Isn't it, like, Mexican Thanksgiving or Something?*

Oh my God I'm done with finals.

Oh my GOD I'm done with the semester.

I'm done with school for three and a half blessed months.

I couldn't be happier, obviously. I don't even have my final grades yet, and I don't even care. As my wise friend Jess stated, "It's in God's hands now." I agree. I am done. Done done.

So yesterday, I parked myself on the couch with MTV's usual ANTM marathon (season 7 which I actually hadn't seen yet - BONUS!) and a dog. It was a gorgeous day outside and I didn't see any of it. I've got the rest of the summer to enjoy the weather. Sunday was all about relaxing, cheese, bread and wine. Lots and lots of wine. (It would have been beer, but I didn't think ahead. Thanks Indiana. Your laws regarding alcoholic sales blow.)

Now I focus on finding a new abode. I believe that when I last touched on this subject, I had House #5 and #6 as possibilities. Of course, I'm moving into neither of them.

So when I went to see House #5 for real (as opposed to just pictures) I realized that the owner of House #5 really REALLY loved her house. I was with my friend Dave, and about 5 minutes into her tour of the house, I could have very easily said something along the lines of, "It's been nice meeting you, but I'm not interested. Thank you for your time." Her tour was all about crown moldings, carriage lights above the fireplace, the $10,000 she had just spent to put in new windows, or the "eight five zero zero - that's eighty five HUNDRED dollars" that her property taxes had risen in the last year. She was also quick to tell me about the trust fund babies who had rented her house in the past. The word "pretentious" comes to mind. The house WAS beautiful. And Dave did agree that it was $200 better than any house we had seen previously with the garage and the finished basement.... But still. All I could see were the future "surprise" stop bys when the house wouldn't be up to her levels of cleanliness. No thank you. It wasn't a problem though. When she asked about my dogs, and I said the words "pit bulls" she SHUT DOWN. Apparently those dogs do not fit into her framework for an ideal tenant. Meh. I definitely broke up with her first.

I was all set on House #6. I called the maintenance guy to find out exactly what date it would be available, and to confirm the final rent which was exactly what I budgeted to spend on rent.

And then one of my boss's tenants called and gave notice. He was going to be out at the end of May. The half double that he was renting is in an okay neighborhood (about a mile from my old sorority house, if you can believe it) and the rent was $265 less than House #6. Emily again has a dilemma. A dilemma she chose to put off until after finals. She failed.

I went to see it and it's small. SMALL. Much of my furniture (dining room table, bookcase, chest of drawers) will have to be put in the basement for storage since there's just not room for it on the main level. And it's an old house. OLD. Old with no air conditioning. But let's talk about the pros.

Um, I'm saving $265/month. That's the biggie. There's a fenced in yard. (Sure, the fence looks like it will blow over any minute, but my dogs won't charge it....it's more symbolic for them and me. I just need somewhere to throw a tennis ball sometimes.) It's got a garage. (Detached, sure, but a detached garage is better than no garage.) I can still ride my bike to work. (I don't know how much of a pro that will be about halfway into the summer...but for now, let's go with it.) I also happen to be well acquainted with the landlord. And with some TLC, it could go from an old house to a cute little house. We'll see what I can do.

When push came to shove, I just couldn't get over saving $265/month when tuition is costing me ~$200/credit hour. So even though I'm really bad at making places seem "homey" or "cozy" I've got great friends who are good at that kind of stuff, and they say they'll help me out. I may have to purchase curtains for the first time in my life. And maybe I'll even paint. For now, though - does anyone have any creative ideas for where to put the cat's litterbox? (No - there's not enough room in the bathroom, and the dogs are already going to have daytime residence in the basement.)

I'll post pictures eventually. Or maybe not. Depends on how well I do on the "homey" part.

*A friend of mine actually asked me that when I suggested we go get chips and queso (with a margarita) for lunch because it's Cinco de Mayo.