the plus side

Even though winter kicked off a little late around here, it's been in a steady freeze for months now - we JUST got our first big snow of the season this week! 9 inches made for working from home, which is the best, and also meant that I could actually close up shop when it was still light outside and hit the park with Brian.

Only once we'd played some football (and I had successfully jammed my finger) did I realize that this was perfect snowman snow! Actually that's a lie, Brian knew that (as if I know about snow varietals...), but it made me realize we HAD to build one because it would be my first! Score!

My key takeaway from this was "holy intensity." Not quite like the giggling-silly-game I thought it'd be. Do you know how hard it is to pack that much snow together? Welcome, full body soreness and drenched clothes! Maybe it could've had something to do with my Snow-Nazi Instructor...God bless him, but wouldn't three tiers have been sufficient?

I guess he did turn out to be pretty magnificent.

I'm so glad we squeezed out a semblance of a winter because it is so beautiful every time it snows. And since I've switched to working out in the morning, sometimes I choose to walk (v. drive) to get to see the fresh snow and at that hour, it's dark and quiet...so peaceful. This winter gets a high five from me!

morning on the way to the gym...snow is just begging to be walked on

not a bad "commute" to get your day started

unfortunately sometimes this happens too...

rosemary lane in the house

The amount of work looming over my head should prevent me from doing any writing right now, but I'm coming off such a lovely weekend with Jackie and Katie and thought there's no time like the present to post about it!

Their trip was relatively last minute, but thanks to a new slew of vacation days gifted to us to use over the summer, I didn't have any problem taking off Friday afternoon to enjoy the phenomenally beautiful day! The girls came in the night before, so they spent the morning getting some coffee and walking through the neighborhood, and then ventured onto public transit to come meet me at work - what city girls!

Deep dish pizza, Giordano's

the bean, Millenium Park

after watching about a hundred teens take

prom pics in front of Buckingham Fountain, we needed our own

great table for drinks at the Signature Lounge

(where Brian and I got engaged)

the view!

with our beach v-ball courts in the distance

After all that on Friday, we finished off the night with sushi and some ring game on the porch. PHEW!

Saturday was less touristy, with a delicious stop at the coffee shop, more local shopping, frozen yogurt, a rainstorm & TV, Thai food, a patio bar, and multiple bunny sightings on our walk home (what in the WORLD are they all doing here???).

sporting some local 312

Unfortunately Jackie left early on Sunday, but Katie and I enjoyed brunch and more walking and shopping before she had to leave. Oh and this gem:

Ginger Twin from our super local brewery, Half Acre

8% discount if you're a ginger.

10% if you have a red beard too.

25% if you have a twin.

50% if you are ginger twins.

Presumably 100% if you're that dude on the bottle.

Another highlight of the weekend was getting to randomly meet up with two friends in town!

Sally in town for work!

KT's high school friend Matt in town visiting his boyfriend.

This boy makes me giggle, always.

The weekend was so fun because it gave me a great reason to check out new places, walk a ton, enjoy the amazing weather, and truly be happy to say that this is where I live!

As our three lives continue to shift and naturally take different courses (most specifically, courses that don't involve us all living together, taking classes together, and constantly knowing every detail each other's lives), it's so great to have a couple of days to just be in each other's company with no particular "activities" driving the interactions. Weirdly, I really loved just sitting around and watching TV because it felt so normal, and sometimes it's hard to get to just do nothing with each other when we get so little time to spend together. Sometimes those little moments of nothing add up to everything, don't you think?

neighborhood deli

This weekend on the big 2-8, we ventured into the blek weather (snowy, then cold and rainy) for lunch and a special undisclosed birthday errand! The surprise was a visit to the Chopping Block, an adorable cooking store and culinary school of sorts, where I got to choose two classes for my present from Brian! I've never actually taken a cooking class before but we've been watching sooooo much Food Network lately that I'm super excited to be a participant instead of a voyeur.

After the Chopping Block, a sign for a wine tasting caught my lush of an eye, so we wandered into this little gem.

Isn't it so cute? The downstairs contained the meat shop, fresh produce, and some delicious artisan cheeses, and the upstairs featured the wine and vodka tastings. Two comments about this experience.

One: a benefit to living so close to Wisconsin is that cheese is freaking delicious, there are a million varieties, and it doesn't seem ridiculously overpriced. Although I have to say, the Tillamook medium sharp cheddar that I discovered on our honeymoon still reigns as the best cheddar I've had. Perhaps a new taste test is in order?! Just kidding. That made me into a crazy apple lady, hated by checkout cashiers around the world.

