I am Jack's complete lack of tiredness.
Today was a HUGE day, as most of you know. We signed a lease on our first house, and we are moving in 26 days. I was dead tired from all the running around and worrying I did all day, but once I got in bed, the THINKING took hold. Apprehension, uncertainty, excitement, glee, all good, all bad. All at the same. I need to let it all out, but my wife's asleep (as well she should be - she has to go to work in 2 hours), so I figured I'd type it all up and let anyone who wants read it.
NEIGHBORS and walls
One of our biggest reasons for wanting a house is neighbors. I've always had them, of course, but I grew up in houses, not apartments. While I'm sitting here typing this, sitting in my underwear (no mental images, for your own sake), in the "PRIVACY" of my own home, a loud bang of someone's hand bumping the wall directly in front of me reminds me that there is SOMEONE ASLEEP 3 FEET FROM ME. SOme stranger who hates me (this is another story entirely), who would never be invited into my home, is in her bed, 3 feet from where I'm sitting. That's just not privacy. The thought occurs to me that when we move into the house, I will once again have that privacy I haven't known for years.
The other thing is: If my neighbors want to be loud, they will. It doesn't matter what I am doing, or what I want. If I want to be loud, I won't. I will deprive myself of the right, because I am considerate of my neighbors. I often sacrifice to be on the side of consideration. When we move, this will no longer be a problem. There are privacy fences on either side of the house, and the neighbors' houses are not close enough for any of us to eer hear each other.
Plain outright FEAR?
Hey, wait a minute.... WTF is up with this? All my dreams are coming true, and all I can do is worry? It's a weird feeling. I guess it comes with the new territory of moving on to another chapter in your life. I remember the weekend I moved out of my parents' house for good years ago. I had my car packed up with ALL of my belongings, and when I took one last check/stroll through their house and realized that I would NEVER live there again, and it was COMPLETELY devoid of any and all of my personal effects, I was overcome with apprehension and uncertainty about the future. I guess this is the same thing. Also, the fact that I'm leaving the world's GREATEST, most easy-going landlords and will be dealing with a cold realtor doesn't help. Especially with the doomsday sound of the lease agreement. Geez. Can't they at least TRY to make these things a little less aggressive-sounding?
TIME IS TICKING.
Getting a new house couldn't come soon enough. If we had the chance to move out TOMORROW, we would try. We're sick of this place. Sick of the neighbors, sick of not having a washer/dryer, sick of having a kitchen the size of a broom closet, sick of having to have the computers in the bedrooms. Sick of having to store some of our furniture somewhere, and sick of having our dining room set in our living room.
BUT, THE TIMING COULD NOT BE WORSE at the same time. Our move-in date is May 1. THat means our move-out date here is April 30. That's fine. We're so glad we could work it out so that we won't have to move twice. But, for your consideration: My graduate review is coming soon. What's that? It's a HUGE deal review, where I take all the work I have done over the past year or so, make a presentation for about 1.5-2 hours in front of peers, a review board, and faculty, and defend myself as worthy of continuing on to my thesis. The date of this review? MAY 1. Moving day. Also, I have a film that I'm working on. It has to be done by time for review. The day of completion on the film? April 24. One week from moving day. Also, I am working on pre-production for an animation I will be working on for the next 6 months. I have to finish pre-production and have a firm set production schedule submitted by - you guessed it. May 1. Oh, and let's not forget my normal duties for my job and my graduate studies. --And who could forget the PAPER? I have a 25-page research paper on Ancient art of India due in the first week of May as well.
