Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Things I need to find in Spokane

(in no particular order)
Doctors for me and the boys
Dentists for us too
A Church
Good coffee
A good grocery store
A job with benefits
A bunco group
People to hang with
Places to walk
Some new furniture
Good cheap places to eat (sandwiches, pizza, mongolian BBQ, mexican)
Good Sunday drives
A Bible study
Good book and record stores
A really good hairdresser
Good concerts and entertainment venues
A movie theater that shows independent films
A bowling alley
Other things that I forgot.

I feel like I can find all these things sooner or later.

One thing I need to find in Monterey:
Someone to buy my house!

Saturday, January 28, 2006

Well, there's no going back now

Today I packed up my photo albums and my crochet hooks and yarn. This is really happening, wow. I have a well-meaning acquaintance who is trying to talk me not out of moving, but out of selling my house. He says if I could just hold on to it for another 10 years I will make lots more money. Ten years! I have barely been able to hold onto it for the past 8 years, and have dug myself into a financial hole doing so. I am not willing to dig myself deeper toward financial ruin, I am getting out while I can. Sure it will be hard leaving my entire family and many of my friends, but it is what I feel led to do and I am convinced it will be a good thing in the long run. So tomorrow I will start packing up my music. There really is no going back now!

Sunday, January 22, 2006

I will miss the Boardwalk

I only go about once a year, but still. As a reward to Leo for being so helpful in getting the house ready to show yesterday, we went to Santa Cruz Boardwalk today. I cut church even. We played mini golf at Neptunes Kingdom, then had some lunch and finally went to the giant arcade with all the old pinball machines and Skee Ball. We had fun, just me and him, no Max. What a sweet child Leo is when his brother is not there to bug him, and vice versa.

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Showing My House

I was talking to Leo's teacher the other day and he said he heard I was selling my house. He asked me how much and I told him. I thought he was just being politely curious and thought nothing of it. Well the next day he calls and says, I talked it over with my wife, and we want your house. Just like that. They haven't even seen it yet! So I, non-salesperson that I am, try to talk him out of it, but it didn't work. The whole family is coming over this afternoon to look at it. Now, we have been sorting, packing, tossing, etc and so have the roommates, so the house basically looks like every room has been ransacked. Also there is stuff in the yard, on the driveway, everywhere. And a potential buyer is coming in 4 hours. I do not even know where to begin. If I came and looked at this house right now I would run away screaming. Oh well. Bring it on!

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Dream Come True on Elm Street

