Wow I'm really tired! I was up until 5:00 am moving things into my new home- literally over 12 hours of bending lifting and getting dirty. I can't believe I have finally moved in because of how long of a process it has been to find, sign, build, and buy. Lots to tell about that's for sure so good thing I've got the time!
When I went to the final walkthrough to inspect the home before moving in, I could hardly contain my excitement. I couldn't get rid of my smile and had the strongest urge ever to hug someone. The only person there was Nathan the superintendant...so I kept my hugs to myself lol. I loved how the carpet felt and how the kitchen cabinets looked. I could imagine what it would look like once I got all moved in and I could picture myself having family and friends over as guests. Who could have ever thought signing up for this much responsibility and debt could be this fun and exciting? Gotta admit though- there was a little bit of anxiousness when sitting down at cold black marble closing table across from my lender and the gentleman from the title company. They both told me that they thought the meeting was fun because I asked a lot of tricky questions (I'm good at that) and they had to explain things a little more deeply than usual. After about an hour I was done signing my name and was good to go.
I took my closing document to my computer and immediately amended my 2008 tax return so that I could get the 8,000 federal grant money. I told my friend Ryan that for 8,000 bucks I would wear an Obama t-shirt for a day lol. I truly lucked out with timing because I was able to use the 6K from the state to pay closing costs and the 8K from the fed will be used to replace my 9-month savings buffer that has taken a big hit after having to buy so many unanticipated household items.
So a little about my house: It's 1800 square feet, so really cozy. Although the rooms are super small, the doorways are really tall so it doesn't feel cramped. I have an upgraded carpet with an extra pad and tile laid in the heavy traffic areas downstairs. My kitchen cabinets are incredible because I upgraded to knotty Alder, extra tall, with crown molding. The banister to the stairs and the fireplace mantle all match the cabinets. Right out my back gate I have the community playground, clubhouse and pool which is going to be extra convenient, and upstairs the master bath has been turned into a masterpiece with an extra tall counter, glass shower and huge walk-in closet. I didn't get to choose the outside of my house because it is in a planned community but I ended up with the best color scheme I think exists in that neighborhood. I was so excited when I saw which one I got.
Yesterday after work I rushed to Abe's house to pick up his trailer and then rushed to my house to meet up with Ryan Devlin. We loaded up the trailer with the leather couches I bought at cost from a client of our firms' as well as my bed and a bunch of other things. We got everything into the house with the walls only suffering minor dings and mars. After we came back I stopped into the Cracker-barrel restaurant for grandma A's 80th b-day party, and after that, it was off to Melanie's house to pick up everything I had inherited from her. Casey and I loaded the trailer up again and made the drive out to drop it off. We put it all in the garage because Casey had work early and I didn't want to keep him. Straight from there I went to Abe's to drop the trailer back off and help Abe finish working on my bike (another story), then went back home, loaded up the suburban with Adam, and drove back out to SL to move it all in. When we got out there it was about 2:30 AM. I opened the big garage door and realized that I didn't have my house keys. I drove all the way back home but couldn't find them until I went back to Abe's and scoured his front lawn with a flashlight. Got back to the house at 3:30 and we moved stuff around until 5:00 when we finally showered and went to sleep on the couches. BIG DAY!!!
I'm glad I had Adam and Ryan to help me with the move. It was nice having guys there who I'm close with to kind of share in my excitement. Although it has been a really great experience, I've had somewhat of a sick sad feeling in going through all of these steps by myself. I keep thinking I should be doing all of this with my wife- that all of this should have been shared with that special someone, and knowing that I came so close not long ago just intensifies the bad feeling. Not having that someone there kind of bites at me pretty regularly in fact- kind of like standing on the Hawaii beech with my college buddies wishing I was with a girl instead- like I was wasting a really special life event by doing it alone. I guess it all makes up part of the unmarried loneliness syndrome that all of us go through who are a bit behind the marriage curve. Oh well though- the purpose of this post isn't to sulk lol. All I gotta do is live my life to the fullest, and I am definitely doing it baby!!
So onto that story about my bike- I probably haven't written in my journal that not long ago I purchased a trials dirt bike so I could go ride and compete with Abe, which is something I have always wanted to be able to do. About a week after I bought it (killer deal and I found out why), the clutch started to drag. I talked to some people about how much it would cost to repair and when I was faced with that I decided to do it myself, regardless of the fact I have never been mechanically inclined. I watched a youtube video on how to fix clutches and just tackled the task, ripping into my bike's innards and tearing it to pieces pretty much. I found the problem, ordered the new part (a 200 buck slap to the face) and when I was putting it all back together, basking in my new found mechanical glory, I over-tightened a bolt and it broke off inside the inner clutch hub!!! The spring that the bolt was holding down shot up and hit me in the face and when I reacted I accidentally knocked over the bottle of oil I had opened and spilled oil all over my dad's shed floor. Disappointingly I didn't have any dilemma with letting some choice words bust out of their cage. I don't know if I have ever become so instantly furious. I had been waiting for the part for a week, was really excited to have it fixed, but most importantly, was really excited to be able to go compete with it this Saturday with Abe. Now I was going to either find a machinist who could get in and bore out the bolt (which broke off deep inside the hole), or I was going to have to pay another few hindered dollars for a new inner clutch hub- which I didn't' have the specialized tools to remove in the first place!!! I wanted to just turn into the hulk and throw the bike into orbit and then go and hulk smash the house of the joker who sold me the bike with the bad clutch in the first place.
So.... I called Abe and broke the bad news to him, telling him I couldn't go with him and that I didn't know if I would ever have my bike working again. He asked if we could try to work on it together and I said I had no time before Saturday because I would be spending all of my time moving. So you know what he did? He came over to my parents house while I was gone moving furniture, loaded my bike into his truck, took it to Stan's (the Utah trials guru), and together they worked to boar out the bolt, buy new bolts, and put the sucker back together for me~!!!! I haven't had anyone do something so nice for me in a long while and I was to say the very least, tickled pink! Of coarse, he was motivated by the fact that if I didn't' go compete with him, he would have to pay for all of the gas down to the competition by himself lol. When I went over to meet up with Abe all we had left to do was bleed the clutch, grind a new washer, and put it all back together. So I'm all set to go compete tomorrow and I'm very excited!!! How cool is that??
I really don't know how I am going to return all of these favors- Ryan, Adam, Melanie, Casey all helping me move taking time out of their days and sacrificing sleep- and Abe spending his whole night in the service of someone else's dirt bike!! I've got great friends and family to say the least. It's even more awesome knowing that I have several other people that I know would be just as willing to help me out- I'm just a really lucky guy what else can I say. Can't wait for the opportunity to return all of these favors!~
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