Six Month House-iversary

Six months ago today I moved into my new home in the Fishtown section of Philadelphia. After ten years of watching my money go to landlords each month, last April I finally became a homeowner. Time has flown by and I don't think it has sunk in yet that this place is really mine. I suspect it won't totally sink in until I need to pay for my first major repair. I'll admit Fishtown wasn't my first choice. I would have loved a place in Center City or University City, but they were out of my price range. Fishtown was a good compromise - relatively safe and easy access to the rest of the city via the El. If anything, I wish I had found a place closer to an El station. Walking to the El adds an extra 10-15 minutes to my commute each way. On the other hand, there is a shopping center complete with supermarket, thrift store and a Radio Shack two blocks from my house which is very convenient. I haven't done much to the house yet, including decorating. The house was renovated a couple years ago and didn't need any work for me to move in. The biggest changes so far were adding a railing to the basement steps and installing a microwave over the stove. My dad is much more of a handyman than I am, so he's been a huge help. When I was looking at homes, I look at everything from fixer-uppers to newly remodeled homes. I'm glad I decided to go with something recently renovated. I don't see how I would have found the time and resources to do serious work on a house. There's still quite a few boxes from my apartment I have yet to unpack and my basement is full of stuff from my storage locked that I need to go through (and probably sell a lot of it). I wanted to have a yard sale at the end of summer, but that hasn't happened. Maybe next Spring? Some home projects I hope to tackle in the next few months:

• Install a dishwasher
• Install more shelving in the home office
• Add exterior electrical outlets to the front and back of the house
• Run a network cable from the home office down through the walls to the basement and up to the living room (for my Mac Mini media center / home server)
• Put a pond in the backyard (that will have to wait till next Spring)
• Try some basic X10 home automation

I do worry a little about burglars, so sometime I might try setting a webcam and some motion sensors that can send a message to my phone if something is amiss. I would have to call 911 myself, but its better than paying monthly security-system fees or dealing with false alarms. One downside to having moved in the Spring is that all the nice weather pulled me away from staying inside to work on things. I also spent time every evening tending my garden. Now that cold weather is here, I'll probably be staying indoors more and I can start getting more things done.