The Hot Seat

I still have had absolutely no time to regroup since the beginning of March. I've been on ten flights already since the 1st and have two more before it's over; I'm flying home Friday, gathering up the cats and anything I'll need for five weeks of very basic living, and driving out Sunday. The movers will load Brent up the end of April, load my stuff (including piano!) on the way through Evanston, and we'll officially be moved.

Last weekend I was home for literally only 38 hours (due to the early nature of a Sunday flight booked at the last minute), 13 of which I spent asleep. Thank goodness for Mom and Morgan and Kelly; the girls packed a good 85% of my stuff and Kelly, along with Henry, sent us to a day spa for some major pampering Saturday. There was also some Cheesecake Factory involved.

I dropped the cashier's check for my deposit off with the property manager at our new place Sunday; his little daughter came running across the driveway calling my name. It's a sweet old duplex east of Midtown in a deliciously walkable neighborhood, safe and well-lit, 8 miles from my office. There are coffee houses, a vet, a crepe restaurant, a diner that offers ostrich burgers, a bike shop, a Trader Joe's, and several huge and wonderful parks. Also there are pubs, groceries, and liquor stores. We can bicycle to the 28-mile river bike trail. I can't wait. I found this house by driving around the neighborhoods I liked and calling the numbers on rental signs in front of places I thought we'd like living in. Voila:

Blue spruce, automatic garage door, yard care included, sprinkler system, lilies and geraniums.

How cute is that?

Washer and dryer hookups in the garage, which is common in California.

I wish this hadn't turned out so fuzzy. This is one end of the huge living room.

Dining area.

Double-size sliding glass doors, porch and patio.

Orange tree! Our very own CITRUS TREE!

Garage walkway.

Kitchen looking towards the hall, coat closet and bathroom visible.

Front door!

Patio!

Original GE oven controls in the wall. Not functional; the oven is a built in unit, and older GE but still very nice. Electric, not gas, which is weird in California.

Copper clock built into the kitchen wall.

Copper hinges and handles.

Giant kitchen.

Cabinets built along the wall of the second bedroom.

The butter yellow bathroom, separate tub and shower.

Master bedroom, with high, frosted windows and SEVEN power outlets, and a brand-new Hunter fan.

Also a built-in cork board and big closets.

This week at work is Office Week, when the entire 100-plus staff convenes in Sacramento (from field offices in 11 western states, including Hawaii and Alaska). There's been a lot of socializing, a lot of good information, networking, meetings, hotel catering, coffee, and fun. It's also exhausting. I had a vocally debilitating cold the second week of March (when I was home, luckily, mediating online training sessions from my bed, with a cat on either side and a cup of hot tea and my laptop) that now has my manager squeaking like a barn door, and I feel a little something coming on again. So it's off to bed, and hopefully I'll have more spare time when I'm not spending 16 hours a week on planes or rushing to airports. I have so much to tell you.

Green and Gold

So much has happened to me since the 15th of February that I haven't been able to make sense of it, much less type it up. Pictures are going to have to fill in the blanks for now. When I get established it should be easier to start blogging again, because I feel like I have as much to share (and a safer forum to share it in) as I did five years ago when the blog was going strong. I can't guarantee anything, but that's what I hope.

Somewhere between Visalia and San Luis Obispo, California, sunset over either the Diablo or Santa Lucia range after rain.

Hwy 41.

Avila Beach, California

Blooming orchards along I-5.