Well, I’ve been back in the townhome for a while now – still getting things set back up and ready for “everyday life” – still got plenty of unpacking to do. I’ve got enough unpacked and ready to be able to cook at home, which is a good thing, and to watch TV and movies, which I don’t do much of anyway. I’ve also got the basement relatively empty and ready for shoots, of which I did one just before Christmas. Hopefully I’ll get around to catching up with my Photoshop backlog soon – I’ve got a lot of stuff to correct / post.
Recently my life has been…. difficult. Had problems at work, centering around a long-standing issue that some folks are aware of (and if you’re not, it’s probably best you remain that way), real estate problems (paying rent plus mortgage for six and a half months is Not Fun(r)(tm)). I’m starting to get a grip on things, starting to build back up the rainy day fund, but it’s slow going. Things always seem to drain away far faster than they build up… especially where money is concerned. I’ve got a subletter in the apartment for all but the last month and a half of the lease now, and although I’m still paying about $150 a month for that apartment, that’s a hell of a lot better than $800 a month.
So, once I get past June and July (the lease is up in mid-July), I can start thinking about remodeling the house. The first project will be the basement – I know I should probably start with the kitchen or living room on the main level, especially if I want to sell it to try and move to the other side of RTP and make my commute shorter, but I’ve decided to do the basement first, since it’s already mostly empty and so there’s far less stuff to shuffle around and move out of the way. First thing that’s going to go is the drop-tile ceiling – it will be replaced with a sheetrock ceiling, because the drop-tile just looks bad. I’ve probably got some re-wiring to do to re-run some ethernet cables before the new ceiling goes in, but that’s all 7 or 8 months out minimum.
There are a few more things running around in my head, but they’re not journal-ready yet, so I’ll stick with what I’ve got and post them when I finish processing them.
