We both own and pwn

2 wonderful things have occurred:

- we bought a house
- we hit 60 in WoW

On buying a house:

What was once a "it would be cool if" has become, in the past week, a reality. Late last year we started discussing (seriously, though, as we've always discussed it but only topically) getting off our butts and actually buying a house. At first, we didn't really know what we wanted or what we could afford, so we embarked on an extensive info-gathering mission that poured into this year. We first visited a mortgage broker to inquire about the feasibility of our plan, and after it became clear that we in fact didn't have to suck it up and stay in an apartment for X more years, we decided we'd start unraveling the mystery that is the house-buying process.

It was rough. We got all sorts of related and unrelated info from family, friends, coworkers and various professionals. Don't get me wrong -- those who helped us figure things out were extremely helpful; it was just brutal putting together a puzzle while being handed one random piece after another. On the upside, once we grabbed a real estate agent and started house-hunting, stuff pretty much came together. Our real estate agent was unbelievably pleasant and knowledgeable; he helped us figure out, to the best of his ability, how all the bits & pieces of info we had collected fit together in the big house-buying picture. If, out of some curious coincidence, you're looking for real estate in the Ottawa (Ontario, Canada) area, look up Nick Carson from Century 21's Action Power Team (I'm not joking). That was a total real estate agent pimp, but I'm serious -- he pwns.

So, after looking at 25 or so homes (every single time it felt like we were breaking in to steal stuff, 'cause all we'd do is walk around and make faces at/make fun of the way other people live) and being terribly picky, we settled on a cute little house out in Orleans that was up for a disturbingly decent price. Too bad it sold something like two hours after we got home and decided we'd like to put down an offer on it... So we went back to look at 3 other homes we thought were decent and ended up putting down an offer on one of those. It was priced over what we were looking to spend, but we figured it was worth an offer. The next day, as we were running Wailing Caverns with some work friends, a little negotiating went on between our real estate agent and the seller's, and we got the house! I was in no small amount of shock.

The following 8 days were a total stress-fest. I had my brother come down (on short notice) to do the house inspection. We ended up taking a day (or was it two?) off work to get some other things done that couldn't be done outside business hours. We ran into some largely unpleasant, completely-not-our-fault complications with the financing arrangements at the very last minute. As I understand is the norm, some unexpected things cropped up that we would've liked to have known beforehand, but...all in all, it went rather smoothly. I think, because it was our first time going through the whole deal, it felt worse than it actually was. Luckily, we got everything wrapped up before the cutoff date/time. It took alot of phone calls, though. A lot...like, so many that I felt like an ass.

As a side note, our lawyer sounds cute.

Our possession date is the 13th of July -- Friday the 13th, I might add. Curious. The place we got is a two-storey townhouse out in Orleans, which is where I've been hoping to live ever since I first moved to Ottawa. Needless to say, Rose and I are pretty excited for the move. Having a deck and a basement, more storage and a new kitchen...oh man. Total sweetness.

I'll post pictures later on.

On hitting 60 in WoW:

Nephtet, Rose's Troll Priestess, and Aumana, my Undead Rogue, are finally level 60. LoL, not that it matters anymore, given that the level cap was raised to 70 with the release of Burning Crusade, but it still feels great. We're adventuring in Outland now, and by God:

a) The quest rewards are ridiculous: We have each replaced at least 3 blue items with green items since our arrival. These greens -- they vastly outmatch the blue items...like, to a degree that is truly stupid. We've also found a couple wicked items, including a pair of level 60 blue cloth 'pants' that blow away anything Aumana was able to make as a 300 Tailor.

b) Mooncloth bags are now oldschool: The introduction of Netherweave for 300+ Tailors has obliterated the need to spend precious time making Mooncloth. I just made 2 Mooncloth bags for myself when I got to Outland, and within the first 4 hours of play in the new maps, I was able to level my Tailoring skill to 315 and make Netherweave Bags, which are 16-slot bags just like the Mooncloth bags but take no time at all to make. No 3-day cooldowns. Jesus...

c) Get rich or die trying: We went from Spam & KD-poor to pimp-wealthy in one evening of play. Every quest gets you at least 2G, and if you sell the equipment you get on top of the cash, you get on average an extra 4 - 5G. Gross. And that's not counting the grey trash drops that sell for 1G+. Warning, though -- shit hurts in Outland, so gear up.

d) Save up for level 60 training: I'm serious. Level 60 training cost us each about 45G.

e) <3 Burning Legion: Wow, man...everything is huge in Outland. And generally frightening. It actually feels epic, which is a relief; I was afraid it'd be boring.

So yeah. Our Alliance characters are getting up there; Meeks is 54 and Hepzibah is 52. Our DM and my BF have joined us on the Horde & on the Alliance, so their help makes questing/instancing that much more fun.

Whoa. K, done.

♠ KA