This is a long story.
With all this house and moving hoopla, I realized that I have never documented how I came to own the house on Elm Street in Spokane. I want to write it down so that people can know how God works in my life and so that I can remember too when I feel like God has lost my file. So here goes.
We made the tentative decision to move to Spokane sometime in early 2005. In July we went up there on a fact finding mission for a week. We made the final decision while we were up there after visiting colleges, bowling alleys, and looking at real estate. By the time we left Spokane, I had put a deposit down on a lot in a newer subdivision, having decided to have our house built for us. I wasn't having any luck finding everything I desired in a house that was already built. Here was my wishlist:
1) Location. I wanted to be in a specific school district on the South Hill, I loved the beautiful old neighborhoods but the houses were old too, and I didn't want to be constantly fixing old stuff. So what I wanted was
2)a new house in an old neighborhood, those just don't really exist. Plus, the lots in the older neighborhoods are large and I didn't want all the yardwork that goes along with them. I wanted
3) a small yard. Those didn't seem to exist either. Now, about the house itself. My dream home would have
4) A 3 car garage
5) A basement with a kitchenette so my college age son could live in it (oh yeah, egress windows please.)
6) A gas stove. It seems that most stoves in Spokane are electric, I'm not sure why.
7) Four bedrooms so I could have a office/hobby room for myself!
8) An inside laundry room.
9) In my price range. It became apparent that the only way to get all these things was to have a house built. Hence the deposit on the lot. All was well until I called the developer in October to get the building started. They told me that the builder refused to build on my lot because of it's proximity to neighbors that he had run-in's with. There was another builder who was willing, but he was out of my price range. I told the developer to return my deposit and started looking at real estate websites again. The more I looked, the more I realized that in order to get everything I now required in a house, I would have to go over my budget by almost 50K. This was very distressing to me, and caused me to reconsider staying in California, even though to do so would be financial suicide. So I started to pray. I prayed for God to show me one way or the other what I should do, stay or go. Not only did I pray for a direction, I prayed for the path to be so clear that I would have no doubt that it was the right path. I believe my exact words were, "God, light up my path like a runway. Open the door so wide and shove me through it so hard that I will have no doubt that You are the one doing the shoving."
On Veteran's day I was on the internet looking for something entirely unrelated to real estate and I was scrolling down my favorites and I guess I just clicked on the wrong thing and I ended up on the Spokane for sale by owner website. I said out loud "Oh, this is not where I wanted to be" and I heard a voice inside of me that was NOT my voice say "Look at it" Now mind you, I had just been to this site 2 days prior and there was nothing good on it. But I heard this voice and decided to be obedient so I scrolled down. and there it was. The house that was in my price range, a newer house in the old neighborhood, with the right number of bedrooms, etc. I looked at the pictures of it on the website, it has a full kitchen in the walkout downstairs and oh by the way both kitchens have gas stoves. It had a 3 car garage and an inside laundry room upstairs AND downstairs. So I called the guy who was selling it. He tells me he can't talk now and could he call me back. When I give him my number he says You're calling from Seaside, CA, and I said how did you know that and he says Because that's where I grew up. Whoa. I chewed on that for an hour while I waited for him to call me back. So he called back and we found out we both went to the same Jr high and High school but several years apart. I asked him why he was selling his house and he said "Well, this might sound strange to you, but God has been putting it on my heart to sell my house, I don't know why, but I decided to be obedient so I put my house on the market yesterday." So I told him "Well, this might sound strange to YOU, but I have been praying for a house just like yours!" Anyway, to make a long story less long, 4 days later I went up and signed the papers. My path was lit up like a runway! I know that this story loses something between the telling of it and the writing of it, but there is NO DOUBT that God provided this house for me. I don't know what He has in store for me once I get there, and whatever it is won't always be easy, but God knows what I need and he will provide it in His time and in His way. I am totally okay with that.
Oh yeah, and by the way, the yard is tiny.

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Thoughts on American Idol

I love American Idol. It is the slickest reality show on TV, and I use the word reality loosely. The only thing resembling real on that show is when America votes and people are eliminated. But all the stuff leading up to it, I don't think there's much reality to it. Which is fine! I love the way the auditions are presented, but you know that when that tan makeup chick and her mother came along, some producer told Simon to ask to see the mother, because it was funnier that way. And it was! It's not often we as TV viewers get to see multi-generational humiliation (not counting Jerry Springer). And you know that the producers had a bunch of bad singers do Lady Marmalade, just so they could have a montage of it at the end of the show. That was a riot, I sure hope Patti LaBelle was watching, I'll bet she got a kick out of that. My personal highlights of last night's show were:
1) The deputy sheriff who sang "I shot the sheriff, but I didn't shoot the deputy" over and over like 10 times while dressed in his deputy uniform. Someone should have shot that deputy!
2) The 2 chicks who were debating whether or not singing ability was what got you to Hollywood. This theory was proven when the spazz who couldn't sing got pushed on to Hollywood simply because he couldn't stand still.
Can't wait for tonight. American Idol AND Lost, woo hoo! Maybe I can get Steve to tivo Skating with Celebrities, then my night would be complete!

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

We are a part of the XM Nation!

