Well, as it turns out, we were indeed over the salary cap for the state bond mortgage that we were hoping to get (see previous entry for more details).  Although we were both really concerned about how much money we were going to have to pay on our monthly payments with a different mortgage, it looks like things are going to be ok.  We're going to end up w/ a 80/20 w/ a fixed interest rate on both loans (30 yrs.).  Though the interest rate is going to be a bit higher, our monthly payments will only be about $37 more than they would have been w/ the original plan.  I think we can find an extra $37 to pay each month ;)

This weekend is the last one that we'll be spending in our apartment.  We're both getting really excited about finally owning our own place.  Monday is the walkthrough, and I still need to call all the utility companies to get everything transferred over!

Last night my friend Jason came over & the 3 of us (Jason, Lisa & myself) all watched 300 & dined on a gourmet dinner of pizzas from Sam's Club.  We all liked it - it looks nice in 720p (downloaded through Xbox Live).  Not something I feel like buying, but it was pretty cool.  Better than I originally thought it would be.

Ironically, although I got my Xbox 360 back on Tuesday, the only disc I've put in it so far is Guitar Hero 2.  I'm so addicted to that game.  I bought BioShock on Wednesday, but I still haven't even taken the cellophane wrapping off of it since I've been playing so much Guitar Hero 2

Something Jason noticed when he was over here last night that I thought was cool:  Apparently the console that MS shipped back to me isn't a refubished unit.  Jason saw that there is a manufacturing date on the back of it that says 8/10/2007!  I really didn't think I was going to be getting a brand-new console back when I sent mine in for repairs, but I'm not complaining.  After the reports I've heard of people getting faulty refurbs shipped to them, this pleases me greatly

For those who don't know, we're buying a condo & our closing date is August 31st, which is less than 2 weeks away.  We have this thing in North Carolina where the state makes provisions for 1st time home buyers to get a special interest rate on their mortgage.  This is casually referred to by the lenders as the NC State Bond mortgage.  The thing is, the state has imposed strict income limits in order to qualify for it, and if your income exceeds the set amount, then you can't get this type of mortgage.  We locked in at a very nice 5.875% interest rate a couple months back, and at the time we had about $1500 leeway before we hit the ceiling for the income limit. 

Well, more money is not always a good thing apparently.  We had to submit our last month's worth of paystubs to the lender in order for the state to verify our income, and apparently we are now $94 above the ceiling.  I guess it came through a combination of overtime & various bonuses in the last couple months.  The ruling wasn't final, but the lender was telling me that a second underwriter is examining it, so I'll hear tomorrow whether or not we are going to be able to qualify now.  If we don't qualify for this particular type of loan, then we'll end up having to examine other loan options & make a decision very quickly on what kind of mortgage to get.  The loan officer is telling me that since we have exceptionally good credit scores & a great debt-to-credit ratio, there are a number of loans we can qualify for, and it may end up only costing an extra $30-$40 on our monthly mortgage payment.  The only thing I forgot to ask is whether that small of an increase would still be a conventional, fixed rate mortgage or if it would be some ARM-bs.  I guess we'll find out tomorrow.  If we can still get a 30yr fixed rate for less than $50 extra on top of what we'd planned on paying, I can deal with that.  No biggie.  BUT, if it is an ARM that she was talking about then that could end up costing substantially more money in the long run.  So.... We're both a little concerned right now.  We're hoping & praying that this isn't going to end up costing us much more than we'd planned.

That puts a little bit of a damper on the exciting aspect of tomorrow:  Getting my Xbox 360 back!  Back to some Guitar Hero 2 action, and Shadowrun.  Also, my friend Jason is supposed to be coming by one day this week.  I'm going to download 300 in HD from the Live Marketplace & pick up some pizzas for a "guys night".  Neither of us has seen 300 yet, so we're both looking forward to seeing it. 

After church today we went out & did some shopping for stuff for our new condo (which we will be moving into on Labor Day weekend).  Although I'm excited about (finally) owning our own place, and I'm excited about having nice, new stuff for it, it can be mind-boggling trying to figure out what colors/designs you want for each room.  Or, more specifically, what theme do we want in each bathroom, and will it fit with the color of paint that we want to use, or should we perhaps choose a different color paint instead.  then, we have to make sure that we agree :)

If I were rich, I'd hire an interior designer to come up w/ themes to show me & then, like Jean-Luc, I'd tell him/her to "Make it so."
I frickin' hate HGTV.  I watch all these home decorating shows with Lisa, and they all make interior decorating seem so easy.  Especially that dang so-called "Design on a Dime".  Let me tell you - you can't design on a dime.  Or even a grand for that matter.  Part of what enables them to get by on the $1000 budget on that show is the fact that they make often their own stuff.  That's great for TV, but let me tell you - that is not where my creativity lies.  You see, "Designer's Challenge" is more up my alley, or, at least, it would be if I weren't among the economically challenged.  On that show the homeowners don't do anything.  They sit on their affluent lexus-driving posteriors & let various designers try to persuade them to pick that particular designer's plan over the others.  The homeowners make a decision, and then somebody else does the shopping & decorating.  That is my idea of interior decorating :)

Now, back to reality....

