I'm the new vice president

Yes, I was elected to the position of Vice President of our neighborhood’s HOA.  Part of me is still questioning why I even volunteered for the job, but there was a need and several neighbors thought that I could provide some valuable insight for the committee.  Our HOA is mainly responsible for maintaining common areas, enforcing a few rules about fences and satellite dishes and also representing the neighborhood’s interests on local committees.  Since I have a background in grounds and design, what better person to ask to be on the committee? 

The home owners just got control of the HOA from the developers, so there might be a lot of work for us to do.  There are rules that haven’t been enforced and other rules that should probably be created.  This could potentially make the next year very entertaining and/or frustrating...

How ‘bout them dawgs?!

The bulldogs put a hurtin’ on the Auburn tigers on Saturday, shutting them out 38-0.  This win allowed the dawgs to clinch the SEC eastern division, which means they will be playing in the SEC championship in Atlanta.  I wish I could make the trip down for the game, but I don’t see that happening.  It is assumed that the dawgs will be playing Alabama, but that could change if bama loses again this weekend.  The bad news is that every SEC team has at least one loss (because it is such a tough conference), so unless 2 of the 3 remaining unbeaten teams in the nation lose a game in the next two weeks, this will be the first time in 6 years that an SEC team isn’t in the championship game.  Fingers crossed that Kansas State, Notre Dame and Oregon lose a game soon!  I would love to see the dawgs play for a national championship.

I spent part Saturday getting the yard ready for winter, trimming back perennials that have already faded and did the final mowing of the lawn.  There were threats of snow for Sunday night, so I really wanted to get it all done.  I also prepped the accord for winter by installing a set of wheels with winter/snow tires on them that I picked up off of craigslist.  The OEM tires that were on the car weren’t really good on snow, so I’ve been in the market for a set of snow tires.  The CFO wasn’t totally on board with the idea, but when I found these for relatively cheap I jumped on them.  Now I am looking forward to getting out in the first snow to see how they do.

 

We also went out with some friends to discuss the process of buying a house with them.  They have been renting here in town for a year and have now decided that they want to buy.  After our bad experience with trying to sell the GA house, I wanted to tell them to “keep renting!”  However, I bit my tongue a bit and decided to let them weigh the pros and cons on their own.  I did emphasize that the taxes really suck around here (and there is talk of them raising them again) and that maintenance becomes their problem when the buy.  I’ve somewhat jokingly and somewhat seriously told the CFO that this is the last house that we are going to buy.  Unless we make a bunch of money off of it when we sell it, she is going to have a hard time convincing me that owning is really a worthwhile proposition.

After a horrible week on the ice last week, my team started out last night playing the same way.  After 4 ends we were down by 5 points and things weren’t looking too good for us.  We finally found our form on the 6^th end and scored 2 points.  We followed that up with 3 points in the 7^th to tie with one end remaining.  We got a stone into the house early in the end and spent the rest of the end defending that stone.  We ended up scoring 1 point and won the match.  We are now 3-2 and within striking distance of the top team.

I know it is a week early, but have a great Thanksgiving!