We didn't get the house today and I'm not happy

Here are a few of my favorite girls in the world. 

Late Night Worries

It's 1 AM on Wednesday night/Thursday Morning and I am once again restless with an over active mind. We close on our house tomorrow and I am concerned we won't have enough money for the little things that come up when you close. I am also thinking about college payments, housing repairs, the new furnace, and the two mortgages and my mind keeps racing in circles. I see the need then think of ways to meet it and then realize it's silly but still start all over again. I feel like I have little man auctioning off worry in my head and I seem to always be the highest bidder. Meanwhile Kate is sleeping peacefully next to me without a worry in the world. Actually I think it is more exhaustion then any worry free outlook on life. She has been working about 12 hours a day for 6 out of every 7 days for a month now. It will be nice when we get the house and Kate doesn't have to commute anymore. She will be able to get from home to work in 5 minutes or less depending on traffic. Well I will try once again to get to sleep, Kate and I have a walk scheduled at 6:15 in the morning and then I need to get the insurance for the house paid for, do a final walk through of the house to make sure the seller fixed what he was meant to fix, make sure checks are deposited to cover the down payment, and go with Kate to closing to sign a couple hundred pages of life changing documents all before going to class at 5:30.

So I got a job

After a couple months of general vagrancy I will once again join the ranks of employed society. Starting Tuesday July 5th I will show up for my first day of work at Wiley Publishing in Indianapolis, Indiana. As an added bonus I will be leaving to go to my new job from my new house in Fountain Square. How is that for a week, and it's only Tuesday?

Game 7 Prediction

It is 8:00 Central and the players are running onto the floor. Even though this hasn't been a very good series to watch it is Game 7 and that hasn't happened in 11 years. So here is my prediction for tonight: San Antonio wins with Duncan coming on strong at the end. I don't think there is anyway that Duncan doesn't show up for 3 games in a row, and tonight he answers the bell and hit the free throws. I see Bowen guarding Billups down the stretch and someone (Rasheed Wallace) from Detroit emploding and getting tossed from the game.

There you have it, we will see if I'm right.

Treasure Hunting

Take a second to look up to the top right corner of this window right now. See the Next Blog button sitting up there? Have you ever clicked it? I have. I do it a lot after posting and I am amazed by some of the things I have found. I recently got a comment from a Karen who I imagine does the same thing and some how came across my offering to the gods of the SuperHighway. If you find your self with some time to waste I suggest clicking on that rabbit hole up there and seeing where it takes you.

Here are a couple sites I came across today:

GotNathan - The past post is a letter to God and the comments are others letters to God as well. A great read.

Kirk and Sarah Go To Paris - Interesting letters from a couple that moved to Paris from Colorado.

Arkansas TV News - All you wanted to know about the TV news scene in the land of Bubba.

Happy Hunting!

Like Father Like Son 

Amazon thinks I am a degenerate gambler

It is funny what you can find out about yourself while perusing the books that Amazon.com suggests for you. Right now I have The Barbarian Way: Unleash the untamed Faith within and Positively Fifth Street at the top of the list. The first is by one of the foremost authorities on the emergent Church and the later a tale of Texas Hold'em in Sin City. The list goes on like this alternating between the divine and the debauched. Both teach you to read people but one wants you to see the need and feed it and the other wants you to see the weakness and exploit it. We are funny animals aren't we.

I just finished reading a couple of books that I thought I would share with whoever stumbles on this page. The best of the three was Devil in the White City by Eric Larson. It is a non-fiction book that chronicles the Worlds Fair in in Chicago in 1893. It parallels the story of Daniel H. Burnham, the architect responsible for the fair's construction, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer masquerading as a charming doctor. The book seems at times to be fiction because of the fantastic story but it is a great read. I dug it for the historical context, the imaginative story, and the race to out do the Paris World's Fair four years earlier.

For our new book club we read Balzac and the Little Seamstress byDai Sije. This was an interesting book that was better for the talking about it then it was for just my reading. I enjoyed it while reading it but I loved it after hearing what others has to say. If you love reading then a book club is a must have for the many facets it brings to the books you love. The story is that of two boys in China that are sent for re-education because ethey have been to school. They come across some books and the their world expands with their minds. An interesting dual tail of education and re-education.

The most recent book I read was The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon. The book is a mystery as told through the eyes of an Autistic Boy. It is a great book that explores the difficulties of relating to everyday life while trying to solve a the Mystery of who killed the dog. There are a number of diagrams and pictures as you come to view the events through the narrators lens and I enjoyed the quirkyness and the insight tremendously.

Well there you have it, those are the three most recent books I have read (not counting computer books). What are you reading lately?

