House!

So I’m renting the house I mentioned earlier. I was able to stop by and see it Sunday and Kris came along with her hawk-eye vision. It’s a little smaller in the bedroom and living areas, but it has everything I want: garage, two bed rooms, two bath rooms, a tub, close to stuff (mall, grocery, Jefferson High School, and you could walk to downtown if you wanted). The price is right and the land lord has been very accommodating so far and is really a personable guy.

I mailed the check today and assuming all goes well (back ground check and he still wants to rent to me) it should be mine to move into by March 15th. As soon as it is official I’ll hand out my new address. My cell phone number will probably change too. It’s nice to have that item checked off my moving list.

Since the place comes with a washer and dryer and I don’t want to pay to have mine moved I’m going to sell the two I have. Anyone in the market for a washer and dryer? They’re basic model Whirlpools, I think I paid something like $700 for the pair 10 months ago. Make me an offer, you’ll have to arrange to have them moved on your own.

4+2=7

When you leave at 4pm and you know you have a 2.5 hour drive ahead of you before you get to Lafayette, do not estimate that you will arrive at 7:30pm. Your math is bad, but it will allow you to cruise around Lafayette and to eat some delicious, but spicy toasted subs.

This weekend I went up to South Bend, IN home of Notre Dame, to ref the MFC fencing championships. Since they gave me a free hotel room, travel money, and paid me for both days, I couldn’t turn down the offer. But I was initially torn because I wanted to see Kris this weekend. So she did the amazing thing and made my decision easy by offering to come with ^^. So Friday night we left for the land of corn.

Reffing on Saturday for the individual event was much more difficult than the team event. I also believe I was placed on easier bouts for the team event. But the really nice thing was that even though I’d be all stressed out on the strip, when I’d walk over to talk to Kris and make sure she was having a good time, all that stress melted away. I love that about Kris, I always feel better around her. She doesn’t encourage me to feed my negative emotions, she helps me focus on the good things without me even realizing what’s going on until I’m sitting there realizing that I was a grumpy-butt a few minutes ago and now not so much.

On Saturday Joe rolled his ankle. I was really impressed with his fencing despite his lack of mobility. I think not being able to move helped him focus on his blade work and his opponents couldn’t get in distance to hit him. I gave him some Will Read coaching advice which he said helped and that made me feel all warm and fuzzy too. Joe placed 6th overall and got a medal for #1 club fencer.

In the evening, Kris, Nads, his fiancé, Sara, and I went to Olive Garden. We had delicious food and I got to know Sara a little better. I had only met her briefly once before. There was lots of talk about the Neon Cactus, and I kind of felt like Kris got left out, I did my best to include her, but I’m pretty sure I failed.

Over the course of the weekend, Kris did entrust me with many of her secrets. Many of the things she told me made me wish I could fix them or make the hurt go away, but I can’t. I know that the best thing I can do is to respond with kindness, and let her know that I still like her. I think she’s spectacular and no doubt her past experiences have shaped her into the person that I now get the great pleasure of sharing my time with. It also felt good to be trusted that way. I like the trust.

Addicted to Happy

I can see why people come off as needy, or always wanting to be with someone, never wanting to let them go. I think they’re addicted to happy. At least I feel like an addict around Kris. Having someone who makes you smile just by being in the room, who makes you want to be a better person so that you can continue to make her as happy as she makes you, and who holds you in a way that warms your spirit, is the best feeling EVER. It’s a feeling that sticks with you even after she’s left and one that returns to it’s full brilliance whenever you find the smallest reminder or she leaves you a short message. it is a feeling that grows even stronger as you become more comfortable with each other and you encounter more challenges and over come them together.

You might be me if…

…you really like the way Kris’s hair looked tonight.

Could Be A Winner

I may have found a rental home that’ll suit my needs in Lafayette. Two bed, two bath, and private entrances off each of the bedrooms. Location is good as far as neighborhood and it is close to stuff in town, but not within walking distance of RCF. See the photos for yourself. It’s not super fantastic, but it is in my budget and it’s a house.

I’ve now seen Whiplash the cowboy monkey and for those of you who I invited to the rodeo and turned me down truly missed out. Kris was excited to see that the border collie that Whiplash rode also seemed to be having a good time. I was surprised to learn that sheep can dive. Beware the diving sheep!

There was all kinds of bronco riding along with bull riding. To me that’s too much animal to be screwing around with, but the announcer referred to these cowboys as athletes and instantly fencing jumped into my head. Initially I thought that these people were not athletes, but then when I thought about it more, they’re more robust than any fencer because they are challenging an animal, one that does not know it’s own power to harm and has been put into a state of fear and panic. Now a small part of me wants to be the cowboy on the fencing strip, one who instills fear and panic in his opponent.

The music WAS NOT all country. In fact, only a handful of songs while the barrel racers were warming up were country, the rest were classic rock and tied into the names of the horses (ie. “Love Shack”). So it didn’t make Kris’s ears bleed, but I did sing to her a bit ^^.

Afterwards I accompanied her back to her place where I enjoyed some sweet green tea and was introduced to Invader Zim. Both of which were great, made better by the wonderful company I was with.

You Might Be Me If…

I’m adding a new category to the side bar titled “You Might Be Me If…” for which I’ll be posting one liners about the odd little things I do. So to get things started, you might be me if…

…you love listening to Christmas music in the middle of February.

Credit Card El Woah

The other day I got my new USFA credit card (they changed from MBNA to USBank for some reason so I had to sign up for a new card if I wanted fencers on it. So usually in the past when I get a new card they had some measly limit of $500 or so. Not this one, I open the envelope and find a limit of $8K!?!?! That’s just asking for trouble especially given my upcoming financial trial of living off fencing.

What weirds me out more is the difference a full time job can make in one’s credit score. Mine must be pretty decent at the moment. I wonder how running my own business affects my credit score. Do I have to report my wages somewhere so I can keep it up? Or will creditors see that I’ve got debt, but no income? That would not be so good.

To Press Or Not To Press

Today was end of the year bonus check day. So the company shared some of its profits with the employees who make it profitable. Unfortunately, those who started after Jan 1, 2005 are excluded from that group. So that includes yours truly.

My philosophy has always been “it’s a BONUS” not part of the regular pay so I have no reason to expect it. Not getting it shouldn’t be an issue. However, this, more than other incentives is supposed to be tied to our personal performance. I’d like to think that in the first nine months of my employment I did mildly better than 0%. I understand I shouldn’t take it personally because I was pre-disqualified.

We’re not talking chump change here either. And with my pending leave on the horizon, the more cash I can get my hands on the better. So those are motivating factors, but then I don’t foresee myself having any great level of success.

On the upside, gas is just $1.99/gallon so it’s kind of like getting a bonus from the oil companies.

Another Fine Date

Kris came over last night as planned. She enjoyed a bath while I played chef in the kitchen. We had the soup for which my parents gave me the ingredients along with some bread and wine. We did not watch a movie which was partially by design because the conversation was so good. I felt like I got some further insight into Kris and what makes her tick. I got to “show off” my lame-o drawings and some of my trinkets around my room.

I like the sickeningly cute stuff that Kris does. Like press my nose with her finger and makes a “beep” or sometimes “cannoli” if I’m lucky. Or how she’ll pat my head when I’m being ridiculous. I also like how she’ll poke my mid section to exact her revenge. I like the way she smiles at me and how she knows when I’m thinking about something and always asks me “What?”.

I like that she was over until two in the morning and how energetic I am despite the lack of sleep ^_^