Yesterday Becky and I had our last training run before the big race next weekend. We only had to do six miles, but she came up here to go running, so they were a hilly six miles. About a mile and a half in, I stepped wrong on the perfectly flat and even sidewalk, and whammo! I went down like a ton of bricks. It hurt, but not too badly. One good side effect of a lifetime of being clumsy and uncoordinated is that I’m pretty good at falling down in the least hurtful manner possible. I twisted my ankle and banged my knee, but after walking for a couple of minutes, I was able to start running again, and I’m proud to say I finished the rest of the six miles.

I was more worried about my ankle, but it is my knee that really started hurting later. I took it easy today, and it is already hurting less, so I assume I’ll be in good shape for the race. Falling down aside, Becky and I had a nice run. She took care to point out all potential hazards and obstacles that I could potentially trip over. Sadly, that was not enough to keep me from tripping over this one stake that lay in the middle of the sidewalk. I knew it was there and I still ended up running in to it! That’s talent.

After the run, I embarked on a completely different sort of adventure. We’re thinking of buying a new house this summer, so we spent the afternoon driving around looking at model homes. Naturally, I have fallen in love with a specific house in a specific neighborhood, both of which are probably too expensive. Part of me thinks we should just hang out in the house we already have. We have a nice little house in a pretty, quiet neighborhood. But the chance to move closer to work while real estate prices are down is pretty enticing. Not that real estate prices in this area have dropped so far as to make moving closer in all that much cheaper.

I have to say, I found the whole process a little disheartening. All of the models are so loaded with options that they actually cost up to hundreds of thousands of dollars more than the base price. It is hard to tell what the house would be like without all that extra stuff, most of which I can’t afford, and plenty of which I don’t even want. None of the basements come finished, so that’s an added expense too. Then they charge extra for certain lots. If someone could explain to me why you can only get gas fireplaces in new houses, I’d love to hear the reason. I prefer real fireplaces. And then there are the people. Everyone is so determined to have a nice chat with you. Really, I’d like to be left alone so I can form my own opinions, and then I’ll ask questions if I have them.

We ruled out one neighborhood for sure, and I think we’re fairly close to ruling out a second one. That would narrow it down to two neighborhoods and a couple of different builders. Or we could always go with a newer existing home, which might be slightly cheaper than brand new. Or not move at all. Ah well, I don’t have to make a decision for a while yet. And now I have a pile of floor plans to obsess over, which is actually pretty fun for me. Yes, I have found yet another way to be geeky.

So how was your weekend?

Posted by Bad Penguin at March 30, 2008 10:17 PM

Comments

Posted by: tim at April 1, 2008 10:07 PM

Post a comment

Name:

Email Address:

URL:
Remember Me? YesNo

Comments: