2002-11-30 
 

too many stairs today

This will probably be the last blog entry from Jersey Street. We've already carted over four carloads of boxes and bags and will probably do one more before crashing for the night. Rented a cargo van for tomorrow in order to lug over the stuff that's too big to squash into our cars. Dreading carting the book cases and futons up and down stairs. Thankfully, there's only one short flight at the new place. Even though we both swore "never again" the last time we moved. (meaning never again would we do it ourselves), what we realized is that movers would cost us about 3-4 hundred dollars. Doing it ourselves means 3-4 hundred dollars to put towards a new couch. Yay!

In other happy news, after a rough start yesterday, G and I are almost having fun doing this. Blue really helps the attitude.

Last note: since the new computer hookup hasn't happened yet, it may be a few days before you hear from me again. Onward and Upward!

* posted by me at 2:58 AM

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2002-11-29 
 

happy burrito day!

The house is starting to look like the back room of a department store. Full of boxes and random things strewn about. I could write a library full of books on the paper that we've got to wrap up dishes and other breakable items.

Ended up grabbing some burritos for dinner. A very satisfying, albeit nontraditional, thanksgiving dinner. Speaking of thanksgiving: Doing all this packing is helping me remember how much we have to be thankful for. Getting through it together without killing each other makes me extra thankful for G. I don't know many other people who'd put up with my spazziness.

* posted by me at 1:13 AM

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2002-11-26 
 

i felt the earth move...

It's just before 5 am and I've been visiting the USGS site to find out more about the earthquake that just woke me up. Well, actually, the quake itself didn't wake me. I tend to wake up a few minutes before hand feeling vaugely disoriented and then POW. OK, not pow. 3.7 isn't really pow, but at 5 in the morning the feeling that your bed just slipped down a notch is a bit disquieting. This happened a few days ago too. G and I woke up randomly early this weekend, looked at each other in a puzzled way as if to say, why did you wake me up and then...POW. (well, ok, it wasn't really pow then either...in fact we both said,"oh, earthquake" and went back to sleep.) The good news is that I wake up before the event. The bad news is that I'm not sure if that's going to do me any good when the big one hits.

The one that just hit was located somewhere near San Ramon. If you look at the list of recent quakes there've been quite a few around there over the past few days...several of which topped 3.5. Can you imagine if it all happened at once instead of these minor events spread out over time? Zoicks!

OK, with that sleepy thought, I'm back to bed.

* posted by me at 7:57 AM

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2002-11-24 
 

in passing

Today's been great...got the little bit done that I needed to do and RELAXED!

Quote of the day: "People will always be willing to pay for candy and sex." (G's comment after seeing a preview for Unwrapped: Movie Snacks on the Food Network.)

* posted by me at 12:49 AM

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2002-11-23 
 

weekend mint

A lot to do this upcoming weekend, but other than paying the bills. (UGH!) None of it is so important that I need to stress over it. No apartment to find lest we find ourselves on the street come December. No work to do.

My main goal is to FedEx out little e's birthday gift (along with some early holiday gifties for her mommy) and to get myself down to Phoenix to sell off some books so that there'll be less to move in ONE WEEK! Yay! I'm so looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow. So nice to wake up after 8 for once and just lie there without having to move until I really want a cup of coffee. Did I mention, YAY? (mmmmm, that reminds me, I used to love After Eights)

Quite a few birthdays happening right now. Special regards to Brian, Michelle and Emma - hope your days are super happy! (and a belated shout out to Jen Pomp, whom I FINALLY got to talk to this week - have fun visiting the beans!)

* posted by me at 2:13 AM

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2002-11-19 
 

mini update redux

We got it! In 11 days we'll be moving into lovely Duboce Triangle....it'll be my first apartment in San Francisco that isn't on the corner. (for you non-city dwellers, this is nice because it has a lovely little garden in the back vs. no back space at all) That's all for now, just wanted to let everyone know.

* posted by me at 10:15 PM

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a mini update

Still no news...so frustrating! But LOOK! I finally found a banner picture that I like...not sure about the font, but that can change.

