Reality Check – From Jen
So I was bored at work today and wanted to see how many of our neighbors are also suffering through this foreclosure process in Florida. Oh my…was I shocked! Check out the map above. I have circled our house and you can see all the people who are going through foreclosures around us.
We have learned some very valuable lessons…such as…don’t pay off debt with a home equity line of credit. It’s pretty stupid to pay off a loan with another loan. Too bad we didn’t have that perspective when we took out equity on our house. But we know what to do next time we have the opportunity to purchase a house and we are going to do it the right way (including not having any other debt when we buy our next house!).
That’s all from me. Just wanted to share what I found today.
Away on Holiday
Vacations …what are those? If you’re English I believe its called holiday which I like better than vacation. Anyways it’s been almost two years since Jen and I have gone away just us on a vacation of any sort. So a couple weeks ago I decided that this week we would go up to the mountains for the weekend and leave everything behind.
Saturday we went hiking up to the Bat Cave which is located in, I kid you not, Bat Cave, North Carolina. The hike started off about 10 and it was a little over a half a mile hike up to the cave and during the hike the guides pointed out different plants and trees and things to not touch or eat. As for the Bat Cave itself don’t be fooled by the name there were no bats, well there are bats, but you don’t see any because they are far within the cave.
Saturday night we went over to Asheville for dinner which was about 30 minutes away from where we were staying and it’s pretty much a hippie town. Nothing against hippies I just felt like I should have had a long beard and hemp pants or something. Jen and I both didn’t feel like we fitted in so ate and left. It was nice town, just odd for us. Sunday morning we got up and headed over to hike Chimney Rock. Before we left for Chimney Rock we had breakfast at a place called Fireside Restaurant & Pancake. The name is a bit odd at first, but they had the best pancakes I have ever had. If you ever in the area of Hendersonville, NC you gotta stop in a try them. So we headed off to Chimney Rock and started our hike about 10 and it was great because not to many people were there yet so we had the mountain to ourselves. An interesting fact about Chimney Rock, Last of the Mohicans filmed a portion of the movie there and about 5 minutes away is a place called Lake Lure and My Fellow Americans and Dirty Dancing was filmed there.
A lot of hiking this weekend and I really loved. Over the weekend Jen and I talked about going on more hiking trips during the summer. This is stuff we could never do in Florida mainly because of the lack of mountains. But I really think moving here has given and Jen and I more things to do together.
Overall a great weekend and tomorrow morning I’m off again traveling. This time it’s for the National Guard, I have a week of Annual Training to do. Pictures posted below, till next time folks.
Never Enough Time
Here we are again. A week and half has gone by and not one post. Even though I’m not traveling I’m playing catch up at the office and it leaves no time to slack off at work…imagine that actually working at work (kids these days). Anyways, mom and Mikey got in Friday afternoon and it was great to see them but not so great to see them go. Weekend went by too fast. Saturday (take a deep breath) mom, Mikey, Jen, Courtney, Greg, and I went to the Lazy 5 Ranch which is like Lion Country Safari, but without the lions and the Safari. Lazy 5 you’re able to drive through with the windows down or in our case the back of the pickup truck and feed the animals as you go. They did have a bear cub (in a cage) that the girls thought was the most adorable thing ever, but that’s where they get you. They look all cute and then wham! Sunday for Fathers day Mikey, Jen, Mike, and I went to play father’s day paintball. I was having a great time until my knee found the corner of rock hiding under leaves; needless to say I was done for the day. I cut it pretty good, but it’s healin up nice.
So one of the perks of being in the Guard is that I can fly free (Space-A travel) with the Air National Guard and I found this out when I was trying to get to Ohio. That didn’t pan out because there are no flights into the area I was going. Anyways, Jen and I are trying to plan a trip to Florida in August and I thought I would revisit that idea and research it a bit more. Space – A travel is free and it sounds great until you realize that you’re flying standby without a reservation and no guarantee that you will get a flight. The first part is you need to find the airport you want to fly out of and sign up and wait. Based on the order of date and time you sign up they call you and tell you when to show up to the airport to see if you made the cut. Second part, after you get the call you show up and wait and wait. Assuming they decide they have space available now you have to see if your name is on the list. There are six categories Cat I is top priority and Ct VI is the least, we would be 6. So if by some chance there was still room after CAT I – V then we would have a chance otherwise we go home and then repeat. As you can tell big headache, so now we are looking into catching a ride with truckers, actually we don’t know what we’re doing yet.
