impersonating a grown-up

As this is the first weekend since early August where I'm NOT performing or NOT really sick, I'm hanging about getting sh*t done around the apartment mostly. Time to take the air conditioners out of the windows, rinse the filters clear of bunny-fur, and store them till spring. The Roomba is taking a nap at the moment - I made it work rather hard already today, and then I sat down and picked all the brushes clear of threads and fluff. Also ordered a replacement rubbber beater-brush-thingie - mine is pretty chewed up. And spent a little floor-time with the bunnygirl. She seems to be well over her sneezies, so I'll chalk it up to dust.

Also looking at rearranging some furniture. If Merry Measure is going to continue to rehearse here (which looks likely) I should have things set up in an appropriate way. I'm getting tired of moving the couch every Thursday night! It's sort of like one of those kids puzzles - If I move THIS square over here, then I can move THAT square down one.... I'm thinking I ought to get rid of the futon frame - even though Pepper's favorite hideyplace is behind it. It's the mattress from lisagems old sofabed, folded up on a frame I found in the alley, with a cover I bought at Target. And Pepper is the only one who sits on it anyway. But what to replace it with? I'm planning on renting a car next weekend to run lots of pent-up errands (yay Enterprise 50% off weekend rates - cheaper than I-Go in this case) so I'll check IKEA but I may just end up with a papasan from Cost Plus - I have a coupon after all....

But most grown-up of all is the fact that I'm actually beginning the process of moving from renting to owning. I'm tired of pissing my rent money down the drain, it looks like this job will stick around for a while, and it's a buyer's market for condos in the neighborhoods I'm looking at. I want a condo or townhome - Why pay extra for a yard I'm allergic to and don't have time to care for? I hope to get something within walking distance from public transit that includes deeded parking, and then rent out the parking space for a little extra cash.

I found out that I qualify for a couple of city and state low-income first-time-homebuyer programs with things like low fixed mortgage rates and help with closing costs. A part of qualifying for the city one, you have to attend their "Homebuying 101" seminar, which sounds like a fairly useful way to spend 3 hours even without the assistance program! Cheaper than a "For Dummies" book, and you can ask actual questions. I can't make this round - the only Saturday one is Windycon weekend, but I should be able to schedule one shortly after the turn of the year. By then I'll have one credit card comepletely paid off and the other showing a steady decrease, which should help my credit score. Since the time frame I'm looking at is Spring/Summer of 08, the timing should work out nicely.

Sigh - tonight is the memorial gathering for jfc013. I really have no idea what I'm going to say - There is no way to distill 20 years down to words. I miss her every day. It was nice to see some of the GR "Old Guard" last night. People are gaming this afternoon over at chez pensnuggles but she has cats so no go for me :( According to the CTA I should leave around 4:10 to get there on the bus, and I'm still not sure how I'm getting home. Hopefully I can either catch a ride or a couple of us can share a cab back to the train. I have the nametags and stickers, pens, a couple of pictures I found, the readings from rhiannonhero and chriswife, and a large box of tissues. Still not sure what is going to come together about brunch tomorrow, and I might to to a Dark Morris Sunday evening.