I have had XM for over a year in my car. I will never ever ever infinity ever go back to regular radio. Tonight I was going back and forth between the 80's and the 70's stations. Here is the playlist: Wiiiiiiildfire PS you can't die in a killing frost unless you are a tomato. The Candy Man by Sammy Davis Jr. The Candy Man can cause he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good! Then it was You Belong to the City by Glenn Frey, everytime I hear that song I want to go watch Miami Vice. After that came What I Like About You by the Romantics. Hey! Most of the time I listen to the Classic Alternative station, lots of Cure, Smiths and Depeche Mode, but sometimes when I'm in the car by myself I take a wild ride down memory lane, woo hoo! I feel like watching the Wedding Singer now, but I can't because American Idol comes on in 25 minutes yay, it's my favorite episode, the one with all the crappy singers. After what just transpired in the car with me and the XM, I will feel right at home among them!

WIIIIIILDFIRE!!

Fun with Sudoku

I have recently discovered the worldwide craze that is Sudoku. For the three people left who don't know what that is, Sudoku is a number puzzle, you fill in the numbers where they should go. If you google sudoku you will find lots of websites. Anyway, I have the hang of it to the point where I can do the easy puzzles in pen not pencil. There is one website called www.websudoku.com where you play online and it times you and will also tell you how fast you are compared to everyone else who plays on that site. Well, I have never gotten higher than BELOW AVERAGE. Today I was quick, only 73% of players were faster than me, usually it's 80-90%. I don't have much hopes of getting faster, I'm just grateful I can get through the easy puzzles. I am currently working up the courage to do a medium one. Maybe today will be the day!

Saturday, January 14, 2006

I'm on a roll now!

This is the aforementioned Blossom. Max took the picture in black and white which seems kind of redundant since the cat is black and white anyway. She is the best, the cutest and the softest, but I will let you judge for yourself.

This is Grace. She was skinny when we got her from a shelter, but I think that she thinks that every meal could be her last. Also she has a neighborhood route where she gets food from 2 other houses. Grace is not the smartest or most agile cat, but we love her very much.

And this is Dolly. She is a diva. She will only drink running water from the bathroom sink faucet and will not let you pet her below her head. She is very pretty and smart too.

This picture thing is cool. Knowledge is power!

Getting the hang of this Picture thing

OK I'm trying to post a picture.  This one is of Leo taken June 2004 at
Slide Rock State Park just outside of Sedona AZ.  We were on a road trip that went from Monterey to Texas and Oklahoma and back. It was 6000 miles long and took a month to do.  Boy was it fun!




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Right after this picture was taken, the guy behind Leo yelled "Cannonball!!" and did indeed do a cannonball into the river, totally soaking some Japanese tourists.

Friday, January 13, 2006

Moving Suckiness

this post is going to be all over the place because I just woke up and my head hurts.
The logistics of planning an across 3 states move is daunting to say the least. Not only am I trying to plan my move, but I also have to coordinate with the roommates, one of which has tentative plans to move to Spokane also. Every day I try to fill at least 3 boxes with stuff. Yesterday was particularly crazy. The kitchen floor finally went in on Wednesday after over 3 months of chaos, it looks very nice. This meant that we could now move all the pantry cupboards back in there. For some strange reason I thought that moving the kitchen stuff out of the living room would make the living room roomier, but instead it looks like an explosion at the junk factory. So my goal for today, in between volunteering at Leo's school and going to Bible Study tonight, is to unplug the dam of crap that is my living room and get the river of crap flowing freely again out my front door. At least the coffee is kicking in and my head doesn't hurt so bad now. Oh yeah, I forgot that somehow the dishes and laundry need doing today too. Calgon, take me away!
OK I'm done. thanks for letting me whine, you're the best.
In other news, last night I read my new future neighbor Faythe's blog. I went back into the archives and read practically the whole thing. No I am not some crazy stalker who is trying to get inside her head. I was looking for information on Spokane, and I found some great nuggets, like now I know where to get my hair cut & colored. (I fell off the silver wagon and caved, I am now auburn again) Also I have a line on a great Italian deli where they sell fresh pasta, cheese, bread, etc. AND Max was very happy to learn that the local KFC has an all you can eat deal. I found out that there is an awesome hiking trail just a few blocks from my house, and I am very excited about actually experiencing all these things myself.
I also talked to a real estate broker yesterday. It became very apparent that I really don't know squat about real estate and that it would be good to let this broker gal handle everything. She is extremely helpful and informative and I am confident that I will be able to sell my house with her help.
OK, gotta go, busy busy!