Before I close I wanted to share with you my experience of sleeping. I do not remember the last time I slept without a cat nuzzling me for attention, climbing on me, or purring in my ear. So I stumble to my side of the bed in the dark because I do not want to wake Jen. I check for cats and move any cats that are in my spot and then I check for Jen because she likes to claim my spot for her as well and move her…very cluttered ad popular spot. I then ever so softly get into bed to now wake Jen and realize I missed a cat and the cat of course resists, but I prevail champion. It’s amazing how keen your senses become after taking one away and in this case hearing and sight. I can’t see the cat but I sure can hear her purring away sounds like a lawn mower. Of course a different cat needs to come investigate the situation and see if I need help and see’s it’s all under control so decides to lay on me purring.
Bronx Bombers!
I got back Friday from Connecticut and then I was off to Greensboro for National Guard drill for the weekend. Then flew out again on Monday and here I am in Poughkeepsie, New York. I was able to see not only my first Yankees game, but also see Yankees stadium before it’s torn down. Even though the Yankees lost and it was over 100 degrees (really New York??) it was a great game. Had some excellent seats 30 rows back from the first base line, no second string guys all starting line-up, a two run homer by A-Rod, and got to see the Moose (Mike Mussina) start and Mariano Rivera close the game. When you look at the picture’s you’ll notice a few pictures of the grounds crew and you maybe asking what’s so great about that. Well during the 7th inning stretch the grounds crews come’s out and they do a dance/skit to the song of YMCA. It’s was actually pretty cool and wish I could of got a few better ones, but I didn’t know until about half way through.
As for work Doug, my boss, is allowing me to teach the classes I taught the first part of the class today and then I’ll teach again tomorrow. I tell you what teaching really tires you out. By the end of class I could barely form words properly or complete a thought. Funny thing happened today, since we’ve been traveling so much I actually lost track of what rental car we were driving this week. When you have had three different rentals plus your own vehicle it’s tough. Anyways Friday early morning I’m hoping to fly out and then be able to meet my mom when she gets to the house, but if it’s not in the morning it’ll be in the afternoon that I get home.
Overall it’s been a very busy and non-stop week for me, but I’ve done some great things. Miss you Jen and can’t wait to get home!
Posted below are a few pictures from the Yankees game.
It’s Been Awhile
So it’s been sometime since I’ve updated the blog. I finally finished my busy school schedule just to get busy with work. I’m back in Connecticut this week for work and then over to Poughkeepsie, NY next week. That trip should be fun my boss bought tickets to the Yankees games against the Royals. I’ll finally get to see the infamous Yankee Stadium and Monument Park.
I found out that cats teeth are like hypodermic needles. One of our cats bit me on my hand two weeks ago and it became infected really quickly. Went to the doc and he gave me prescription for penicillin and told me cats bites are the worse. It’s partly my fault, but Jen will tell you otherwise…love you Jen. The cat was about to throw up and I went to grab him to keep him in the kitchen. For some reason the cat felt threatened and then proceeded to run upstairs to the safety of the bed. As I gave chase upstairs to the bedroom and when I got there I grabbed the one thing the cat forgot to hide, his tail. He apparently did not like that to much…not sure why. So that’s how I got the bite, but do not worry all is ok with my hand and the cat’s tail.
The past two houses we’ve been in we’ve had great neighbors. Our last neighbor, Bob, would cut are grass and our new neighbor, Canon, gave me a lawn mower a few weeks ago. Then Saturday I was talking to him about his motorcycles and that Jen and I were looking into getting our license’s. Anyways he offered to take me out and teach me how to ride and get the basic’s. Anyways I miss you family and I miss you Jen.