So, where exactly am I gonna find time to do all this? I wasn't sure BEFORE we got the house. Now, add to all of this the fact that I have only 26 days to completely pack my belongings, prepare the furniture for moving, make repairs to this apartment (holes in walls from pictures, dart holes in door where dart board is mounted, Holes drilled in walls for network cable, etc. etc. etc.), and clean it out, in, up, and down to leave it in the same condition it was when I moved in 4 yrs. ago. This also includes scrubbing, soaking up, bleaching, hiding, and generally removing the stains my old leaky motorcycle left on the patio outside. My old bike leaked oil, and it's gonna take a lot of work to get the concrete looking new enough again. 26 DAYS for all this. If I survive, I will be very, VERY sick by the time it's all over with, I can tell. Little sleep, too much work, and monumental stress aren't too kind on the immune system. I've been through worse, though, so I know I won't have to be hospitalized or anything.
Life in the new place
I think it's gonna be weird as hell adjusting. Going from carpet to hardwood floors, new to old, fiberglass to porcelain, porcelain to stainless steel, dark to airy.... The new place is BETTER, I think, but I just don't think I'm gonna like living in it at first. You KNOW there's no place like home. Well, that place isn't home. Yet. As convenient as it will be to have an entire room devoted to our computers, books, files, and a work table, I will miss sitting at my computer with my wife in the bed just behind me. The familiar feeling of the breeze of the ceiling fan will give way to the stillness of the air in the new place... It's just not gonna be the same. --But I guess that's the point.
Goodies
I was telling Heather just the other day, before we got the house, and just after we had given up on trying to find one, "Having to take care of a big yard is a small price to pay for the privelage to HAVE a big yard. Well, we now have a big yard. --And Heather's dad just happens to have a brand new riding lawnmower he has never used, that he offered to bring us today. Cool. And, man, how having a yard is going to change our lives. We can go out and play frisbee in our own yard. We can wash our cars at our house. We can have parties and let people hang out in the back yard. --And on the little patio right off the carport, there's room enough for our big, new gas grill and a few chairs. --And when I go out to grill something, it won't be stepping out onto the slab at the apartment and grilling in front of everyone, with cars driving by, and with my smoke filling up the place. I'll be standing in my back yard, in the quiet solitude of my own place, and my smoke is just gonna rise up into the air. Subtle things like that just mean so much.
And, where I live now, we have a coat closet that holds a few coats. --and CAR PARTS, TOOLS, chairs, and various other trash. In my bedroom, we have a closet that has clothes. --AND A CHRISTMAS TREE. --And various other boxes. In the new house, the laundry room is outside, at the back of the carport. It's a laundry room and a STORAGE SHED. So, my coat closet can be for COATS. My bedroom closet can be for CLOTHES. --And my storage closet can be for tools, christmas trees, car parts, and anything else that has no business taking up valuable closet space.
And don't even get me started on the carport. The idea of coming home and NOT having to look for a parking space in a parking lot just excites me to no end. The fact that, if I ever come home and there is someone parked in my parking space, that will mean they ARE TRESSPASSING.... That's just cool.
So, why all the apprehension?
Is it normal? DOes everyone always feel this worried when they are moving? I wasn't expecting it. --But as I lay in bed thinking, I was worrying to the point of ALMOST considering going back to tell them we didn't want the house. After all, they graciously gave us a 3-day period to change our minds and get our deposit back. It's not gonna happen though. For one thing, Heather has been online all night looking at furnishings. We don't need furniture, but the bathroom is a new color. We don't have stuff to match. --So she wants a theme. --And our kitchen size is going up from 3x8 feet of floor space to 11x17 feet of floor space. --So we're thinking about getting an island. The other reason there's no way I'm backing out is because, for the life of me, I can't think of a good thing to WORRY about. It's just irrational. And if we backed out, they would, within 15 minutes, give the house to someone else, because, after months on the market with no activity, the day I applied for it, several others did as well. This was the chance of a lifetime, and I BARELY beat everyone else to the punch. By the skin of my teeth, I got the house over other applicants. To lose it now would be the MOST SURE WAY EVER to assure myself that I willfully threw away a once in a lifetime opportunity. But still I worry.
Oh well. I guess I won't have time to worry with all I have to do for the next few weeks.
I am Jack's relief that he got this off his chest.
