Homeowning: Six Months In

“Welcome to your life…there’s no turning back.” 

I had the opening lyrics to that Tears for Fears song, “Everybody Wants to the World,” running through my head as I stood on the platform at the Grosvenor/Strathmore Metro, waiting for my train to take me through my (relatively) breezy commute to work. 
 
And it is a nice commute.  I get my steps in during my 10-minute walk to and from the Metro. 
 
Since the last time I wrote about my journey in solo homeowning, I’ve adjusted some blinds, had the toilet seat replaced, received a hefty property tax bill, placed some Monet prints on my bedroom wall, framed a pair of magazine covers from the week of Jerry Garcia’s death and placed them in my office, and cooked some real meals in my kitchen (including some tuna nachos).

​But the highlights:

I longed for a two-bedroom so I could have a space to house my home office as well as guests.  And, as of this writing, I’ve had two.  Doug, my fellow Single at Heart, loves to chase roller coasters the way I used to chase concerts.  On his way from Toms River, New Jersey to Busch Gardens, he stopped at my place for the night, where we talked Russian history, and of course, being Single at Heart. 
 
This past weekend, Mark, my fellow Deadhead, traveled from Newport News, Virginia to see a Grateful Dead tribute band called Joe Russo’s Almost Dead.  We had a nice trip to the show via Metro (living in DC really did spoil me on the public transportation front). 
 
I’ve also had Jim and Luis, two local friends, over for dinner on separate occasions.  As I have a table in my mini-dining room, I had us sit down at the table; I even set up placemats, coasters, plates, and silverware.  This solo does it right!
 
And, of course, the housewarming.  I wrote about it in my last post, so I won’t get too much into it, but it was amazing being able to celebrate with old and new friends.  And I’m enjoying the gifts from my registry (see pics here).  Thus far, I’ve done the following:

• Plugged in that coffee pot from Faith and used it every morning to brew my caffeine fix
• Set up that speaker from Antionette in my kitchen, which I play while I cook
• Set up my headband/earbuds combination from Stephanie, which I have going when I jog
• Started feeding Chester the Fancy Feast Stephanie got me 
• Affixed the mezuzah Doug got me to the wall with command strips
• Enjoyed some of that snack food, particularly the chips from Tanya.  I’m waiting to get through the leftover pizza before I start cooking with the pasta I got from other guests, who will get a shout-out on the next post
• Placed the “Steal Your Face” decal on my car’s rear window (I’m not big into decorating my auto, but it was the only place it would go, and I already have a parking pass on it).  This one came from Steve.
• Taken Steve’s gift of a snazzy messenger bag on a couple of Metro rides
• Drank out of the Grateful Dead coffee mug Pete sent me (are we seeing a theme?)
• Started reading Surrounded by Idiots, sent to me by Rachel
• Watched and reviewed She-Devil, handed to me by Chris

As I have quite a few Costco-sized bags of snacks left over from the party, I’ll be planning on hosting a Singles Game Night at my place in the future.  That was another reason for me getting a place this size; I just love hosting.  Stay tuned!

Finally, that list of gifts and people I love bring to mind Bella's quote: "Married people have the one, single people have the oneS."  Of course, there are exceptions, but in my case, it applies.