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Don't Tell Dolly or Grace

But I love our cat Blossom the best. Actually she is Leo's cat, and even though she loves Leo, she loves me too. When I was sick with the flu for 2 days last month she never left my side, she put her little paw on my hand and comforted me in her sweet kitty way. Once I felt better she made herself scarce, not sleeping on my bed, not coming when I call her, and only sitting with Leo or Max. I blame it on the catnip toy we got her, she just wasn't in her right mind. But yesterday and today she has been very needy and cuddly, following me around the house and sitting wherever I happen to be. As I type this she is laying right in front of me next to the monitor. I am going to try this html thing that Max tried to teach me the other night and get a picture from my computer of her, hold on:

Well I was informed by Max that all the pictures I had on my computer of Blossom are too big and that I would have to resize them, yeah, like I know how to do that! So instead I give you a picture of my new house in Spokane. Which is almost as cute as Blossom and a lot bigger but not as soft.

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Thank You Max!

Now it is my turn.


Isn't he cute!



ok hope this turns out. If I can figure this out then my blog will have personality.

Saturday, January 07, 2006

my son is a the genus.

haha, hes typing this. hello. im max. i dont use propper grammer. sorry. im teaching my lovely mommy html. here it goes.

b is for bold!
u is for underline!
i is for italics!
this is a link!
and here is a random photo!

heres some different font sizes! yeah boyyyyy!


font size 5!


above is a break!
here is a lil sum sum centered for yall

and you can mix it up too!


MAX IS


AWESOME!!!



there ya go. basic html for blogging nonsense.

Communication Quandry

May I just start by saying that I love the internet. I have met (virtually anyway) lots of really cool people from all over. Not to mention being able to buy stuff while in my nightgown! That being said...
I have been communicating recently with a couple of gals (girls? ladies? I like gal because to me it a hybrid of girl and pal. ok back on track Karla) from Spokane. I found one of them (Faythe) on a blog. I left a comment on her blog and she was nice enough to send a comment back to me. Now today one of her friends has left a comment but I'm not sure how to get a message back to her (Michele). So I am going to put my email on Faythe's blog and hope that she reads it or maybe Faythe will be nice enough to pass on the message. I bet she will because everyone I have met from Spokane is super nice, even if they are from somewhere else. Which is good because I am not only super nice but funny too. And I'm from somewhere else (my kids think it's another planet, but they're only part right, it's California). So I hope to fit right in when I get up there in June. Which is right aroung the corner, I better go pack some more boxes!

Friday, January 06, 2006

I Cannot Believe

that it has been 2 and a half months since I have graced my blog with a post. I figure that nobody reads it anyway, but still I think it is good writing practice for me and helps me to remember my life because my short term memory is shot from all the years of pot smoking. My long term memory is better but still selective. The problem is that I am not the one selecting the memories. If I was, the lyrics from all the crappy 70's songs would be erased, but no, and now my 11 year old son can tell you what the song "Wildfire" is about. He can also tell you about Afternoon Delight and Muskrat Love.
I am a bad mom.
Anyway, I was going to talk about how I bought a house in Spokane in November, and how now it is official and how we are so excited, etc, but I got off track. But you know what I always say, where would I be if I wasn't off track? I know--I'd be on track, but what is the fun of that?
I am already packing up stuff for the move, it is a huge task so I figured if I did some everyday that I'd be done by June. So far so good.
OK I'm tired now and ready for bed. Lately I have to get completely exhausted before I go to bed, otherwise I will lay there with my brain on overdrive. Well it was fun to post again, hopefully I won't wait so long, or maybe time just won't go by so fast, yeah right!