I have spent the last week painting and now I can see a big difference. The wallpaper is out and the kitchen is red.
Once we had our mortgage documents, I had enough proper paperwork to get my new driver’s license and car tags. I spent 2.5 hours at the DMV and they took my license. If you have never had a license from Wisconsin, they take your old one and mail you a new one. I asked what I used in the meantime and I was given this:
The woman did mention I might want to carry my passport with me as a form of ID. Geez.
Things are just now beginning to bloom in Milwaukee. It appears that our new house even comes with flowers. I love the tulips! I haven’t figured out what the yellow flowers are yet.
Wade and I spent the evening working at our new house. About 11:30 pm, Wade decided it was time to head back to the apartment. He was parked behind me and left a few minutes before I was ready. I finished cleaning up and started looking for my car keys. Then I kept looking – counters, drawers, my purse, etc. I even went outside to see if Wade had left them in my car when he installed my fixed CD player (Yeah for CDs again). They weren’t there, but I realized he had left my interior lights on (oops). I went inside to call Wade (on my quickly dying cell phone) and see if he had put my keys somewhere odd when he had been cleaning. As I waited for him to pick up, I heard his phone ringing in the house. At this point I was pretty sure Wade had both sets of car keys and I had both cell phones. I didn’t have the number to our apartment building so I couldn’t call the door man. Then I decided to call my mom and have her email Wade. I knew he would check his email fairly soon after getting home.
Madison and I settled down with a book to wait. The worst that could happen would be to spend the night, but I knew Wade would get worried about me at some point. I was just hoping he would pull out both sets of car keys out of his pocket when he got home.
About 45 minutes later Wade arrived. He hadn’t immediately realized it, but before he got the email from my mom he found he had two sets of car keys. He had loaded up his car with another load before coming to rescue me!
As of today, we have possession of two houses. Wade and I had a little trouble getting the previous owners out – their 6 pm turned into 9 pm. But they are gone now and we are about to start working – lots of work. Here are all of the “before” pictures. Hopefully I will have some “after” pictures by the end of the week.
Wade brought home funny pictures today. The lithium cells in power tool batteries are somewhat hard to come by. It turns out the ones in METCO batteries are especially good for RC hobbiest. Some people will go to great links to cheat the system. This guy went so far as to epoxy in the bolts before returning the “nonworking” tool to Home Depot.
Wade and I spent the day flying and arrived in Milwaukee around 5:30 pm. We caught a shuttle to our apartment, dropped off our luggage, and then went to get Madison. We ordered Chinese food on the return trip. We had Chinese food on the couch while I opened presents. Tomorrow Wade is taking me out for dinner, but tonight it was fun to just relax.
We were even lazier as a group today. I know for a fact most of us didn’t shower till 9 or 10 at night. We started the morning off with pancakes and omelets. The rest of the morning and afternoon was spent playing games, napping, or reading. Travis, Cori, Wade, and I had an awesome game of Spades. We also learned a new game – Bang. Let’s not forget that we are all from Tech. The closest neighbors had an unencrypted wireless connection so we all ventured to the basketball court at least once to check email.
Wade spent the afternoon hiking and found the trail to the top of a nearby hill. We decided to try the hike as a group. We piled into the two rented SUVs and drove until the rode disappeared. At that point we started hiking – straight up! Most of us were having quite a bit of trouble with the altitude and the hard climb – poor Derek even had Kaley on his back.
After the hike we decided to munch on appetizers – homemade guacamole and an incredible garlic and goat cheese spread by Travis. Wade cooked burgers and we all ate and ate. Then Wade surprised me with a very chocolately birthday cake! The left over candles were rearranged for Kaley’s benefit.
By this point we were all exhausted. Brad, Travis, and Kaley cuddled on the couch to watch Care Bears and the rest of us played games.
Everyone is embracing our vacation – breakfast was eaten around 10 and showers didn’t start till eleven or twelve. There are plenty of beds in the cabin, but only two bathrooms. The water is provided from a well and we were warned that long showers could use up all the water. We tried to keep them short and didn’t run out of water.
We decided on an excerusion to Chili’s for lunch and then a quick hike around the Garden of the Gods.
The hike was on a paved walkway with a few sidetrips to marked off areas (I’m talking to Luke, Wade, and Katie). The weather was wonderful and we all enjoyed being outside.
Kaley walked for a while collecting rocks and then got a ride from Dad and a short nap too.
Wade and I flew out today for Denver, Colorado, to meet up with some old college friends. We arrived in Denver on time, picked up Luke, and started the drive to Colorado Springs. Cori and Derek made most of the arrangements and we arrived at the cabin to find snow on the ground (we can’t seem to get away from the snow).
Jamie and Travis were the first to arrive and had stocked the place with food. Cori, Derek, Kaley, and Katie all arrived before bedtime. We are a group that loves games – board games, card games, nintendo, etc. (Yes that is me in the corner of the couch with a book.)