So here's been the newsy stuff lately.

I finally found a house I wanted that didn't immediately get snapped up by investors offering cash, which is a minor miracle. Because almost every house in this town gets sold to investors. I was lucky.

Almost as soon as I paid my earnest money, my old car had a maintenance issue -- a failing head gasket -- that would cost more to repair than the car was worth. I loved my old Lumina -- most reliable car I ever had, so no wonder they quit making 'em. But everything eventually hits its fail point. So I had to go buy a new car right after agreeing to buy a new house. What the hell, not like I need food to live, right?

Anyway, I got a Subaru. My dad loves 'em. I picked one that drove well and had a good reliability rating from "Consumer Reports." 

I was able to give the Lumina to a local charity that will auction it off, then use the money to help local folks pay their rent and utilities, buy diapers and eyeglasses, and a lot more. They were ridiculously happy about getting the donation and loaded me down with magnets and brochures. I hope they're able to help a lot of people. 

I was fairly tired of all the stress a week or so ago, so I gave up on packing for a while so I could go watch "Guardians of the Galaxy." It was as good as everyone said. If you haven't seen it yet, you really ought to go take it in.

Anyway, I closed on the new house yesterday. My mom and dad have been here packing stuff up -- and making absolutely spectacular progress that I'd never manage alone -- and we took a few carloads of stuff over to the new house yesterday evening. We have a lot more stuff to pack and move, and it's all fairly daunting and exhausting. We've got movers coming over Tuesday morning to take everything we didn't manage to carry over ourselves. At that point, I won't just have a new house -- I'll have a new home. The folks will stay here for a few days fixing up some stuff, hanging curtains and pictures, and stuff like that. I have to buy a refrigerator, a washer and dryer, and a lot of other stuff. 

I've got other stuff on my long-term wishlist. I'd like to buy a bed for the guest bedroom -- I've got a hideabed now, but as long as I have a guest bedroom, I figure it should actually have a bed. Do you know how expensive beds are? They're pretty expensive. I also have a tree in the backyard that probably needs to come down, but it'll take a few months before I can afford to hire competent tree guys who won't just knock the whole thing onto my house. I should probably try to replace the tree, too. Do you know how expensive trees are? They're pretty expensive, too. 

I haven't yet given notice at the apartment. I'm not a big fan of the current owners. They seem really quick to come up with stupid policies, and every time we get any communication from them, it's always weirdly passive-aggressive and tends to assume all the renters are hoodlums who are somehow cheating the apartment. Plus I've got a slow leak in the bathroom ceiling which they aren't really interested in fixing. I just hope the bathroom ceiling stays up 'til after I've moved out.

Luckily, I'll have all of next week off so I'll have time to take care of (hopefully) everything.

Anyway, to sum up: new car; new house; saw a movie; getting a week of vacation; still freaking out a little.

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