“Where is my water??!” (Whenever someone uses the bathroom, Sophie comes running, leaps to the counter, and waits while hands are washed. Then she licks the water out of the sink.)

My friend from San Francisco took the train today to Sunnyvale, where we spent several delightful hours catching up on our lives and politics. It was such a gorgeous day that we sat outside for lunch at Dishdash. We meandered through downtown and browsed a bookstore. She caught the train at 5:15, and a moment after hers departed, this southbound train arrived. I used to travel to the city so much that all the fun evaporated from the experience. Maybe soon I’ll head up there again. There will be more train shots posted soon. (And hey C, next time lunch is my treat!)

It’s nearly 4:30 a.m. In the past two weeks, I’ve become well-acquainted with the wee hours. Many nights I’ll go to bed tired at 11:00 p.m. only to be unable to sleep, and then I get up and read or surf until I get sleepy around 4:00 a.m. And then I go sleep on the sofa, because for some reason that’s the only place I can fall asleep.

I’m not sure what’s up. I don’t have caffeine ever, and I exercise. I take a medication that can contribute to insomnia (a side effect), but I take it early in the day, and besides, it never affected my sleep before.

These are lonely hours.

I’m pretty darn happy these days. See?

Now, let me count the ways.

• We are completely unpacked, and it looks like people really live here!
• The new stove will be installed on March 8.
• All the repairs have been completed on the house.
• I’m healthy; I’m feeling more energy these days and my appetite has normalized.
• I had coffee with a friend from my past job, and it was lovely to catch up.
• My sister-in-law is coming for a visit in March!
• A few days ago I called my parents and enjoyed a good chat with each of them, talking about ordinary life, and religion, and politics.
• Eden has generously offered to help me out on a wardrobe issue (I was going to say “malfunction” because I’m feeling frisky, but it’s not really a malfunction).
• I’m knitting again.
• I connected by phone recently with an Austin friend and it was so satisfying to catch up.
• I’m feeling very well loved, by my parents, Husband, siblings, friends. I’m grateful for the ways I am cherished.
• I’ve managed to buy only one book in the past three months, and this was after having borrowed a library copy and realizing it was an essential item for my library. I’m reading my way through my unread books and using the library more.
• I went to the gym Wednesday and it felt great.
• Spring is coming, and that means the scent of roses and jasmine in the air.
• I’ve discovered the series Scrubs and laugh heartily at each episode, and sometimes I even get teary. It’s a show that is by turns funny, tart, sarcastic, poignant, silly, random, and relevant. It’s a smart show with quick-witted dialogue. My favorite character is Dr. Perry Cox, who is gruff and narcissistic and knows it, and reveals a heart of gold at surprising moments.
• I feel an art attack coming on. Soon…
• I am alive.

How about you? What makes you happy these days?

Look! More photos!

Stella looks as though she’s going to pounce, but she’s actually just settling herself into her usual position (seen in the next photo).

Since our move, Stella’s latest place to chill is under the desk in the office, but only if I’m there too. She usually sleeps at my feet. She’s my little buddy.

The writer in me is hibernating, I think. I come to this blog with the intention to write and instead find myself wordless and frozen. I consider writing about my day, but everything I do is so mundane I can’t bring myself to typing the details. Who wants to read about how I arranged the backyard furniture and plants? Well, here’s the thing: the topic I want to write about, the subject that is central to my life write now, I cannot elaborate on at this point. In the near future I will. Of course, as my family teases me, I’m as subtle as a hammer, and by this time some astute readers may infer what’s going on. It’s hard not to write about an elephant in the room, especially when it’s sitting on top of one. And all my other ideas are squeezed out! So if I end up writing about the weather, or if my posts seem a little lean, that’s why.

The wind is blustery this night. We are promised rain tomorrow (100% chance) and possibly thunderstorms. Hah! I’ll believe that when I see it. In the Bay Area, they don’t know thunderstorms. Now Texas, that’s a state that knows how to unleash climate armageddon. I’m nostalgic for the drama.

Having finished The Mists of Avalon, my interest in paganism is sparked again. I own a series of books published by Llewellyn Press that provide the history and suggestions for rites of the various Sabbats in the year. The next Sabbat is Ostara (Easter), so I’ve pulled Ostara: Customs, Spells & Rituals for the Rites of Spring off my bookshelf. (Yes we have unpacked all of our books at last!) The vernal equinox is technically the date of the Sabbat, but since Easter shifts around the calendar each year, sometimes they don’t fall on the same date (or month). As for myself, I’m not a practicing pagan (or even very learned about it), but I’m intrigued by the customs behind the holidays that I celebrated when I was a Christian. The practice of honoring seasons and enacting small rituals to celebrate the natural rhythm of life and the earth appeal greatly. In Austin, Husband and I had egg decorating parties at our house. It was so much fun! We don’t have the large table or the big dining room anymore for such a gathering, but I really wish we did. Maybe I’m hobbled by my perspective. Just because the space is smaller doesn’t mean we couldn’t have a small party, or people come in shifts, or something. Hmm.