Ricky
DesignDawg
Today was a HUGE day, as most of you know. We signed a lease on our first house, and we are moving in 26 days. I was dead tired from all the running around and worrying I did all day, but once I got in bed, the THINKING took hold. Apprehension, uncertainty, excitement, glee, all good, all bad. All at the same. I need to let it all out, but my wife's asleep (as well she should be - she has to go to work in 2 hours), so I figured I'd type it all up and let anyone who wants read it.
NEIGHBORS and walls
One of our biggest reasons for wanting a house is neighbors. I've always had them, of course, but I grew up in houses, not apartments. While I'm sitting here typing this, sitting in my underwear (no mental images, for your own sake), in the "PRIVACY" of my own home, a loud bang of someone's hand bumping the wall directly in front of me reminds me that there is SOMEONE ASLEEP 3 FEET FROM ME. SOme stranger who hates me (this is another story entirely), who would never be invited into my home, is in her bed, 3 feet from where I'm sitting. That's just not privacy. The thought occurs to me that when we move into the house, I will once again have that privacy I haven't known for years.
The other thing is: If my neighbors want to be loud, they will. It doesn't matter what I am doing, or what I want. If I want to be loud, I won't. I will deprive myself of the right, because I am considerate of my neighbors. I often sacrifice to be on the side of consideration. When we move, this will no longer be a problem. There are privacy fences on either side of the house, and the neighbors' houses are not close enough for any of us to eer hear each other.
Plain outright FEAR?
Hey, wait a minute.... WTF is up with this? All my dreams are coming true, and all I can do is worry? It's a weird feeling. I guess it comes with the new territory of moving on to another chapter in your life. I remember the weekend I moved out of my parents' house for good years ago. I had my car packed up with ALL of my belongings, and when I took one last check/stroll through their house and realized that I would NEVER live there again, and it was COMPLETELY devoid of any and all of my personal effects, I was overcome with apprehension and uncertainty about the future. I guess this is the same thing. Also, the fact that I'm leaving the world's GREATEST, most easy-going landlords and will be dealing with a cold realtor doesn't help. Especially with the doomsday sound of the lease agreement. Geez. Can't they at least TRY to make these things a little less aggressive-sounding?
TIME IS TICKING.
Getting a new house couldn't come soon enough. If we had the chance to move out TOMORROW, we would try. We're sick of this place. Sick of the neighbors, sick of not having a washer/dryer, sick of having a kitchen the size of a broom closet, sick of having to have the computers in the bedrooms. Sick of having to store some of our furniture somewhere, and sick of having our dining room set in our living room.
BUT, THE TIMING COULD NOT BE WORSE at the same time. Our move-in date is May 1. THat means our move-out date here is April 30. That's fine. We're so glad we could work it out so that we won't have to move twice. But, for your consideration: My graduate review is coming soon. What's that? It's a HUGE deal review, where I take all the work I have done over the past year or so, make a presentation for about 1.5-2 hours in front of peers, a review board, and faculty, and defend myself as worthy of continuing on to my thesis. The date of this review? MAY 1. Moving day. Also, I have a film that I'm working on. It has to be done by time for review. The day of completion on the film? April 24. One week from moving day. Also, I am working on pre-production for an animation I will be working on for the next 6 months. I have to finish pre-production and have a firm set production schedule submitted by - you guessed it. May 1. Oh, and let's not forget my normal duties for my job and my graduate studies. --And who could forget the PAPER? I have a 25-page research paper on Ancient art of India due in the first week of May as well.
