The work begins...again

As you can see from the lovely realtor pictures in the last post, we have lots of projects ahead of us. The house, a 1950's brick rambler, has been frozen in the 1980's for 20 years. We have thick navy blue and bright green carpeting, flowery wallpaper peeling everywhere (I've almost got the bathroom wallpaper free) and, of course, bright green flowery drapes hanging in the basement (even covering a light fixture!).
We've just had radon mitigation done-at the cost of $1750. Ugh.

We're Here-We're finally Here! Consider these-the BEFORE pictures

Stranger than Fiction

Ain't nothin' easy.  Seems the guy who owns the house we're buying is suffering from stage III Remorse.  2 1/2 weeks before closing he wants to cancel the deal.  Enough so that he talked to his lawyer today.  And here we are wondering where it's all going.  Will we have a home to move to?  Will we become a lawyer's pet?  I'm sure it will be terribly amusing someday.  Not today, though.

My brother's city

This is the view from my brother David's roof in Santa Barbara. He and my sister-in-law, Mary are fine. Sadly, many in the area are not.

The tunnel suddenly ends

This is the post I've been waiting to write for at least a couple years now.  We bought a freakin' house!  Cindy sold hers (old news)!  I'm entertaining an offer for mine tonight (so I've been told)!  This has seemed like an unreachable pipe dream for a long time now.  And here we are.  Trying to put together moving plans.  Trying to come up with a wedding plan.  Trying to come up with a financial plan.  What a sweet pain it is!

Know this:  We are getting married on August 22, 2009 come hell, high water, astroid or whatever.  We hope to see you all then.  Formal information will be coming shortly.  Woo Hoo!!

Fame

Hey!  Somebody wrote a nice article on my and my photos in the new Color magazine!  My print prices have just doubled. (not really)

9 months, 7 open houses and 75 showings later...

Someone has signed the papers to buy the house. And, just to drive home the point that this market is in the tank, I'm making 1/2 of what the realtors are getting out of the deal. $7K smackaroos.

My love.

To lead a better life,
I need my love to be here.

Here, making each day of the year
Changing my life with a wave of his hand
Nobody can deny that there's something there.

There, running my hands through his hair
Both of us thinking how good it can be
Someone is speaking but he doesn't know she's there.

I want him everywhere
and if he's beside me I know I need never care.
But to love him is to need him

Everywhere, knowing that love is to share
each one believing that love never dies
watching his eyes and hoping I'm always there.

I want him everywhere
and if he's beside me I know I need never care.
But to love him is to need him.

Everywhere, knowing that love is to share
each one believing that love never dies
watching his eyes and hoping I'm always there.

I will be there, and everywhere.
Here, there and everywhere.

Still here.

I've had close to 30 showings. But we're still here. I just had the floors refinished and they look lovely. The whole damn house is lovely.
Fingers and toes crossed.
By the way, Lulu is the photographer for this picture and the two below. She's fab.

Finally, some good news

My proposal has been accepted by the U of M. I will be getting a BA in a self-designed program of cinema/politics/journalism/french. I'm not even kidding. How cool is that?

Salon.com on Broadsheet

Happy Sanctity of Human Life Day
If you thought the only holiday this long weekend was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, you'll want to grab some extra chips and dip in case friends drop by to celebrate "National Sanctity of Human Life Day." That's this Sunday, Jan. 18, as declared yesterday by George W. Bush.

And just in case you were thinking, "Well, it's not like 'sanctity of human life' is an intrinsically objectionable concept -- maybe there's even some chance this is not a completely fucked-up gift to anti-choicers," Bush clarifies that point for us in his presidential proclamation: "All human life is a gift from our creator that is sacred, unique and worthy of protection. On National Sanctity of Human Life Day, our country recognizes that each person, including every person waiting to be born, has a special place and purpose in this world."

Seriously, you guys, "Every person waiting to be born." Do you suppose the first draft included "Today, we recognize every twinkle in every potential daddy's eye"?

Not considered as worthy of mention as zygotes in a proclamation on the Sanctity of Human Life: civilian and military casualties of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, victims of Hurricane Katrina, victims of torture by the U.S. military, hundreds of dead Palestinians, or Americans executed under the death penalty, to name just a few. Feel free to add to that list in comments. And then, if you don't feel much like celebrating National Sanctity of Human Life Day, consider taking part in the virtual shoe-throwing project being organized for Bush's last day in office.



― Kate Harding

Salon.com in the War Room

FRIDAY, JAN. 16, 2009 12:55 EST
Pro-life group slams Krispy Kreme for baby-killing treats
So Krispy Kreme has decided to offer a free doughnut to every customer next Tuesday in honor of Barack Obama's inauguration. Nice of them, no? Maybe not completely selfless, since they're probably figuring they'll end up selling more doughnuts that way, and besides, it's not exactly great for your waistline. But still -- no one can complain about a free, delicious Krispy Kreme, right?

Wrong.

The phrasing of the company's announcement -- "Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. is honoring Americans'... freedom of choice on Inauguration Day, by offering a free doughnut of choice to every customer" -- made Judie Brown, the president of American Life League, an anti-abortion group, see red. So she released a statement in which she said:

The next time you stare down a conveyor belt of slow-moving, hot, sugary glazed donuts at your local Krispy Kreme, you just might be supporting President-elect Barack Obama's radical support for abortion on demand - including his sweeping promise to sign the Freedom of Choice Act as soon as he steps in the Oval Office, Jan. 20...

Just an unfortunate choice of words? For the sake of our Wednesday morning doughnut runs, we hope so. The unfortunate reality of a post Roe v. Wade America is that "choice" is synonymous with abortion access, and celebration of "freedom of choice" is a tacit endorsement of abortion rights on demand.

President-elect Barack Obama promises to be the most virulently pro-abortion president in history. Millions more children will be endangered by his radical abortion agenda.

Celebrating his inauguration with "Freedom of Choice" doughnuts -- only two days before the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision to decriminalize abortion -- is not only extremely tacky, it's disrespectful and insensitive and makes a mockery of a national tragedy...

As of Thursday morning, communications director Brian Little could not be reached for comment. We challenge Krispy Kreme doughnuts to reaffirm their commitment to true freedom - to the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - and to separate themselves and their doughnuts from our great American shame.

Again (posted by Chuck)

Here we go again. It's time for the real estate dance. Only this time we have a lot more confidence in our agent's abilities than we did for the first go round. And as a bonus, there are no major remodeling projects standing in our way (see photo at left).
It's kinda weird putting the houses up on the market in the middle of winter (it's 12 below zero as I write), but less competition is better, and, oh, those interest rates are really low folks! My major worry is my freaky crazy neighbors in the unit above me will have one of their trampoline sessions while someone is looking at my place (that's a whole 'nother blog if I get started on that subject). So, pleez wish us well and send all the Success in Real Estate vibes that you can muster our way. We'd appreciate that.

It's a brand new year

and with the passage of time my love for C2 deepens and strengthens. We have some challenges ahead, but we will get through them together.