Monday Monday 11.12.2007

Hi Folks,

A little overdue as I haven't emailed you all in a couple of weeks. I hope everyone is well.

I meant to write last weekend, but due to unexpected circumstances - the week sort of got away from me. My mother's father passed away sometime between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. I hopped on a plane to be with my family from Wednesday - Saturday morning. Everyone seems to be doing ok now, but we did have a couple of rough days.

A couple of weekends ago, Maggie and I went to visit her parents who have a house in the Pocono's. By the end of the weeekend, we were in the bank trying to get approved for a second mortgage. We're still in process now, but things are looking very good. Our offer was accepted, we've made the downpayment, and we're just filling out paperwork on our way to closing. To answer the plethora of questions, this property will serve as a combined vacation and rental property. As it is located on a mountain, we'll rent it out during the winter months as a week or weekend rental. During the summer, Maggie and I will either rent it or enjoy it ourselves. The community includes athletic fields, a gym, ski slopes, a lodge, riding stables, a lake, and a pool. All are maintained by the community and it continues to grow. Obviously Maggie and I are excited about this new adventure.

I got back into Charlotte on Saturday morning and Maggie and I decorated our house for the Christmas season. I know all about the rules about decorating prior to Thanksgiving and am anxiously awaiting the tounge lashing, but I have an excuse. Maggie and I have the new house's inspection this weekend, Thanksgiving the following weekend, Maggie will have to work the next weekend, and then we'll close on the new house the following weekend. This means that if we didn't decorate this past weekend, we would have to do it a week and a half before Christmas. At least we were able to enjoy it this past weekend and a couple of more days before Christmas. The point of this ramble is that our house looks really good decorated for Christmas. I think our tree looks much better this year than it did last year in Maggie's apartment.


I guess it should be time for me to get back to the grindstone of working for the U.S. Navy!

I hope everyone is enjoying themselves. Drop me a line if I haven't heard from you in a little bit.

Ryan