Monday, August 22, 2005
My new home
Well, I could make all kinds of excuses on why I haven't blogged in so long, but I guess I've just been a bit unfocused lately (it took me a couple of days even to get this entry out!). But as time has gone on, I've built up some things I'd like to talk about. First up, is one of the biggest things to happen in my life. I bought a house! My Mom and I had lived in the same apartment my whole life, so this was a big jump.
The apartment was one floor of a two-family house, and we have a lot of stuff, so the move was pretty crazy. It was especially hard since I was planning on going to the World Yo-yo Contest right before we had to be out of the old house. Thankfully, people from work and a family friend helped out (with manpower and a van), so it was managed after a bazillion trips. I was afraid I was going to be totally dead for the trip, but I somehow recovered just enough.. :)
I have to show off a little bit, so here is some pics of the house. The outside:
The kitchen:
My bedroom (the box spring didn't fit upstairs, but this is working out fine). I'll probably paint over the Disney characters eventually, but I have to say that the glow in the dark stars on the ceiling is fun. I should have gotten those as a kid:
Backyard:
I'm really happy at how it has worked out. Great having our own home finally, is a good house, a pretty good neighborhood, etc. Still have stuff that needs to be unpacked and cleaned up, but we're getting pretty close now.
I also have to give a plug to Freecycle. This is a series of local yahoo mailing lists, where you can offer items you don't want anymore, as well as ask for things. There's a lot of stuff out there where it isn't worth putting it on eBay or even doing a tag sale, but someone out there probably wants. Instead of throwing it away, it makes sense to just give it away.
I do wish that they had a real interface to the system instead of just being mailing lists, but it works pretty well for the most part. Already gotten rid of a sleep machine and some costume jewelry. Aquarium, box spring, and others going soon. It is the kind of thing where kids clothes, boxes, crutches and such are always flying around, but you never know what will turn up. I always like when the internet opens up neat ideas like this.
The apartment was one floor of a two-family house, and we have a lot of stuff, so the move was pretty crazy. It was especially hard since I was planning on going to the World Yo-yo Contest right before we had to be out of the old house. Thankfully, people from work and a family friend helped out (with manpower and a van), so it was managed after a bazillion trips. I was afraid I was going to be totally dead for the trip, but I somehow recovered just enough.. :)
I have to show off a little bit, so here is some pics of the house. The outside:
The kitchen:
My bedroom (the box spring didn't fit upstairs, but this is working out fine). I'll probably paint over the Disney characters eventually, but I have to say that the glow in the dark stars on the ceiling is fun. I should have gotten those as a kid:
Backyard:
I'm really happy at how it has worked out. Great having our own home finally, is a good house, a pretty good neighborhood, etc. Still have stuff that needs to be unpacked and cleaned up, but we're getting pretty close now.
I also have to give a plug to Freecycle. This is a series of local yahoo mailing lists, where you can offer items you don't want anymore, as well as ask for things. There's a lot of stuff out there where it isn't worth putting it on eBay or even doing a tag sale, but someone out there probably wants. Instead of throwing it away, it makes sense to just give it away.
I do wish that they had a real interface to the system instead of just being mailing lists, but it works pretty well for the most part. Already gotten rid of a sleep machine and some costume jewelry. Aquarium, box spring, and others going soon. It is the kind of thing where kids clothes, boxes, crutches and such are always flying around, but you never know what will turn up. I always like when the internet opens up neat ideas like this.
