Because it takes my mind away from the pending paperwork that I want finished NOW

On the home front, there's a slight stall in the counter offer agreement. As it turns out, the owners have countered my offer, but only slightly (if the financing doesn't go through, they get to keep some of my earnest money - no biggie), but they are also out of town and won't be able to sign the papers until Wednesday. Coming from the generation of instant gratification, I'm stressing a little (probably without reason) and I have slept very little in the past few days.

So, with that in mind, I'm trying to clear my mind. In efforts to get back into blogging, I'm going to revisit an old idea. It's a musical quiz with the answers straight from my iTunes playlist.

I'm going to post the opening lines of 40 songs that come up in shuffle. You, dear readers, get to guess the song title and artist. The person with the most correct will win. The prizes include bragging rights and if you're willing to send an address, possibly a fun, brookba original gift. That's up to you though.

Let the games begin:

1. Summer has come and past, the innocent can never last
2. I want you between you and the feeling I get when I miss you, when everything here is telling me I should be fine
3. As I walk along I wonder what went wrong with our love a love that was so strong
4. Give me a ticket for an aeroplane, I ain't time to take no fast train, oh the lonely days are gone, I'm coming home
5. I keep hearing you're concerned about my happiness, but all that thought you're giving me is conscious I guess, if I were walking in your shoes I wouldn't worry none, while you and your friends are worrying about me I'm having lots of fun
6. You know that it would be untrue, you know that I would be a liar, if I was to say to you, girl we couldn't get much higher
7. When the night has come and the land is dark and the moon is the only light you see
8. Winners, losers, small time misusers, do what they must on their own
9. I'll give you the best I can give you baby, that's all I can give, we'll live it the best we can live it baby, as long as we live
10. See the stone set in your eyes, see the thorn twist in your side, I'll wait for you
11. A man walks down the street he says why am I soft in the middle now why soft in the middle the rest of my life's so hard
12. Someone told me long ago, there's a calm before the storm, I know, it's been coming for some time
13. When the rain is blowing in your face, and the whole world is on your case, I would offer you a warm embrace
14. You and me we were the pretenders, we let it all slip away, in the end what you don't surrender, well the world just strips away
15. Shadows grow so long before my eyes, and they're moving across the page, suddenly the day turns into night, far away from the city, but don't hesitate 'cuz your love won't wait
16. Aaaah hey! Oh yeah baby. Like a fool I went and stayed too long, now I'm wondering if your love's still strong
17. Fearless people, careless needle, harsh words spoken, and lives are broken; thoughts for ages, help me I'm fading, heaven's waiting, it's time to move on
18. Well a man come on the six o' clock news, says somebody been shot, somebody been abused, somebody blew up a building, somebody stole a car, somebody got away, somebody didn't get too far
19. What is happening here, something's going on that's not quite clear, somebody turn on the lights, we're going to have a party starting toniiiiiight
20. We got something we both know it we don't talk too much about it, ain't no big secret all the same but somehow we get around it
21. All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go, I'm standing here outside your door, I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
22. Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waiting for a train; and I's feeling nearly as faded as my jeans
23. There's a port on a western bay, and it serves a hundred ships a day, lonely sailors pass the time away, and talk about their homes
24. Her face is a map of the world, is a map of the world, you can see she's a beautiful girl, a beautiful girl, and everything around her is a silver pool of light, people who surround her feel the benefit of it, it makes you calm, she holds you captivated in her palm
25. Who's gonna tell you when it's too late? Who's gonna tell you things aren't so great? You can't go on thinking nothing's wrong
26. I had a friend, was a big baseball player, back in high school, he could throw that speed ball by you, make you look like a fool, saw him the other night at this roadside bar, I was walking in, he was walking out, we went back inside, sat down, had a few drinks
27. Put on my blue suede shoes and boarded the plane, touched down in the land of the Delta blues in the middle of the pouring rain, W.C. Handy won't you look down over me, yeah I got a first class ticket, but I'm blue as a boy can be
28. Jeremiah was a bullfrog, was a good friend of mine, never understood a word he said, but I helped him drink his wine, he always had some mighty fine wine
29. They put a parking lot on a piece of land, where the supermarket used to stand, before that they put up a bowling alley, on the site that used to be the local palias
30. What you want, baby I got it, what you need, you know I got it, all I'm asking is for a little ...
31. When I was a young boy, my mother said to me, there's one girl in the whole world for you and she probably lives in Tahiti
32. Talking to myself and feeling alone, sometimes I'd like to quit, nothing seems to fit, hanging around, nothing to do but frown
33. Oh, why you look so sad, the tears are in your eyes, come on and come to me now, don't be ashamed to cry, let me see you through, cause I've seen the dark side too
34. Take me now baby here as I am, pull me close try to understand, I work all day out in the hot sun, stay with me now til the morning comes
35. I keep a close watch on this heart of mine, I keep my eyes wide open all the time, I keep the ends out for the tie that binds
36. I saw the light on the night that I passed by her window, I saw the flickering of love on her blind, she was my woman, as she deceived me, I watched and went out of my mind
37. There you go and baby here I am, well you left me here so I could sit and cry, golly gee what have you done to me,
38. I used to hang out down at Jack's pool hall, you go down there don't do nothing at all, you wanted to play some cards there was a game in the back, if you wanted a shot of something you went and talked to Jack
39. Once upon a time, once when you were mine, I remember skies, reflected in your eyes, I wonder where you are, I wonder if you think about me, once upon a time
40. Well my heart knows me better than I know myself, so I'm gonna let it do all the talking, I came across a place in the middle of nowhere

Love at First Sight

"Can you picture yourself living there?"