This is one of the last photos I took over at the old house. While our new home is very nice, it does not get the abundant sunlight all over as the other did. I miss that.

I’ve not much to write at the moment, at least, nothing scintillating. The kitchen is entirely unpacked, and a huge grocery run has filled the fridge and pantry. I cooked at home last night with Husband. I found my digital camera and just need to charge the batteries. And finally, we’ve ordered DSL for home, which will hopefully be active within a week!

Still much more unpacking to do, and I’m still at the library where that means it’s not getting done. More later.

What’s happening in your world?

The cable service is on. The repairman comes tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. to fix the small niggling problems. Husband plans to wash down the kitchen tonight so we can unpack our stuff and enjoy a home cooked meal. I met with my literacy learner today, and I believe we are getting into the groove of working together. Our work has been a bit disorganized, mostly my fault, due to the fact that holidays came, then she got sick, and I was feeling sick, and then we moved. But now the road is smoother and we can focus on the goals we created. Husband and I also had an appointment today that went very well, and we’re joyful about that. A good start to the weekend!

Still no web access at home, which is just as well since we’re surrounded by boxes still. I’ll be back next week.

I’m still out of the house. I met Husband at his work, where there is free wifi access for guests. I also ate dinner with him at one of the cafeterias that his company is famous for providing. No wonder some people eat all three daily meals here; it’s good (and free)!

But now, Husband says, “Let’s go home!” And so we are. G’night.

The movers from Hansen-Smylie arrived at 8:30 a.m. on Monday the 29th, and they finished unloading the truck at 5:00 p.m. The weather granted us a reprieve from rain. The guys who moved us were incredible: hardworking, courteous, funny, and just plain cheerful. They also didn’t break anything.

Alas, with any move there are quirks. In our case, we discovered we have unwanted roommates. I left a spoon on the counter by the sink Monday night – it had slight residue from red beans and rice – only to discover the counter swarming black with hundreds of ants Tuesday morning. I had also unpacked one box of pantry food, including a box of frosted mini-wheat cereal, and they made the journey across the counter edge into the pantry and straight into the box. Argh. The realtor who manages the property is very responsive, so today an exterminator came. He used a product called Phantom and did the entire house, internally and externally; Husband remained at home to let the guy in and called me later after reading the Material Safety Data Sheet (pdf link), and it scared the wits out of him. Technically it’s safe to go in the house two hours after treatment, but due to some medical issues they said I should not enter until 6-8 hours have passed. This means I can’t go home until 8 p.m.

I hope this works; the exterminator said give it seven days, and if we still see ants, to call them again and they’ll have to ask the neighbor (with whom we share a wall) if they can treat his home too. The nest could be there, or it could be as far away as the last townhome in the row. I saw one ant in the pantry after we signed the lease, and yesterday I looked under the sink and saw old ant traps from a previous tenant. (I had a nightmare experience with a carpenter ant infestation in an Austin apartment; after many months of treatments and having them crawl all over my walls, me, and my cat, the management allowed me to move to another apartment in the same complex. I was in grad school, and that was not fun. They had to rip out the doorframe and the wood on the balcony above mine.) We haven’t been able to unpack the kitchen goods yet, so every meal has been eaten out; it’s getting tiresome and expensive. Apparently it’s safe to unpack as of tomorrow, though we need to clean off all spaces that will have food on or nearby.

In addition to the ant problem, there are a few other repair issues with some light switches, and a water spigot needs replacing because it’s corroded, and it’s not safe to drink the water from it. A repairman will fix these, although I don’t know when. We still don’t have Internet connection and probably won’t until late next week; Husband needs to order the service, and they need to send us a gizmo. (I’m behind on email and blog-reading, so catch-up will take awhile.) Tomorrow the cable man will arrive to turn that on; we did miss last Sunday’s episode of Rome as well as Battlestar Galactica. It’s not going to end our world, but we watch only a couple of shows and enjoy them. These small pleasures and routines are missed.

The master bedroom and bath are unpacked completely, with just a few items to hang on the walls. We started unpacking in the loft, hooking up the uber-stereo/television system and the computer home server. There’s a lot more to do. I’ve unpacked over 25 boxes since Monday, and yet I only managed to pack one or two boxes per day before the move. How is it that unpacking goes so much quicker?