Two: I am such a sucker for tastings. I tried a raspberry vodka that ended up in my glass at home a few hours later. I tried a delicious Portugal wine that I would've bought if I could've found it on the shelves. I tried a Jack-with-basil cheese that I absolutely would've bought if we hadn't been heading to lunch, where it would sit unrefrigerated. I tried sushi at the grocery store(!) a few months ago and it has been my go-to quick sushi stop ever since. What is wrong with me??? I definitely feel a little obligated to at least faux-consider the product after I've just helped myself to a mouthful of it, but I know that I don't have to buy it, according to social norm standards. I just have to buy it according to my taste buds' standards. If it doesn't taste like pigs feet, I'm in.

Although it may be a dangerous habit, I want to go back to the deli (maybe after our cooking class tonight?!) and see what deliciousness might be up for grabs. And maybe grab some of that Jack cheese. And by maybe I mean definitely.

big city snow

I have tried to be a big girl about the frigid temps here in Chicago, and so far I'm doing okay with it! We've gotten a decent bit of snow and the temperatures have hardly gone past freezing (if even close to it), so this is the standard view out of our apartment.

I love it! There is snow everywhere, always. I thought the cold weather would be more depressing than it has been thus far, but the snow is so beautiful that even on cloudy days, it still feels sort of bright outside. However, I've been volunteering at a theater nearby and walking to work can be a little tricky.

And I guess it's not all pretty. Unfortunately, when you walk into your house, this is the stuff that follows you in...

But in general, I love love love the snow. This picture doesn't do it justice, but you can see how much of it there is! I feel like a kid on Christmas walking around in this...it's so peaceful.

An unexpected benefit to life in a meat locker is that you're a short drive away from ski resorts! And because the mountains aren't all that steep, i.e. right up my alley, they're super cheap. Double score.

Last weekend when Brian and I and our friend Jackson were skiing three hours north in Wisconsin, it dumped almost a foot of snow on us! I saw the biggest fattest flakes I'd ever seen in my life (roughly the size of a quarter). It made for some great powder during night skiing....

...and gave Brian a bitchin' ice beard:

Digging the car out the next morning was less than fun, although I wasn't all that annoyed because it was still a novel experience for me. (Either that or I've started to suck it up more. Too soon to tell.)

Mostly I just continuously marvel about how swiftly life goes on in the face of a near-blizzard. It's worth noting that the slightest appearance of snow in Texas literally shut the schools down when I was growing up (can I get an Amen), so to me, a fully functioning city is nothing short of a miracle.

More snow on its way on Monday!

the apartmizzy

To indulge the voyeur in you (that's why we’re all here, right?), I wanted to post a few more photos of our new apartment! We aren’t fully set up yet, including no pictures on the wall, but at least we can have guests over - woohoo!

Your tour:

Our front window. I’m so happy we have a tree outside and huge windows. One of the disadvantages to living on the first floor around here is you lose the light and foliage that you get out a second story window. However, we are lucky to get a little of both here!

A lighter view, so you can see what the inside actually looks like. Once we get a new couch, we’ll move our tan chaise by the window. Reading nook, what?!

A lovely, albeit not highly frequented, corner in the front of the living room. Complete with original stained glass.

Wood-burning fireplace. Eventually we’ll mount the TV here. I forget what we’re waiting for…Brian…hint…

View into the dining room with the kitchen behind. The bedrooms and the office all run along the left side.

Bon appétit!

Birdcage, leftover from the wedding (leftover from Amy's sister Ann's wedding), with some children's books inside.

This was another garage sale piece we bought for $40, refinished, and re-knobbed. As a sidenote, I’m SO GLAD to have our records back! Unfortunately we’ve got some sound issues, which may require a trip to the record player doctor. TBD.

Guest bathroom. No, I didn’t have to paint. Yes, I claimed it for myself.

Pseudo shot of the kitchen. For the life of me I couldn’t get a good angle anywhere in here (plus it was a disaster). It has black/white checked floors and green walls – which again, I didn’t have to paint. Thanks to the Crate & Barrel gods, it’s pretty bright and spunky in here (which you can't see too much).

Exposed brick column in the kitchen, complete with an antique sifter and apron – two things I will probably never use but enjoy looking at.