Comment thanks

Jaime, Kyle, Kris, and Jesse thank you so much for taking the time to drop a comment every now and again. Jaime chimes in on every post and is the league leader by far. She is like Barry Bonds in his steriod prime. The comments mean a lot to me, I love reading them but most of all I just love seeing your names on them. I don't feel so far away from everyone when I read those names and know that for a little part of the day we were both thinking of the same things.

So if you have anything to say in response to a post, or a question you want answered, or a random thought on any subject at all, just think WWJJK&KD!

House Update

The on again off again relationship Kate and I have with 1230 Woodlawn is back on again. We are back in the running to get the house with a new financing option. I have no idea how likely it will be that we get the house but I can honestly say that it is in God's hands. There is a contentment that comes with saying that and actually believing.

I was at the house again today with the Home inspector and I realized again why I really like this place. The ceilings are so high that even though the rooms aren't that big, they fell huge. We walked back up to the attic and Don, the inspector, said "This is really beautiful up here!" It really is too. There is just exposed beams and dust floors up there but it teams with potential. This is a great house, it needs a lot of work and will probably drain us of what little money we have, but it fells worth it in those tall rooms and beautiful attic.

Even with all that I would be really fine with walking away from it right now. I feel that if that house is not the one, or it's not the time, then the next one is going to be even better.

It's 7:27 AM and all is well

Kate has changed clothes at least 5 times now. She got me out of bed with a threat of leaving in 5 minutes and now 20 minutes later she is still trying to decide what pants go with what top. I think we will be on the road in another 15 minutes. Now she is telling me to hurry up and get off the computer so we can go. She is crazier then a buss full of women going to the Ricky Martin show but I love her!

Here we have "Angry Flock of Seagulls"  

Funny little thing called perspective

Here it is going on 3 months without a job for me and though I am staying busy volunteering, going to school, and learning all I can, I still feel like a little less of a man. It is silly that so much of our identity is tied up in what we do. Sadly it works to define us and we buy into it hook line and sinker. Today, while having a lunch of crackers, lunch meat, Colby cheese, and cherries with Kate on the short wall marking the court house lawn I had a light bulb moment. Kate was calling about our medical bills from the pregnancy that totaled over $4000. She had a medicaid card that was good for 4 more days and we were seeing if it would cover some of our bills. Each bill she called ended with Kate smiling as she hung up and told me it was taken care of.

Now here is the thing. If I had some dumb temp job, or got a real job after we were pregnant I would have to wait 90 days for my insurance to start, if I got it at all, and we would not have been covered. Also if I had a job we would be making too much money to qualify for the medicaid and we would now have a $4000 debt to be taking care of, on top of the Dr. visits that we would have been responsible for as well. My disappointment and my misguided sense of self worth were lambs on the alter of provision. The Lord took care of us just like He promised he would.

I would like to say I have also learned that who I am isn't tied to what I do but that lesson needs a little more studying before I can pass that test. I have the time right now, and the open mind to learn. Oh and 1 more thing, Kate's new job has insurance and it starts in 4 days as well!

Here is the "I dream of Genie" picture. If it were a video you could see me wiggle my nose. 

A Night on Morse Lake

After a long hot day and a frustrating commute Kate and I arrived home just in time to head out on the lake with a couple of Neighbors, Lill and Bisa (names have been changed to protect the innocent). The temperature was dropping into the low 80s as we piled into their beautiful boat to pick up our dinner at Arny's just down the lake. Kate and I sat in the back as Lill handed us frosty Newcastle. It is amazing how quickly frustration and tension wash away as the lake wind caresses your face and the Brown ale cools your pallet.

We picked up our meals and tried to eat them as Lisa, err I mean Bisa, opened it up a little bit. We were on a pleasure cruise but pointing out that we were being passed by a pontoon with 30 people on it was all the encouragement Bisa needed to increase the breeze. We explored the lake and checked out all the beautiful homes, with Lill giving a little blurb on some of the more lavish houses.

As the sun was setting and we started to head back home the most amazing thing happened. The engine quieted and we got to sit in the middle of the lake watching the colors change from yellow to orange to purple in the western horizon and hear the gentle lapping sounds of waves on the bow. Bisa was a bit upset that this experience was triggered by running out of gas and therefore stranding us in the middle of the lake. Apparently this lovely boat was not prepared for 220 odd pounds of pure muscle that is yours truly.

We got a tow from a friend, and a gallon of gas from a friend of a friend and made it to within striking distance of our home dock when the gallon of gas ran out as well. No worries though, we grabbed a couple of skies and propelled the old fashioned way, we earned it! We paddled into a dock that was not ours and Tom and Lill ran home to get gas. Kate and I walked the rest of the way enjoying the warm night and honeysuckle breeze completely forgetting the day we had or the day that was to come and just existed in the warm night.

