Me and Mom

scan0040, originally uploaded by talldrinkawater3000.

Hanna is getting all our old pictures on the computer. It's so great.

New Blog

Well, there aren't many people who read my blog, maybe because I don't tell anyone about it, so I don't think I'm breaking news to anyone when I just say that my Mom died one week ago today. I'm all cried out for now, so I feel a little better. I think my brain got used to the sad thoughts floating around in there and after a few days of tears tears tears I finally stopped crying so much. Now I'm trying to figure out if I'm just in denial about everything (very likely) or if might really be feeling a little better one week later. Probably what's going on is that the news of it, the sudden shock of it, is wearing off a little and now the next bad thing will be in about a month when it is really weird that I haven't talked to her. We've gone 10 days without talking before, so it's not so strange yet, but when it gets to be Fall, when it's Thanksgiving, Christmas, her birthday... I don't even want to think about it.

But I am starting a blog for my mom. I put a link on the side. She was the cool mom that everyone loved, so it's not a terrible blog to visit.

Is Paperwork False Comfort?

I am going to meet with a different mortgage lady today and, I admit, her request for tons of paperwork makes me trust her more already. Is that a false comfort inspired by the bureaucracy of government? She needs tangible things in front of her, so her loan will be more accurate. I feel like that's the thinking that makes me vulnerable to internet scams. Except that I am actually more skeptical that I should be - not that I am full of conspiracy theories, but I think I believe too much in "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." That was the problem with the other loan we were offered, it sounded too good to be true.

Here's something equally important: I AM READING THE BEST BOOK RIGHT NOW! Of course, she might completely blow the ending which happens so often, but so far I love Case Histories by Kate Atkinson. It's one of the only books I've read that succeeds in being both a great novel and a great detective. Read it NOW! (okay, not now actually, wait until I finish it).

Nubbin update soon! You will be Shocked and Amazed.

Lament to a Chicken Enchilada

Barbacoa is gone. It just disappeared. It was home to the best chicken enchilada I've ever had, to a cheese trough that ridiculously good, and to a great great mint julep. I guess it just closed up, the owners are doing other things. A new restaurant will open soon that's Euro/French/Northwest. I'm not excited.

Where will I ever find another Ibarra Flan? I'm so sad to see Barbacoa go. Damn them.

Home Buying for the Obsessive

Here's a new directions for my blog - we are pre-approved for a home loan and might start looking as early as August. Of course, the real problem is that we don't have any cash. If only we had some assets to liquidate, but we don't. So, we need to start saving our pennies. Because even if you get a Zero-down loan, that doesn't mean you don't need to have a lot of cash around. Ugh. We actually need about 3% of the price of the home in cash to give away, right away!

I am really excited, though, to start chronicling my obsession with home-buying on my blog. Maybe that will make me not bore people in person with it. First things first, I hate when bank people just skim over the details. I have a couple of questions that I only realize later the mortgage lady should have covered. Why does my pre-approval letter have one interest rate for the loan, but then also quotes an A.P.R that is a full percentage point higher? That seems important. Also, what are discount points and why is it that none of the other first-timers I talk to don't know what they are either? Maybe they're for richer people only.

Here's my other thing - I love the real estate web sites. They are better than ebay, better than sale sections, better than The New York Times, for sucking up time. They are even better than blogging for helping me avoid other things. Better than dirty dishes!

Too Much Fun

I have been having too much fun lately. My house is messy, my novel is lonely, and my plants are out of control. 4th of July is no different. We had another great BBQ in Mom's backyard. Thank goodness for Mom's backyard. But I've also been to a baseball game lately, had some incredible meals, and I've been out visiting friends more than usual. It's summer, that's all there is to it. The summer I missed because I worked too much it wasn't a matter of not being out in the sun, it was that I didn't do enough extra socializing. So here's a little selection of fun photos from the last week. More available if you go to my flickr account.

John got a foot-long. It was kind of gross it was so big. He ate it in the same amount of time I ate my regular one and then, of course, he regretted it.

Ben and Gina, John and I at the Mariners Game. The shortest game I've ever been to, but that was fine because we were really there for the food and drink anyway.


This is my brother being wheeled around in a lounge chair to see if they could drag him to the next party. Having just broken his ankle in a freak slipping accident, he was wisely cautious of the long-distance lounger trip.

Maddy (I know that's not how to spell it) didn't want to get her dress dirty. Who gave her that huge popsicle!?


This year we just took our chairs out into the street and the view was really good. If only we could cut down that tree and turn off the street lights.

Nubbin 3

First go look at the First Nubbin photo, then the Second one, just to remember how tiny it started out just two weeks ago. Then proceed down to the Third, and latest, picture. Yes, I had to go horizontal to get the whole thing in. And I can't help but think that this is why I have house plants (even though they are cluttery and time consuming and I always make a mess when I'm watering) - because it's so frickin cool to watch this thing grow! The other nubbins we noticed and then sort of forgot about, but this one, I am watering more regularly than normal and just generally lavishing with love and attention. It's totally working.