The End is Near

That's right, the end of a very long school career. I've gone off and on (but mostly on) for 24 years (all the way back to kindergarten). And I have one week left. Classes ended on Wednesday night and I have a final next Wed. and then three more on Thursday. I took all of next week off to study and prepare and relish in the end of my part time working lifetime. Because come the 22nd, I start working full time as an accountant.

I am still in partial disbelief that I am done and have a "real" job like a grown up. Even having a baby didn't really make me feel grown up. I always say to Kyle how it really feels like I'm still just a kid. I guess those days are gone... life and responsibility and child and husband and such mean I am not even close to being a kid anymore.

I'm not sad or disappointed, just doesn't quite feel real to me.

But I'm excited about the job, I've been working at this accounting firm for about 5 months and really like it. I wasn't sure if I was going to like being a tax accountant. It wasn't really the avenue I was interested in. I really liked management accounting and planned on working in manufacturing or some such job. But this firm offered me a position and I didn't really like the work I was doing at the time. And then Kyle lost his job and I needed more hours/money/stability and was worried about the stability most of all at my last job. So I moved on to the tax accounting firm. And so far I really like the work. I like doing tax returns, at least the handful that I've done. It fits my brain well. I like order and things going in neat consistent places and that is what a tax return is all about. It took me a long time to decide on a degree and making this choice was hard, I was resistant for a long time about going into business. But it is a decision I am glad I made.

Anyways, on top of school ending and working kicking into full gear, Kyle and I decided to buy a house. It kind of happened really fast and unexpectedly. I have been obsessed with looking at houses for sale online for a long time... we were planning to buy later next year. What with prices coming down and my income going up, it only made sense. So I emailed our realtor and asked what kind of timeline we should follow. She said go ahead and get prequalified for a loan, we have plenty of time to look.

Then I found a house online for $85,000. I had to have it, I mean who couldn't afford a $500 a month house payment. So I called her (this was like the next day) and said I wanted to see it. So we went and she said that she wanted to show us a few other houses. She said this house was in really bad shape and we could do a lot better. Especially because we could afford to spend more. So we went to another house that we liked, but the location was no good. Then we went to a house that was already in escrow, but she wanted us to see what kind of quality was out there. Then, the house that was meant for us was the last on the agenda. I don't think she thought it was going to be the house for us, she was just showing us what was around. But we fell in love. It is a three bedroom one bath house with a room in the back yard off the garage with a second bathroom. We really like the separate room, it will be Kyle's music room. We would have preferred two bathrooms in the house, but there are two available for when we need them. It has a nice sized yard with a really big covered patio that I love.

There is a problem, and it is kind of a big one. The house has a pool. We don't want a pool. Not even a little bit. Okay, maybe a little bit, but we don't want the extra work or the extra cost or the extra hassle. So... we are going to demolish the bottom, fill it in with dirt and it will be Kyle's garden. I know it is kind of a waste. But our thought is we will be in the house for 10 to 15 years, so we shouldn't lose value.

We don't have the house yet, we are in escrow as of Tuesday. We are getting all the inspections done and will see how much work the place needs. So far the termite inspection is requiring about $2000 worth of work and the roof inspection $2500. We have to see if the seller will cover any or all of the repairs and then figure out if we will continue.

Anyways, enough about all that. If you want to see the house go here. Kyle videotaped it the other day so we could show out of town family. It is a kind of amusing video.


Fresno is known for its Christmas Tree Lane. We went down it the other night and really bundled Lowan up for it. He has on socks, pants, footsie pajamas, his thick coat, a hat, and these funny boot slipper things. Then he had a blanket wrapped around his legs and was in the back pack. Unfortunately his hands were cold. I was inspired to knit him some mittens but haven't yet. I'm sure Tara thinks this is funny as she is in Alaska where it really is cold. It was pretty cold, but not so bad, maybe low 40's. It was fun.

Finally, we had dinner with Kyle's grandparents last weekend. It was a good time and I finally got some pictures of them with Lowan. Not too many good ones of all three of them, if Omi was smiling, Opi wasn't and vice versa. Another nice time.

Okay, I've written plenty for one night. I'm so tired, I've got to go to bed and rest up for a long haul of studying. Have a great weekend!