Wake Me Up When September Ends
Not sure if it's true, but someone told me that today is the last official day of Summer 2005. Every year around time, I feel a little sad that the summer is ending, but this year feels a little different. I don't know if I have ever been happy at the end of summer, but this year I actually feel kind of relieved that it is going to be over soon.
Not that I had a bad summer, but it was definitely very busy and lots of work. Obviously a lot of that had to do with the new house, and the many things that go along with it. Trying to shop for furniture has been a challenge, and taken much longer than I hoped. Either I am looking in the wrong places, or I am being too picky. But I'm feeling optimistic about finally deciding on some permanent furniture by the end of this weekend.
The past few months of work have been really busy too. It's probably been the most stressful time since I started working, with my project reaching some critical stages where deadlines and milestones start to get tight. I think by the end of this month, though, things will settle down and it won't be nearly as crazy.
Maybe it's not so much that I'm glad that summer is ending, as I am looking forward to what's ahead. For one, I think my favorite thing about owning my own place is knowing that all the time, energy, and money I spend on my house is worthwhile because it is going to the place where I live. And when I actually do get the time to lay in my Love Sac, listen to some music, and just relax for a while, those moments are that much more valuable and meaningful to me, because they kind of represent everything I have worked for.
As an aside, I want to say to anyone out there who is thinking about buying a house, has enough money for a down payment, and job stability to commit to a few years of staying at one place, DO IT. Not just because it is a financially sound thing to do (Rich or Vira can probably provide more statistics on that), but because of everything I just described above.
And make sure you get it in a location where you want it to be, even if it means you can't get as nice of a place. For some of you it might be downtown in Chicago; for me, I couldn't be happier with being in Schaumburg. In 2+ months of living here, I absolutely love the area and all the conveniences around this place.
As far as work goes, I wish I could say the same things I said about home ownership, but I can't. My project is probably headed for a very profitable future, but other than maybe some increased job security, I won't be seeing a whole lot of added benefits directly related to my hard work. Although soon I might be able to tell people that the next time you get on a plane, you can feel the assurance that goes along with being protected by one of the products that I worked on. Or maybe that doesn't make you feel that safe after all?
Aside from everything else, October in general feels like it will be a great month. It remains to be seen whether or not it will live up to expectations, but I am excited nonetheless. More to come.
