That Hobbit Lady

It was the proverbial “nail-biter” but well worth it in the end. The Alabama Crimson Tide is now 10-0 and headed for the SEC Championship. Woo hoo!!!!!

If it’s against the University of Florida, who am I going to root for????

I work with a woman who is always moaning about how she doesn’t have enough money. After knowing her for a year and a half, I’m convinced that this is not so much about her not making enough money as it is about her not knowing how to HANDLE the money she does have.

Case in point: at the job, we put on seminars, and when we have seminars, free food is provided for the attendees. Office staff may also partake of the free food. Today we had a seminar, and down the hall a table was spread with pastries, fruit, coffee, soda, juice, etc. So when I get in this morning, this particular co-worker hands me some money and asks if I would run down to the cafeteria on the other side of the building and pick her up a bagel and cream cheese.

I say, “Why are you spending money on food when today there is free food?” She says she just “feels like” having a bagel.

This is what I mean about not handling money well. As far as I’m concerned, the wise person will get themselves in the mood for the pastries and fruit that are free at the moment, and save the bagel for a day when free food is not available. Why in the world would you PAY for something, when a perfectly good FREE alternative is available?

This same woman will complain she doesn’t have money to buy groceries, yet she eats lunch at a restaurant several times a week. Baffling. But then I guess this is why the poor get poorer.

Last Sunday we saw another house in the neighborhood we most like. It recently occurred to me that since we are only four to six months away from our plans to buy a house, the house we actually end up buying could very well be on the market RIGHT NOW. In fact, we might end up buying the house we saw this past Sunday. If so, when you come to visit us, here is your guest room:

WE’RE….DEBT-FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

🙂

Autumn has always been my favorite season, but even moreso since I’ve moved to Alabama. For one thing, the weather cools off faster and more dramatically than it does in South Florida, and soon enough we’ll have colored leaves. Just like when I was a kid in New York.

But even more importantly, Russ has gotten me interested in football.

It’s a very strange thing that I was married for 16 years to a man who was interested in football, yet I never could see the sense in it. But my first Autumn here with Russ, I got hooked. I think it’s partially due to the fact that every day on my way to work, I pass the stadium. I work for the University of Alabama, where football is steeped in over 100 years of Tradition, and the street I work on is named after a man who is widely regarded and revered as the greatest college football coach who ever lived. But most of all, perhaps, every evening when I get out of work (at least in the glorious Autumn, like today) while I wait for Russ to pick me up, I get to listen to the Million Dollar Band, which is the college marching band for the University of Alabama Crimson Tide.

The band practices in the field right across the street, and I’ve got the best seat in the house. I’m listening to them now, as I write upon my Alfie. I just heard the National Anthem, followed 32 beats later by “Yea, Alabama!” And in a few moments, no doubt, they will break into their soul-stirring rendition of We Will Rock You.

…wait…

Yep. They just started. I wish you could hear this.

But getting back to why I like football now, when I never did before, I have to give a lot of the credit to Russ. He knows Alabama football inside and out. He can tell you anything about any coach, and almost anything about any player, from Joe Namath right down to whoever the current running back might be. (I don’t know, but I’m sure Russ does.)

There is this great moment in my personal history when Mary and I were sitting in the movie theater watching the latest Lord of the Rings, and Legolas did something I didn’t understand. I leaned over to her and whispered “Why did Legolas do that?” and she whispered back, “Well, yadda yadda yadda and zippitty do dah and so on and so forth.” I said “Oh.” And not 60 seconds later, up on the screen, Legolas was explaining himself to his companions by saying, “Yadda yadda yadda and zippity do dah and so on and so forth.” Word for word. It was an uncanny testament to how thoroughly Mary knew her LOTR.

I mention this story now because I very often get the same sensation when watching football with Russ. There will be a penalty, I’ll have no idea what’s going on, but he’ll say, “Offsides, on the Defense, number 93. But they’re going to refuse it. It will be a First Down.” A moment later the man in the striped shirt comes center field to announce “Offsides, on the Defense, number 93, the penalty is refused. First Down.” Russ knows football the way Mary knows Lord of the Rings.

I would have never guessed it before, but the world of college football is a kind of ongoing soap opera, complete with eccentric characters, bad boys and bitter rivalries. And another thing that has surprised me about football is how much of a thinking game it is. It’s not just all about brute strength and knocking the other guy down. There’s a fair bit of psychology and even trickery involved. It’s not always the strongest team that wins, but often the smartest, or at the very least, the one with the highest level of confidence. Suffice it to say I now know a lot more about college football than I EVER thought I would know.

Hey! I just saw four charter buses following each other down Paul Bryant Drive. Good chance they’re bringing in the rival team for tomorrow’s game.

But I was speaking of Fall. The weather is beginning to cool. At this moment, the sky is nearly crystal, and a breeze is blowing. Today is Mary’s birthday, and soon it will be my birthday. After that is Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas. Soon there will be Bowl Games, and bowls of noodle stuffing. Autumn leaves and pumpkin pie.

As far as I’m concerned, Autumn begins when you see your first pumpkin. This morning, on the drive into work, I saw pumpkins, patiently waiting to be bought at the corner market.

The glorious time is upon us now.

I was so taken with the house we saw yesterday, that today I went on line to find other houses in that same neighborhood. And guess what? There are three others, at least, on the same street (we saw them as we were driving through) and two of those are significantly cheaper than the one we saw yesterday!

This one is not only priced a full $10,000 less (at $149,900) but it appears to be the exact same model, only with HARDWOOD FLOORS!!! rather than carpeting. Cool! Russ and I are both totally on board with hardwood floors.

