Simi School Fair

The day after our costume party at The Place, the band headed over to entertain fair-goers at the Simi school harvest fair. Fun was had by all, Ken reports.

Harvest Fun

The annual harvest party at The Place this year was a '70s theme (Ken went as a '70s rocker and I went as someone in her 70s who'd misinterpreted the invitation, thinking it was a shindig for seniors in their 70s). Ken had some funky teeth he'd make when he worked at the dental lab, which made it look like he'd been doing too many drugs and not flossing. I had biker shorts stuffed with every pair of pantyhose I own, plus a few bathing suits and even a nightgown. Made for a convincing spare tire. Both outfits were a hit. Ken also played in the band; they've been practicing classic 70s rock tunes for a couple of months now, and were fantastic. I'll try to post video when I figure out how to make it a reasonable size.

Wow

This site knows some really important stuff about people. Scary and amazing.

Baby Blog

For the latest on the baby stuff, visit The Littlest Adams. Though I probably should just include it on this blog, because we probably won't talk about much else. But I'll try. :o) Things are going good at the new place. I say good vs. great, only because we're still living amongst boxes and have no time to unpack. We have one more small load to pick up from the old house, too. Seems like it takes so bloody long to get every last crumb, lamp, shoebox and bottle of Soft Scrub out. But, on the other hand, they've approved demo on the place, so at least I don't have to clean it!

We Passed the Test!

In hopes of finding out who actually reads our blog, we thought we would post some major news and wait for the response. The rest of the slackers who don't bother to keep up will just be out of the loop for a while! (Yes, we have told our parents...)

Final Walk-Thru at Brookshire

We did our final official walk-through at Brookshire today. We were surprised to find a white kitchen sink. It was never presented as an upgrade option, but we just sorta figured it'd be stainless with the stainless kitchen package. Not so. Upgrading to the SS sink is an additional $1,150, so I think we're going to make do with white for now and change it later ourselves. Cheaper, plus I can pick what kind of sink I want, rather than accepting the single model the design center makes available (a 50/50 split one, which isn't my favorite anyway). Other than that, we LOVE how the tile, granite and cabinets flow together, and the "rain" glass in the doors is really pretty. Now we just have to decide what to put up there that looks nice ... boxes of Rice-a-Roni and cans of Vegeburger just don't seem like display items.

So that's it. We pick up the keys Wednesday. Gosh, it's been forever, and yet it went by so fast. Weird. Just like life. We were planning to paint this weekend before we move in, but because there are a lot of drywall things that have to be fixed, we need to hold off on painting til they're done. That could take up to 30 days. So, we'll finish packing this week and plan to have the movers come either Sunday, Monday or Tuesday next week. Our friend Chad is going to go in with us for the move since he lives close to us and is in the unit below at Brookshire. Convenient. It won't be a 50/50 split because he has less stuff, but every bit helps (both of us!).

The master bathroom vanity. We're really pleased with the way the marble, cabinets and tile flow together. I can't wait to start moving things in; it's like the first day of school � exciting!

The "Great Room." Can't wait to get the furniture in here to see how it works! The carpet is whiter than I remember, so we'll have to get a really colorful ottoman and some fabulous window coverings, then decide what color to paint the walls. Those elements will totally change the room.

Michael and MeeRa

Michael and MeeRa came over Sabbath so we zipped over to Malibu for some beach time. The weather was perfect and the dolphins were feeding near the shore, so it was a delightful afternoon (followed by a gluttenous supper at our favorite local Mexican restaurant...yum).

Wonder who lives in those houses?

Light as a feather...

Giddy-up!

The Most Recent

Seems like I haven't posted in a long time, but not because things aren't happening. I guess I associate posting with photos, which I haven't had many of lately. We've been shut out of the condo until the final walk-thru, so I don't have any new pics of that.

