Things are good.

We are all moved, unpacked and started on house projects.

Life is good.

Joe is busy with school. I try to do my part with cooking, cleaning and taking care of loose ends.

Made a really yummy Moosewood Carrot and Mushroom Loaf last night. Heirloom purple carrots a mixture of fancy mushrooms. Yum! I never want the farmers market to end.

we have our future garden plotted out. So maybe there will be homegrown heirloom carrots next year.

I am not looking forward to winter. At least it will be 96 today for the first day of fall.

Waiting again.

We applied for a loan.

now we wait.

and wait.

and wait.

Closing might kill Joe when we get to that point.


http://www.johnlscott.com/propertydetail.aspx?IS=1&ListingID=300237654

waiting and hoping for this one. hard to think about others at this point. hopefully no one else gets it before us.

waiting.

waiting game.

I love waiting for things to arrive from the library.

I can't wait to get this new cook book.

Rustic Fruit Desserts

I am hold number 81 of 95 on 17 copies.

I am thinking it will arrive 12 weeks from now. (about 4 people will have the book before me and they will probably keep it the whole 3 weeks)

Just past the real fruit season. Should I buy or be content making apple things when I actually get my hands on it.

At the very least I will have lots of frozen blackberries I can play around with.

Also I am awaiting: The complete Indian cookbook. Thought I should get some new recipes now that I have a clay pot.

TV Shows:

Also I have been waiting on starting to watch How I Met your Mother from the first season.. with Joe in school and me with time on my hands. It's go time.

Movies: I currently have The Virgin Suicides and am on a really long waiting list for Tropic Thunder.. hmm totally different movies.

Books: I am waiting for Pedaling revolution: how cyclists are changing American Cities. (hold 125 on 23 copies.. it will be a while) I am currently reading - The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe.

Books on CD. I just finished a marathon of Team of Rivals and am about to head into some Tommy J. stuff starting with Twilight at Monticello: The final years of Thomas Jefferson followed by Undaunted Courage .

Music: I currently have a blast from the past The Tragically Hip.. and I have been waiting for the soundtrack to Slumdog Millionaire for a while. (hold 81 of 35! so close!) Also looking forward to the new Green Day album I got on it early so I am only hold 57 of 155 on 28 copies.

Dreams.

I have been having some crazy dreams lately.

I ran Joe over while he rode his bike. It was scary. It ended with me yelling that I killed my own husband. (Syl thinks this is related to my anxiety about riding my bike everyday and she is probably right)

I was in a civil war camp and knew that someone was trying to assassinate Lincoln and had to get a telegraph out to save him ( I was currently listening to about 6 -8 hours of Team of Rivals on cd... )

My boss friended me on Facebook and found out that I bad mouthed him and hated my job... (hmm it could happen he is often suggested as my 'friend')

House

Most of what Joe and I talk about and hope for is home ownership. We have been saving for about a year now.. but mainly since Joe got hired at Yahoo. We made cuts to our expenses like giving up our cell phone, and moving to a not as cute but cheaper energy efficient apartment. We are doing ok with the savings. It is such a good year to buy a house I wish we had the down payment right now. There is an 8 thousand dollar tax credit if we buy a house before November 30. We signed up yesterday to start taking classes at the Portland Housing Center. They explain the process of buying a home and loans. We can get counciling and other services for the next two years. They also tell you what programs you are qualified for. We are interested in an Oregon Bond loan. This loan is for low income families looking to buy their first home. It has a fixed interest rate currently at 4.5% which is sooo low! There are restrictions on income and when you can sell the house. The money saved would make that worth it though.

We look at houses all the time online. We are thinking we might buy a two bedroom to start. We can get a nice one with updates for about 175k. We are discussing not living in Portland. If we move out of the city taxes will be less, also the school system will be better. Portland public has a lot of problems. There is a 43% drop out rate in high school. We would have to send any future children to private school. The tuition at our church is currently about 5k a year.

I mainly want a nice kitchen. I want there to be enough room on the counters to fit all my appliances so I don't have to put them away.

Hmm I will keep dreaming and hoping we can afford a downpayment before too long.

