the names and dates, but if this wasn't a sign from whatever you believe in, I don't know what would be.
19 October 2016
Housing Adventures
In the middle of June, my wife and I were faced with a dilemma. The same dilemma we faced the year before. Do we renew our rental lease or do we take the giant leap and look for a house of our own? After considering the pros and cons, we made the decision to look for a house to buy. It has been quite the adventure. Not always in a good way, but an adventure nonetheless. While we knew going in that it would take a while, and that it was not going to be as nice and tidy as they show on the HGTV network, it might have been just a little bit more than we originally thought.
There were several steps along the way. The first big one was where we would be looking for a house. Currently, my wife works about an hour south of the Twin Cities. I work in the southern central part of the metro. We live closer to her work than we do mine, but that was just where we moved because that is where we could find a place to live that wasn't the shitty apartment we found when we first moved to Minnesota. We thought about staying in the city we are in now. It is small enough that it reminds us of our hometown, but still close enough to the metro that you can get there in half an hour. The problem is that everyone else is aware of this and the houses on the market are either too expensive or look like flop houses. So we expanded our search in the hopes of finding somewhere near the middle to make our commutes similar. We also took into account the fact that we both may not stay at our current jobs forever, more so her than me, that if either of us were looking for new employment, it would be closer to the metro, so to move a little bit further north made the most sense.
After we determined the general area of where we wanted to live, it was just a matter of finding a house. Not just any house, not even the house. Just one that would suit us. It also had to fit into our budget, our wants for the house, you know stuff like that. In the course of our house search, and after we made an offer on the one we are going to buy, we thought back to all the houses we saw. To put it into context, we were driving about thirty minutes each way to go look at these houses, so we wanted to see three or four at a time just to make it worth our while. Including the open houses we went to on weekends, we figured we saw between thirty to thirty five houses. When we first started looking, we had a decent idea of what type of house we wanted, but weren't sure what we were looking for if that makes any sense. We knew we wanted a house that pretty much move in ready but we wouldn't turn away from one that had small projects or anything like that. The more we saw, the better idea of what we were looking for. Some houses we wanted to see because we were going to be up there.
We found a house finally. We put in an offer a few days after seeing it and the hard part was waiting. It had just come on the market a few days before we saw it. With the sellers waiting a few days to accept or negotiate or offer we figured they were waiting to see if they got any other offers. Either they didn't or they thought our offer was good enough to deal with. We negotiated a few times on the price and they accepted our second offer. I figured negotiating the price was going to be the hardest part. After our offer was accepted, the house inspection came next and of course there were many thing that came up. We compiled a list of things that needed to be fixed. What our realtor told us was to ask for them to fix as much as possible, they'll come back with what they'll fix, and you compromise on the list. This was the most annoying part of the purchase, I thought. We finally came to an agreement on what they would fix and what we would eventually take on.
After we came to an agreement, it was just a waiting game. We had a closing date. We had a last walk through date selected. Our mortgage went to underwriting which was the worst part. It was the worst because we weren't really involved in it. We sent all our paperwork in and all the work was being done by people we hadn't ever met. It was all very distant. We'd get random emails from our mortgage person saying they needed a piece of paper from this or that. Or we'd need to send them something else. It was all repetitive and tedious. And downright annoying. They would need every single page, even if it was a line that just said one thing on it.
And finally, we were homeowners! The grand adventure was over. At least the first chapter was over and another was just beginning.
There were several steps along the way. The first big one was where we would be looking for a house. Currently, my wife works about an hour south of the Twin Cities. I work in the southern central part of the metro. We live closer to her work than we do mine, but that was just where we moved because that is where we could find a place to live that wasn't the shitty apartment we found when we first moved to Minnesota. We thought about staying in the city we are in now. It is small enough that it reminds us of our hometown, but still close enough to the metro that you can get there in half an hour. The problem is that everyone else is aware of this and the houses on the market are either too expensive or look like flop houses. So we expanded our search in the hopes of finding somewhere near the middle to make our commutes similar. We also took into account the fact that we both may not stay at our current jobs forever, more so her than me, that if either of us were looking for new employment, it would be closer to the metro, so to move a little bit further north made the most sense.
After we determined the general area of where we wanted to live, it was just a matter of finding a house. Not just any house, not even the house. Just one that would suit us. It also had to fit into our budget, our wants for the house, you know stuff like that. In the course of our house search, and after we made an offer on the one we are going to buy, we thought back to all the houses we saw. To put it into context, we were driving about thirty minutes each way to go look at these houses, so we wanted to see three or four at a time just to make it worth our while. Including the open houses we went to on weekends, we figured we saw between thirty to thirty five houses. When we first started looking, we had a decent idea of what type of house we wanted, but weren't sure what we were looking for if that makes any sense. We knew we wanted a house that pretty much move in ready but we wouldn't turn away from one that had small projects or anything like that. The more we saw, the better idea of what we were looking for. Some houses we wanted to see because we were going to be up there.
We found a house finally. We put in an offer a few days after seeing it and the hard part was waiting. It had just come on the market a few days before we saw it. With the sellers waiting a few days to accept or negotiate or offer we figured they were waiting to see if they got any other offers. Either they didn't or they thought our offer was good enough to deal with. We negotiated a few times on the price and they accepted our second offer. I figured negotiating the price was going to be the hardest part. After our offer was accepted, the house inspection came next and of course there were many thing that came up. We compiled a list of things that needed to be fixed. What our realtor told us was to ask for them to fix as much as possible, they'll come back with what they'll fix, and you compromise on the list. This was the most annoying part of the purchase, I thought. We finally came to an agreement on what they would fix and what we would eventually take on.
After we came to an agreement, it was just a waiting game. We had a closing date. We had a last walk through date selected. Our mortgage went to underwriting which was the worst part. It was the worst because we weren't really involved in it. We sent all our paperwork in and all the work was being done by people we hadn't ever met. It was all very distant. We'd get random emails from our mortgage person saying they needed a piece of paper from this or that. Or we'd need to send them something else. It was all repetitive and tedious. And downright annoying. They would need every single page, even if it was a line that just said one thing on it.
And finally, we were homeowners! The grand adventure was over. At least the first chapter was over and another was just beginning.
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