* posted by me at 4:45 PM

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2002-11-18 
 

the waiting game

Application, credit report and check have all passed into apartment manager's hands and she should've handed them off to the owner last night. Now we wait and hope and in the words of the Smiths...PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me, let me get what I want.

In other news...we watched the first three episdodes of Brideshead Revisted on DVD last night. I'm eagerly waiting for disk 2 (with episodes 4,5 and 6) to come our way. So nice to take a break from the stress around us and get lost in another time for a while.

* posted by me at 3:05 PM

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2002-11-17 
 

no more goldilocks

This apartment search thing is beginning to bore me. So tired of looking at places that are a little too small, a little too worn out, a little too modern, a little too sterile, a little too expensive...MUCH too expensive.

I think it's time to just bite the bullet and go for a place we saw yesterday. It doesn't have parking and it might not get as much light as I'd like, but the most important rules of real estate apply. Location, location, location. Then there's the fourth rule of real estate that no one ever talks about. Price. This place is just about right...I'd love it if we could knock 50 bucks off of what they're asking, but if they don't, we can certainly live with it.

It has a good kitchen with a classic stove that G has fallen in love with already, which was one of our main prerequisites and, as a bonus, has a working fireplace! There's a little alcove outside of the living room that can be used as an office space...and did I mention that it's in Duboce Triangle? Even having to find street parking, my commute will be cut down by about 10-15 minutes. (This might not seem like a lot, but for someone like myself who needs every last minute of sleep in the morning, I'm rather excited.)

Of course, we don't actually have the place yet, but we'll be applying tomorrow! Keep your fingers crossed for us...

* posted by me at 2:19 AM

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2002-11-15 
 

candy redux

For those of you who didn't get enough sweetness with my blog a few days back, I suggest going here. Fun for the whole family!

* posted by me at 2:50 AM

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2002-11-13 
 

animals that begin with b

That would be, bees and beavers and I'm busy as. Spent Monday evening in hospital with G. (he's ok now) Serious stomach problems that led to a need for an IV to rehydrate his poor self. Now he's on a NASTY med to thwart any remaining bad news in his system. Good news is it'll be over after this weekend and life can return to normal...well whatever that means.

Still looking for a place... we put a bid in on the apartment on top of Kite Hill and are waiting to hear. Keep your fingers crossed!

* posted by me at 3:39 PM

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2002-11-11 
 

trading places

G and I swapped places this weekend...I'm getting over my cold and he came down with a stomach bug. I think. It might have been something he ate Saturday afternoon because it hit quite suddenly that evening, but it's more than 24 hours later and he's still cramping up. He's promised me that he'll go to see the doctor tomorrow if the pain's still there.

In other news, the search for an apartment continued this weekend. So far nothing definitive has come up, but I'm hoping for one of two places by Kite Hill. A great area. There's a problem with each of them. Our top choice is, of course, out of our price range. But what a place!

Late yesterday afternoon, after viewing some not so great spaces, G turned onto a little side street off of Market and said,"I wish we could just find something in this neighborhood." The words are still echoing in my ears as the car finishes its turn onto the street, and in front of us is a building with a FOR RENT sign up in a second floor window. Knowing a sign when we see one, we called the number. As if it was meant to be, someone answered right away and offered to come right down to show us the place. A very kind man, so happy to meet us and we had a good feeling. The apartment, while needing a bit of love to make it a home, struck both of us as a great place to move into. But. The price is just a little over our promised maximum. (It is two bedrooms and 2 baths after all. With a working fireplace...and views...did I mention it's overlooking Kite Hill? With a huge closet in the bedroom?) I regretfully called back today to let them know we can't take it at that price. I'm secretly hoping they'll call back and offer us a deal, but I'm not going to count on it. Len (the nice man) had told us yesterday that the owner already lowered the rent three hundred, and I'm guessing that it won't go lower until December...if it does last that long. It's a pretty great place for the price.