So, where exactly am I gonna find time to do all this? I wasn't sure BEFORE we got the house. Now, add to all of this the fact that I have only 26 days to completely pack my belongings, prepare the furniture for moving, make repairs to this apartment (holes in walls from pictures, dart holes in door where dart board is mounted, Holes drilled in walls for network cable, etc. etc. etc.), and clean it out, in, up, and down to leave it in the same condition it was when I moved in 4 yrs. ago. This also includes scrubbing, soaking up, bleaching, hiding, and generally removing the stains my old leaky motorcycle left on the patio outside. My old bike leaked oil, and it's gonna take a lot of work to get the concrete looking new enough again. 26 DAYS for all this. If I survive, I will be very, VERY sick by the time it's all over with, I can tell. Little sleep, too much work, and monumental stress aren't too kind on the immune system. I've been through worse, though, so I know I won't have to be hospitalized or anything.
Life in the new place
I think it's gonna be weird as hell adjusting. Going from carpet to hardwood floors, new to old, fiberglass to porcelain, porcelain to stainless steel, dark to airy.... The new place is BETTER, I think, but I just don't think I'm gonna like living in it at first. You KNOW there's no place like home. Well, that place isn't home. Yet. As convenient as it will be to have an entire room devoted to our computers, books, files, and a work table, I will miss sitting at my computer with my wife in the bed just behind me. The familiar feeling of the breeze of the ceiling fan will give way to the stillness of the air in the new place... It's just not gonna be the same. --But I guess that's the point.
Goodies
I was telling Heather just the other day, before we got the house, and just after we had given up on trying to find one, "Having to take care of a big yard is a small price to pay for the privelage to HAVE a big yard. Well, we now have a big yard. --And Heather's dad just happens to have a brand new riding lawnmower he has never used, that he offered to bring us today. Cool.
And, man, how having a yard is going to change our lives. We can go out and play frisbee in our own yard. We can wash our cars at our house. We can have parties and let people hang out in the back yard. --And on the little patio right off the carport, there's room enough for our big, new gas grill and a few chairs. --And when I go out to grill something, it won't be stepping out onto the slab at the apartment and grilling in front of everyone, with cars driving by, and with my smoke filling up the place. I'll be standing in my back yard, in the quiet solitude of my own place, and my smoke is just gonna rise up into the air. Subtle things like that just mean so much.And, where I live now, we have a coat closet that holds a few coats. --and CAR PARTS, TOOLS, chairs, and various other trash. In my bedroom, we have a closet that has clothes. --AND A CHRISTMAS TREE. --And various other boxes. In the new house, the laundry room is outside, at the back of the carport. It's a laundry room and a STORAGE SHED. So, my coat closet can be for COATS. My bedroom closet can be for CLOTHES. --And my storage closet can be for tools, christmas trees, car parts, and anything else that has no business taking up valuable closet space.
And don't even get me started on the carport. The idea of coming home and NOT having to look for a parking space in a parking lot just excites me to no end. The fact that, if I ever come home and there is someone parked in my parking space, that will mean they ARE TRESSPASSING.... That's just cool.
So, why all the apprehension?
Is it normal? DOes everyone always feel this worried when they are moving? I wasn't expecting it. --But as I lay in bed thinking, I was worrying to the point of ALMOST considering going back to tell them we didn't want the house. After all, they graciously gave us a 3-day period to change our minds and get our deposit back. It's not gonna happen though. For one thing, Heather has been online all night looking at furnishings. We don't need furniture, but the bathroom is a new color. We don't have stuff to match. --So she wants a theme. --And our kitchen size is going up from 3x8 feet of floor space to 11x17 feet of floor space. --So we're thinking about getting an island. The other reason there's no way I'm backing out is because, for the life of me, I can't think of a good thing to WORRY about. It's just irrational. And if we backed out, they would, within 15 minutes, give the house to someone else, because, after months on the market with no activity, the day I applied for it, several others did as well. This was the chance of a lifetime, and I BARELY beat everyone else to the punch. By the skin of my teeth, I got the house over other applicants. To lose it now would be the MOST SURE WAY EVER to assure myself that I willfully threw away a once in a lifetime opportunity. But still I worry.
Oh well. I guess I won't have time to worry with all I have to do for the next few weeks.
I am Jack's relief that he got this off his chest.
Ricky
DesignDawg
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