Oh my god I'm so tired. This afternoon is dragging. Didn't sleep that well because I probably woke up half a dozen times last night. Half because the cats were crazy... Christina put their food bowl in the dishwasher to wash it out and forgot to put it back out last night with food... and half because of the house. A real Christmas morning feel... yes, I was the kid who was up at 3am waiting for my Mom's 7am minimum wake-up time!
I don't even recognize my own apartment anymore. It's kind of cool.
They did end up letting us go after lunch on Memorial Day, so that was nice.
Today is effectively my Friday though because I'm not working tomorrow or next Monday. And, no updates because... my computer has been taken apart and is offline at home. I know, scary... I might survive. I think the biggest problem will be the delay in switching from DSL (it's not available at the new house) to Earthlink's cable modem service. You can get Earthlink for $41.95/month though from Time Warner and the first 6 months are $29.95 and there's no setup fee or charge for the modem. Pretty good deal if you ask me. Now, will it be one total week of downtime waiting for that to be setup or three?
Reception invitations went out the other day too, so that's one less thing left to take care of now. There are just a couple addresses we weren't able to get yet, but the rest went out, so that's good enough for now. I imagine it won't be long before we get into planning the reception stuff like caterers and tent rentals and music and such.
Waiting for word on whether we get to leave early. Christina already found out she gets to go at 2:30. A messenger has been dispatched to the Dean's Office here to find out whether or not we're leaving also. USC does this in most departments. Technically, this is a working day... but they'll usually call around and let us know we can leave. Like the day before our Christmas Break starts.. they usually call then and say we can go.
But with 7 minutes until lunch, I don't see us finding out in time, so I'll be back this afternoon I guess...
Man, what a long weekend. And since I don't get Memorial Day off, it's just about over. We get more Christmas break days off at USC instead of days like Memorial Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Labor Day, etc. It's worth it in December, but it's not much fun to go from New Years Day off until the 4th of July when you get your next day off. I guess that's what leave is for, eh?
If I think this weekend was long, it'll be nothing compared to next weekend. Things are going to be hectic. This weekend has only consisted of the shopping trips mentioned in my last post, packing a ton more stuff, lots and lots of laundry, and trying to get the reception invitations done. There is a really good chance that they won't be going out in the mail tomorrow as planned. I'm waiting on a few addresses still and I'm worn out from the packing and cleaning all day. Should sleep pretty well tonight.
We did take time off last night from everything to go shoot pool and have a couple beers at Jillian's last night. We both ended up winning 7 games, so it was a pretty even night out. Still can't stand playing on the pro-sized 9' tables. I know it's what I should play on, but I prefer the bar sized. I think that's the size I'm going to have to get for our bonus room anyway, because it's 13' even on one end up there and that's not enough for even an 8' table. I've found a nice black finish 7' table with garnet felt and 3/4th" slate for $850 online plus $225 shipping. The hint was already dropped to Christina about my birthday coming up in a month or so and she just laughed. Of course, since she said she was considering buying me the TV I just bought that's shown below, a pool table is a good bit cheaper than that setup, so who knows. I know it'd be fun to be able to have a pool table at home and play as long as I want without quarters or a clock running on the bill.
I should really get back to the invitations... at least some should go out tomorrrow.
Hit a mood tonight to spend some money! Ended up getting a 46" Sony rear projection HDTV and a Panasonic 700W home theater in a box system from Best Buy. Don't have the TV yet of course... they're delivering that on June 2nd after we move in, but we took the HTIB system home tonight. Quite fun trying to get that into my Eclipse. We had to take it out of the box in pieces and it still barely fit. Here's a couple pictures:
Apparently, Christina had the bug too, because she bought a dining room table and 8 chairs from Rhodes about an hour earlier tonight. Here's a picture:
Ugh. As if Friday mornings aren't bad enough, drinking Thursday night makes you want to be at work even less. I'm not really hung over today, it was an early night in all honesty. Just don't feel much like being here, that's all.
