Wow, my life’s been eventful lately. After the craziness of all the family during the month of September, I finally got my life back together….and *finally*—bought a condo! I am now officially a homeowner. I LOVE my new place—moving in 2 weeks. It can’t get any better than this: loft, deep tub, great kitchen, Capital Hill, hardwood floors…I’m absolutely ecstatic and scared at the same time. It’s been crazy dealing with all the financing and the papers that I have to sign—the numbers are mind-boggling. Locking in a rate was like a big gamble: “Should I do it now? or should I bet it’ll be better tomorrow?” I ended up with a 5.375% rate–not bad…still low..could’ve been better had I tried earlier. Ah well. Now on to the exciting world of furniture shopping–my current furniture isn’t quite “hip” enough for this new place–not that I’m selling everything..but I definitely need new furniture for the extra 700 sq ft that I’m not accustomed to living in.

Vancouver was sad but wonderful at the same time. I really didn’t know how I’d react at the funeral—but it was sadder than I expected. Everyone was crying…it was just so heartbreaking. The wake was the most difficult—seeing him there in that open coffin was too much. He looked nothing like the last time I saw him, full of energy and all smiles. The wonderful part of Vancouver was meeting all these relatives I’d never met–especially a first cousin, Anthony. We hung out a lot for those 2 days and it was just so nice to catch up with someone that I’m so close to in lineage yet never knew. I also met many of the “sons of the oldest brother of my grandmother–but had a different mother than my grandmother”–way complicated once you go back a few generations…….