We signed our loan paperwork today. I can see how, for people who don't regularly deal with loan documents, it would be a really intimidating process. But since I see many loan packages as a notary signing agent, this deal was old hat. I knew where to look in the fine print to see what I wanted, where to sign this and that document, etc. Very easy. So, we'll find out our walk-thru date when we stop by the sales office Sunday; we are scheduled to "close" on Wednesday, Sept. 27. WOW.

We successfully completed day 1 of our yard sale. Sunday will be the big day, I'm sure. We sold a bunch of the big stuff (laundry machines, elliptical machine, BBQ and patio furniture) to friends, which is great, because we can keep using them until we move and not have to handwash clothes for three weeks. That would suck.

The bad thing is that since we paid 1.25 points on our loan to buy down the rate, we're getting back about $4K less at closing that I originally calculated. Bummer. But so goes it.

In other news, Ken is doing great in school and enjoying it. Even a shock to him! I still love my job and Brady is doing great. In fact, he just did a "poopy dance" and sang a song with daddy. Good times.

We just got back from a big meat supper at Bandits. I had prime rib and can now feel my arteries hardening as I type. And all my energy has gone to my gut to process this gluttonous meal, so I'm ready for bed and it's only 8:25. Oh well, I got up two hours earlier than usual this morning, so my body thinks it's 10:25. Sure. That sounds good. OK. Goodnight, then.

It's been a year since I worked with the 15 Hands Rescue Sanctuary and its associated projects, so it was a treat today to get out to their new facility. I did a trail-by-fire orientation to working with one of the groups from Casa Pacifica. It was a lot of fun, despite the freakish heat. So I think I'll be going out on Friday afternoons for the next eight weeks to help with this series of groups. This photo is the view from the barn area overlooking the Conejo Valley. Our (current) house is almost smack dab in the middle of this photo at the bottom of that hill in the distance. Cool; kinda like being in an airplane.

Went to visit Michael and MeeRa at their new house in Loma Linda last weekend. The house is really cute and in a nice neighborhood, so I'm sure they'll be really happy there. It was wonderful to see them again (I think we haven't seen them since the wedding May 28). Ken ended up getting sick, so he didn't go over with me. He's looking forward to a visit sometime soon.

Wasting time...

A) Four jobs I have had in my life
1. waitress at a steak house in Destin, Florida
2. secretary in the journalism dept at Southern Adventist University
3. magazine editor (one in Sacramento in the late 90s; one in LA area now)
4. in-house graphic designer at a copy shop in Sacramento

B) Name 4 movies you would watch over again
1. Liar, Liar
2. Bruce Almighty
3. Ace Ventura, Pet Detective
4. Mrs. Doubtfire

C) Four other places I have lived:
1. Niceville, Florida
2. Collegedale, Tennessee
3. Pohnpei, Micronesia
4. Sacramento, California

D) Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. Grey's Anatomy (ask again next month after the season starts)
2. Prison Break (though it's getting pretty far-fetched this season)
3. Bringing Home Baby (pretty much everything on TLC)
4. Oprah/Dr. Phil

E) Four places I have been on vacation
1. Hawaii
2. Germany (young, so I don't remember much)
3. Nebraska
4. Guam

F) Websites I visit daily:
1. Google.com/iWon.com personalized homepages
2. Yahoo! Answers
3. Craigslist.com
4. CostCo.com (I'm addicted!)

G) My favorite foods (in no particular order):
1. Thai (massaman curry, anything with rice noodles)
2. Italian (all of it!)
3. Chinese (spicy eggplant, curry tofu)
4. Everything else (I'm a pretty easy eater, unfortunately)

H) Four places I would like to be right now:
1. Nebraska (haven't seen my best friend in TOO long!)
2. Florida (haven't seen my other best friends in TOO long!)
3. Scuba diving someplace tropical (Pohnpei, Caribbean, Fiji, etc.)
4. Exploring someplace I've never been (Australia? Asia?)

We went to the condo for a quick looksie this evening. We're 30 days from closing, so things are really moving along. Here's the outside as of today. We're excited about the two palm trees in front of our windows. It's really going to be a nice-looking place.

