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XocomilWelcome my friend, welcome to the machine March 11 One door closes and another opensI'm reminded again how symmetrical life can be. My nephew Sheldon recently returned from 6 months in Brazil and decided he wanted to move to Seattle. He has been fretting over finding a place that he and his girlfriend can afford and I know that is a hard place to be. I talked to him this weekend and told him he could hang here for awhile until he found someplace.
When I got home last night my renters in the basement called to tell me they are moving out on 4/1. They are super nice and when they moved in we agreed to a 4 mth lease as there was a house potentially opening up that would really work out for them. I agreed since it was Dec and I really needed someone in there. They since discovered that she is pregnant so the larger space will really help them out.
I called Sheldon to tell him the good news that my basement is open. He was in Wyoming as he is headed West after spending the last month helping his dad build a garage in Iowa. He's pretty excited about living here and so am I.
Funny how one door closes and another opens up. :) March 03 March MadnessYou know you're getting old when you have to set the font size to "large"
 Guess that is to be expected considering I turn 46! in a few days....*sigh*Thought I'd throw together an update since it's been about 4 months since I last did it. The newest news is I'm recovering from several surgeries right now. Some of you know that a year and a half ago I got talked into having a whole mouth reconstruction. Don't even ask-but the good news is all the surgeries are done now. Three weeks ago I did the last one which entailed pulling my two front teeth, ugh! And no, I won't post pictures :) Ken asked right away and I told him it's so scary looking that I have to close my eyes when I brush my teeth because is scares me so bad! I have a temporary bridge that will be replaced in the next month or so. By May I'll be half way done with the process, the other half will have to wait as it's too expensive to complete now that I'm down to one income.
The other surgery was on my knee a week and a half ago. I've been having pain in my knee for a couple years and recently slipped on some ice at work and it really exacerbated it. The swelling wouldn't go down so I had an MRI and found out I'd torn my meniscus. I had surgery on the 21st to cut out the torn piece. I did a spinal block so it enabled me to watch the whole thing on the HD screen, very cool! The Dr. said I likely tore it years ago and it healed partially but the new strain reinjured it. When he went inside the camera showed some long term damage from the initial tear which I may have to have fixed sometime in the future. The good news is that I rode yesterday for the first time in a couple years without any pain. I'm really looking forward to seeing how far I can push my biking this year w/ two good (albeit old) knees.
 For the past two years I've had to cancel my planned trip to France to ride in the Pyrenees. This year I'm going to take two weeks at the end of July and do the rides there and hit the big ones in the Alps. I can't afford to do the supported trip that Stu and I originally planned so instead we're going to make it a family road trip and I'll do the climbs solo. The plan is to start in Amsterdam and then head counter clockwise around France. We'll hit the D day beaches and then head South to the Pyrenees, down to Barcelona for a couple days, across the Riviera and up to the Alps. Then into Paris to watch Lance win # 8
 then back to Amsterdam. I'm getting pretty excited planning it. I love road trips and doing it through France should be a blast. It will also allow me to hit both Mountain ranges in France so I can hit the classic climbs in both regions. Figure I better do it now while there is some chance I can actually complete them. I'm not getting any younger and the mountains aren't getting any smaller. : I did finally finish the basement at Beach Drive and a nice couple moved in on December 1st. They're super nice and I'm finding that living with neighbors isn't so bad and definitely helps with the house payment! Sue and I are trying to take advantage of the lower interest rates but finding that the devaluation of real estate is hurting us pretty bad. It ends up that we may have to have mortgage insurance on most of our holdings since we no longer have over 20% equity. Kinda funny since on the Condo that means we can lower our interest rate by 2% but only save about $180 month on our payment because we have to pay an additional $170 month in MI for two years. Looks like we'd be better off to default on all our loans so we could get some government help. What a system.
 In other news my friend Jing left to return to China last week. I'm sorry to see her go. She was only here 3 months which just wasn't enough time, I wish her the best in returning home.
That is all the news that is fit to print. Life is good and for the first time in many years I can say pretty quiet, a nice and welcome change.
d November 11 NovemberJust checking in with an update. Been pretty busy with the house, sounds familiar right? :) It's been good and bad trying to get the kitchen build in the basement. (I may not have mentioned it in my last entry but I decided to build a kitchen in the basement so I can rent the downstairs as a complete unit.) The bad is I've been busier than I'd like and haven't been able to ride much. The good is I've probably enjoyed it more then any other building project I've had in recent years. I'm down to finishing the trim and connecting the gas cooktip and it'll be all done. I'm looking forward to getting it rented so hollar if you know anyone looking to rent in W. Sea :)
That is about it these days, just waiting on the snow and looking foward to a winter of playing. Going to spend some time in MT over Xmas and maybe for Thanksgiving. I'll post some pics of the kitchen when it's done. Life is good.
d September 08 There's no place like homeJust a quick update to let everyone know I’m back home at Beach Drive. I moved on the first and there aren’t even words to describe the gratitude I feel to be home again. After looking at apartments for a month and feeling really discouraged it has been a blessing to move back to someplace I love. I’m in the process of separating the basement from the upstairs and will eventually build a kitchen downstairs so I can rent it as a separate space. I find it ironic how things play out in life. When Sue and I bought the condo a year ago this month I tried to be excited about it. The convenience of being downtown, a shorter commute etc. What I didn’t listen to was the part that didn’t want to leave the house that had been such a central focus of my life these past 8 years. In retrospect it was a “mistake” to leave. I put that in quotes because the older I get the more I’m convinced there are no such things as mistakes. J As I walk through my house I’m reminded of all the good times spent with friends building it, the laughs, the heartache and sometimes the tantrums. The history and memories surround me like a blanket and I find myself smiling a lot. J I don’t know that I ever could have appreciated it as much as I do now had we not left for a time. I sit drinking tea watching the sun set and think how lucky I am to live in such a wonderful place. Life is good. J |
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