PICTURES!!!!  Here, for your viewing pleasure, are some pics of the stuff we've been buying & a sofa that we haven't bought yet, but probably will very soon.  See that hot chick holding up the handtowel?  She's mine

Last night I followed my good friend & coworker Jason over to his place for some Guitar Hero 2 action. It has been 2 weeks since I sent my ailing Xbox 360 in for repairs (RRoD), so I've been missing out on playing this game lately. Couple that with the fact that Jason purchased GH2 right after my console went down & he keeps talking to me about the game at work, and I'm going through some serious withdrawals, lol. We played co-op mode for about 5 hours last night & plowed through a ton of songs. We consider ourselves to be intermediate players, so we stuck to medim difficulty, but still had some hiccups on a couple songs (Jordan, YYZ). We were able to get a handful of the co-op achievements (JOY!), and had an absolute blast in the process.

I remember when the original Guitar Hero game came out for the PS2 - I thought it looked absolutely ridiculous. The idea of trying to play a game that simulated rocking out on an undersized, geeky-looking plastic guitar seemed laughable at the time. Then Guitar Hero 2 came out on the 360, and several of my friends over at 360Voice started playing it & telling me about how cool it is. Then my cousin rented the first GH game & brought it over w/ his PS2. After playing it for a while, I got hooked. Originally, I balked at the $89.99 price tag on the game, but I now think it is well worth it. The replay value on the game is amazing. As a musician, I can honestly say that the game does a great job of simulating that feeling of pride that you get after successfully pulling off some wicked chops. Its been a while since I had that feeling performing on stage, but I feel it every time I play Guitar Hero 2.

In the middle of typing this, I noticed that I received an email from Microsoft telling me that my 360 is shipping out today! I imagine I'll probably get it back either Tuesday or Wednesday next week, so I'll be rocking out again soon enough :D

The total turnaround time from the when my box went down & I called support until when I get my console back will be about 3 weeks. Not bad, cosidering that when you call support they tell you that it will be 4-6 weeks from the time that they receive your console until you get it back. Plus, if I read the email correctly, it sounds like they repaired my console & they're shipping it back, as opposed to sending me another refurbished unit. No complaints here :)

Just got back home a little while ago from a get-together w/ some friends.  Our friends Luke & Amy made enchiladas & hosted a game night at their place.  We played a game called Apples to Apples which was really fun.  Its one of those party games that doesn't involve much (if any) skill, but gets everybody talking & laughing with each other.  In some ways it reminded me of Balderdash. 

In work related news, I started cross-training today to learn how to perform the job of our accounts receivable clerk.  The lady who has the job right now is cutting her hours so that she's off on Fridays & only works a half-day on Thursdays, so somebody has to take care of her stuff during those times.  I'm actually glad that I was asked about it, since I was the accounts receivable clerk in the last office I worked at (different company).  Its really not too different where I am now, its just a matter of learning how to do it the way that Keystone wants it done, using their computer setup.  The lady who has been doing it has been with the company for 20 years & will probably be retiring sometime in the near future, so I get the feeling that I'm being groomed for her job. 

Everything was just peachy today until around 3pm, when we got tipped off by someone in the company who told us that our company's chief internal auditor will be paying us a visit tomorrow.  Everybody is all stressed about it, even though its probably just a routine inspection/audit.  This will be the first time that he's been to our store in almost 5 years, and the first time since I started working there in Feb 2005.  My GM has only had the GM position for 2 years now, so this is his first visit from this guy since becoming the big cheese of the Greensboro store.  I think that my boss's stress has trickled down to everyone else under him.  I was feeling stressed earlier, since I was rushing to get a bunch of paperwork & reports filled out & ready for tomorrow, but now I'm not too worried.  I've done my part.

At Lisa's suggestion, the beard has disappeared!!!  Although she liked the way it looked, it wasn't the most comfortable to her.  Since I like kissing my wife, I thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and lose it.  I decided I'd throw some "before & after" pics up here, as well as change out my profile pic here & on my Twitter .  I think I look younger without the beard, but, more importantly, I look thinner

EDIT: For more "before" pics w/ the beard, check out the 2 "Family Reunion" pics that I've posted (see the photo box to the right of the blog, the album is at the bottom of the list).