2003-09-17 - 2:19 p.m.
It's done. It's finally done. Both the house and the minivan are refinanced.
We weren't able to borrow as much on the house as we might have liked. The bank wouldn't take our offer of 95% of the property's value.
The van's alternator and battery decided to crap out on us to the tune of $500.
Still, we're getting back enough from the refinancing to pay off our outstanding credit card debt, cover the repairs, and still take a vacation. A little detail of not having to make a house payment in October, something like that. A great weight is off my shoulders now. Now we'll be able to rebuild our savings and live a little better without having to pinch every penny. We'll be able to travel to events, pick up and go out of town on short notice, fix up the house the way we want. I can start my kung fu lessons up again. Oh my my my my, life is better.
A couple of cool things happened yesterday. I left work early to do the signing. J hadn't eaten a proper lunch, so we went to The Cheesecake Factory to get her something to eat before she went to work. The waitress took our order, then offered to bring some banana slices out for the Professor as well. Now, in all the times that we've gone out to eat as a family, nobody has EVER volunteered to bring something for the Professor. We have to ask for a little something, or we give her bits of whatever we're eating. Needless to say, we gave her a nice big tip, and complimented her to the management. I believe my exact words were: "Keep her. Kill if you have to, but keep her."
But this was not the end of the coolness for that day. J and I are big fans of Vietnamese food. There's this place we drive by often, called "Banh Mi So". Prominently displayed in the window is a sign claiming "Best Spring Rolls in Town". While J was at work, I decided to test the veracity of their claim. They do not lie. The spring rolls are huge, and you get three in an order. I got a couple orders, some rice noodles with charbroiled beef, and a couple of Vietnamese sandwiches (banh mi). This is the only place in town that serves these, and boy howdy are they good. Crisp French bread, fresh veggies, a little meat, cilantro, and fish sauce. I was sorely tempted to eat both of them myself, but I was good and I left some for J. The proprietor, a very pleasant elderly gentleman, took my order, made the food himself, then actually carried the food out to the car so I could put the Professor in the carseat without any problems. How classy is that?
(Getting cooler at night. I'm in the mood for posole and tortillas. How's that sound to you?)
