Monday, April 4, 2016

Phase 2: Commence

I have a lot of catching up to do. I'll start first with life:

During mid February I was beginning to feel really burnt out. I had went hard on this house for five months, dedicating a lot of my time and effort to working on making it liveable again, and dealing with a lot of stress from all the contractor bullshit that I've posted on this blog. Couple that with breaking up with a girl who I had the strongest feelings for of any woman I've ever dated, the result was I badly needed a vacation. A buddy at work, Jason, had been searching for vacation spots to spend a week in March, and was planning on going by himself. He had asked me before but due to money constraints I had said no. One day I asked him what the price difference between single and double occupancy was, and it turned out to be $500 less. I was in. Cancun here we come.


It was spring break in Cancun during the time we went, and just I remembered it twelve years earlier, it was insane. The clubs there are like none I've ever seen, and even though I'm not a big club guy, I loved it. We partied like it was the last big party we'll ever have in our lives. And that is the reality of the situation: I'm in my 30's and starting to wind down those parts of my life. I still like to go out and get wasted with friends, but the up until 7am fucked up messes we were every night was a magnitude I doubt I'll every be able replicate again. We did it and we did it hard. 

And when I got back home it was back to business: get the house in order. And it's getting there. The upstairs is nearly done, all I have left to do is change some lights, plugs and switches, touch up the window trim, and hang the mirror and towel rack in the bathroom. I just had a lady come by today to replace blinds in a few of the rooms, as well. At the end of the month my friend (who is also named Kyle) will be moving in, so that extra money will definitely help finance the basement suite, which has the green light since I got approved for another $42.5k line of credit. 


One of the most significant things I've done to make this house feel like home is hang the fridge magnets that I've collected on my travels. I swore I would never put them up until I had my own home, and now here I am: grounded. And speaking of my fridge, the original one already crapped out. After only three months of being plugged in, I arrived home from Mexico to find the freezer defrosting. Verdict: cracked compressor lines. Thankfully the new one is working just fine.


In the next couple weeks I will start doing the backyard, which will include putting up a fence between my house and the murder house, re-grading the yard to fix drainage problems, re-sodding the grass, building a staircase from the backdoor leading onto a new flagstone patio with a fire pit, and possibly putting in a hot tub that I might buy from my parents. Soon enough I will put some shelving units and a work bench in the garage, which has been drywalled! 


Oh, and speaking of the murder neighbours, they moved out! The case still hasn't been solved, to my knowledge, so I'm assuming that's why they're leaving. The house still isn't for sale and there's a half jug of milk that's been sitting on the step in the warm weather we've been having for the past three weeks, but they're out of my hair. I'm assuming the place will be sold as is, since the dead vehicles and junk in the back yard is still there. I would never have wished them gone under the circumstances that forced them to leave, but it's definitely a relief to not have to deal with them anymore.