Prometheus And The Goblet Of Fire

I feel like Tom Hanks. Or more accurately, his character in Cast Away. You know the scene where he starts his campfire for the first time? He runs around half naked shouting and praising his glorious skills.

Well, I too have created fire. In my fireplace. Of course, mine started with a flick of a lighter (but it was complicated...I had to hold down a button while flicking). And my survival does not depend of my ability to start said fire, only my enjoyment of smores. And I wasn't half-naked because it's cold, hence the fire in the first place.

Yes, I braved my fears and actually used my fireplace. It is no longer just a pretty centerpiece for the living room. It has a use, a warm and crackly use. And it is not longer pristine white on the inside. Big black flame marks :(

I must confess that my manly friend came over the other night and lit the inaugural fire. He told me about his "theory" of making a good fire. Apparently its all about stacking the wood to create paths for the flames and smoke to travel. Little sticks at the bottom, progressing to the big log on top. It's still magic to me. Scary, black magic.

Later, I have to go stock up on marsh mellows. And fireplace cleaner. And pokers.

UPDATED: Paperwork Blues and Christmas Tree Injuries

I guess the honeymoon period of having my house is over. I got a homestead exemption form in the mail. Which was cool, because I was going to have to search the internet and download it, but the county sent it to me first. After filling in the document, which I barely understood, and making a photo copy of my driver's license, I noticed that I couldn't check any of the exemption boxes. It says that you must have lived in the house as your residence on Jan. 1st of the tax year. So I guess I won't get any benefits this year. But, I went ahead and mailed it in just in case it will prevent me from having to do it next year, when I probably won't remember.

Also, I got the real estate tax statement for 2007 in the mail. Then I realized that my housepayment has escrow so that it should be paid automatically by the bank when I send the monthly payment. But then I thought, how would the county know who my mortgage broker is? So I figured I needed to call the bank and let them know how much the bill would be. But their automated answering line said "Have you recently received your 2007 tax statement? Don't worry, it will be automatically applied, and you will see it on your next statement." But again I'm worried that it won't be, and maybe that message was for people who have already been paying their loan for more than a year. I guess I will be patient and see what my next statement looks like. I just don't want to go to jail for tax evasion.

(UPDATE: Somehow it worked! My taxes were shown on the January statement. So now I can assume all has been taken care of. Sweet!)

I took down my Christmas tree yesterday. The front window looks so bare. How quickly we become adjusted to change. It was hard to take apart, and the needles kept biting my hands. I have a few scrapes, but I survived. They go nicely with my sore arm that I got from playing Wii tennis. That's right, I'm sore from playing a video game. On a completely unrelated note, I signed up at the city rec center to get in better shape.

I definitely need to put up some curtains in the front window. I don't know what kind to get. Any suggestions?