Back in business, sort of

So Mike took a look at my computer and said that for him everything booted up fine. Matt picked it up from him last night and I booted it up this morning. Everything's running really slow and sometimes when I click on things, they don't respond. Which is not the problem it was having when I gave it to Mike. What the heck? I think this stupid computer is mocking me. I feel like the main character in one of those stories of people taking their car into the mechanic complaining about a noise, and the car refuses to make the noise for the mechanic.

Well, the reality is that I bought this computer just about 5 years ago, and it has lasted pretty well over that time. I bought it from a friend who owns a computer business and I told him at the time that I didn't want to have to buy a new one for a long time. I know that in the world of computers, 5 years is a pretty long time. So I am guessing that it will need to be replaced before the end of the year, and if it dies and I have to use the iPod Touch and Matt's computer until we've save enough to get another, I'll survive.

Today we're going to meet with a real estate agent for the first time to look at houses. We've been talking to someone from Bank of America about a mortgage, and we're not really impressed with him. We've also talked to a few people who've emphatically said that we should avoid BofA, so we're going to talk to two other people: one recommended by the realtor and one by friends of ours who just bought a home.

What am I hoping for in a home? A few things:

• We don't mind having to do renovations, and we are prepared to live in a house which isn't our dream house to start out. But anything we buy needs to have the potential to be a house we live in for quite some time. There's only so much you can do with a small house on a small lot. It also has to be fairly habitable while we're getting projects done. So any house which needs a new roof AND plumbing AND electrical AND furnace/hot water heater is going to be off the list because that's too many things which have to be done at once right away.
• I would like a yard big enough to both have a garden and a place for kids to play.
• I'd like to have enough room to have many people over at once. Right now in the apartment we could invite maybe six people over and have them all hanging out in the living room or dining room. If we wanted to have either side of our families over, it just would be too crowded, and both at the same time would be impossible. I don't want a house that's big and sprawling and I would rather err on the side of too small, but I think the minimum would be about 1000 square feet, 1500 would be ideal when we start to have children and need room for them.
• Along with the size for entertaining, a kitchen big enough to cook in. The kitchen in this apartment has a tiny refrigerator and about 4 linear feet of usable counter space. Not enough.
• Close enough to our families that visiting often isn't too difficult. My sister and her husband live in East Taunton and even though I love hanging out with them we simply don't see them as often because it's such a long drive to each other's houses.

All of this we're hoping for under $140K. Yes, there are houses on the market like that for around that price. They are just badly in need of cosmetic and functional repairs, or they're not in a good location, or both.

• Bonuses would be a fireplace, a garage, more than a quarter of an acre of land, and a big enough bathroom to someday put in a big whirlpool tub. The apartment I was in before this one had a big 2 person jacuzzi and it was sooooooo awesome. Especially in winter after coming in from shoveling, sinking into that tub with a book and cup of tea was heaven. Any of those things would be nice to have, but we don't need them.

So we'll see what we find today. We are lucky enough to have friends and family who are handy and who can help us look at houses with a critical and realistic eye. Keep us in your prayers as we go through this process!