We went out to celebrate Jen's 24th birthday last night. I feel sorry for her because it was a weekday birthday, she had to work that day, and it basically poured rain all day in Columbia. Uncle Louie's was fun last night though, so here's hoping that made up for it some. Pictures to follow this afternoon!
Well, I've been out sick the last two days, so this is effectively Monday for me. And it feels every bit of it... except it's slow at work, thankfully. Still feel worn out and don't want to be here today. Hope it'll go quickly.
Today is mine and Christina's anniversary. 6 years, 8 months. Okay, so it's not an annual anniversary (three words in a row that start with 'an' in one sentence.. whoa), but we keep track of monthly ones also still. Maybe I'll cook her dinner or something. Suggestions are welcome.
Also, last night Courtney called and her and Jenn and Jen decided to throw us a 'Stock the Bar Shower' for our wedding since we have lots of different bar items on our registry. I think it's an awesome idea myself as we plan to add a wetbar someday up in the bonus (pool) room upstairs. They know us well!
Pretty slow weekend for a change. Drove by the house yesterday since we were out near the area anyway and he was trimming back the shrubs like the home appraisal guy suggested. Also, he had moving boxes packed up out in his garage.
Saw the Matrix Reloaded last night. Great movie... sick fight scenes. Not sure if I thought it was as good as the first one, but then again, not many sequels are as good as the originals in this world. I'm just glad we don't have to wait years to see the next one... only until November I believe.
We saw that after we picked up our wedding rings. Here are some pictures of their style I copied from the online site of the store we bought them at:
Christina's ring:
My ring:
Christina's is all platinum and mine is a matte finish platinum in the middle surrounded by polished white gold. And heavy. Very heavy... it'll take a while to get used to, that's for sure. They're really nice looking though and Christina keeps wanting to try hers on all the time.
This Friday afternoon is DRAGGING.... it's beatiful in Columbia and it's Friday... can I please go home now??
Pretty much cruise control right now anyway... just a waiting game. The appraisal did come back today and it appraised for more than the asking price so the loan can be completely 100% approved now, so that's a good thing. Christina and I have been talking about all the various projects that we can do with the house in the future. I think the best part about the house though is that we don't have to do anything right away. Other than get a refridgerator and mower, that is... We didn't want something we had to sink money into right away, so we looked for houses that were a good base already to work from. This house has a few extras, but plenty of room for growth and other projects too.
Went around looking for more to pack up tonight, but I think I'd be hard pressed to find a whole box worth of stuff that's not essential day-to-day type things. I think what we're planning on doing is before the movers come on the 31st is to rent a Uhaul trailer on the 30th. They're something like $15/day and Christina's parents are bringing their Blazer, so we'll have something to tow it. I think we can get all the boxes over to the house on the 30th in one trip in one of those trailers. That'll save a good bit of time for the movers, who charge by the hour. Since their minimum is only 2 hours, we figure with their drive time included we can probably get it down to 3-3.5 hours total on that Saturday.
Oh yeah, and there's a lunar Eclipse on Thursday night. Always a special thing since that was Christina's screen name on GlobalMUSH.. an old-school chat thing online where she and I first 'met' each other. Ahh, the good ole days... feels like a whole different life than the one I have now... her and I have both come a long way in just under 8 years of knowing each other.
Got another hour or so of sun on Sunday. Cleaned up the apartment pretty well. Kitchen and bathroom floors included. Also, went and bought a carpet rake... also called a Berber brush. You would not believe the amount of pet hair that thing can pull out of carpeting AFTER vacuuming. It's frightening. Well worth the $20... the only problem is Lowe's doesn't carry carpet rakes, so I had to go to Home Depot. Bleh... way, way too much orange in that place.
