It'll be just like starting over

Thank you, John Lennon, for such an appropriate title.

Well, the house that I thought was going to be my first home is no longer in the running, as the homeowner has decided to file bankruptcy and take the house off the market. Additionally, the even better house I found last weekend that I put an offer already had an offer on it, and is closing on Friday, so things are not looking good on that front.

All that to say, I've got a bit of work ahead of me.

I'll be looking at places tomorrow and for the rest of the week if needed; my goal is to have an offer on an available and realistic house by the end of the week, and I think I can achieve that goal. We'll see. It's in God's hands, and I'm fine with that.

This week is going to be moderately intense. Not only do I need to find a house, I also have several work events to attend, along with preparing for a 21 mile run Sunday morning. There's just a lot that has to happen this week.

My newest addictions are: Cubis 2 on MSN Games and the Pieces of Flair application on Facebook. Check out both if you get the chance; definitely worth your time. Well, maybe not definitely, but sure beats doing nothing!

The hope

This is my goal for what the basement will look like...

The home buying process

Not really the process, so much as where I'm at in it... which, in this case, is waiting for the seller's mortgage company to accept my offer.

In the meantime, here are pics of the place!


Upstairs bathroom (shower to the left)


Upstairs landing


Upstairs bedroom #1 (right up the steps)


Living room view from entry


Living room view from dining (entry door is on left)


Back porch (off kitchen)


Kitchen


Basement stairs (the start of something great)


Rear view


Side view from corner of street


Front of house (main entry is off side porch on right)


Main level bathroom


View into back main floor bedroom (bathroom on left, other bedroom behind)


Dining Room (bathroom directly behind)


Main floor hallway (living room ahead, kitchen left, back bed right, porch behind)


Stairway upstairs


Upstairs bedroom #2 (left up the steps)


So that's that... more to come!

Another milestone

I ran 14 miles today. And now I'm tired.

But I finished, and that feels good.

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A rainy Tuesday evening

I am seeing rain for the first time in probably a month right now, and definitely lightning for the first time in that long. I like it.

My run this morning went well. I'm still trying to regain some of the stamina that I lost during my hiatus. I was encouraged this morning, however, when I found out I didn't gain any wait during the break, which I think is crazy.

As part of my training, I'm going to be making some dietary changes, most notably no chocolate or pop and more pasta and fruit juice. The fruit juice can't come at a better time; I'm starting to feel a cold coming on.

Yes!!!! Sweet thunder happening right now.

Work was really slow today. I'm waiting for a statement from a ringtone company, and I can't do any more royalty entries until I get that statement. The thing that saved my sanity today was hulu.com, a joint-venture between NBC and FOX that streams all their new shows and a bunch of old shows and movies for free. I've found myself turning on an episode of "30 Rock", minimizing the window, and using it as a kind of radio program. If you haven't checked it out yet, I would absolutely recommend signing up. Totally worth your time.

Ahlberg out.

(Wow, did I just type that?)

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And the beat keeps running

My marathon training has officially begun.

I started on Saturday, running a little over 8 miles after taking approx. the last month off (smart, I know). My body wanted to kill me the rest of the day and most of Sunday too, but I was able to get out this morning and go another 6, which went well.

My schedule for the rest of the week is 8 miles tomorrow, 6 Wednesday, 4 Friday, and 10 Saturday. I think that's really doable, especially since the weather looks like it's going to be mild.

Rant of the day: What is it with people wearing iPods at the grocery store? It is an interesting social observation that in an age of over-connectedness with social networking, texting, e-mail, and instant messaging, we are trying our hardest to isolate our world. I think that's really what all of this new stuff is doing: allowing people to consolidate and control their social bubble. In an effort to make people more open and accessible to new people, we have created a socially acceptable mindset that makes it ok to cut yourself off from everyone you can. Hmm.

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A day in the life

Things that happened today:

1. They announced the Grammy nominees... and we got a nomination for Song of the Year! We also got noms for country song of the year, female country vocal performance, and male country vocal performance. A great way to start the day.

2. Over lunch I went to a store I saw the other day called Lee's Hair and Dollar. "What could they sell at a place called Lee's Hair and Dollar?" you may ask. Well, turns out they sell hair, hair accessories, and cheap crap. What did I expect? It's right up there with the sketchiest places I've ever been, but it was absolutely worth it.

3. Jessica Simpson is working on a country album; hence, she needs country songs. The publishing side got a writing session lined up with her and my boss for next Friday at our office! Just as I was getting excited about this, I realized I will be in Arizona. Not that being in AZ will be unfortunate, just makes for some unfortunate timing.

4. NEVER JOIN STAMPS.COM! Complete and utter ripoff. I joined to print off postage for a package at the end of October, and realized this week that they charge 15.99/month to be a member. AND, when I went to cancel, they charged me for the next billing period even though I'm only 3 days into it. AND they don't prorate the fee. About the lamest thing I've ever experienced.

5. By the way, we now do admin for Billy Ray Cyrus. Yes, that Billy Ray Cyrus.

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