House Hunting: Day 2

I would like to say that the number 1 thing that no one ever told me about buying a house is how stressful FINDING a house is. I’ve heard that closing is stressful and all that, but I figured house hunting would be the fun part. I was wrong. I think I’m close to being the most stressed out that I’ve ever been in my life (other factors may be playing into this as well, but the houses take a major part of the blame). Anywho, here’s the summary of today’s house hunt:

House #1: Didn’t go in, didn’t like the neighborhood.
House #2: Was cute, neighborhood was okay, but was way too small. There were only two tiny closets, and nowhere near enough space to put my stuff.
House #3: Didn’t like the neighborhood, needed too much work, had no driveway.
House #4: Didn’t like the neighborhood, had no driveway, didn’t go in.
House #5: Didn’t like the neighborhood, didn’t go in.
House #6: Didn’t like the neighborhood, didn’t go in.
House #7: Neighborhood was iffy, house was cute.
House #8: A possibility. Neighborhood looked good, house was cute, had an open floor plan, a fireplace, three bedrooms, walk-in closets. The main problems were both the front and backyard were hills, and it would be a slow painful drive to work (would have to go through a school zone and then get on the Interstate, would be at least 30 minutes). Also, grocery stores were nowhere close by, and I would have to fence the hilly backyard.
House #9: Another possibility. Neighborhood was good, house was cute, with an open floor plan and a cute little den/office area. However, it was pretty small. Possibly not enough closet space, but it’s main problem was in order to get to the washer and dryer, you would have to go out on the back porch and in through another door. What a pain in the winter. I learned a few years ago that I didn’t like having to go outside to do laundry (when the laundry room at my apartment complex was right next to my apartment). Still, not necessarily a deal breaker, as it could (eventually) be fixed.

*sigh*

Working towards my goals…

I started house hunting yesterday. It’s a bit sad to know that I can’t afford all of the things I really want in a house (mainly: garage, small yard, same size as current apartment, close to town, not in too bad of shape, and in a good neighborhood). I seemingly can’t afford ANYTHING with a garage, which sucks since that was something I was looking forward to the most. Yesterday we looked inside five houses:

House #1 - fulfilled close to town, small yard, and in a good neighborhood, but no garage, smaller than current apartment, and needed work
House #2 - fulfilled close to town, small yard, size of current apartment, and good neighborhood, but no garage and needed work
House #3 - fulfilled close to town, size of current apartment, and not in bad shape, but no garage, had an enormously hilly yard, and was not in a good location
House #4 and #5 - fulfilled size of current apartment, not in bad shape, small yard, and good location, but not close to town and no garage (they were also like duplexes and connected to another unit)

Hopefully, I will have more luck next weekend.

Also, I have been semi-planning my vacation for next year. I have decided that I want to hit all the highlights of Europe (well, some of them). After pricing how much it would cost to do this on my own, I have been leaning toward taking a Contiki tour with a group of other people since the cost is about the same (if not cheaper). I am thinking of doing the European Discovery tour next October (I know, over a year away…gotta save up money) which takes you through London, Amsterdam, Munich, parts of Austria, Venice, Florence, Rome, Lucerne, and Paris in two weeks. Sounds exhausting, but really fun. I figure if I discover I really like one or two of the places, I can always come back at another time to spend more time there on my own. I really can’t wait to eat authentic Italian food and see the Eiffel Tower up close and take a gondola ride up the Alps. Talk about a photo op. I’ll make sure to bring back some wine and Swiss chocolate and other souvenirs. I should probably apply for my passport now to make sure I get it on time, hehehe.

Things you wouldn’t expect to hear at the grocery checkout…

All names and places have been omitted to protect the privacy of….idiots.

I went by the grocery yesterday to pick up a couple things. I found a line with only one person who was leaving. As she left, both the cashier guy and the bag guy said good-bye to her by name, so I assume they knew her or something. The cashier said hi to me and then started ringing up my groceries. The bag guy repeated the name of the girl who had just left and shook his head. The cashier looked at him and laughed and said, “If I wasn’t married….”

At this point, I start wondering why they are having this conversation with me standing right there.

Then the bag guy says, “Well that didn’t stop you last night!” with a laugh.

Again, why?

The cashier guy kind of laughed nervously and told me my total. As I swiped my debit card, the bag guy turns to me and says, “He was a bad boy last night.”

…………..

Do they think I care? Or that I even want to know this stuff? Regardless if he was joking or not (which I’m not really sure that he was), it just kind of weirded me out.

I stared at him blankly for a second and then grabbed my groceries and got out of there, ignoring the bag guy’s question of if I needed help with my bags.

We went out to the Belcourt Theatre last night.

They were showing “Plan 9 From Outer Space” for free outside in the parking lot. Since we had heard that it was pretty much the worst movie ever made but had never seen it, we decided it might be entertaining.

It was hilarious.

I checked to see if Mystery Science Theatre had ever shown it, but IMDB said there was too much dialog in the movie for them to have used it. However, it doesn’t really need MST3K, considering it’s hilarious all on it’s own. See it if you haven’t.

Goals…

Since I’m on the verge of house hunting, I’ve been thinking a lot about my goals for the future. I’m trying to tell myself not to plan things that involve anyone other than myself, but that is sometimes hard to do. Like, I would like to have my first child before I’m 30, but that’s really not completely my decision (although I guess it could be, but I’d like my kids to have a father, not some random donor, lol). Seeing as I’m almost 26, I’m trying to ignore that clock in my ovaries screaming that I’m not even married yet (which gets louder every time one of my friends has a kid and has really reached a crescendo now that I’ve realized that I don’t have a single friend–male or female–who is not engaged or married).

So, to feel relatively in control of other aspects of my life, I have compiled a list of my goals that I can (hopefully) reasonably complete on my own. Yay, independence. *rolls eyes*

For 2007, I expect to:
- buy a house/townhouse before my lease is up in October - yay no more landlord, boo to yard work and maintenance
- buy a car as soon as I close on the house - since Ariel is falling apart more every day, I can only pray that she will last that long
- adopt a kitten and/or puppy - with Ben moving to Murfreesboro and me having no friends who live that close, I will need the companionship; idealistically, I’d like to get both at the same time, so they will grow up together, but getting a puppy completely depends on me having a fenced-in backyard, so who knows….getting a kitten either way, I don’t care that I’m allergic, I got used to Lydia quickly enough

For 2008, I expect to:
- pay off all credit card debt - I’ve gotten about halfway there this year, so hopefully I can finish it off next year
- take a vacation - I haven’t had a true vacation in over 5 years, I need one
- take off on my yet-to-be-announced part-time self-employment venture - more about this in a few months