And finally, the back porch. I feel like the word “lovely” is appropriate. I can’t wait to fill it with plants next year! For now, Dictator Brian has put the kabash on me acquiring any and all living things. Something to do with them not staying alive. Or something.

life here

There are certain aspects of my “lives” in different cities that stand out to me. For example, when I think back on Memphis, I think of jogging in our lush neighborhood, the Food Network, and a Fino’s turkey sandwich with extra provolone and black/green olive spread. Right now I’m aching for outdoor happy hours with the Austin girls and the absurdly gratuitous tailgates at UT. But I’m curious to see what's going to define my daily enjoyment here in Chicago, which of course I won’t appreciate until I’m longing for it from my next home. Always thinking ahead.

Living in Chicago is still obviously new, but it’s never too soon for a few observations:

1) Chicago drivers are the most terrifyingly competent automobile operators I’ve ever encountered. Meaning: they drive like assholes and somehow manage to squeeze riiiiiiiiight between those cars, brake juuuuuust in time to avoid killing a pedestrian, and baaaaarely make it through red lights. I arrived to the city in the middle of 5 o’clock traffic downtown, which means I am the first person to ever continue functioning while experiencing a coronary. The driving methods here are impressive solely because the majority of these jerk-crazies actually pull off their stunts while keeping all pedestrians and bikers safe at the same time.

2) It is already fall here. WHAT THE HELL. Maybe I’ll appreciate this at some point, but right now I’m not sure how I feel about wearing a fleece during the day. I would probably love the weather if it weren’t for the dreaded understanding that after this really nice part comes death hypothermia winter.

3) These people love their festivals. I went to an arts festival two weeks ago, to a German festival on Saturday, and had to turn down a crafts festival on Sunday. Considering how not-plugged-in I am, those probably account for 5% of the actual festivals occurring in the city.

4) Our neighborhood is awesome. Some photos from our ride today to the shopping/bar/restaurant area 5 minutes away:

Lincoln Square!

The Davis, a movie theater with uncomfortable seats but tons of charm.

Part of the actual square. Sort of hard to see, but there's a fountain in the middle, and a thin cobblestone street with retail on both sides. So many places to go!

5a) Biking is cheaper and faster than driving, taking the train, and walking. Thus, it is awesome. We’ve been biking as our main form of transportation and I love love love it. I thought it’d be too scary to ride amongst the jerk-crazies referenced above, but it’s actually not bad because there are so many other bikers out there. And again, their aforementioned ability to not kill people.

5b) On a related note, driving here generally sucks. The traffic, the parking, UGH. It's so discouraging. In some neighborhoods, you’ll look for parking for 30 minutes without success. And if you find a spot but you don’t have a permit for that area, you will get a $50 ticket, no questions asked. We live about half a block from the train, and once it gets cold, I’m guessing that will become my main mode of transport.

6) People our age don’t seem to go out in the same way they do in Austin. In ATX, many of our nights out circled around West 6th street downtown, and from there we bar-hopped. It was easy to meet up with people, there were plenty of places to go, parking was easy, and anything was just a cab ride away. Here, not so much. It’s more like a one-bar destination. Brian says there are little sections where people will go to bar-hop, but certainly none of his friends do that, and it’s nothing like West 6th. Plus, it seems more reserved for 22-year-olds and bachelorette parties. Is this just an Austin phenomenon, because I don’t think people in Memphis really do this either? I miss it!

7) Pizza and hot dogs. Giant / thick / delicious. More please!

A slice to be contended with.

True Chicago dog from Wrigley field.

For those of you who may have seen this on the Food Network...best dog I've had yet!

offensive eggs

Well, it's almost springtime, and that means hibernation is over for the crazies on the Mueller blog! Every morning I wake up to a "daily digest" containing snippets of recent posts, and I have to say, it has completely eliminated the need for me to snooze....as soon as that first alarm ring goes off, I'm up and reading the blog.

It has only taken 4 days for the community to completely de-rail following the post: "I noticed that MNA granted money to the Easter Egg Hunt. Are there details available yet?"

If by details you mean is everyone about to lose their shit, then yes, there are plenty of details available!

