11/27/08 - Turkey Day Update – There have been a ton of events and tidbits over the past month. November has been fast, furious, stressful, and enjoyable - not necessarily at the same time. I've been so terribly busy that I didn't even want to consider taking the time to write up a blog entry. Fortunately, having some down time over Thanksgiving is just the opportunity I needed to catch up and relax. I'll start with the lighter fare first...
We attended several Halloween parties this year - three in total. Susan was Catwoman for all events and I altered between Indiana Jones, Captain Jack Sparrow, and a Hooter's Waitress (the last one is always a show stopper). We had lots of fun, but I think Susan will opt for a more party-friendly costume next year (it was really hard to eat with the kitty-fingernails).
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Susan and I attended the Fort Worth Greek Festival earlier in the month. We've attended several years in a row and have always (except for last year - browse back a year to read why) had a splendid time dining on authentic Greek cuisine. We were glad to see the event was back on track with organization this year - there was plenty of food for everyone and the lines were non-existent. There was lots of good music and even a few places to shop for Mediterranean trinkets.
Stomp dropped by Fort Worth for a weekend and I scored a few prime tickets (just a few rows back from the front). Stomp is a percussion ensemble where the instruments used are ordinary everyday items such as trash cans, brooms, paint buckets, etc. The musicians play just about everything except for a standard drum (including themselves with clapping, slapping, and stomping). The show was both impressive and thoroughly entertaining. Although the show was nearly two hours if felt like they had barely started by the time the group reached the encore.
Now for the heavier fare (note: pictures of this home are taken with the prior owner's furniture)...
We purchased a new home. We selected the home and closed on the home in two weeks. I think I'm growing a few new gray hairs from this event ;). Susan and I weren't really looking that hard for a new home. We had always thought about moving closer to her work, and we also always wanted to move someplace nicer with more trees; however, it was always more talk than action. I was browsing the Internet early in late October and spotted a house in Southwest Fort Worth (actually, Northern Benbrook). It was a smaller home, but it had the advantage of meeting just about every criteria we were looking for in a new home. This included being 1-story, near mature trees, bay windows, larger kitchen, and generally a smaller home than what we were living in yet nicer in terms of general aesthetics (our old home was kind of "boxy" and plain).
The inspection turned up no major faults and our bank funding came through in a few days (I suspect banks aren't backlogged with new mortgages right now due to the economy). We barely had a week to pack and move all our belongings (I hired Fort Worth's Finest Firefighters for the larger items - highly recommended) and we were certainly glad Nina was there to help us unpack. Overall the move was completed without a hitch, but it was still an ordeal - we always seem to have more junk than we realize (even though we have been Freecycling nearly everything we didn't need over the past year).
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Everything has been unpacked (in less than a week - we don't like unfinished business), but we still have to hang our artwork and pictures on the walls. I also have a list of minor changes (well, mostly minor) I want to make to the house. This includes a heater in the bathroom ceiling, a little bit of electrical rewiring, and I would love to have a better (more soundproof) window in the master bedroom (we are about a hundred yards from a highway, and although it normally doesn't bother me, I really prefer absolute silence when sleeping at night - the interstate is definitely audible now that all the leaves have fallen off the trees between our house and the highway).
With the new house has also come a few new items of furniture and appliances. Despite the fact we've both been out of college for nearly 10 years we still had a LOT of our bachelor and bachelorette furniture. This included my parent's original dining room table from when I was a child, my first washer and dryer, and just about everything in the living room. I decided to go with the new front loading washer and dryer combo since they are certainly more efficient than what I had before. We also found a very comfortable sofa, loveseat, and chaise for the living room. The final major items on our list include a formal dining room table (which I believe we have finally narrowed down to about two choices) and a breakfast table (for the breakfast nook - there is a certain kind of table I would prefer but I seriously doubt I will find out - it is a "wine" serving table with bar stools). Once all the new furniture is in place and once most of the major ordeals are out of the way we look forward to hosting a housewarming party. Until then we're just trying to get everything in order!