The other place, also on Kite Hill, I had seen a week ago while G was painting. I dismissed it at the time because of the kitchen being less than perfect. Everything else about it was wonderful. (Killer views, your own deck and screened in patio.) Anyway, it's been on my mind all week and G mentioned it the other day as a place he's curious about so we've called to see if he can see it sometime this week. She'd mentioned that they might install a gas stove in place of the electric for the right tenants, but....are we them? The kitchen would still be a bit smaller than we'd like, but it would be livable.

Frustrating. Send some good vibes our way if you've got 'em!

* posted by me at 2:09 AM

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2002-11-09 
 

the candy man

Had the oddest dream last night. May have been due to the three Almond Joys I had just before bedtime. YUM!

It just struck me as odd that I would write YUM after mentioning Almond Joys. They used to be the bane of my existence. The evil twin to the golden child that is Mounds. Not anymore. Sometimes I do feel like a nut, though Mounds continue to have preferred nation status in my book. (especially since the lack of almond makes them ever so slightly less fattening)

It's funny how tastes change. In my life my favorite halloween/movie candies have been, in roughly chronological order:

M&Ms, Nestle's Kisses, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Reese's Pieces, Sugar Babies, Cadbury Cream Eggs, Nestle Crunch, Mounds, Jr. Mints, Kit Kats...and that's about where I am now... I did have a brief flirtation with Butterfingers and Heathbars, but just couldn't get used to the way they'd stick in my teeth.

I do tend to stick to any candy that comes in miniature or bite size. After all, it's a scientific fact that three of the little ones are about half as fattening as one of the big ones. (and that eating one of the super size
movie ones doesn't count as long as you share it with a friend)

* posted by me at 2:33 AM

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2002-11-07 
 

missing g

The apartment management thing works in our favor in terms of reduced rent etc. but right now it sucks. I'm still feeling sick and G's had to spend all his time downstairs painting and fixing and whatnot. Feel like we haven't had a chance to just relax together for almost two weeks. I'm hoping that we can take a break from the apartment hunt some evening this coming weekend and have a date night.

In other news, the new Harry Potter comes out in about a week. Being a big geek, I'm quite excited.

* posted by me at 12:24 AM

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2002-11-05 
 

feeling ooogy

Not ignoring you, just been sick...and dealing with a hellish tenant turnover. I have a blister on every single finger from helping G remove a multitude of rug tacks from the hardwood flooring. (Why, oh why, would somebody cover up lovely hardwood floors with barf colored shag carpeting? The mind boggles.)

Speaking of boggled minds...more to follow when my head finally unstuffs itself. Until then, check this out. A little snack for your head!

* posted by me at 9:22 PM

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2002-11-01 
 

looking back

In retrospect, I wish I'd payed a bit more attention during Deutsche Sonnabendschule. There's this annoyingly catchy dance tune that I heard several times on 92.7 before our trip back east. I haven't heard it ONCE since our return. All I can remember is that there's a part where a childlike voice sings out, "ICH fahre Autobus." He (or she I suppose) says it with absolute glee. The sort of glee that little children are great at reminding us of.

ANYway, I figured I'd look it up and I'm getting a headache searching through all the German sites that pop up. My limited ability to read German, coupled with the fact that there are NO rules of grammar enforced on the internet are making it extra difficult. I actually found myself in some porn site at one point. (I'm not going to direct you to it, but I have to mention that this particular webmaster had an interesting fascination with french maids enjoying their petite dejeuner together. Especially the jam.)

So this is a plea. If anyone knows what the song is...I'd be most grateful for the info.

In other news, for those of you who've been keeping track, work got progressively better this week. I'm still dreaming about a job in a bookstore, but I really do appreciate the job I have now. I enjoy what I do, I'm good at it, get recognized now and again. AND, where else would looking at all the beautiful men in the latest issue of Cosmo be considered a worthwhile lunchtime activity? A whole new spin on the Naked Chef! Six Randy Rules to live by! (For my hetero male friends out there, I say be afraid, be VERY afraid...or be very excited...I suggest you start reading the mag now and again to find out just how much she DOES know about what makes you tick.)

* posted by me at 9:28 PM

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