The event leader followed with a post explaining the date, time, where to hide eggs, and information about the Easter bunny making a surprise appearance. I mean, don't they know that the Easter bunny might as well be a walking crucified Jesus??? It's all fun and games until someone starts trying to bring in the furries. 

jlincove: On behalf of my family and other families that are not Christian, I would ask that you rethink this event. It sends a strange message to our kids if the neighborhood is sponsoring Easter. Can you please change the name so that all our children can participate? 

inowaku: I agree the poster that the use of the term "Easter" is offensive to my family. We would be much more comfortable participating in a Spring egg gathering celebration, granted you can ensure that these eggs came from free range chickens.

bullcreek: The modern English term Easter is speculated to have developed from Old English word Ēastre or Ēostre or Eoaster, which itself developed prior to 899. The name refers to Eostur-monath, a month of the Germanic calendar attested by Bede as named after the goddess Ēostre of Anglo-Saxon paganism. (etc....)

roberts_bj: Really, can someone request funds for an activity that is derived from some other religion than Christianity already? Please?! I will sign my family up as the first participants. 

And of course, my good ole friend C Frimire, who previously hid in his garage waiting for bicycle thiefs: 

On the morning of April 4th, I will personally be hiding Bibles, Korans, Torahs, Books of Mormon, I Chings, Vedas, Tipitakas, and a handful of treatises on why god doesn't exist and why people continue to fight over talking snakes and such.

Imagine it, a bright, sunny, spring morning...
But lo! 
...Out there in the streets and yards of our quiet Mueller neighborhood, your children may accidentally discover an contrary point of view and start to ask questions. 
God or nothing forbid! 
Heavens or nothing to Betsy! 
It will be chaos!

inowaku: I signed my child (I don't use non-inclusive terms such as "son" or "daughter") up for the Fancy Lads. This group is a safe environment for children free of religious zealotry. Activities include fabulous shopping trips, acapella choir, and protesting discriminatory Easter egg hunts. While the Fancy Lads are inclusive to all lifestyle choices, we don't allow Christians to participate.

Wilbur Befuddlenick: I have recently moved here and I think with the high density living arrangements that events like this should not be supported. Please think of the noise pollution that an event like this is going to have.  

So how does this great debate end?

McCloskeys: We hope that everyone will join us on Saturday, April 3rd at 3:30 pm for the Mueller Egg Scramble. 

neighborhood watch, part deux

The ensuing dialogue from our sniper poster is too good, I have to share. 

After My Favoritist Post Ever, a third party jumped in to chastise the guy for making assumptions:

WOW! Never occured to you old stick that the guy in the black jump suit might be one of the perps? Better just to think he was a "bad" person defending their home. Probably clingin to a gun and bible while doing it. 

But, sure enough, Crazy posted back and confirmed that he was, in fact, the dude in the jumpsuit. But make no mistake about his flashlight. 

For your information, That was not a Plus 2 Maglite, whatever that is. I have the MAGLITE ST3D016 3-D Cell LED Flashlight, used by law enforcement officers throughout the country.

Then later...

I'm headed out to the garage. I'll let everyone know how things go tonight.

I'll be honest, it's to the point that I check the blog several times a day to see if Crazy has any updates. Now the neighbors are jumping in with suggestions, too. One guy said that since the burglaries are occurring in the afternoon, maybe he should stake out at 3 p.m. instead of 3 a.m. and disguise himself as a piece of wilting grass. Then another guy said he just noticed that someone stole his IRA, so he'd be sitting by his computer waiting for the next theft to occur. 

Excellent.

neighborhood watch

So Mueller has this blog of sorts, really more like a site where you can post and respond to forums on different topics. It's got its fair share of serial-posters and I-just-like-to-see-myself-post posters, but in general it's a pretty interesting little conglomerate of neighborhood input. 

There are a lot of event awareness posts, mostly things requiring exclamation marks: 

"Movie Night!" 

"Splash Night!" 

"****4th of July Parade****It's On!"

Then there are the standard advisory posts:

"Don't forget to send your tax appraisals in"

"Watch out, there was poop in the pool yesterday" 

And then there are the theft posts - car break-ins, garage break-ins, etc. It's a good way to keep the community actively looking out for suspicious activity. It's also a good way to flip people's crazy switch. 

The thread on thefts had been dormant for about three weeks when I posted that my bike had been stolen out of my garage. 

Backstory: I accidentally left the garage door open and when I went back 24 hours later to get in my car, I realized the door was open, immediately looked over at the space where my bike used to be, and then started on a manhunt around the adjacent neighborhood, looking for someone anyone riding around on my bike. I'm not sure what I'd planned to do when I found them, but it was going to be rough.

Anyway, so being the good neighbor that I am, I posted about it so people would be reminded to shut their garage doors, especially since the exact same thing had happened to my friends next door. This woke the Beasts of the Blog, and in the last 2 weeks since then there have been 24 posts. First, people were simply noting the importance of making police reports, the usefulness of automatic garage door closers, etc. 