Shop

I used to love shopping. Love love love it. I would read the weekly fliers in the paper to see what was on sale. I was at target enough to notice new product or if something was rearranged. I loved malls. I could walk around for hours look at things I wanted and things I "needed." I loved the thrill of giving someone money and having my brand new thing. It was new and it was mine.

Things have changed so much. I can't stand malls anymore. Joe and I went to one before Christmas when I was rain pants shopping. It was terrible. The lights were terrible. It smelled of gross greasy food, nail salons and perfume. We wandering into old navy and i nearly had a seizuer from the clothes strewed around totally unorganized while loud obnoxious "music" made it impossible to think let alone talk. I remember running out at that point.. well at least walking quickly.

When I am at a store I no longer want or need anything (there is an exception always in the kitchen section ) In fact i am almost repulsed by things. I can't stand looking at the useless junk that people buy. Just as a point of reference this is totally ego-centric so everything that I can't picture using, or needing is useless. I don't like hearing about shopping and always judge people on things they buy only because in the same conversation they complain about being poor. I blame this new person entirely on Joe. I think he is more than pleased by this. We are not perfect. We shop. Sort of. We have a new TV. I bought nice thank you cards instead of the cheapest. Both of these required long conversations and Joe pacing. The TV was the worst we went to 3 or 4 different stores. Joe read every review ever on every TV. There was pacing, nervousness and general anxiety. When we buy a house I expect Joe to be hospitalized at least once.

I still like and want the feeling of buying something, then holding it and having the new thing. I now get this emotion from the Library. Ok. Ok. I don't actually own the stuff anymore but the fleeting feeling is still there and cheaper. I love browsing the catalog for CD's, books on CD, and DVDs. I still haven't seen Sex and the City the movie. I placed a hold. I was number 400 holds on 50 copies of the movie. So I wait. Waiting is fun. I knew it would be a couple of months. So I have rented the entire series in the meantime. I get most of my cook books from the library now and spend time writing their recipes on 3 x 5 cards. I like knowing they are not taking up room on my already overstocked shelf and yet I can get them again at my will. Sometimes the books are so good I can't help buy buy them. This happened recently with The Bread Baker's Apprentice. That is the only downfall of the library. I love the library. I could write about it forever.

I also get a shopping fix at the grocery store. I love cooking dinner for Joe and I. I make a list. I cross off items one by one. I memorize prices at each of the three stores I attend. I know where to get the best prices on beans, cheese, and veggies. My only downfall is Limbo. My produce place. They have a different variety of veggies every week. You can't count on them for everything but they have really good deals. Last week in their discount section I got about 10 lbs of squash (I am not sure of the variety.. possible sweet meat?) and a 5 pound bag of organic apples for 3 bucks total. Love it. The squash will become a variety of soups and purees. The apples were about a day from turning for the worse... and I had made a cake already for the week so pie was out of the question... So I made applesauce. It was my first time... and it came out awesome! Tasted just like my grandma's used to,most likely because I am now the proud owner of her food mill. Anyway. Limbo is where I am tempted and I don't mind. I love when I get home from the G-stores and my produce bowl is full to the top with yummy onions, peppers, lemons, limes and whatever veggies are gracing my table that week. (actual bowl not pictured)

winter blues

So much has happened since I last wrote here. I have been meaning to but have been lazy. Joe and I got married. I could not be happier. It was a lovely service. Cousin did an awesome job. I am glad we kept it small. I am glad that we are going to have an awesome party in August. Married life is about the same as not married life. Well it is exactly the same. Things in Portland are good. We don't do much. Work, eat - Joe reads and I watch TV. We got a new TV a Sony Bravia with HD and all the jazz. I have been really enjoying it. Otherwise we have not been up to to much. This week will be slightly more exciting. I am going to listen to Mark Bittman talk tonight. He is my favorite cookbook author. Tomorrow we are going on a date to Wild Abandon our favorite resturant. We have really been liking our new Church. We are planning on taking some of the classes they offer. I think we are going to start with a Marriage Class. Thats all for now.