I get stressed when things are up in the air. We don’t definitely have the house yet, only have attained “conditional approval”. I don’t know how much the homeowner’s insurance payments will be. Things like this get me stressed and fantasizing about worst case scenarios (spoiler alert: I usually end up homeless with cancer. Or blood clots. Oh! Or a special, new sort of blood clot that is caused by cancer.)
I am very thankful to have a husband who recognizes when I need to explode a little and will hold me and tell me go ahead and cry. Which I do, in a most unladylike and blubbering fashion. But it always makes me feel better afterward, and that’s the important thing.
The house has passed its FHA inspection/appraisal thingamajig. I think at this point the only thing we are waiting on is homeowner’s insurance and finalizing all the underwriting crap. I can’t believe the process is as involved as it is. Several people have warned me about the massive amounts of paperwork that I will have to sign at closing…to the point where I am just imagining this towering stack of contracts wherein I will spend eight hours signing my soul away in exchange for this house. I wasn’t really using my soul anyway, so trading it in for my own home sounds like an acceptable deal.
On the good music side of things, I’ve been listening to the newest albums by Coldplay (“Mylo Xyloto”), The Cranberries (“Roses”), and The Shins (“Port of Morrow”) a lot. I would recommend all three.
This song isn’t on any of the aforementioned albums, but it’s another song I’ve been listening to a lot as well and helps combat the stress. Great song by Keane called “Stop for a Minute.”
Also, I haven’t mentioned this before, but Mr. W and I are seeing Coldplay in concert on my birthday! Happy birthday to me, indeed.
Lastly, I just had to share this article. Two teenage girls were struck by a car while sunbathing in the middle of the street. I am trying to have a little sympathy for them, but if your ass is sunbathing in the middle of the street you are kind of asking for it.
The Book Thief – Markus Zusak
The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
On Writing – Stephen King
From the Corner of His Eye – Dean Koontz
The Walking Dead series – Robert Kirkman
Bridge to Terabithia – Katherine Paterson
House of Leaves – Mark Z Danielewski
The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
1984 – George Orwell
Outlander – Diana Gabaldon
Teri’s Ten Least Favorite Books
Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
Demon Seed – Dean Koontz
The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
Anything by Dan Brown
Cell – Stephen King
Wicked – Gregory Maguire
Gravity’s Rainbow – Thomas Pynchon
The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
The Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger
The Box – Richard Matheson [whatever you do, do not watch the movie either]
In more music-related news, I really enjoy reggae music. I think you would be hard-pressed to find another genre of music that is as positive and upbeat. I especially enjoy listening to reggae in the winter, because every time I hear it I think of bright sunshine, the ocean, and pleasant breezes. My own temperate island amidst January bleakness.
In fact, my desktop background is currently this:
Though, now, when I hear Three Little Birds, there is also the image of Will Smith crying over his dog thanks to the I Am Legend movie. He’s still on a gorgeous beach in the bright sunshine and pleasant breezes, but it still manages to dampen the overall carefree feeling.
I went to an Imogen Heap concert at the end of May and am finally now getting around to posting some pictures. She is awesome live. If you like her, even a little bit, you should try to see her perform.
A lot of change is a-coming in 2010, and Teri no likey change. While some of it is good change, it’s still stressful. Here is 2010′s To-Do list:
*Finish grad school
*Be out of debt [with the exception of student loans]
*Get married
*Move into a new apartment
*Get my own kitty!
Is it bad that getting my own cat was written with more enthusiasm than getting married was? Oops. Don’t tell Mr. W! I just really like cats, is all.
The downside to 2010, however, is saying goodbye to the current roomies. Tim is supposedly headed west to California and Paige will go wherever her search for a field-related job leads her. [I've decided to pepper the three Chicago animation houses with her resume until they've no choice but to hire her.] But still, it is sort of the end of an era. A baby era-let, if you will.
I also wanted to take a second to look back over the year. In the beginning of 2009 I committed myself to making the year more about me. Not dating, going to school, getting healthier. That has gotten me to this year where I will get married [go figure that one out--though "they" do say that it's when you stop looking that you meet someone], graduating with an MBA, and…well still trying to get healthier [stupid joint problem]. My goals for 2010 are: 1.) get over this stupid joint problem, 2.) lose weight, and 3.) swear less [I first accidentally typed, "sweat less" which I suppose would also be a good goal, albeit a little contradictory to the one previous].
I will end the year with a song. The rest of their stuff is meh, but this one I listen to on repeat.
Yeah, yeah , yeah. I’m a lazy bum when it comes to updating. I have a project for discussion which will start end of December/beginning of January and that will require more posting. Perhaps then more posting will occur.
I’m also a lazy bum when it comes to uploading pictures. Here are some shots and a video of “Linger” (all taken by Mr. W since I was too busy singing at the top of my lungs to stop for photography).
First the shots:
(here’s some yummy arms!)
The concert was a seriously great time. I hadn’t seen them since 1996 and they were every bit as fun as they used to be. I’m really glad they’re touring again.
On a holiday side note: Very excited for Christmas! Mr. W is flying down to NC with me and will spend the holiday with me and my family. It’s going to be great. They got to meet him over Thanksgiving weekend (so it’s not a first meeting or anything), and seemed to really like him.
I am also excited for New Year’s Eve where I anticipate getting my first-ever New Years Kiss. It’s sad that I’ve never had one, and it’s damn time we changed that.