Then enter user C. Frimire. Here's the logo on his profile, just to let you know what we're working with. 

C. Frimire, who has never been burglarized in Mueller, decides to host a stake-out. 

Hi. 

Last night I left my garage door open and waited til 3am for someone to try and rob me. No luck last night, but I'll keep trying, and when I do catch one of these guys just stepping into my garage I'm going to make damn sure he learns how we all feel about thieves stealing our stuff. Hopefully he'll go back and tell all the others that it's no longer worth it. I'll keep you posted.

I'll be honest, his gameplan sounds about as solid as me driving around looking for the hoodlum who stole my bike. I mean what's the guy going to do, give the thief a stern talking to? Preach on the socioeconomic underpinnings of theft? Club him over the head with a weed wacker?

But Justice is patient.... 

Another eventless evening last night. But it's just a matter of time. 

And today, a response post from another user. 

Look dude, if that was you I saw crouching in the black jumpsuit the other night while I was looking for my mom's cat, you need to cut that craziness out. You scared me half to death. And I don't know what you think you're going to do with that +2 Mag Light, but you're officially out of your mind. 

Neighborhood Watch at its best!

you know you're a homeowner when...

...you wake up naturally at 6:15 a.m. because the Home Depot down the street just opened and today begins their storewide clearance sale. And maybe you need something.

home is where the...well, somewhere

I've always adored this scene from Garden State and tend to think about it a lot when I feel homesick, homeless, or homebound (best from 1:00+).

For as long as I can remember, my concept of home has been rooted in a constant, relentless, nomadic shift. I never grew up in any one particular home (most of you understand my mom's ongoing Monopoly game). The only place I visited repeatedly during the past 25 years is now one big matryoshka doll of nostalgia—a house full of closets, which are full of boxes, which are full of photos and knick-knacks and letters. My early twenties have all been spent trading a dorm for a balcony for a bungalow in Memphis for urban living in Austin. If only I'd decided to play the game like the Red Paper Clip Guy...

During the frustrating *awesome!* venture of looking for the next place I'd call home, I spent a lot of time trying to dissect where I had felt "at home" in the past and what about those places managed to borrow a little piece of my heart. Slowly I started to realize that I couldn't define those nebulous spaces as home, persay, because the things that felt most comfortable to me usually weren't structures at all. "Home" to me is d-d-d-d-dirty rap seeping through the walls at Rosemary Lane, avoiding potholes on the bike ride back from the Draught House, grilled steaks and merlot on an ivy-lined porch in Chicago, the silhouette of my mom typing on her computer.  Now home is on the site of an old airport, where I am in hyper-nesting mode, trying to unpack all of the things that will set the scene for the next chapter of my life. Of course approaching it that way puts so much more pressure on the unpacking process, because if I choose silk drapes over tan faux wood blinds, what will that say about me?! So I'm taking it as lightly as I can (not very), but I am still so excited about the day I say I'm on my way home and I mean it. 

  

mortgage sparring 202

A little follow-up to anyone who read my first post about this whole mortgage lender debacle:

Before I even got home that night, I'd already decided to go with my girl regardless of the money difference. So the choice was made and I'd planned to let everyone know in the morning. I checked my email that evening and she had sent me a message saying that she reviewed her quote because she was sure that her fees weren't as high as they looked, and she realized her computer hadn't picked up a debit and instead registered it as a credit. Long story short, once that little computation error was fixed, her bid actually beat out the guy's bid, meaning that I wouldn't have to mourn that $$ loss at all. So I guess good decisions can be rewarded after all!

mortgage sparring 101

While I never thought that buying a house would be easy, persay, I never expected to be in the middle of a menage trois of lenders. I'm like the girl that didn't know she just walked into a swinger's party...maybe I'd have been okay with it if I'd have understood what was going on, but all of the sudden being in a tug-of-war for my affection (or commission, as it is)...well, that's going to take some getting used to. 

I suspect the mortgage business has soured in the past 12 months since Bear Stearns tanked and America put out her un-ashed cigarette and gestured with a grimace and fake naivete, "What'd I do?" Since tons of buyers can't even get a loan to buy one of the thousands (millions?) of overstocked homes, it seems as though brokers are in a real pinch here. Which means they want your money. Bad. 

