I signed the papers on the home today. I now have an inch-thick stack of papers with my initials and signature all over them. It makes me feel very broke. I don't think I've ever spent $21,000 out of pocket in one day (down payment plus closing costs). Plus there's the 30 years of debt that is to come. But on the other hand, I got a good home in a good location for a good price. Time to start saving again to get the emergency fund back up to par. I guess I'm going to go back to my grad school days and tighten up the spending for a few months while I do that. I guess I get an $8000 tax credit, which will be nice.
I won't actually get access to the home until after Corwin's wedding next weekend, and I probably won't be able to start moving until at least another week after that because it's finals week.
I'm going to need to start a to do list soon. There are a few minor issues that need to be addressed. Some plumbing fixtures are leaking (probably just need to replace the seals), maybe some minor touch-up painting, and adding insulation to the attic. This last one I might pay for someone else to do, if I can get a good price for it. The blown cellulose insulation looks pretty easy to do, but it also looks like a full-day project that might be more mess than I really want to deal with. (There might be some more tax credits for energy savings here, and I'll have to look into that as well.)
Church stuff... I'll get to that eventually. Besides the sudden and unfortunate departure of the senior pastor, giving falling short of expenses, and some conflict within the staff, everything's going perfectly. Church really shouldn't be a messy business, but it is.
There was another backgammon tournament last weekend. I played in the beginner tournament (again) and did poorly (again). I was playing Jason yesterday and he asked me why I can somehow manage to beat him (and be generally somewhat competitive against him) but can't beat the poor play in the beginner tournament. I blame luck, just like every other losing gambler out there. I really don't think I got outplayed or anything when I was there (though I recognize I made some mistakes).
The semester is almost over. Horray for that. That textbook is coming along again. I'm halfway through chapter 3 of 10 (or 11), but I'm turning it into more of a workbook of examples and problems, which will speed things up tremendously.