Thank you Bill and Lisa for a wonderful boat trip. I'm only sorry for your sake that we ran out of petrol, I know that is frustrating when you are entertaining others. I am not sorry for our sake because we had a wonderful time with wonderful people and recharged some low batteries.

A little picture I like to call "Contact High" One in a long line of horrible school pictures. 

Living in Library Land

For the last couple of days I have been commuting down with Kate and heading over to the Indianapolis Interim Library on Alabama Street. The interim library is housed in this beautiful four story building with an open center that allows you to look up to the fresco on the dome inside. There are a number of computers and hundreds of nooks and crannies to find books, magazines, videos, music, and microfiche. I go to study, read, and check email and I have run into a couple of characters along the way.

When ever I go to the library I head to the second floor East wing where magazines G-M are kept as well as the 000-400 books in the card catalog. There are three computers in that space and there is usually a free one for me to merge onto the information superhighway. Soon after arriving my first friend usually gets there as well. I like to call my friend "Works at Arby's Guy". He is Steve Erkel with out the glasses. He has high-water black pants on, white socks, black shoes, and well worn burgundy polo shirt that hasn't been washed for a couple of days. "Works at Arby's Guy" likes to check on the breaking Star Trek news each day and will spend upwards of 3 hours a day reading nothing but Star Trek web sites before heading off to work.

About a half hour in "Retooling his resume" guy joins us and grabs as many Resume books as he can hold and starts to work on his resume. He hits Monster, Careerbuilder, and Yahoo Jobs and works on his resume constantly. He has 47 versions of his resume saved to various yahoo briefcases and I'd like to put $100 on the over at Vegas, I think the line is +/- 100 for the year.

My last buddy in the library is Homeless Joe. Homeless Joe is an old black man with dreads in his hair and beard and he comes in to read fashion magazines each day. He goes into the magazine archives and grabs stacks of Glamour and flips through them muttering to himself. I haven't worked up the nerve to find out what he is looking for but I have vowed to find out by the end of next week. Homeless Joe tells me to "Mind the first step" each time I leave and I tell him "You too" cause I'm a moron.

I'm gonna start volunteering at Redeemer, the church I go to so I won't be spending as much time at the library any more. I wonder if my friends will notice I'm gone. I wonder if they have come up with a name for me.

Landon "Far-head" Donovan 

Watching Footy with my wife

As I am sure you all are aware the U.S. National team gave Costa Rica a lesson in finishing opportunities in route to a 3-nil qualifying win in lovely Salt Lake City. I watched the game with Kate and wanted to share a couple of her insightful observations.

As the game was getting under way a short video on Leadership was playing in the bottom right corner and Landon Donovan was talking about being forced into the role of leader by Bruce Arena. Kate got off this gem of an observation "Landon doesn't have a forehead he has a far-head." Brilliant!

During the game we got a run down of who is cute and who isn't. Cherundalo and Wolf are among the hotties and Noonan according to Kate is a cross between Justin Timberlake and Chewie! About Demarcus Beasly and his first game back after a tough knee injury Kate said "He should have stayed injured, all he does is get tackled all the time."

I explained off-sides to her and she got it on the first try, though cards (yellow and red) still need some explaining. Overall it was a great game and made 100 times better by Kate's attempts to enjoy it with me.

Who's your Caddy

For any of you Golfers out there you have to check out the book Who's your Caddy by Rick Reilly. It is a great read or listen if you get it on CD. Go check it out from your local library when you get a chance.

Favorite line of the book:

"Hey David (Duval), can I put my mouth on your ball?"
"No man use the towel"
"No I mean can I talk to your ball while it's in the air?"
"Hell no you can't talk to it, keep your mouth off my ball!"

House Update

There doesn't ever seem to be a time in life where you move steadily forward. At least I don't feel like that is true for me. There is this constant zig zagging and one step forward two steps back shuffle going on. We had the house inspected and went to the seller with our "demands" and he capitulated on almost all of them, good times. Then we found out from our lender that we couldn't get the loan we wanted but we still had the option of a conventional 20% down loan. It almost seems as if she thought we were someone else when she said that. I mean how else could she think that was an option for us. Hey sweetie, if we had 20% down we wouldn't be talking to you! Not sure what happens next here but it looks like this house is not for us right now.

On a happier note I didn't get the job I interviewed for on Tuesday! They said I did great on the interview but that another candidate had Microsoft Office Certs already. That's OK I guess, maybe next time.