Superbowl and househunting

So yeah, that post-Superbowl post never made it to the blog. The commercials were underwhelming this year. The only ones that stick out in my mind are the GM one with the robot that dreams of what his life would be like if he lost his job on the assembly line, and the one with the lions talking about carne asada. Although, I have to admit that while looking over the list of all the ads at You Tube, I'm reminded of a couple more that were enjoyable, such as the Bud Light one with the gorillas, and the Bud Light one with the couple who picks up an ax murderer. The one for Emerald nuts with Robert Goulet was so random it made me laugh. But the jungle-themed CareerBuilder ads paled in comparison to the older chimp ones. One thing that was kinda cool: one of the Doritos commercials was created by a Cary resident, and it was filmed in one of the local shopping centers.

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So I've begun the househunting in earnest. I've seen two properties so far, one that was disappointing, and one that was spectacular. What's odd is that they were priced exactly the same! The disappointing one was a single-family home in North Raleigh, in a neighborhood with narrow streets, which bug me. I like things to feel a little more open. The photos online of the house's interior had me excited, but apparently they were taken with a wide-angle lens that made everything appear twice as big as it actually was. Now, I don't need oodles of space, but I also don't like things to feel cramped. Even though this wasn't the house for me, it helped me to hone my list of requirements. Monday I saw a gorgeous and humongous three-level townhouse in Holly Springs. At 2400 square feet, it is way more than I could ever need, but man, did it feel spacious. And it is brand new construction so everything was immaculate. There were upgrades throughout: hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances, Corian countertops, maple cabinets, a deck on every level, backing up to a hill with trees.


Just everything I could ever want. Except for the following: a) it's a townhouse instead of a house, which means a high HOA fee and shared walls; b) it's at the tippy top of my budget (and non-negotiable since it's new construction) which means I'd be living to pay my mortgage; c) although it's barely a couple miles from where I currently live in Apex, the address is technically Holly Springs, which is a less desirable town (important for resale value); and d) the street is called Butterbiggins Lane. Call me shallow if you want, but I want to live on a street that doesn't sound quite so silly. So, the search continues. Tomorrow I'm looking at a bunch more townhouses, because that seems to be all that's on the market currently in my price range. All the good houses are selling super quick right now!

Oh, and you may have noticed I finally moved over to the "new" Blogger. I waited as long as I could, but they finally forced me. Everything seems to be fine--hopefully they have straightened out the glitches that early converters reported.