I continued to be so pleased with others’ generosity, in regards to the house, that I am unsure what to do. I bet I seem really awkward and ungrateful about it all, but as we continue to receive items like a recliner, a bed, a coffee table, etc., definitely items somewhere above “minor” on the spectrum, I am definitely appreciative even if I do not express it well. Which, I guess, I should likely work on, eh?

Gradually, I continue to enjoy tackling the odd project here and there throughout the house. The upstairs toilet no longer continues running post-flush. All the scrap wood and random debris has been out of the office, and instead some organizational accessories added, making it soon truly feel like a beacon of productivity and connection. Little things, like organizing the bathroom stuff and getting items into the dresser, still are tangible enough to provide satisfaction. Myself and Molly have settled into this slightly fun, not-entirely-serious pattern of me getting the right side of everything (bathroom drawers, dresser drawers, driveway, etc.) and her receiving the left, just for consistency’s sake.

And, by the way, from the geeky perspective of a retro gamer and movie lover, my mind continues to be blown by the use of Netflix on the Wii with wi-fi. I can sit down and, on demand, watch movies on a video game console via a wireless web connection. Crazy times we live in, and I am definitely getting far and beyond my $8 a month worth out of the service.

Finally found my basketball! Was in a random place, tucked away inside a footstool thingy that doubles as a chest-like container. Came very close to shootin’ it up outside on a neighbor’s goal. I am sure that initial shoot-around is coming soon. The weather is definitely already permitting.

Speaking of neighbors, one thing I have to love about this neighborhood is the fact that you can, quite literally, walk down the street and notice someone reading their Bible on their doorstep. Awesome.

I am blessed. Really.

After years of meandering around the freelance scene for web content, I am excited to break into legitimate print publication with a piece in the July/August issue of Camp Business magazine! Their publication is among the select few that we receive at my workplace, Camp Manitoqua, for its industry-relevant insights and information. In addition to their lovely print edition, they have a digital version available online for free as well. My article concerns the difference between a good facilitator and a great facilitator, in terms of climbing wall/ropes course facilitation.

Warm fuzzies.

Follow Camp Manitoqua & Retreat Center and Camp Business Magazine on Twitter.

In case you didn’t know: Jesus Christ died on a cross for your sins. Just sayin’. The Good News, though, is that he conquered death (and thus, your sins) and rose again, allowing you to take full, free advantage of His sacrifice in your place so that you can spend eternity with ‘im. Pretty cool, huh?

###

The word “aftermath” has such a negative connotation. Which is fine. The literature-lovin’ part of me would love to believe it is because of the “math” in there, but I know that’s not the case.

So me and Molly drove down to my hometown homestead in Indianapolis for Easter weekend, meaning we got to spend quality time with my parents, my sister and her husband, and a few assorted other friends and family.

These trips are great, although they do usually manage to stir up some of the silt (not dirt, necessarily, see?) in the lower bits of my soul.

I overthink things. I consider questions such as: Is it healthy to consider one’s past and reflect accordingly, or better to stray from the path of reflection altogether?

Not that there was anything especially disconcerting to, in retrospect, consider. In fact, this was an intriguing trip, in terms of its relevance to my modern life, especially as a new homeowner. I, finally, after over three years of having moved out now, got to clean out my old bedroom closet and dresser. A trash bag of junk thrown away, a box or two of books to let me parents decide whether to keep or take to Half Price Books, several containers of stuff I wanted (including my old DVD/VCR player, w00t), and the dresser and the shelving atop it.

I suppose I am growing to enjoy re-arranging furniture, as my projects tonight are simply to re-situation my bedroom in the house in a for-the-next-few-months configuring that will include the dresser, while also moving the desk and possibly another fixture or two into what will be my office, now that there is room for it, since the aforementioned haphazardly assembled wooden bedframe is removed.

###

I run the Twitter account at Camp Manitoqua, and we got five new followers over Easter weekend without any sort of promotional visibility. Sweet. I am greatly looking forward to when our newsletter goes out, including the Twitter notice, and we will finally have a mainstream outlet in which we voiced “hey, we have a Twitter account” to our mailing list. I believe I have always been realistic in my expectations for the account, in that I honestly do realize we are not going to gain dozens in the next few weeks, but I do look forward to seeing how I can (continue to) apply the lessons I learn in my freelancing promotional activities to my actual full-time workplace responsibilities as well.

###

Speaking of freelancing, let’s outro on an article of mine I recently was e-mailed about, somewhat complimented on, and had forgotten I ever wrote but, now, in re-reading it, despite the typos actually do enjoy: The Internet as a Force for Change. Even if it de-emphasizes the initial implication (utilizing the web as a vessel for social justice and other beneficial means), I always enjoy a good technology discussion, despite my stark absence of qualifications and technical knowledge.

So in one bedroom there was this crude wooden bedframe haphazardly bolted together and bolted to the wall. There were lathed legs on two-by-fours with insert pieces that a plywood piece sat on, all cobbled together all bolty bolty.

I really should have taken pictures. Meh.

Basically, I got out my trusty ratchet set and started crankin’ on those bolts to gradually screw ‘em out, one by one. By the end of the job, I had had to use a few different heads, two flashlights, and a hammer.

Took more time and elbow grease than I anticipated, but the task is completed! Now I can use that room for my office — complete with a desk graciously given to me by the Boomsmas.