They have the marble on the bathroom counters now. Also hard to see because of the protective covering and lack of light, but you get the idea.

Here's the chandelier that will hang over the dining table. That's the plan, anyway. We didn't have a choice of fixtures, but we like this one, so that's good.

Here's the corner of the granite. Using flash makes it look brighter than it really is, so I used natural light for this, which caused the blur. But you get the idea of the color, anyway. Lots of gold and green with flecks of black, gray and off-white. Everything will look different once the carpet and lights are installed. They have the tile down in the kitchen, entry and baths now, but it's covered with corrogated paper to protect it so it's hard to see.

I went for an official visit to our condo today. The cabinets are installed, as you can see. But the granite isn't in yet, which is what we're really excited about. They also put the wrong glass in the two cabinets (it should have a "water" texture). But they'll fix that. Our closing has been moved to end of September, so they're really moving along fast. I imagine they'll have the granite in by the end of the week. We can't do another walk-thru next Sunday because we'll be in Ontario for union constituency meetings, and starting in September they're locked up (to protect the floors). We'll have our offical final walk-thru a week before closing. Once we close, we'll probably spend a few days painting before we move in. I just bought four books from Home Depot (painting, decorating, windows, coloring) to give us some good ideas. I am currently being oppressed by allergies or a gross head cold, which is quite miserable, so I may just curl up with these books and a stack of sticky notes. We also learned where our assigned garage will be; it's just around the corner and it's on a wing where one car can park directly in front of the garage door, so that will be wonderful for visitors. We're getting excited!

Here's the outside of our unit as of this evening. It's getting there! Our cabinets are sitting in the unit in their boxes, so the next time we visit (a week or 10 days, at least), they should be installed; maybe with the granite. Yay! Our closing date has tentatively been moved up to end of September, so we may be in sooner than we thought. Exciting ... and SCARY! But mostly exciting. Can't wait!

Here's Ken standing amongst the cabinetry. :o)

Mr. Picassohead

Mr. Picassohead is by far the coolest website I have seen in a very long time. Create your own painting!

Brick-layer

Construction worker isn't my best look, but I had some nice biceps by the end of the week in Mexico!

Not much news to report on our condo this week. They finished the special concrete flooring (sound-muffling), so now they'll be able to move in cabinets and such. No new pics, because there wasn't anything to see. That unit we'd been posting pics from in building one is now off limits. They have the doors on and carpet in, so everything is locked up tight to keep people from messing up the flooring. Sad not to be able to go through it, but I'm glad, too, because I wouldn't want people with dirty feet tromping through on my new carpet, either. From now on, we'll be posting pics from our own unit anyway. I'm also thrilled that we can't see the ugly industrial plant (just SW of the development) from our windows/balcony because the YMCA blocks it. Yay.

Chad (my co-worker, who is the one who introduced us to this development in the first place and will be in the unit below us and over one) already has his cabinets and granite in place. Can't wait to go peek at that! Now that we have hardhats, we look more official on the property, so "trespassing" is easier. But once they lock the place up, we won't be able to get in without an appointment anyway, so it'll be a limited engagement.

Mexico pics

I've posted photos from our Maranatha church-building trip to Mexico on my old website because I wanted others to be able to download high-rez versions for their own presentations and such. So, if you're looking for pics from Otay, CLICK HERE.

It's been a crazy month for me. Working day and night on the constituency session report/August issue of the magazine, then my mom arrived from Mississippi for our Mexico trip, then sick for a few days, then jury duty, etc. I need a vacation! But no such luck. I'm into the September issue now, then to Nashville for the NAD teachers' convention next weekend.

Looks like our closing date at Brookshire could move up as much as two months, too, which is really exciting, and yet scary, because that's two fewer months during which to save money. Yikes! Either way, we'll be delighted to get into OUR place -- finally!