Lastly, the cats survived the move with aplomb. It took Stella only two and a half hours to claim the entire place as hers and sprawl in relaxation. Sophie surprised us by adapting after only four hours; usually she hides under the bathroom sink cupboard and hisses for a few days. She, too, now drapes herself over furniture as though she’s lived here forever. Soon the humans will be able to join in.

We just signed the lease for the town home and got the keys and garage door openers. We’ve yet to pin down a moving day — most likely next Friday or Monday the 29th. Lots to do before then. But it’s such a relief to officially have access; Husband plans to move some things himself this weekend.

Now pardon me, but I must fall face first into bed for a badly needed nap. We’re having dinner with friends at the Afghani House tonight, and I’d like to be lively enough to enjoy it. I’ve wanted to eat there since we moved to the Bay Area.

Due to some technology problem that rendered the password protection useless (i.e., some people were able to see the entire post without registering and without the password), I deleted the contents of the password protected post. I’ll just wait until the time is right to share my thoughts on the whole web. Maybe someday I’ll figure it out, but for now, the WordPress password function does not work consistently. So, why try?

In order to read the previous post, you need to do two things:

1. Click this link to create a login account. Your name and an easy password should be fine. Remember the account you create so you’ll be able to read future password protected posts.

2. Email me that you’d like the password. If I do not choose to share it, please don’t take it personally. Most likely if you read the blog regularly and have commented in the past, I’ll share it, but I’m not ready for the whole anonymous world to read the post.

This is the first time I’ve tried this feature, so we’ll see how it goes.

Update: apparently the account login and password don’t work with Firefox. So if you’re using a PC, try Internet Explorer. For Mac users it seems fine with Safari and Camino.

Oh for crying out loud. Apparently password protection is useless! Someone emailed to let me know she could see the entire post in Firefox without having an account or the password.

So… if you’d like to know what the post said, I’ll email you the contents. Oops, wait, I can’t. The deleted contents I forgot to save in another document. Sorry about that… I guess I’ll wait until the time is right to write the post for general consumption.

Twenty minutes ago I logged on to my student loan account to see if my AmeriCorps education award had cleared. It had! That left a balance of $1,009, and I made an electronic payment, effective today, to pay it off.

No more student loan.

That’s $65,000 paid off in the last 2.5 years; my entire income since late 2004 had gone to paying it, and we threw some savings at it as well. I could not have done this without Husband. I’m very blessed that he didn’t blanch at the debt when he met me. Well, maybe he turned a little pale, but the prospect of helping pay this loan didn’t overwhelm his love for me. What a man!

We were approved for the town home. I’m massively relieved. We need to sign the lease, and we were offered the option to take one year and five months, which we’ll probably do, then go year to year after.

Now I’m faced with the daunting job of packing. Given my wobbly health of late, I’ll need to pace myself. Friends have offered to help, too, and I intend to accept!

Happiness abounds!

We went to see the townhome, which was described thusly:

Unique Townhome 3 bedroom plus spacious loft, 2 bathrooms, small yard with fruit trees. Fireplace. 2 car garage. Laundry room inside. Community POOL. Quiet and Private. Must See. Available NOW. no smoking inside home.

I stepped inside and said, “This could work.” Off the front door slightly to the right is a small living room with fireplace, dining nook, and a kitchen that actually has counters and workspace. Off the dining nook is the teeny garden with an orange and lemon tree. No grass to mow. To the left of the front door are six stairs going down to the garage, and six stairs up to the next level, which has two bedrooms, the laundry nook, and a large bathroom. Six stairs up beyond that is the master bedroom and bath, and six more stairs leads to the loft. Lots of closet space. We would be able to bring our refrigerator and washer/dryer (which we brought from Texas). I told Husband yes, which bowled him over. He thought would be an automatic no, because it looks a little sterile from the outside. But I figure that we live inside the house, and we don’t really do much with our front yard now. When I have a child I can stroll over to the nearby park, and the neighborhood is nice and safe.

I liked the property manager. I came prepared and asked what needed to be done (one couple had just left before us), and one person due after. She said it was $20 cash for the application, and required a check equal to the rent as the expression of good faith intent (rather like earnest money, but refundable). I filled out the application and wrote the check then. Husband asked to speak to me a moment privately. He ask if I was sure. The arrangement of the abode means that we will still have a separate room for television/stereo. We’d gotten kind of tired of the split.

But you know what? It’s big enough. It’s in excellent condition. It’s in Santa Clara, barely a mile away from our current neighborhood. It’s available now. They take cats (with extra deposit). It’s a quiet location. Nothing we’ve seen is perfect, but this is eminently workable. They are looking for long-term tenants, and we are looking for a place to nest for the next few years. She’ll call us tomorrow to let us know if we’ll be offered the place.

I feel the knot in my stomach loosening.