So, you see…it pays to do your homework. Who knows what else we might find out there!

Well, it’s Sunday, so Russ and I went out to Open Houses again. We saw a number of things we didn’t care for much, and a second visit to Hidden Meadows put it further down on the list than before, but we did see one house that was quite exceptional. Well, I fell in love with it; Russ says he “liked it, with some reservations.” I admit it wasn’t *perfect* but I liked it well enough to consider it.

In the minus column: the price was 159,900, a bit above what we’re looking to pay. Also, the house was built in 1999, which makes it a bit older than we want.

But…in the plus column…you walk into the “great room” and this is what you see:

Notice the skylights! Notice the fireplace! Notice the deer head! Well, granted, the deer head won’t stay with the house (I asked) but all in all when you came into this room, there was a real “Wow!” factor. Here’s the room from the other direction:

This is the ultimate open floor plan, and the tall ceilings made it feel that much larger. By the way, that’s Russ talking to the realtor, who happened to be someone he knew years ago from church. Small world, huh?

Here’s the master bedroom:

I love the little “nook” under the window, great for a cushioned bench, don’t you think? I also loved the fact that the other two bedrooms were quite “split” from the master. One of those rooms was already set up like an office, so it was easy to visualize…

Of course, I would never put a couch that big in such a small room. (I would, however, put this red couch in the great room I showed you first.) What I also loved about the two bedrooms being in the back of the house was this wide hallway, that connects them to the great room:

There was such a feeling of separation between the master bedroom and these two back bedrooms. Our guests could feel completely comfortable here! I’m sure they (and we) would also feel comfortable relaxing on the covered patio:

Well, sigh…

This house might just be dreaming for us, for now. But it was such a pleasure to visit a house that was spacious, attractive and well-planned, rather than a small silly house like this one in Hidden Meadows, where the very large front window is looking out from…a walk-in closet!

Honest to goodness! Small window in the bedroom, HUGE window in the closet. Who built this house? Dr. Seuss?

Well, that was our adventure today. Next weekend, I’m sure we’ll see something else.

Recently, Russ and I have been spending a lot of our free time looking at houses. We are going to Open Houses, and checking out some of the newer developments, all in an effort to clarify exactly what it is we will be looking for in a house when the time comes to buy—the plan is get serious this coming February. So right now we’re doing our homework, becoming educated consumers. Here’s a little bit of what we’ve discovered so far.

First of all, you know how they always say don’t fall in love with the first house you see? Well, we didn’t. But we fell in love with the second house we saw. That was at least six months ago, and despite all the other houses we have seen since then, this particular model continues to be our favorite. Yesterday we went to an Open House in one of our favorite developments that features this model. I didn’t take my camera, but here are some pics off the internet that accurately represents what we saw.

First, here’s the living room, or “den,” as Southerners like to call it:

This house also has a formal dining area. Note the arched doorways and beautiful hardwood floors.

And here would be the guest room:

The arch motif is repeated. Don’t you love that window???

Of course, there was one thing we saw at this house that we gladly like to keep out of the buying price:

Don’t worry, it’s not poisonous. Apparently it’s a black and yellow argiope, and we googled this pic as an example of what we saw hanging outside the dining area window. Yes, we are still in the south here. Bugs are everywhere. Usually when we go to see new houses, where there’s yet a lot of construction going on, we’ll see a few crickets, sometimes some *normal* spiders. This spider was impressive. You might not be able to tell it from the photo, but it was a good 2-3 inches long.

But enough about the spider! Back to the house hunting! If we don’t get this model, here’s another from the same development that, tho not our favorite, was also nice:

It’s almost impossible to find a newer home that does not feature a fireplace with a nook for a TV above it. Russ and I agree that we would not put a TV in that nook, but would probably fill it in with bookshelves.

Also from this “second choice” house:

The pictures above are from the established development Harper Creek, which is on the North end of town. Russ and I both tend to prefer staying in the north end. Some of our other choices in the North end of town are in Clear Creek (the development right across the street from his brother):

(BTW, this tub with the window over it is also a feature in our favorite model. The bathroom also contains a shower stall.)

We also like the very new area of Hidden Meadows. Here are some pictures off the internet:

And here are a few possibilities on the South end of town. These pictures I took myself when we went out for a Sunday driving, exploring the neighborhoods:

We like Willow Ridge:

Diamond Ridge (note all the huge trees in the distance!):

or Windsong South:

I think what you’ll discover from these photos is that we are looking for a NEWER home, in a newer neighborhood. Personally, we are trying to avoid buying someone else’s bucket of troubles. So, while a house like this 1930 bungalow might be full of charm and character…

…it might also be full of mold and mildew, and badly in need of a new roof or air conditioner (if it even HAS an air conditioner!) So, all in all, we are being very realistic about our house hunting.

Well, this has just been a quick glance at the kinds of houses Russ and I are looking at. I also ought to mention that the houses I’ve pictured here range in price from $139,900 (Hidden Meadows) to $164,900 (the first Harper Creek house, but the seller is dreaming, she’s only had it on the market for one month and we expect to see the price drop perhaps $5,000 to $10,000 before she’ll actually sell it, based on what others in the neighborhood have gone for.)

Oh yeah, the 1930’s house I showed you was $249,000, but mostly because it’ss in the very heart of town, in the “historic district.” The places we’re looking at are anywhere from five to ten miles away from our jobs. That’s a comfortable distance, I think. And in the case of Hidden Meadows, the drive is extremely scenic and relaxing.

Well, I’ll keep you all posted on how the house-hunting is coming along. I have to say, at this point, it’s extremely fun! I hope the whole house buying experience will continue to be so.