house-hunting and other such fun

today was long but good

i didn't sleep enough, but i never do... 2 classes and pizza seminar later, colleen and leigh and i went house-hunting for next year, and after that i've mostly been a putz... more on house-hunting in a sec... first other random comments.

* eric told me a few days ago that he bets that if i had something in my head that i think about a lot or whatever and try to keep it from him, he'd figure out what it is because he thinks he knows me that well. as a challenge back, i have a crazy code i write notes to myself in that i don't want other people to be able to read. i wrote him a few sentences in it and he's making it his personal challenge to crack the code. i really would be willing to bet a few hundred dollars that he can't though... shall be fun

* sam and me played wallball with my new bouncy ball at colleen's house at dinnertime tonight, that was fun =P

*that's about it, except the house-hunting part. so we visited two places. i like the first one better so i'll describe it second.

second place: house in highland park, NJ... i.e. about as far from campus as i am now, just going to opposite direction, really nice residential family neighborhood. we'd have the bottom floor of a house where the top floor belongs to a family with small kids. it was basically a hallway with 2 bedrooms on one side, a bedroom and a common room on the other side, a kitchen on one end (comparable to the size one i have now, but shaped different), and a bathroom on the other end. enough space for us all, $600/person/month (i.e. $1800/month total, which is pretty standard lower end price for places in central jersey) the landlady was really nice, and it was fine. i didn't like the layout very much (all in a straight line off a narrow hallway) or the fact that the backyard was kinda trampled down to dirt and small. also, no washer/dryer, so we'd have to go to a laundromat, which i don't like very much... otherwise, it's acceptable and we'd be fine there.

place one: town house in edison, NJ... a little farther from campus, but near the grocery store we usually go to, etc., so not bad either. the landlord is a guy in his late 20s at most, and he lives there too... it's a 3 story place, he'd have the basement, we'd have the 3rd floor, and we'd share the kitchen/living room. mostly he wouldn't be around, but it is his place too. that concerned colleen and leigh a little at first, but after meeting the guy, it's not as much of a problem. i liked the layout better -- for 1, i like sleeping up high (e.g. i always had the top bunk in dorm rooms, i've always had a 2nd floor bedroom, etc. i like being on the top floor instead of the bottom)... there are 3 bedrooms and 2 baths on our floor... since i already own a full size bed, i'd get the master bedroom with my own bathroom... there's a half bath on the lower floor and two common rooms instead of just the one (like in the other place)...the kitchen is more open, and bigger than in the other place as well... after living in compass pointe in valpo last spring and in rivercrest now, i also kinda like the green space that comes with being in an apartment community. we wouldn't have our own yard per se, but there's a lot more common green space to make use of that way. the price? $1750/month for all of us together. i'd probably pay a little more since i'd get my own bathroom/bigger room, but at most be paying $600/month, like i'd be paying regardless at the other place. we'd have our own washer/dryer in our unit, unlike the complex laundry room i share now, which is also nice.

so yeah, that's the summary. leigh originally loved the house in highland park better, but the washer/dryer situation is swinging her towards the townhouse -- i loved the townhouse a lot more from the start, and colleen's up in the air all around. hopefully we'll come to a decision we all like when i get back... where am i going? philly of course! leaving as soon as i get myself up and moving tomorrow to hang with jessica for the day -- i'm excited!

and now that all that rambling's done, reading myself to sleep... later dudes =)