I had a broker that was a friend and co-worker of another very close friend, so I was completely confident this girl wasn't going to screw me into 2038...that's right, when my loan will be complete {insert gag}. Put on your Pig Latin hat and let's call her Endall-kay, for privacy's sake. So things were moving along nicely when my builder decided to jump in the mix and start offering mortgage incentives. So they passed me onto their lender. Already I felt like I was cheating, but I know that it's common to "shop around your loan" so I thought why not. The lender then passed me to an "associate" who I come to realize is a broker from an unconnected business. Meaning, two people are getting commissions now. Red flag.

So Ris-que (Pig Latin, people) then sends me a bid that undercuts Endall-kay. But he also calls me 3 TIMES while I'm at lunch, freaking out saying I have to lock in my rate that minute because oh shit I think the stock market is dropping and rates will rise and what will do if the world caves in and you haven't locked in your rate? Sign here, please. His urgency and faux concern for my interest rate totally irks me, so I send Endall-kay his quote, asking if she'd match it so I could just get rid of him. She does. She points out all the places he was jacking up fees, which totally offset any incentives I was supposedly getting. Red flag. I send a Dear John letter to Ris-que. The builder's lender (stay with me) writes and says he's sure that once the dust settles, he'll be able to undercut her again. I'm sorry, when did "dust settles" become a proper negotiation term? Red flag. I get another email from the builder asking to see my girl's quote. Red flag. Now I'm extra irked, like the same kind of irked I am when I realize I'm out of colby jack cheese. So I blow them off. Sure enough, just like a typical man, the silent treatment works and today I get a final bid from Ris-que saying he's cut his commission in half just to get my business and hopes that I will appreciate the "really great option" he's given me. 

Unfortunately, it kind of is a good option. It's like, a brand new 42" LCD HD TV good option. 

But I just have this female-intuition-vibe that's telling me if he doesn't screw me now, he'll screw me later. I feel like he's somehow going to mortgage roofie me at some point, and what price tag can you put on fear?

So I'm going to sleep on it, because that's how I make big decisions, and then tomorrow I'll follow my gut and decide that my 24" TV gets a pretty good picture after all. 

i'm a big kid now

You know it's Friday when you wake up and realize you dreamt that Troy Aikman had been following you from party to party because he was in love with you. I mean, really, can you blame him? 

Strangely, my Cowboys-lover dream was not the biggest thing that happened this week. Nor was the last day of class, signaling my three-week release from prison back into the real world! Nor was the amazing Hold Steady concert, at which Lundy and I wriggled our way to the second row and sweated it up to some rockin' rock. Amongst all that stuff, I signed a 1,273 page contract signing away my firstborn child in exchange for a sweet-ass-all-mine-put-your-big-girl-pants-on house! 

I've been on a serious house hunt since June when the armpit shithole rental house fell through. Sally referred me to Don, the patron saint of good decision making, and after visiting at least 50 houses, we both finally agreed that my new little gal was the best choice! I am so thankful to have had a knowledgeable, wise, altruistic, and patient helper like Don and I was so excited after signing the contract that I distributed not one but two hugs in appreciation! 

My whole goal during this process was, first and foremost, to find a home that I would love, feel stable in, and feel "me" in. Secondary goals included avoiding a money pit, choosing something that would rent easily once I move on, and finally picking something that would re-sell easily someday down the road when the market is up and running again. After much see-sawing between those objectives, I realized that buying an old house (hence, one I felt most comfortable in) was diametrically opposed to all sensibility. Given my general stress level of life right now and my track record of luck lately, the charm and character of an old house would probably soon give way to some unwelcome repairs that would leave me just shy of a strait-jacket. Since I'm looking for more stability, not less, I realized I needed to save my "ideal" house for later. 

Just as I was about to give up (why is this always when it happens?), my little lady fell right into my lap, before she even hit the official market. By the end of the month, I'll be a proud new member of the Mueller development going up on the site of the old airport. For those who think traditional developments are the Anti-Christ, I hear you, and I hope you're pleasantly surprised by the new urban concepts at play in this green community. It took me a while to warm up to the idea of paying a homeowner's association fee, but the bike trails + greenways, town center, light rail, and easily maintained house eventually swayed me. This whole hunt was a great test of my patience (or lack thereof), and I'm so glad I held off on the many properties that I considered. I think the reality of being a homeowner will kick in once I start hiring movers, painting, switching utilities, forwarding mail, and all of the other prosaic tasks that come with moving....and I can't wait.