I think I will make it a goal in the upcoming lease year (from now until next August) to save as much money as possible, buy as few things as possible, and get rid of as much stuff as possible. I have a hard time believing that Moose and I will stay in North Minneapolis for more than a year (unless something really awesome happens, or we suddenly become acclimated and have no issues... we'll see though). This is unfortunate because I know Moose really does not want to keep moving every year. We thought we had a keeper in this house. The house definitely is. We will see how the neighborhood works out.
Anyway, I think this is a great opportunity for us to live like we "belong" in the neighborhood. I don't mean to sound condescending when I say that, but it's true. We are not impoverished. We are, however, getting a good deal on a nice rental home. It's time to start saving up money for a house and getting rid of all of our unnecessary possessions that make moving so hard. In 11 months, we can have a nice chunk of change saved and hopefully have paired down our stuff enough to make the next move easy. Or, we can not move and still be no worse for wear. Time will tell.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
More North Minneapolis Woes
Well, we're pretty much moved into our new place in North Minneapolis now. There was another shooting on Wednesday that made the headlines. Apparently somebody decided to shoot at people holding a peace vigil. Yay. I guess crime is still down like 20% in North Minneapolis as compared to this time last year. Let's hope it just keeps going down.
Yesterday, I decided to drive through some of the really nice areas of North Minneapolis. These are the areas about two blocks west of us, going up the edge of the parkway. I'm trying to convince myself that we are close enough to this area to be in its area of effect. It is for certain that there are a lot less crimes in the nicer area, but we're *not* in that area. I just need to keep telling myself - we have insurance, it's ok. But, I worry about the next time we need to go out of town, or somebody picks up on our Monday night excursions to Eden Prairie...
Then I sit here thinking to myself, what happens the next time we move? We will kind of *have* to do everything at once, I think. Time to start getting rid of EVERYTHING. Oh well, we were going to do that anyway. I'm going to be working on that once we've unpacked.
I think I'll get the security system activated. I read today that there are fees associated with false alarms. It's like $45 the first time, $100 the second, and add $100 more for each additional offense. After 5 false alarms, I guess the police just stop coming. This is worse than having no alarm. Can cats set off house alarms?
Yesterday, I decided to drive through some of the really nice areas of North Minneapolis. These are the areas about two blocks west of us, going up the edge of the parkway. I'm trying to convince myself that we are close enough to this area to be in its area of effect. It is for certain that there are a lot less crimes in the nicer area, but we're *not* in that area. I just need to keep telling myself - we have insurance, it's ok. But, I worry about the next time we need to go out of town, or somebody picks up on our Monday night excursions to Eden Prairie...
Then I sit here thinking to myself, what happens the next time we move? We will kind of *have* to do everything at once, I think. Time to start getting rid of EVERYTHING. Oh well, we were going to do that anyway. I'm going to be working on that once we've unpacked.
I think I'll get the security system activated. I read today that there are fees associated with false alarms. It's like $45 the first time, $100 the second, and add $100 more for each additional offense. After 5 false alarms, I guess the police just stop coming. This is worse than having no alarm. Can cats set off house alarms?
Monday, August 22, 2011
New House, New Problems
We moved on Saturday into our new house. We've acknowledged (pretty much from the beginning) that the new place is in a shady neighborhood. We weren't worried because the house is nice, the houses nearby are nice, and the house has a security system installed that we can have activated if we want. We also have renters insurance.
Me, being who I am, have signed up for weekly crime statistics emails for the 4th precinct of Minneapolis. Totals for 8/14-8/20: 1 homicide, 0 rapes, 2 robberies, 5 aggravated assaults, 4 burglaries, 1 act of larceny, 0 auto thefts, and 2 acts of arson. This is just in our "neighborhood," one of five in the 4th precinct. None of the other neighborhoods are nearly as bad. W00!
Well, there's not much I can do about it. The landlord says she and her tenants have never had any issues when they've lived here in the past. It sounds like that's a history of at least 5-6 years. Hopefully, we can have similar luck. Cross your fingers for me... for the next year. :/
Me, being who I am, have signed up for weekly crime statistics emails for the 4th precinct of Minneapolis. Totals for 8/14-8/20: 1 homicide, 0 rapes, 2 robberies, 5 aggravated assaults, 4 burglaries, 1 act of larceny, 0 auto thefts, and 2 acts of arson. This is just in our "neighborhood," one of five in the 4th precinct. None of the other neighborhoods are nearly as bad. W00!
Well, there's not much I can do about it. The landlord says she and her tenants have never had any issues when they've lived here in the past. It sounds like that's a history of at least 5-6 years. Hopefully, we can have similar luck. Cross your fingers for me... for the next year. :/
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Moving, New House Blues
I know Moose is about the only person that reads this blog (hi honey), but I'm going to try to type this stuff out so I can make sense of it myself.
So, Moose and I have started the process of moving into our new house. It is a fairly modest 2 bedroom, 1 and a half bathroom house near the crappiest neighborhood in Minneapolis, Northside. It is also near the areas hardest hit by the tornado that ripped its way through Minneapolis on May 22nd, 2011. So, it's kind of hard to tell what the surrounding neighborhoods really looked like. Our house pulled through that disaster with a broken window, and nothing else. But that's not the point...
