April 1st, 2008
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/pet/625196418.html
The search with the pet detective went well, however, it did not result in finding our cat, yet. The search dogs tracked him a couple blocks away to Prospect Street, where, unfortunately the search ended at an old shed. The owner of the property said we could not enter the shed because he feared it falling down on all of us. Our detective said she was pretty sure, based on the way her dogs were acting, the cat was in there but was too scared to come out. The dogs searched around some more for additional trails and there were none. The detective suggested some food and trapping techniques but this of course requires the cooperation of the property owner. Our last hope is to put out more signs, offer a reward, and just wait for him to come back if he can.
March 31st, 2008
Hi,
We just got back from Boston (fun to see you all), and now we lost the cat. In case you do not already know, new house has small hole in garage that leads to crawl space and crawl space has hole to outside world. It took a while to figure all of this out. While unsure how to repair the garage hole, our plan was to not let the cat in the garage. This plan did not pan out like I hoped it would.
We took an initial wait and see what happens attitude and then moved onto flyers and foodbowl with white flour all around (I thought a nice trail of white paw prints would help our case). We moved onto a craigslist posting and have landed onto a pet detective with trained cat sniffing dogs and a lot of fancy equipment.
Will keep you posted,
- N.
January 30th, 2008
First he drops out of the race, now this. What a let down, http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/01/29/6703/.
January 28th, 2008
Hi,
We boxed, we boxed some more and we conquered.
Bruised, tired and barely able to walk up stairs, most of the move is behind us. Fortunately, for most of Saturday it did not rain and most everything is now at the new house. All that is left to do is plaster up the holes, clean and get out the last odds and ends. Some minor complications, hopefully to be fixed soon, are that the new place does not have heat or telephone line (which would not be a problem except we have dsl). We spent the night with hobbes huddled under blankets in our bedroom with a space heater that got fried in the middle of the night because we were either over working it or our electrical system. Hoping tonight we have heat, hot water and a working stove. PG&E don’t be late! Also, a special thanks to Alex for literally making this move happen.
Other news - state of the union tonight…I’m excited and hope I can stomach the whole thing. The last couple years I barely made it to half.
Ted Kennedy supporting Obama, did not expect that, read Caroline’s op-ed and was not touched like people said they were. With Kucinich gone, feeling more pressure for Super Tuesday. If you know who you’re voting for (any Mike Gravel supporters out there?), let me know.
We have also started to plan our wedding celebrations this summer and are looking at dates, either early August, late June or first week in July. If any of these time periods work for you or don’t, let us know.
- n.
January 23rd, 2008
Closing day: Friday
Moving day: Saturday
Boxes needed: Unknown amount, more the better
Movers scheduled: One A. Scammon/payment in food
Truck: Booked
Amount packed: small…two days, plenty of time.
Termites: Soon to be fogged….a million strikes against my karma
Fence: Almost done
Realtor: sick, tired
Wallet: empty
Weather: rain
State: excited about move, and the return of lost.
- n.
January 13th, 2008
Hi,
We’re having a quiet and sunny sunday morning. I’m eating some baguettes we baked friday night with raspberry jam and reading the local news. We’re supposed to meet friends soon who are visiting santa cruz in a couple hours and I’m being lazy until then.
The latest on the local santa cruz news - in case you have not followed it - a young man hit and killed on his bike by a fed ex truck. This is the third person I think killed on a bike since we moved to Santa Cruz. Bike accidents are very common it seems, just the other day when I was picking up P from work I saw a biker on the ground who had been hit by a car, medics were with him. I’m not sure it’s because drivers are more careless here, bikers are more careless or if there are just more bikers on the road than any where else I’ve lived.
Also, we still have protesters in second growth redwoods on the campus. I’ve been wondering about the logistics of living in a tree for a month, how do you sleep, go to the bathroom, what do you do. The topic of university growth is a big and complicated issue here. I still do not understand all of the fine details. There are allegations of protesters causing violence, of police causing violence and I have a feeling it is only going to get worse.
News on our front - we were scheduled to close this Thursday. However, we got a call last week that the house may be going into foreclosure or the bank is not approving the sale price for a short sale. We’re in the process of trying to figure out what is going on but after a recent call from our realtor, closure this week may still be possible. I think (think) we’re only going back and forth on who will pay around $10,000 in termite repair and if that’s the case then it seems kind of silly to have a deal fall through over that amount. We’ll see what happens, but to play it safe we’re going to open houses today because we’re not going to wait around if this house is foreclosed on. Woohoo….more open houses.
