At least the Hampton Inn here is a little more updated than the Holiday Inn in Salisbury, NC.

Still, the nearest Starbucks is 21.19 miles away.

Sigh.

Nothing like sending utility payments with a disapproving Maggie right on the envelope.

On my way to work this morning, I trailed an older gentleman carrying a small duffel bag. The luggage tag hanging from the bag read: “Because all Lutherans have baggage.”

Ha. Don’t we all?

I’ve been trolling Craigslist for furniture since I closed on the condo a few weeks ago. I’ve decided that while I would like to graduate from dorm room bachelor to sophisticated urban hipster, I don’t quite have the cash to pull off an HGTV-worthy makeover.

But I did manage to finally find a chair for my desk (incidentally another Craigslist find for a bargain $85!). I didn’t want to get the usual mesh office chair from Staples; the last thing I’d want to be reminded of when I’m at home is work. I wanted something a little more sophisticated, something that says, “I’m 30, and I don’t need a chair that rolls across the floor, spins around, and makes squeaky noises like farts.”

After scouring Craigslist, Ikea, Macy’s, Marlo’s, and a whole number of generic furniture “outlets” that seem to be run by the same five people, I found this beauty for $99 at World Market. You can’t see it in the picture, but the dark wood of the desk and the chair pops against the celery ice walls. (Yes, the walls in the den are painted a cool green called “celery ice.”)

Next up: rugs! The Home Depot is having a 20% off sale on all their special order rugs. So I bought two. They’re supposed to get delivered in about a week. I’ll take pictures once they arrive.

Brian has claimed a new dog bed.

Thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of all those hurt in the Fort Hood shootings. I’m with the President when he says: “It’s difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans in battles overseas. It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil.”

I’m sure we’re only on the verge of a frenzied Media Firestorm™ on the motives of the alleged shooter, Nidal Malik Hasan. And I predict there’ll be plenty of “experts” who’ll be making bank on the news networks, debating whether this rampage was in any way linked to Islam.

But I do hope we resist our often isolationist, jingoistic kneejerk response to these types of incidents.

The last thing we need is to vilify an entire population because of the acts of a few.

My Realtor, Madeline, took a few photos of me at the settlement. This is me, agreeing to indentured servitude to Bank of America for 30 years. I don’t think the blur was on purpose, but it pretty accurately describes what that moment felt like.

Why yes, I'd like to be in debt for the rest of my life!

Sooooo. Moving is a pain in the behind.

I resolved not to hire movers this time in order to save some money for the impending mortgage payments. (And to be fair, I really don’t have a lot of things to move. The girl who’s taking over my lease agreed to purchase most of my furniture, so really, I’m actually getting off pretty easily.)

But still, my four years in DC have resulted in a random accumulation of crap: textbooks, DVDs/Blu-Rays, old love letters, you name it. Thankfully, I had a pretty significant purge before the packing extravaganza began, so I’m mostly moving things that I either value or use regularly.

But the thing about moving isn’t so much the extremely heavy lifting as it is the frequent moderately heavy lifting. With the way I’m going, I won’t need to go to the gym for weeks. Weeks!

Because a puppy has to look good for his new home. Of course.