Found out this morning that Two Men & a Truck are booked until June 3rd. We've been on the ball about everything with this move until this... we've been slack about calling and scheduling with them and this is payback. I ended up finding another company that was $5/hour cheaper though.. and they sounded like a great company too. So, we're scheduled for the 31st between 8:30 and 9:00 am.
Well, the pool was pretty crowded. It's a beautiful day here in SC... low-90s here today I think. We were only out there for a little under an hour, but it's better than nothing I guess. We'll have to hit the pool again tomorrow. Can't waste valuable tan time before the wedding, ya know?
Up early again on a Saturday.... argh. Go to bed at 2am and get up at 8am... oh well, I guess it's better than sleeping through my weekend. Going to hit the pool today, try to get some color besides stark white. Everyone down here is pretty tan already this time of the year.
Wow! All of our wedding plans are now complete. The night before last we sat down and reserved everything online... airfare, hotel, wedding chapel, and a couple of shows in Vegas to boot.
Now all that's left is to get the invites out for the wedding and for the reception, plan the reception, and wait.
Let's see... House... check. Wedding... check. I think we're going to need something else to plan and organize once this is done. And no, it won't involve babies.
Well, I figured out what was wrong with the second computer pretty quickly when I realized that the hard drive wasn't even spinning up anymore. Even when it was hooked up in my computer. At least it was still under warranty from Maxtor. Maxtor has the best RMA process too. I would highly recommend buying Maxtor hard drives to everyone. If one does go out you can go to their website and fill out the RMA stuff and if you give them a credit card number, they'll ship you a replacement drive via 2-day shipping along with a pre-paid return shipping label. Add that to the fact that it's shipped in the kind of box you're required to use to ship them the defective one in, and it's a good deal. And you're not charged unless you never return the defective drive.
Packed up about 6 or so more boxes today. I was a bit off when I said we're halfway packed up. I'd say we're about 75% packed right now. With 25 days to go... crazy, ain't it? We'll appreciate it when the move gets here, that's for sure.
Up early again for the second straight weekend day. 7:15ish each day.... aren't weekends for sleeping in or something?
We packed a few more boxes last night... 4 or so. I would say we're about halfway packed up or more with 26 days remaining. Not bad, except nothing else really can be packed yet because it's more essential day to day.
Christina and I went and registered at Target this weekend. I think that'll be the only other place.
There's so much more to organize still. HVAC, termite, any repairs from the home inspection, the moving truck, a timeline for what we're moving when since it'll last two days, a refridgerator delivery, cable/electric/phone transfers, directv hookup, etc, etc.
I should really get to fixing the second computer. Still not sure what's wrong with it, but the hard drive isn't being detected when it boots up. From the sounds of things, it's not even spinning.
Just received our printed report of the home inspection. Already knew it was good, but the report looked nice and came with a free garnet colored shirt with a palmetto tree. Always nice!
Next week the seller is scheduling the termite, HVAC, and I assume siding contractors to repair/inspect things respectively. I'm going to be there and our home appraiser has offered to be out there too in order to make sure they do their job. He said he's seen termite guys sit in their truck and write out a CL-100 letter rather than doing the actual inspection. Needless to say, I'll be there too.
It feels like a decade until we move!
Last night we also registered for our wedding. Looks like it'll be on the 15th of July, 2003 for an official date. We'll probably have a reception at the clubhouse at Chestnut Hills the week after or something when we get back, but official dates for that haven't been carved in stone yet. We need to though, because invites need to go out pretty soon. We registered at Pier 1 and Bed Bath and Beyond last night. We'll probably do Target and either Dillards or Penney's this weekend. Since our wedding and reception are probably going to be relatively small, we don't need to register at too many places, but having more than enough items is better than not having enough for guests I suppose.
I could seriously use some sleep. Way too much going on in life for my lazy self, that's for sure. I feel like there's something to organize or arrange or take care of every day on the house alone, and now wedding plans are kicking into a higher gear.
I'm not complaining though... everything is wonderful.
