So the house thing is done. There were a few very tense moments: there is nothing quite like being informed that the lender screwed up and you need an additional $6,000 literally as you are packing up the truck 48 hours before closing—fortunately that got worked out with no harm done. There were a few very cool moments: watching the dogs gambol in their brand new back yard; putting all of the dishes away, including the ones you've had in a plastic tub for 6 months, and still having space left over; lying in your new bedroom and falling asleep for the very first time, and realizing that as new and as strange as this place is still, it nonetheless feels like home. Yeah, we're happy about the house. Didn't want to come back to St. Louis.

As expected, once I updated my resume with our Austin address, I've started getting a little more interest. I'm hoping things will really take off in the next week or two, so that after Jen and I return from England we can both go to Austin at the same time. I'm looking forward to some new challenges.

I'm pretty worn out after this weekend, though. I'd say I'm looking forward to sleeping more tonight, but it's hard to really look forward to sleeping in a sleeping bag on top of a concrete floor barely softened by some thin carpet. ;)