Perfectly Petersen

The Petersens Are New Homeowners!

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Gorgeous and I had a heck of a weekend. A couple of weeks ago, I made contact with a new home Realtor and we scheduled a viewing on Saturday after lunch. On the way to meet her, we passed a sign on the road advertising new townhomes that were well within our price range. We looked at each other and said that if she didn’t show us those, we were going there afterward on our own.

As it turned out, that was the FIRST place she was taking us. We looked at one model and did a little, “meh,” and asked if we could see the other floorplan. They said it was under construction, but that the drywall was up and we could do a walkthrough.

The Mrs. was immediately in love with the floorplan and gave it an 11 out of 10 on the ole “like it” scale. I gave it an 8, but was forced to reconsider after she gave it such a high score. Her reasons were solid, and I began to feel more comfortable with it.

We visited some villas, and they were terrible compared to the townhome, so we told our agent that we wanted to stop looking elsewhere and investigate the financing for the townhome Sunday. We took another walkthrough of the one under construction (our to-be-unit) and left pretty sure about everything but the kitchen and dining area, since it was very hard to picture with only drywall.

We made it up to the development around 11:00 Sunday and met with the lender to begin a good faith estimate while we went to look at a finished unit next door to our building and spent well over an hour pouring over every square inch of the identical downstairs. We loved it. Did I mention that it’s on a retention pond with a few dozen acres of conservation area beyond it that will not be built on because of the zoning? No? Ok, well, it is.

When we returned to the office, the lending agent basically told us we rock and said that if we were comfortable with our monthly payment, he was ready to do a full-blown application, which we did. We even haggled another 8% of closing costs out of the builder when the lender made a boo-boo on the estimate and kept our closing costs the same.

When the building is done at the end of May, we’ll have a walkthrough to point out everything we want fixed and hope to close on June 2nd. I’ll be posting photos along the way. Enjoy these for now. Some of the photos alternate between our unfinished unit and a completed unit in the adjacent building on the same pond with the same view. Also of note, we’re upgrading to stainless steel appliances.

Feeling MUCH Better Now

It’s been a week since I started my intravenous antibiotics, and the results are always nothing less than amazing. While I’m still out of shape, the stairs getting to my third floor classes at night aren’t monsters to me any more.

I feel rested, except for after my doses. Man, they make me tired. About 1pm, I practically pass out at my desk and just give in and take a 20 minute nap. One more week to go, so let’s see how good things get and how fast I can whip myself into shape and gain 10 pounds.

White Paper Only

There has been a sign at work for months that makes me laugh, no matter how mature I try to be. My witty side, ala Alan Alda, keeps busting out and I crack a grin every time I pass it.

There is a huge locked garbage bin, much like you keep in the garage, with a flip lid and a slit to drop paper in, that stores sensitive documents until the document shredding company comes. Above it, our janitor person placed the following message for all:

WHITE PAPER ONLY

For whatever reason, the very first time I saw that, within seconds I wondered what the NAACP would think about such a racist trash bin. By the time I got to the door down the hall, I had re-vamped their acronym to suit the situation and wondered what the National Association of Colored Paper would have to say about this travesty.

Where’s Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton now? At the very least, its eerily reminiscent of “white trash” comments. Anyway, that’s a little nugget from me.

Pssst! Want Some… Sugar?

It seems almost as if drugs are no longer the hot commodity at certain middle schools around the country, as the growing trend of banning candy sales on school campuses takes hold. According to the Victorville Daily Press website, Victorville (yup, California) has a new breed of pushers roaming the halls: sugar pushers.

Packing Skittles, Pepsi, and Red Bull, the pushers are bringing food from home or the grocery store and turning a massive profit to those who aren’t as business-savvy. If you want a sugar kick at school and didn’t come prepared, you only have one option: a pusher.

Teachers say that the ban on junk food sales isn’t making that much of a difference, but, predictably, school administrators tell a different story and paint a picture of students veering away from the temptation of consuming sugar.

There are stiff penalties for posession on campus that include confiscation for in-class handling of candy and detention for selling sugar.

Maybe the pushers should come with little baggies of crack and say, “It’s not sugar,” when they get caught selling it. What is it going to take for big government (especially in California) to get their business out of the stuff that doesn’t matter and start concentrating on things that do?

• Sugar < Teen Pregnancy
• Sugar < Drugs
• Sugar < Underage Drinking

Happy Easter - He Is Risen

14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14

32 So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with Him; 33 but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35 And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. 36 For these things came to pass to fulfill the Scripture, “NOT A BONE OF HIM SHALL BE BROKEN.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “THEY SHALL LOOK ON HIM WHOM THEY PIERCED.” 38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body. 39 Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
John 19:32-42

1 Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. 2 And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. 3 And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. 5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. 6 “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. 7 “Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”
Matthew 28:1-7

19 So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
John 20:19-20

New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

Travel Arrangements for SOBCon08, Check!

I reserved my room at Club Quarters on Monday and got a good deal because I settled for a double bed to save $20/night. No point in getting a queen bed when you’re only 5′4″, right. I know several people who have bigger right thighs than my waist, so that should be plenty of room for me.

This morning, I made arrangements on Travelocity to fly American Airlines and saved over $80 from yesterday’s rates. I don’t have any idea what happened there, but I’ll take it. The only downside to my particular return flight is that it gets me back to Tampa at 10:45pm on Sunday night. Work will be a real drag in the morning.

I’m totally stoked about getting off the plane at O’Hare and walking out to the curb to meet Terry Starbucker enroute to the hotels. We aren’t staying at the same hotel, but I can assure you that I’ll be heading wherever the action is as soon as I can.

If you are still making plans to come, join me at Club Quarters and we’ll have our own group over there. Free wi-fi, baby!

Bodily Functions Make Me Laugh

Not so much with some people, but I can safely say that I’m not alone in this world with my obsession with the inherent humor found in bodily functions. Especially accidental ones. Or is that purposeful ones? I can’t remember. They’re funny. If you don’t think they’re funny, you’d best move right on along to another one of my fine posts. May I suggest Artist Spotlight: Jacob Wolkenhauer for starters.

Still reading? Good. You’re with friends, then.

A co-worker, and a female one at that, sent me a gchat of a humorous view of farting, the perspective one gains as the father of a new baby girl. It’s brilliantly titled Passing time by passing gas, plus fun fart facts! and had me in stitches. I previously wrote a post referring to the Jr. High school ban on flatulence that he mentions, so I was deeply interested in finishing the article.

Then things took a turn for the worse in my mind, and I started tossing out YouTube videos to my co-workers just for laughs. Well, it saved the day at our office.