Everything about moving has been a disagreement between me and Moose. When to move, what to move, what to do with the rooms, etc. I'm not sure why. There are only so many options for a 2 bedroom house. I don't think I'm just trying to be contrary, but maybe I am. I feel like this is a good opportunity to make our house nice. Now, don't get me wrong, our place in SLP is nice. But it's always a mess. Piles of crap, everywhere. I am as guilty of it as Moose is, and I really don't like it. I want to get our new place set up and personalized with posters, knicknacks, etc, and put the rest of the things we want to keep in bins in the basement. We can then work on getting rid of everything else. I'm tired of being so sentimental about my belongings. I'm tired of having so much shit I never use. It's stressful. In order for me to want to stay at this house for more than one year, I need this. I need to feel settled and cozy. Maybe it stems from the fact that my mother is leaving. I won't have a home. I need a place that feels more permanent and less like a scattered mess. Or, maybe it stems from the fact that we are "adults" now. Another thing stuck in my mind is when we cleaned our current place in order to have the landlord show it. One of our friends came over and said "Hey, your place looks less messy." Which, in itself is true, but makes me feel like everyone thought it was incredibly messy before. It was. What do people think about us because of that?
This is bad. I'm hoping I don't go all "female" on Moose and be like "WE NEED THIS COLOR CURTAINS AND THIS COLOR RUG AND WE CAN PUT THESE THINGS IN THIS ROOM OR ELSE!" In some ways, I feel like Moose feels the same way, though. I think he's tired of all the bins of stuff we never use. At this place, at least they can be put in the basement and not thought of for a while. It'll make the living spaces feel less cluttered. But, we still need to get rid of things. We didn't get rid of much STUFF when we had the dumpster, only furniture.
Oh well, I need to focus on getting MOVED first. We'll have plenty of time to get things situated. Living in the chaos of unpacking is not fun. Then again, neither is moving.
And on top of all that... hopefully we don't get mugged or robbed or raped or killed. YAY MINNEAPOLIS.
So, Moose and I have started the process of moving into our new house. It is a fairly modest 2 bedroom, 1 and a half bathroom house near the crappiest neighborhood in Minneapolis, Northside. It is also near the areas hardest hit by the tornado that ripped its way through Minneapolis on May 22nd, 2011. So, it's kind of hard to tell what the surrounding neighborhoods really looked like. Our house pulled through that disaster with a broken window, and nothing else. But that's not the point...
Everything about moving has been a disagreement between me and Moose. When to move, what to move, what to do with the rooms, etc. I'm not sure why. There are only so many options for a 2 bedroom house. I don't think I'm just trying to be contrary, but maybe I am. I feel like this is a good opportunity to make our house nice. Now, don't get me wrong, our place in SLP is nice. But it's always a mess. Piles of crap, everywhere. I am as guilty of it as Moose is, and I really don't like it. I want to get our new place set up and personalized with posters, knicknacks, etc, and put the rest of the things we want to keep in bins in the basement. We can then work on getting rid of everything else. I'm tired of being so sentimental about my belongings. I'm tired of having so much shit I never use. It's stressful. In order for me to want to stay at this house for more than one year, I need this. I need to feel settled and cozy. Maybe it stems from the fact that my mother is leaving. I won't have a home. I need a place that feels more permanent and less like a scattered mess. Or, maybe it stems from the fact that we are "adults" now. Another thing stuck in my mind is when we cleaned our current place in order to have the landlord show it. One of our friends came over and said "Hey, your place looks less messy." Which, in itself is true, but makes me feel like everyone thought it was incredibly messy before. It was. What do people think about us because of that?
This is bad. I'm hoping I don't go all "female" on Moose and be like "WE NEED THIS COLOR CURTAINS AND THIS COLOR RUG AND WE CAN PUT THESE THINGS IN THIS ROOM OR ELSE!" In some ways, I feel like Moose feels the same way, though. I think he's tired of all the bins of stuff we never use. At this place, at least they can be put in the basement and not thought of for a while. It'll make the living spaces feel less cluttered. But, we still need to get rid of things. We didn't get rid of much STUFF when we had the dumpster, only furniture.
Oh well, I need to focus on getting MOVED first. We'll have plenty of time to get things situated. Living in the chaos of unpacking is not fun. Then again, neither is moving.
And on top of all that... hopefully we don't get mugged or robbed or raped or killed. YAY MINNEAPOLIS.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Fun with Uncle Ed
Anna - "Ed, who let you have that knife?"
Ed - "That's not all I've got, baby."
Ed, leaning over Anna, speaking to her boyfriend - "She's been giving me trouble ever since she learned to say no."
Ed - "That's not all I've got, baby."
Ed, leaning over Anna, speaking to her boyfriend - "She's been giving me trouble ever since she learned to say no."
Monday, August 1, 2011
5 months until Year of Music
I saw this on reddit. Made me think of my project I have only spoken of on this blog of mine that nobody reads. I don't want to be disappointed in myself, but chances are I will be. Hell, my performance at work still disappoints me, even though I've been promoted and given a raise. I have high expectations. With "Year of Music" (as I have so dubbed it), I will probably have unrealistically high expectations. I see friends and old classmates write their own music and perform it on youtube or at coffee shops. I say, I can do that. Can I? How long will my "gap" be? Will I ever come to grips with my very lacking musical prowess?
I've got 5 months until my self-imposed start date of January 1st. What can I do in that time to prepare myself? Once I move, I want to get stuff set up in my new house. Then I can start playing around with software and instruments and hopefully learn how everything works in a month or two. That puts me at October 1st. 3 months. Can I successfully write and record a few songs in 3 months? We'll see. Maybe I need to start the Year of Music on my birthday instead of January 1st. Hopefully, the next 5 months don't discourage me enough to not move forward. A delay might be necessary.
More updates to come.
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