same as it ever was...

A few moments ago, I just stepped on a sewing needle that had somehow found its way on to the floor. You'd think that now that The Boyfriend is living here, I'd have someone else to blame these things on, but I'm pretty sure that a sewing needle must be mine.

The last few weeks have been busier than I ever could have imagined. My contract at the university has been renewed for three years, and it is the first time in my life that I've known what I'm doing indefinitely, which is kind of cool (especially from a financial perspective) but also a bit frightening, because I don't know if I'll be doing this for the rest of my life. (Especially since doing so would likely require the commitment of a PhD.)

So, with that duck lined up, my mother started saying "Why don't you buy a house? Maybe you could buy a house? You should really think about buying a house." I was't too sure about the idea at first--it's a huge investment, and I make okay money but not great, plus I have those student loans still hanging around my neck. So I went in to the credit union to talk to my financial adviser, and she was fantastic. We cracked through a set of numbers, discovered that an affordable mortgage for me was going to wind up being the same as what I was already paying in rent.

The rest went basically something like this: On Tuesday we went and found a real estate agent. Before we'd even made the ten minute journey back to my apartment, he'd emailed us about 20 properties, and we made a short list of ones we wanted to see. On Wednesday, we went to see about nine houses, and we made an offer on Wednesday night. The offer was accepted, and on Thursday we got the financing straightened around. On Friday, we had the home inspection, which did not go well (think 60 amp wiring and a 25 year old furnace). On Monday, we revised our offer, and the owners accepted. Our closing date is June 26. It's all happening so fast.

It's 80 years old, 1.5 storeys with 3 bedrooms on the upper floor. The main floor has a dining room, a living room, the kitchen, and the bathroom. The basement is unfinished, but has a couple of pretty sizable rooms. We are also getting two fridges, a stove, the washer and dryer, and a freezer, all of which are variously old, but minimize our initial outlay and can be replaced as we go. The backyard is huge, and there is a deck.

I was pretty nervous (or outright panicked) for a while there, but now I've moved past panic into being excited again. We won't be able to afford to do everything we want withit right away, but we'll definitely build towards it.

Now, where's my IKEA catalogue?

twice in a lifetime

I know, I know, two posts in one day--next thing you know I'll be blogging regularly again or something. In all seriousness, though, this is one of the coolest things I've seen lately:

Send your name to the moon with NASA.

If you input your name, NASA will put it on a microchip that they are sending up with the Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter later this year. You even get a swell certificate to showcase your support of the mission.

link via Bonnie

Hogwarts Time Again

If you are a knitterly type, or a Harry Potterly type, you may well be interested to know that sign ups for the Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap are going on now over at the HSKS5 blog. It was a cracking good time last time, and if you'd like more information, you can always check out the main HSKS5 site or find us on Ravelry. Don't worry if you're a new knitter--one of the nice things about this swap is that it works to provide you with some of the fundamentals you need to tackle projects, and you also wind up meeting a lot of very nice, very supportive people who can help you to learn new skills.

history repeats, etc.

Since the end of the school term, I've been puttering around a bit aimlessly. I'm contemplating dyeing my own yarn; buying out Wal-Mart's remaining stock of Sean Sheep; working on that screenplay idea I have been thinking about for the last six months; cleaning my apartment; and, of course, that novel that I want to write.

Today, I actually had a purpose, though--the university played host to the regional Historica fair, and I had volunteered to be a judge. I was only responsible for five projects, so I had plenty of time to walk around and look at the other projects. I was very impressed by the depth and dedication the students showed to their projects--one of the ones I was responsible for was, I think, one of the best there. It's tremendous to see eleven year olds that are so devoted to history.