What a great – but exhausting – weekend this has been on multiple fronts. I’m thismuch closer to buying my first home. As previously discussed here [1], the groundwork has been laid for me to purchase a home in a neighborhood that is still under construction (the neighborhood is about 65-75% done). The preliminary paperwork has been signed, and presuming the seller agrees to the incintives I’m requesting, the agreement to proceed may be a done deal by the end of the week! Slight change in plans, though.
Initially, I had tentatively agreed to purchase a home they had already built, which meant that I would have had to go with the tiles and colors they’d already selected. Once I had a chance to think about it for a few hours (yes, hours … hey, it’s my first home and I want everything to be right!) I decided those colors and tiles were not what I wanted nor did I want the area they had put me in. So I visited the seller today, and there will be another unit in a different area available around January or February of next year. Hooray! Assuming all the paperwork processes and the seller’s manager and I agree on the specs of the contract, I’ll now have plenty of time to decide on my carpet color, tiles, the countertops, and cabinet style. I have been able to get locked in to the base price of the home now which is a good thing, because the rate for all homes in that development are scheduled to go up as of Thursday this week by about $3K. Whew. Got in just in time! So very good news on the homefront – quite literally – for ST.
The other fantastic news I got this weekend: Matt Margolis, the Founder and Editor of Blogs for Bush [2], has graciously invited me to be a guest blogger at B4B [2]! I posted my first message [3] this evening. As I noted there, this is quite an honor! So in addition to blogging here, I’ll also be guest blogging there for the next three months. So if you haven’t bookmarked/blogrolled B4B already, please do! And not just because I’m there, but because it’s a terrific blog. And welcome to all B4B readers who are visiting! Hope ya stick around 
Also, I have quite a bit of posting to catch up on and I know I’m also behind in the comments section. If I haven’t responded to your comment, don’t take it personally. I’ve always tried to respond to most comments here but things are picking up so much in the blogosphere for me that I may not always have the time to do that anymore. But please know I do read every comment here and very much appreciate the differing POVs posted, even if I don’t always agree with ’em 
A couple of commenters have posted about stories that I’m going to start separate blog entries for. I’ll get to that in just a little bit. Also, commenter Melissa in Texas" has kindly emailed me some pictures from the "You Don’t Speak For Me, Cindy!" pro-Bush rally in Crawford, TX. I’ll be posting some of those pictures later this evening as well so that should give you something to look fwd to later here at the ST blog
Ok – I think that’s it for just now. Since I just got in about half an hour ago from hammering a few things out with the seller, I’m going to grab me a quick dinner and be back to blogging here shortly. Hope everyone has had a fabulous weekend. I know I have!
Updated to add one more thing: For anyone new visiting the ST blog, please be sure to click on the Blogad on the right hand side of this page, which will take you to my friend Chad’s blog "4 The Little Guy." Chad has some great posts up on a variety of issues. He’s been experiencing some computer woes as of late so make sure to look at the archives section he has for past good reads. Chad is the first official sponsor of this blog so a big thanks to Chad for helping to keep the ST blog going!