This was one of the questions I'd heard multiple times when speaking to homeowners before I went to view houses on Sunday. As it turned out, there were five houses on the list for the day. I met Spencer face-to-face for the first time at the first location with both of my parents there. We walked around the house, checking out the yard (and a really weird looking tree - it could have been at home in the Wizard of Oz), and then entering a house with horrible red shag carpeting, four entrance doors, an attached garage (in which none of the previously mentioned four doors connected it to the house), and a multitude of empty rooms. Not a bad house, but not one that I could picture myself in.

Four of the five homes I was shown on Sunday were vacant. This isn't a bad thing, it just made it difficult to picture myself in most of them. Well that and too many "do-it-yourself and hope-to-be-able-to-actually-live-here in 5 years" projects. There was one that I feared I wouldn't even be able to use the waste removal facilities without hours of gruelling labor (or expense).

One house was inhabited and during the walk through, two cats came to pay a visit. They ran up and down the paths created by the residents made up of extra junk and plenty of Miller High Life cases of beer. Who stores beer by the bed? Really? I'd like to know. Oh, wait, I do know. These people. These same people who have a basement without much moving room (lots and lots of piles of stuff) and the walls covered in heavy metal and grunge musician posters.

The second house we viewed was by far the best. It was vacant, but not dirty. The house had previously been owned by the same family for 56 years. My realtor kept saying "her" and "grandma," so I think she had lived the last few years alone in the home and is now either moved onto a retirement home (hopefully!). This property is 2 1/2 blocks away from my dad's home, 2 miles from work, and three doors down from a quaint little park. It boasts .3 acres and at first glance the backyard seems to go on forever (at least to my apartment dweller eyes). It is one and a half stories with a basement. The attic and basement are unfinished, but have lots of room for storage and opportunity to build value in the home. Half of the basement is carpeted and has lots of room for certain piles of scrapbooking materials that take over other areas of my current living space.

The garage is detached and is actually a one and a half car garage. Shelving takes up the 1/2 part of the garage, which is pretty nice for some additional storage. A few feet away is the entrance to the house through the kitchen. There is another entrance at the front of the house.

The main floor has a cute little kitchen, a decent sized living room, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. The layout is almost identical to the layout in my dad's house.

So, I fell in love. I can see myself living here. I can see myself coming home, sleeping here, and having a great time.

I can see this being the right place for me so much that I put in an offer! And guess what. After paperwork galore, waiting and nail-biting, a slight counter-offer back, it is accepted!

I'm going to own this home! It is possible that if things go right, I'll be closing on the house on May 29th. I'll have a month to move out of my apartment and get settled into my new place.

Seriously, I'm jumping up and down inside. I randomly break out into clapping.

Hee hee hee! This is cool.

2 Br, 1 Bth

"I have been receiving emails from Spencer lately."
"Spencer?"
"Yes, Spencer."
"Spencer who?"
"Spencer M."
"Who is Spencer?"
"Spencer is the random real estate agent that was assigned to me when I checked out Houses.com."
"Oh... Wait! Houses.com?"
"Yes, that's right."

It's true. My intent to purchase a home is quickly solidifying. I have spoken to the bank and golly gee, I've been pre-approved for a certain amount of money to start making my own monthly payments on a dare-I-say-it mortgage.

I feel like I'm 18 again and thinking, "I'm an adult now!" Just wait until the day I actually purchase my own furniture. What a sign of mature adulthood that will be.

In a little less than 12 hours, I will be meeting my real estate agent face-to-face for the first time. We've exchanged emails for a couple of months now and spoken on the phone twice (this may be the longest "relationship" I've had in years) and I'll be meeting him at some location in the afternoon on Sunday with both of my parents.

There are six properties on my shortlist now of houses to view. I'm excited about two of them, but the other four are interesting enough to spend a little time looking at. Over the past few weeks, I've been contemplating the real possiblity of owning my own house. The stress actually reduced when I spoke to the bank last Monday and received the pre-approval in less than 25 minutes of cellular phone time. The exciting part was that once the representative actually sent the information in about the possible mortgage, the response was practically immediate. I emailed Spencer as soon as I hung up and had an appointment with him for Sunday at 4:00 PM within minutes.

I'm not looking for a big house. I don't want a really big house. I'm single and affording this on my own. There will be yardwork and maintenance that I'll deal with, but that's a reality of owning a home. Maybe in a year or so I'll get a puppy.

But right now, I'm excited for so many reasons. Parking the car full of groceries within 30 feet of the door is a wonderful thought. Being able to put clothes in the dryer (or hang them on a line!!!) and not having to sit and wait for the cycle to be over to make sure no one moves my underwear without my consent is relieving. Having a kitchen where the stove isn't additional counterspace for scrapbooking memorabilia seems more logical. Having room to put up exercise equipment makes me happy (as odd as that sounds). Not listening to the jerk living above me scream about his personal problems and hearing his girlfriend sobbing in pain is a nice perk. Being able to customize my walls (color) and making a place mine is thrilling.

I'm sure I'll be busy in the next few months. If I find a place I like, I hope to move in June and be out of my apartment when the lease is up at the end of June. There is more happening at the same time (school, work, life, etc) and I'm going to try and write about my experiences a bit more in the upcoming months.