MOVED!

Well well well.

We have moved!

Krissi and I tossed and turned all Friday night, anxious about the move. I had to get up early saturday morning to go install some network equipment for a project, but was back home by 8:30 or so. Krissi and I ran down to Horn Lake to get the huge uhaul truck. It's the big big truck. We drove it back to the apartment, and set about putting furniture and boxes on the truck. Travis and Tom of course were on hand to help out, and before long Jason, Maddie, John, Beth, Riley and my Dad showed up to help out.

We noticed during the packing process, while moving the truck a bit that it was leaking coolant. Like pretty badly. So I called the place we got it from, as I'm not interested in the thing breaking down, or in owning this truck. I was referred to call the shop, which I did, and within an hour or so a fellow was out poking around at the engine. Apparently we lost all the belts on the engine somehow. Thankfully he was able to make repairs on the spot and have it back in running shape. Then we lost the key. Well, he asked me for the key after fixing the engine, to which I responded that I'd given him the key. He looked perplexed, and I asked him to look again while I ran into the (already packed up) apartment in a near panic to search for the key, which I was (pretty) sure I'd given to him. Again, thankfully, he located the key, which I had indeed given to him.

We managed to get everything packed up onto the truck and into cars by about 1 or 2 in the afternoon, but then we ran into a snag. We didnt know when the seller would be out of the house, and started packing with the assumption that we would get a call sometime telling us that it was cool to come on to the house. Well, by 2 o'clock we'd had no phone call. I was anxious but trying hard to be patient, but we also had an (empty) apartment full of hot sweaty tired people who'd just helped us move the truck, and now got to hang out in the empty living room staring at each other. We called Kay and inquired. She was busy, but said that she'd call the seller's agent and inquire. An hour ticked by with no news or phone call. Things started getting desperate, our movers growing bored and restless, while Krissi and I grew less patient and more frustrated with the lack of information. Around 3:30, right before the knives came out, we had decided to go catch a movie. Right before we packed up and went to the theater though, Kay called. She'd spoken with the sellers, and she said that we could meet them at 6PM. Just a hair under two hours away. This nixed the movie for Krissi and I at least, as we had to drop off a treadmill in south Memphis and then drive out to the house. Let me specifically mention how patient and good-natured our friends were. Everyone was hot, tired and bored with having to sit and wait for hours. No one even yelled us. So we hung out for another 45 minutes or so, at least now knowing what the plan was. Finally a few minutes before 5 o'clock we loaded the last of the things we wanted to be sure came with us right away, leaving in the apartment only things we didnt want, and the very few things that we figured could wait before coming with us. We all hopped in our vehicles and headed out, a merry caravan trailing along behind our huge uhaul truck. We managed to find the place where we were dropping off the treadmill with only a small amount of difficulty. I have to admit that by this time I was pretty tired from little sleep and weary from moving. In addition I was stressed from moving in general, and trying keep things moving along, and frustrated with the slow pace of things and the waiting and the difficulties in driving this huge flipping truck around town. We dropped the treadmill off and then continued our caravan through town, finally arriving at the new house just a couple minutes after 6. We got the keys and took possession of the house, then got to unloading. My dad and I went around the corner to pick up a clothes dryer that he was kind enough to donate to us, and meanwhile my brother and his wife showed up, and my mom as well. By the time my dad and I got back with the dryer, the truck was pretty much unloaded. I'll say again that our friends and family rock, and we're very very appreciative of them. Soon after my family made their exits, and we went on food and beverage runs. We kicked off the new house with a bang, spending alot of money on alcohol and food, and we managed to get the tv and dvd running, and found our dvds. Everyone sat back on our poor tired couches and chairs and was entertained first with Princess Bride, then with Casshern, and finally, laaaaate in the evening, with MI2 (You're welcome, John ;)). Some people went to sleep and were drawn on with magic marker, and finally we closed everything down around 3AM. Yay House!!

Closing and Coffee

This afternoon we drove down to Southaven and met with our realtor, the seller of the house, and some other people, and signed about a million papers. But we now own a home! Took us about an hour and a half to sign all the papers, but we did it, and now we're just waiting till like saturday to get keys and get in. Right around the corner!

Also, I've been thinking about coffee lately and figure'd I'd share here.
For years and years I've been content with Folgers Instant coffee, which most other coffee drinkers view with a certain amount of disgust. Well my friend Maddie turned me on to Starbucks coffee a few months ago, which I'd always thought of as coffee for snobs. I still do, but it sure is good coffee. Anyway, I'm only a two-cup-a-day kind of guy, but like I said, turned on to starbucks a few months ago, and recently I've sorta ditched my instant stuff. Decided I wanted to get a single cup coffee maker. I always make a cup of coffee in the morning for the ride in to work. Normal coffee makers dont really do it for me, as they're built to make 12 cups or so. So I'd been drooling over some single serve coffee makers for a couple weeks now. Well, as a happy-house present, Krissi got me a single serve coffee maker with a travel mug! YAY! So of course I had to compliment it with a bag of ground starbucks coffee from the grocery store. Sumatra is the flavor!