Chicago was a good trip, quick. The last day we were there we went to brunch with P’s cousin at a vegan southern restaurant run by black Israelis who wanted to make soul food healthy. Food was good.
- N.
January 5th, 2008
Hi,
In Chicago, LSA. Flight, two hours delayed, snow here, temperature not bad, windy. Loving being downtown in the city, hearing the train go by, restaurant options, good beer, it’s great. Also, we missed the first big rain storm of Santa Cruz since we moved. It shut down highway 17, power was off for all of yesterday. Hoping that our outdoor plants will not be drowned by the time we get back.
House progressing, close date should be 1/18/07. http://www.movoto.com/real-estate/homes-for-sale/CA/Santa-Cruz/167-Molly-Way-100_752609.htm. Moving day going to be scheduled for last weekend in January. We gave our notice at our place and are looking for boxes, it’s a weird feeling moving again.
Late Happy New Year! We went to a party by one of P’s colleagues. The food and wine were fantastic and we brought the new year in to the sound of a powerful opera. I had to work on the first, fortunately I got to sleep in a little. Next year, I’d like to gather a group either on the west coast or east.
P starts teaching again soon, the break is officially over. Looking back, our plans for the break were no plans and it worked out great, so relaxing and very little stress. Highlights: hike on christmas, national treasure 2, brunch with P’s family, gifts from family, naps at all hours, having time to cook, wine and romanian music, being happy with our house decision, homemade toffee from our realtor, spontanious gatherings with friends and cards and pictures of children from people I miss and have not had time to talk to in a while.
Lots to say about Iowa, already about NH. Lots to say, no time now.
Bad news is that my grandmother went into the hospital. She’s out but not doing well. May plan a trip to rural PA soon.
- N.
December 24th, 2007
Hi,
We were at trader joes the other night and P told the cashier we weren’t going anywhere for the holidays and he responded that we were just kickin it, and yes, that is just what we’re doing. P sent his grades in, I’m off for a week (kind of), and it has been a nice blend of days so far spent mostly relaxing and reading. I’m reading about giant squids (very interesting).
Thank you to everyone for their wonderful cards and gifts! We loved them all.
News:
I’m a year older! Birthday was good, we went to the art museum in san jose to see a miro exhibit, dinner and cake the following day with friends.
We won the war, turned down the house and opted for this one instead http://www.movoto.com/real-estate/homes-for-sale/CA/Santa-Cruz/167-Molly-Way-100_752609.htm. We opened escrow and started inspections. We should close on Jan. 16th. Fun packing! We were trying to think what we would miss about our current apartment…still thinking.
Tomorrow, we’re going hiking and cooking dinner. We may even see the new national treasure movie. Looking for a good bollywood movie to netflix? Try veer-zaara. P didn’t like it but he’s not a fan of bollywood.
Happy birthday Noel! One day older than me, can’t wait to celebrate together next year.
Peace,
- N.
December 11th, 2007
Hi,
As of last night, we are officially in a bidding war. I got a call from our realtor that the house was going on the market yesterday and we need to put our offer in. P and I hustled to her house and spent the next four hours working on it and e-mailed it off first thing this morning.
So far, we are up against a lot of people. The bank listed it very low, $200,000 lower than its original price, and it caught a number of eyes already. All of the offers are being sent off to the bank this afternoon and we’ll know who wins on Thursday.
Back to the battlefield…if only I had listened to Edwin Starr.
- N.
December 10th, 2007
Hi,
We got news late last week that ‘the house’ house would be on the market early this week, exciting but trying not to get my hopes up in case it takes longer.
Weekend was good, too short as always. P and I had separate holiday parties Friday night, Saturday we had friends come to SC and we had brunch, visited beach/monarchs, and lunch. My conclusion, a low fat brunch just is not fun. I’ve decided to pretend I’m vegan to help myself with a low-cholesterol diet. So far, I’m a bad pretend vegan. Hoping to get better soon. I really want to avoid having any pills added to my diet and would like to get this under control. Saturday night - we watched a bad movie, something called brothers grim(m?) from netflix, bad, so very very bad, avoid it at all cost. Sunday, slept in and worked. I went to the Princess and the Pea with my mentee at UCSC, it was well done and we both enjoyed it.
Back to work work work,
- N.
