Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Going to Any Lengths

Randy went to San Francisco last weekend to attend a global warming conference. I had intended to go with him to research materials for the house, but stayed home instead so I could take care of our oldest cat, Spike O. Reilly. Spike is suffering from kidney failure, but is doing quite well right now with daily subcutaneous fluids and all the stinky wet cat food he wants. (Shocking because all his life Spike has been an ultra-skinny picky eater who would only consume dry kibble.)

Anyway, we had planned one outing for Sunday morning that I could not scratch from my calendar. I drove 3.5 hours very early in the day to meet Randy (who drove down from San Francisco) and our architect, Jennifer, in Los Altos at Jennifer's parents' home which Jennifer designed. It's straw-bale and passive-solar. The 3 of us examined every square inch of that house through a magnifying glass, with lots of helpful insight from Jennifer's mom. This is the first time I've ever been in a straw-bale building, the first time I've ever been in one of Jennifer's buildings. We not only loved the house, we were shocked to discover how much it is like the house we want. Who knew?! The 2 hours we spent there was well worth the 7 hours worth of driving. Of course, I did do a little shopping on the way home, and discovered a cool Mexican restaurant in Morgan Hill. Way better than the endless supply of icky fast food along Highway 101. A good day all the way around.

Monday we bought a new dishwasher. Tuesday morning it was installed. Golly! This new Kitchen Aide actually washes the dishes. And you don't have to shout to hold a conversation in the house while it's running. And a little light goes on when the dishes are clean. I'm so easily impressed.

Today? Once Charter internet woke up this morning, I made reservations and got driving directions for my friend Laurel's and my outing to Creative Castle in Newbury Park this weekend. Answered email. Got the last remnants of a sticky program off my laptop. Fed Spike a half dozen times, whenever he whined. Went to my aquakinetics class's quarterly birthday lunch. Or is that thirdly? Anyway, I was one of the "honorees" today with my December birthday. Home for some brief chores, then off to The Estate, as we call our 3.7 acres, delivering about 70 cat evacuation bags to North County Humane Society (I made 'em from old pillow cases) on the way. Met Randy at The Estate. We scattered wildflower seeds since we're supposed to get a thorough soaking rain tomorrow. We tried out a new-to-us pizza place in Atascadero for dinner. We're researching all the restaurants in our soon-to-be hometown.

And now I'm watching American Idol. The first girls' night. Mmmmm. Might have to write about that separately.

Oh yes! And you wonder why I'm not getting much of my own work done these days? Sigh. Well, one day at a time.

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