I will be the first to admit that I am not the handiest guy, and that I have always been more of a creative person than a practical one; but, in working with my hands, in feeling some pain and aches, I always admire the practicality. Tonight, among some tiny little practical lessons I learned, I also received some romanticized insights concerning such crude work, such as the smell that metal released when it is scored and scoured. It is a wonderful thing, like the steel is bleeding when exerted. Poetic, even.

I consider this act tonight to be a milestone because it marks the first real action I can consider to be “home improvement,” one that required tools, and one that made me feel like I still had at least a little of my masculinity intact.

~*~

I love spending time in the house.

Even if it is doing things like removing a weird bedframe, doing dishes, and doing laundry, the novelty has certainly not yet worn off. I yearn for it, appreciate it, and admit that sometimes at my desk at work I know I would rather be at the house. At least, until something distracts me.

I suppose that can be one sign that this is really becoming home.

Got Internet access at the house last night. Expect blog posts to update much more frequently now, haha.

I’m a tightwad.

That is, my fiscal policy is rather conservative. I have no debt. I pay every cent on my credit card within a couple days of a charge going through. I believe in savings. I purchase stuff in cash.

So when it came time to buy appliances, it was tough, but I bit the bullet (so to speak) and went for some premium products, despite them being a little above my budget. As long as they last for years and we (being me, Molly, and our theoretical children) enjoy them, I figure it will be worthwhile.

That would be the refrigerator and the stove. The washing machine and dryer (drying machine?) were cheap second-hand models. That makes up for it, I suppose.

~*~

But for tonight, it’s the second-to-final phase of moving. This would be items like my clothes, some hygiene items, dishes, etc. The final would be my bed and a few assorted items that shall be moved tomorrow night.

April Fool’s for me, this year, means living in my new (to me, at least) house.

Sweet.

I am almost finished taping up boxes and tossing old stuff out.

This is always a more intense process than it should be, for me — I think too hard, I feel too deeply, and I am terrible at shaking the temptation to relive bygone memories.

While one of those temptations is to wax poetic for a few thousands words like I would have a decade ago in a similarly nostalgic mood, instead I will just list some of the most interesting items I have uncovered as I meticulously go through my things in preparation for their movement into the new house or discarding to the garbage:

1) A copy of The Bourne Supremacy. I had no idea I owned this. Knowing me, I probably hid it from myself, because the OCD/mentally disturbed part of me finds it really annoying that I only own one movie from the trilogy.

2) A collection of the letters I received when I first moved away from Indianapolis, where I was born, raised, and experienced more “life stuff” than can be expressed here. Skimming them was very bittersweet; an affirming note of encouragement from a spiritual mentor, a touchingly simple and simply touching “I’ll miss you” letter from a family at my old church, an “oh by the way I’m in love with you” letter, a few cards. I suppose it is only appropriate to go over these, given the similar circumstances.

3) My camera! Seriously, I “lost” it for months. I mean, it is by no means a great camera, but there are still 240 pics on it (about to transfer them to the laptop), and it is still good for a good run or two, I bet, nicks and all.

4) Some politically charged DVDs about militant Islam, the invasion of communist principles in the Catholic Church, the condemnation of child sacrifice in the Bible (that would be a pro-life vid, if you didn’t catch the subtlety), and others I have been meaning to watch. Definitely boxed up for the move, haha.

5) My collection of letters from an inmate currently serving time at a maximum-security facility and is kept locked up in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day. Many people of these types (you know, the horrifyingly brilliant type with broken minds who killed some folks) you are not even allowed to write to; once upon a time, I went down a list, trying a letter each, and found one willing to correspond in return. I am re-inspired to write him again (it has been a while), and may someday reveal our exchanges. Remarkably fascinating stuff. I used to be quite the letter-writer, apparently. What a world.

6) A few very sad notebooks where I would start a personal Bible study, journal my insights, but inevitably fizzle out. A wretched cycle. I have been so much better in my Bible reading lately, but with the added charge of being called to be a Godly husband soon as well, it is difficult to not feel some added pressure, even as I know that it should not work that way (Jesus calls me with love, not pressure, to boil it down in gist).

7) Apparently I have this weird habit of keeping items from people I once knew who are now deceased. Uh, awkward. Toss, but a tough toss.

8) Sketches for my book cover. This is funny, because my book actually came up in conversation recently. Almost threw me off-guard.

I am still a sap for sentimentality, but recognize its danger, and am much less of a pack rat then I used to be.

I still miss a lot, though, I admit. I miss many things about life that I do not believe I will ever quite experience again.

But, again, rather than spill my guts about it all — I can (perhaps finally) honestly say:

There is even more that I look forward to.

Life is good. God is good.

1. First Home Repair: Removing a Dead Squirrel from the Hot Water Heater

So, basically, on Saturday Molly calls me and tells me there’s a tail sticking out of the hot water heater. Thing is, we had just done the final walk-through with our realtor a few days before and it had not been there. When I arrived, I was able to unscrew the ventilation housing and, with her brave help, smoothly pull the fairly fresh carcass from the pipe. Needless to say, that was something we laughed at, and will tell the story to many people in the future. And we have hot water now.

2. First Trip to Home Depot

Was tonight — got a ladder, primer, other painting supplies, bolt cutter (previous owner left a padlock permanently locking the fence gate, kinda weird), light bulbs, new faucet washer (o ring), other items.

Stuff like this definitely makes it feel more “real” before I am able to move in in a couple weeks.

To make a very long story very short: I finally closed on my house this morning.

Was going to have pictures, but can’t figure out how to get them off my phone and onto my laptop… haha.