Hot

We will be so glad to spend next summer in our new place that has air-conditioning. It has been SO bloody hot in this house. Ick.

We did our weekly trespass this afternoon and, for the first time, climbed up into OUR unit. Fun! They don't have the staircase in yet, but they have a wooden ladder built in. It felt stable, so we went on up ... carefully. Most of the drywall is yet to be hung, so it didn't feel homey yet, but we saw where they'd installed some of our upgraded electrical, extra TV outlets and phone lines, etc.

We checked out the view from our great room and balcony, which is really decent. The YMCA hides the view of the ugly industrial building to the southwest, so that's a blessing. Our windows face west, so we'll get afternoon sun, which is nice for light but sucks for cooling. Might have to get some UV window treatments to keep our stuff from bleaching in the sun.

We walked through several of the other units in the first building where they're further along than ours. One had the Shaker-style cabinets that we'd wanted (though in a different color), but really, I'm just as happy with the ones we got. The Shakers are prettier in small doors like in the showroom samples, but in life-size cabinets, I think they're too stark and cool. And that same unit had the granite countertops installed, which was cool to see. It was a Plan 4, which has a larger kitchen than ours (but the unit itself has much less personality and only one window in the great room). They'd gotten square edges on the granite, and we ordered bullnose, which I think will be much better.

So, I'm getting more and more excited about our choices. We have a 6-inch granite backsplash; I wonder if putting mirror from the top of the splash to the bottom of the cabinets would look nice, reflect light and make the kitchen look bigger -- or would it just look cheesey?

I'm a little concerned about having only two bedrooms, because we fully utilize three now. Once we eventually need to make the second bedroom into a nursery, we're really going to have to be creative with storage. The biggest issue is the computers (and desks). I may have to get a notebook computer to save space (I was planning to get a new system as soon as Vista comes out anyway, because my computer will be 4 years old then), but we still have the huge multifunction printer that I use for the notary business. I'd like to get a nice computer armoire, but we would really each need one; so, where to put two huge pieces of furniture? Maybe if I get a notebook, we can get away with one computer armoire. The filing cabinet is big and not particularly pretty, but that can probably go in the closet of the second bedroom, even if it's a nursery. No other options, really.

I think we'll get rid of most of our books, the second bed, the elliptical machine, etc., and we'll probably put one of those garage organizers above the garage door to store seasonal and holiday stuff. From what we can tell, the garages are fairly deep, so if we just park the Civic in there, we'll have quite a bit of room in front of it.

Guess I've been rambling more to myself than anything else, so I guess I'll quit now. :o)

Low white count

So in some annual bloodwork I had done a couple of weeks ago, the doctor found that my white cell count is low and she wants to retest in a month. So I got on the web to see what I could find about white cell counts. Turns out, one of the primary causes can be B-12 deficiency (Pernicious Anemia). Last summer my bloodwork showed that my B-12 was on the very low end of normal, and that doctor prescribed a prescription B-12 supplement (inhaled through the nose). Because my insurance doesn't cover a lot of things, I wanted to get the Rx approved before I filled it, so I held the script and planned to call them. But instead I managed to forget and eventally lost the script and never followed up. So, I suspect that my B-12 has dipped too low and is causing the low count. However, when you're taking high doses of Folic Acid, Pernicious Anemia can be obscured in bloodwork. Not sure how they determine what reality is. Anyway, I had the doctor add a separate B-12 test to my retest lab order, so we'll see if that shows anything interesting. She also said the low count could be caused by the body fighting infection (like a cold or whatever). I'll keep you posted.

Today's progress on the condo; they took down the green construction fence so it's easier to see now. Doesn't look much different from the outside than last time, but I see that all the drywall is up now. I'm sure anxious for them to put the staircase in so I can get up to our unit!

Here's how our cabinets will look; same floorplan and everything, except we have the granite counters. We also have glass inserts in the two doors you see above the counterstops there. We'll definitely be shorter on cupboard space than we are now. Time to trim the fat from kitchen gadgets!