Leelanau Whippersnapper

For those of you keeping track, I’ve spent the last 3 months or so searching for a new home.  It’s just too dam expensive to live in Leelanau County any more and I simply can’t justify a 4 bedroom house now that I’m single.  So, today I got an email informing me that the condo I looked at last week and really liked is now mine.  I will go sign the lease early this next week.  I’m pretty excited about this one since, when you look at the big picture, it’s really a steal.  It’s located very close to work for me, it’s a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo with a 2 car garage in a cookie cutter condo complex.  The interior is a little bit dated but it’s not at all unreasonable.  I’ll have central air, a small sun-room in the back, a fenced in side yard for Gavin that is fully landscaped complete with a deck and on top of that I’ll have full access to the community pool and fitness areas as well as all the other amenities that the association offers.  What’s great is that the association dues is already included in my rent so I don’t have to think about it.  The lawn will be mowed, the snow will be plowed, the streets will be safe and quiet.  Not a bad deal.

Now the hard part starts.  Once I finish this, I am going to start putting boxes together to sort and finish packing the rest of my shit.  I’ve kept a little low on that front lately just becuase it’s somewhat difficult to live out of boxes.  My intent is to get out of this house and start living in my new place around mid-August or sooner.  That said, I don’t have tons of time to mess around packing shit up.  The roommate is still living here and nobody is telling me when she is leaving.  There is SO much to get done at this house, I need it empty as soon as possible.

I took the dog and KD the cat to the vet today.  Turns out KD had a bladder infection so that is why she has been peeing in outside the litter box.  I’ve got to give her 2 pills a day now for the next month or so, hopefully I will see some improvement in her general health.  Gavin is healthy and now up to date on all his shots.  I’ve got to get a license for him now that I’m moving to a different county.  I’ll likely go do that this week.  Pooh is doing just fine, fat as ever, and enjoying very good health at the moment.

Alright, it’s off to work now.  I’ve had a few beers and my clothes are in the laundry.  Time to get some work done.

Well for those of you who have been hiding under rocks, you can now call me Uncle David!  Sarah and Brain are now proud parents of a healthy baby boy - Christopher Wallace Peterson.  Both mom and son are doing well and I suspect as I write this my folks are on their way down to Iowa to do a meet and greet.  I’m so happy for both Sarah and Brian and wow, I wish them the best of luck as they bring up this child.  He will be surrounded by so many wonderful people, it’s hard to imagine what great things he will accomplish in his lifetime.  So that’s the big news right now.

In other news, I am still continuing to look at apartments.  So far, I’ve seen 2 complete DUMPS that these landlords are trying to pass off as livable places.  What a fucking joke.  I was told in my pursuits here that I have only a year before I can really afford to buy my own place.  I just need to find somewhere that is not infested with roaches and mice to live for a year.  I am going to see 3 condo’s this weekend in Traverse, hopefully one of them will be what I am looking for.

On a sad note, the pets are really hurting my chances at finding something worth while.  One complex I am looking at is brand new, gorgeous, has all the amenities that I require HOWEVER, they allow only one dog and one cat.  I have 2 cats.  That place is also the most likely place that I can get into and I hate to say it but if it comes down to choosing an apartment or my cats I have to say at this point I have to choose the apartment.  I intend to do everything I can to accommodate my own children but even though I do treat them like my own kids, they are still all pets.  They don’t pay the rent (and in fact eat me out of house and home) and I may have to make a choice.

Work is crazy right now.  I’ve managed to put in about 55 hours for 2 weeks straight now and next week looks like more of the same.  Major re-set’s going on with lots of new product hitting the floor for fall.  It’s really keeping me on my toes and lucky for me, my team has sensed my urgency and really started to perform up to my expectations for speed.

Tonight I am painting the vanity in the bathroom so now it’s off to do a second coat.  That is the one thing we never finished when we redid the bathroom so I am finishing it now so that it looks like we did what we said we were going to do.  Enjoy your weekend!