We're in!

I realized I hadn't posted, so just wanted to fill everyone in. We closed on Monday -- happy day! The previous owners are really cool and as it turns out, they're living right next door! Now, it's only temporary cause they're building a new home close by, but the woman's sister is our neighbor -- no doubt we'll be seeing a lot of them. But it is kinda weird to see their kids and have them watch us do all kinds of things to their house... but at least they're cool about it.

Sarah and I started painting (well, priming -- haven't got to the paint part yet) and we have 2 rooms to go. Thought it would be a good idea to get all this done before the movers showed up, but it doesn't look like we'll finish. If we can at least get some of it done, it will help a lot, I'm sure. There are only 4 rooms to paint, including a bathroom, so it's not that bad. The only problem is that we have a limited amount of time to do it, since we're away this weekend in Chicago for a wedding and won't return until late Monday. That leaves tonight (Thu) and next Tue to finish up... hopefully we can get everything at least primed and perhaps get one or two rooms totally finished. Cross your fingers!

Nothing to lose your head over...

Or is it? This is just disturbing...

Man loses top of his head in brain operation

Tomorrow's the Big Day!

We're closing tomorrow. So psyched.

Sarah and I went over with Mimi and Ethan tonight to do the final walkthrough, and were pleasantly surprised when we found not only the big screen TV and speakers (like we were expecting), but also 2 tuners, a CD changer, a DVD player, a component switcher and a bunch of other things! So cool! Now we don't need to fix our stuff!

The pool table is gone (as expected), but that's good cause it means we won't have to deal with it. We would have sold it regardless, but it's one less thing we need to do. We will need to purchase some patio furniture to enjoy on our nice big deck, but most of the other stuff we already have. Sarah wants to purchase a few chairs for the living room since most of our furniture will be downstairs in the basement, and we have some painting to do in the rooms upstairs, but everything else is basically ready to go -- move in condition, clean and smelling all purdy. NICE.

I am so thankful that this is almost done. And before I forget to mention it -- we're basically paying NOTHING at closing. We asked for $2000 back from the sellers bringing our costs down to $750 -- but we're getting a $750 rebate from USAA for using their services. How cool is THAT?!?!? Looks like we'll owe something like $.53... Love it.

The movers don't come until next week, so that gives us a little time to get things together (painting and whatnot). Really looking forward to finally having a place of our own (again)...

"Our house, in the middle of our street..."

Great article

Dad sent me this article by one of my favorite writers George Will. It's a great look at a great umpire, Bruce Froemming. In a time where many professional umpires opt for the easy way out, here's one who unfortunately is considered a throw-back. He actually CARES about what he does. He calls them like he sees them... not like he's EXPECTED to see them. INTEGRITY PERSONIFIED. I guarantee that if there were more Bruce Froemmings in pro sports, we'd have a lot less of the headline-grabbing nonsense that the rest of them are generating. But, I digress...

Read on -- Diamond-Hard Integrity -- Bruce Froemming.

Enjoy.

A 6-pack a day...

I started this little advenuture about 6 weeks ago at Jungle Jim's where I decided I would choose a variety of individual brews to create a custom 6-pack, and then sample and review them over the course of a week or two. Well, needless to say I DID finish them all (no doubt!) but I haven't had a chance to review them yet.

Now, mind you, I'm not really a beer connoisseur, but I do enjoy all the difft flavors you get across the variety of different IPAs, lagers and stouts. I plan on getting up my "6-pack review" soon -- that is, if I can find the list where I wrote down all the different kinds I tried.

The one I do remember a brew by the Great Lakes Brewing Company in Cleveland OH called Eliot Ness, an amber lager if I remember. Very nice smooth feel, slightly toasty (and no, I was not "TOASTED"!!!) and not much of a hoppy aroma to it... I remember a bit of hops in the finish, and it was quite drinkable, despite the strange name -- actually the reason I chose to try it. Apparently he loved to frequent the brewpub and got a beer named after him. Maybe I should ask the folks over at Dogfish Head to consider renaming their Belgian Dark -- perhaps the "Rezer d'Etre"???

Ethan's musical genius

OK - so I took this video with my camera the other day cause I had to share with the world the musical genius that is Ethan Rezer. Nevermind the fact that he's only 23 months...

In case you can't hear real well, Daddy is calling out the names of the notes of the scale -- OUT OF ORDER -- and Ethan is playing them on the piano! He rocks! Look out Liberace!

Click on the video to bring it up in the player. Enjoy!

I hate the Braves

Isn't it about time for the Phillies to dominate the NL East? Haven't I waited long enough? Just when you though the Braves were headed downhill, here comes the newly acquired Mark Teixiera, hitting 9 homers in 18 games and revitalizing the Braves offense. Oh, and Smoltz is still as nasty as ever, proving so by striking out 12 in his most recent outing. The Phils are hanging in there, scoring a ton of runs and leading the NL in that category, but it seems like they just can't seem to push it over the top. The pitching has been pretty steady, and a once inept bullpen has really been top-notch as far as I have been able to see in the limited amount of games I've been able to track. Is it too much to ask for a little post-season activity? There's still hope... but it's never a given with the Braves hanging around.

Oh yeah -- I hate the Mets too.

I've been waiting...

For a Blo - - og post...
To go on-to Jeff's site...
Yeah, waiting...
For a Blo - - og post...
To see if he's alright...

OK. Lou Gramm I'm not.

But neither are you - so leave me alone.

Seriously... the first 2 weeks of work have been jam packed. Things are going well. I jumped in with both feet and hit the ground at a quick jog and haven't had time to look back yet. I hadn't even realized that there wasn't a post about my first week until I started getting reminders from TravelinGirl76 and djcunnin. Sorry folks.

I like my office, the people I work with and the stuff I'm doing A LOT. I've had to dust off some of my analytical skills as well tidy up the cobwebs on the math side of my brain. I've been working at compiling online ad stats (pageviews, visits, CTR and more) using a variety of different tools for about 50-60 sites that F+W owns. More on that later. Suffice it to say it's a great way to learn about everything going on here.

I helped prepare the monthly reports the first week I was here, got to send them out to everyone and already got my feet wet answering questions from some of the online marketing managers. I think this is going to be a great match for my skillset... analytical thinking, web experience, some programming and some people-skills. There's also a good bt of "why isn't this working" brainstorming going on with my boss, which I highly enjoy. My mom can definitely vouch for that -- I started at a very young age by always asking her... "Mom, ask me a hard question."

Well, these are definitely some difficult ones. But I'm up to the challenge. I started practicing a long time ago.

More later...

Ethan and Daddy

New job starts tomorrow

I'm a little excited.

A little bit nervous.

Sort of anxious.

A little frightened.

a LOT grateful.

Start at 9:30 and I'll be jumping right into orientation, lunch with my boss and afternoon meetings. He called it "orientation with a purpose". I don't care what it is -- just glad to be getting my shot. Finally.

Househunting

Sarah narrowed down about a million listings down to a few that we've been checking out with our new USAA-Approved realtor. She's great... very knowledgable, likable and even from one of the target areas. I still can't believe what $150K gets you around here. It's ridiculous. Our $350K townhouse in DC would be about a $600-700 house here. LOVE IT.

We are torn right now between 2 great possibilities -- one is a fantastic space, ready to move in, gorgeous finished basement and beautiful... the other has a lot of potential and has a great master suite and a TON of room. So do we go for the gorgeous no-work required house with less space and no master bath or do we go for the one that has a ton of room but will need carpet and paint right off the bat? Argh! Choices...

Opinions would be welcomed...

More soon.