As a quick side note, I'm doing a pretty good job of not biting my nails! Still trying to not chew the skin, but I'm getting there.

Back to Monday

Weekend was great, but it seemed super short. Maddie and John came back into town Saturday morning, and then Sunday was Father's Day.

So... we spent a goodly bit of the weekend working on the Scarlet Monastary in World of Warcraft. Some Vodka and Red Bull was consumed, and a good time was had.

This is our last week in the apartment it seems, so we've been packing stuff up. This evening after work we went and hit the pool, and are going to cook some grub up on the grill. We found out today that the closing has been delayed by a day, due to something that someone didnt send to someone else. Apparently the Leasing company failed to send something to the mortgage company in time, so instead of closing tuesday, we'll be closing wednesday. So it's still all good.

I'm still working on getting around to my coffee discussion.

home wish list

Here are some of the things that we are having to go out and get for the house:

Garden hose
Bird feeder
Lawn Mower
Clothes Washing Machine
Sprinkler
various interior decoration items - wall hangings and stuff
replacement kitchen sink faucet (we just want a tall one)
Wireless Access Point
Glass storm door for the front door
Ladder

I'm sure there are a zillion other things. We'll be investing heavily in Home Depot and Bed Bath & Beyond soon, I think.

It's SATURDAY! Maddie and John got in early this morning so we all collected and played some riders (World of Warcraft), then we split for awhile to let them take a nap, since they hadnt slept much in two days or so. Krissi and I are both playing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which is a blast.

It is a BEAUTIFUL day outside. I'm a little glum at being cooped up inside, but that's outweighed by computer/xbox gaming and doing some packing/cleaning. Speaking of packing/cleaning, the saga continues. We've packed up some more stuff, computer stuff and miscellanous junk that we are still attached to. I'm not sure if I've already mentioned it here or not, but packing is sortof difficult for us, aside from the normal "packing is a chore" line. We are trying really hard not to just pack all of our junk and take it with us. Each item gets a hard look, at whether or not we want to hang onto it or not. Alot of stuff isnt making it. We're trying to throw out alot of the stuff we've had hanging around since childhood and/or college days. Things that would look fine in a dorm (or apartment), but that we figure we may as well start to shed. Krissi and I are both clutter/pack-rat people, so we accumulate alot of stuff. We threw away (no lie) like six or seven computers. These were 486's, some Pentium 90 type machines, and some empty cases. Two or three non-working monitors made it into the trash. I've had a really hard time with alot of game related stuff, both computer and book-type. I am a huge packrat of computer game stuff, so I've got manuals from games like Harpoon, which was a great game... in 1993. Anyway, I just cant bring myself to throw away game manuals, game disks, and hell, even the game boxes, which I've broken down for storage. Other stuff that's kinda hard is things with some sentimental value attached. Just random stuff from childhood and college. Stuffed animals, postcards, notebooks with random stuff in them, etc. I'm keeping some stuff and pitching other stuff. Perfect example: I have had, since like junior high school, a corkboard that I kept notes, cards, stickers, buttons, and other random things collected from friends and family. Alot of it I just picked. Some I threw in a box so it can sit on a shelf for another five years. We've had to do the same with offerings for stuff. Our families are great, and are quick to offer us furniture and things for the house. We are of course grateful, but must decline some offers, as we are interested in trying to get stuff for our house. Hand-me-downs have been the by-word for apartment life, but now about to be in a house, I dont want an old couch, or just some old table. I want one that will look fly in our place. And I dont think I'm being unreasonable, I'm not going to rush out and buy a supah-expensive leather, reclining, vibrating, warming couch. I just want some nice stuff.

Topic for another day:
Coffee

Cool things

I have to mention three cool things.

I grabbed a 512 Meg iPod Shuffle the other day and have been proudly wearing it around at snobby coffee bars and at customer sites ever since. Its also excellent apparel on the treadmill at the gym. An excellent purchase.

We picked up the new Black Eyed Peas album, Monkeybusiness, and it rocks alot. We're not sure if it rocks as much as the previous album, Elephunk, but some of the songs on the new one are GREAT, and the rest of it at least good too.

We also got the new Nine Inch Nails album, With Teeth. I have to say that I love it. Its lived in the car cd player since I got it. Love the sound. I loved Pretty Hate Machine when it came out ages ago, but wasnt into Downward Spiral and the others he came out with after. Recently though I've had renewed interest in all things NIN. Great tunes.

utility services

So I am on the phone with Time Warner right now, holding for a tech so I can see about moving cable and internet service, and getting hooked up on digital phone service.

Just got finished making what seemed like a dozen phone calls, but in truth was only 3 or 4 to various utility companies in order to get power, water, sanitation, gas(?), etc turned on. Closing is now 4 days away :)

Transferring utilities is actually not that bad, so far, it seems. Couple of phone calls, but mostly painless. No *huge* deposits, though electrical kinda waved/waived a $200-something dollar deposit or setup fee at me. Water will cost us $100 though. We'll see what Time Warner says. I guess it just seems.. panicked because I havent done this before, and I know if I dont do it, or dont do it right, we get to have a dark house with no water or trash pickup. And *GASP* no internet.

K, so there is no Digital Phone service through time warner in Horn Lake yet. So looks like we get to call Bellsouth as well. Also I cant get my cable and roadrunner moved into the home until the current owners have their TW services disconnected, which happens on Thursday the 23rd, so I get to call TW back Thursday and setup an install for Saturday. Whew.

Next up: Bellsouth and 662 area code.

ps - this snipped of Instant Message conversation between the wife and I.
"jerm says:
just need power and internet anyway. If water and trash isnt on right away we'll live. That's what the back yard is for."

mmm endorphines

Yay! I made it to the gym this evening. The wife and I headed out straight after work. I did my 3 miles and then did a really quick upper-body. Back home for beer and mexican food, YAY!

Weekend and week

So it was a rather weird weekend.

Our friends Maddie and John were called away suddenly this past Friday to Maryland, Maddie's grandmother was very ill and they went to be with her in her last hours. We certainly miss them while they are away.

Also this weekend, our friend Jeremy Y was getting ready to head back to his unit in Kuwait. He'd been back for two weeks on leave, and we got to catch up with him a bit, and he and his family got to spend alot of time together. We didnt get to see him as much as we'd like to have, but he'll be back for good here in a few months, so its good stuff.

Work is ramping up for me. Two new employees in about three weeks time. I've been doing some training, but also working on a couple of telephone projects that are starting to kick into high gear.

So a rather weird weekend, but a good one overall. We got to catchup on some sleep that we dont usually get. And it'll be a long week, but we'll survive.

I actually managed to go hit the sidewalk this evening and run a bit. Didnt even manage three miles, but I'm happy I got out there.

friday friday

So we've been fighting off summer colds. First the John and Maddie Williams' had it, now the Jerm and Krissi Williams' have it. Its mostly gone now though.

Packing continues. We're stoked about the home and really ready to get into it.

Short post, as its now just about quittin' time for the day!

wet noodle

Ugh. Have not been to the gym in over a week I think. Wasted money, but more than that, I just wish I was there working out. Still want to run a full marathon the end of this year, and if I cant do some running, it aint gonna happen.

a home.

So I havent kept a diary or journal really since I was 16 or so. But I've had the urge lately to commit stuff to.. well, paper. Sortof.

Anyway,

Life seems to be moving at nine hundred miles per hour. We close on a home in Horn Lake on the 21st of this month it looks like. The process has been fairly painless actually. It all started when we noticed that our lease was up on our apartment the end of June. We've tried twice in the last two years to look into purchasing a house, and were not able to get anywhere, due to our poor credit. We began looking at rental homes, not wanting to continue to do the apartment thing, either in our apartment, or in another apartment. This apartment has been good to us, we've been in here for three years, but we're both extremely done with it. Ready to live in a place that has windows on all four sides of it.
In April though we got a financial windfall, and were able to pay off some old college era credit card debt. Krissi wisely suggested looking into buying a home again. I was a touch hesitant at first, not wanting to be told "no" again, but we checked it out and WOOT, we were told people would give us money.
Once that was done, we began timidly looking at homes, pretty much by checking realtor web sites and looking at photos and descriptions. We have become pretty attached to the area of Memphis we are in, which is east memphis, near St. Francis hospital, sortof sandwiched between memphis and the suburbs of cordova and germantown. We had long planned to look for homes in this area of town. There are a number of places right around here that seem to have some homes that we figured would be in our price range. Again it didnt occur to me until Krissi suggested it, that we look in North Mississippi as well.
We did hook up with a real estate agent named Kay Hodge, and we soon setup going and looking at a couple of homes in north MS, one of which we found online and loved. We went and looked at this home, as well as two others, and still loved the first home, which was the one we liked so much online. At this point already, we were trying to figure out how long to wait before deciding on a home we liked. We *really* liked the one we saw online and then went and looked at, but we desperately didnt want to impulsively buy the first home we looked at. We slept on it for a couple of days, and were still very excited about it. To be thorough, we looked at a couple of homes in memphis as well, but were still totally excited about the home in Horn Lake. So.. we called Kay back and setup another visit to the home. We went and looked again, and then filled out paperwork to make an offer to the seller.
So, that was two hurdles down: Finance, Home. All downhill from there. We had a home inspector come look at the home, and have gone by the place a couple of times to take friends and family to see it. We signed the final lending paperwork today, and so we are really really on the way.
We've been making plans for things that we'll have to buy when we get in there, like a water hose, a new wireless access point, a washing machine, etc.
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We spent all of this past weekend playing World of Warcraft with Maddie and John. We got our undead group to level 34! WOOWOO!