Thursday, September 18, 2008
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Established.
It’s July and, as promised, here’s a damn post.
Mike and I are all moved in to a fab townhouse in Portland’s northeast quadrant. (Coincidentally, Portland has five quadrants, which means they aren't actually quadrants, but people generally don't seem as concerned about that as me.) The process of acquiring the townhouse was, in my opinion, monstrously unbearable. I still twitch a little just thinking about it. But, what’s done is done, and we really love the new digs.
I’m having a difficult time figuring out what neighborhood I actually live in. When asked by locals, I unhesitatingly say the Alberta Arts District, because it’s hip n’ trendy and gives me some instant cache. However, a mere handful of blocks away are street signs proclaiming one is in the Piedmont neighborhood. I don’t have anything against Piedmont, but somebody forgot the follow through. Piedmont what? Piedmont Preservation District? Piedmont Populist Playground? Piedmont Hedonist Hideaway? Just give it some sort of label! I need the gratification of an empty naming scheme to feel I made the right choice.
Once the house is in better shape, I’ll post a photographic tour of it and the surrounding environs. It’ll be just like you’re here, except that you’re there, and there is nowhere near as interesting as here is to me right now. I love you all, but that's just how I feel.
Mike and I are all moved in to a fab townhouse in Portland’s northeast quadrant. (Coincidentally, Portland has five quadrants, which means they aren't actually quadrants, but people generally don't seem as concerned about that as me.) The process of acquiring the townhouse was, in my opinion, monstrously unbearable. I still twitch a little just thinking about it. But, what’s done is done, and we really love the new digs.
I’m having a difficult time figuring out what neighborhood I actually live in. When asked by locals, I unhesitatingly say the Alberta Arts District, because it’s hip n’ trendy and gives me some instant cache. However, a mere handful of blocks away are street signs proclaiming one is in the Piedmont neighborhood. I don’t have anything against Piedmont, but somebody forgot the follow through. Piedmont what? Piedmont Preservation District? Piedmont Populist Playground? Piedmont Hedonist Hideaway? Just give it some sort of label! I need the gratification of an empty naming scheme to feel I made the right choice.
Once the house is in better shape, I’ll post a photographic tour of it and the surrounding environs. It’ll be just like you’re here, except that you’re there, and there is nowhere near as interesting as here is to me right now. I love you all, but that's just how I feel.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Pardon me...
...While I take a month off to move my entire life. I think I'm entitled to that. Right?
I'll start posting again in July, from a new house in a new city. (Truth be told, I'm already in the new city, but am staying in a hotel.)
I'll start posting again in July, from a new house in a new city. (Truth be told, I'm already in the new city, but am staying in a hotel.)
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Rate my acting chops...
Recently, I had the opportunity to star in a series of instructional videos produced by children in the local 4-H program. I'm posting them for your enjoyment. This should more than make up for my poor frequency of posts as of late.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
One foot in front of the other...
I haven't had the energy to write a proper post in awhile. Mike and I are preparing to move to Portland, but it hasn't been a smooth process. We're moving because of my job, so many of our expenses are covered. But, before we can incur any expenses, my paperwork must be processed. My new supervisor and I, knowing there were delays because of a recent reorganization, started the transfer process in mid-March. I begin my new position on June 9th. Three months seems like plenty of time, right? Wrong. I just received my authorization this morning. If you're counting, that's two-and-a-half weeks before my start date. Stellar, isn't it?
Anxious to wrap our head around the Portland housing market sooner than later, Mike and I took a house-hunting trip to Portland in mid-April. We thought there was no way the approval would take longer than the end of April. We picked four or five houses we liked and were prepared to bid on any of them when the approval came. More than a month later, only one of those houses remains on the market and we must return to cover our bases. Who knows? Maybe we'll find even better houses this time around.
We were forced to make alternate living arrangements, since our lease here expires June 15th and we won't have a house by then. So, Mike is in the envious position of moving in to his parents' basement with our two cats, while I will inhabit an extended stay hotel for as much as a month. What a glitzy way for us to enter the world of homeownership!
So, long story short (and I could gone on much longer than this, but it would be tacky and potentially damaging to continuing my federal career) I haven't been feeling the bloggin' bug. But, as we prepare to buy our first house, I'm sure there's plenty of material on the way!
Anxious to wrap our head around the Portland housing market sooner than later, Mike and I took a house-hunting trip to Portland in mid-April. We thought there was no way the approval would take longer than the end of April. We picked four or five houses we liked and were prepared to bid on any of them when the approval came. More than a month later, only one of those houses remains on the market and we must return to cover our bases. Who knows? Maybe we'll find even better houses this time around.
We were forced to make alternate living arrangements, since our lease here expires June 15th and we won't have a house by then. So, Mike is in the envious position of moving in to his parents' basement with our two cats, while I will inhabit an extended stay hotel for as much as a month. What a glitzy way for us to enter the world of homeownership!
So, long story short (and I could gone on much longer than this, but it would be tacky and potentially damaging to continuing my federal career) I haven't been feeling the bloggin' bug. But, as we prepare to buy our first house, I'm sure there's plenty of material on the way!
Friday, May 16, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
Yard Sale!
On Saturday, Mike and I threw open the doors of our basement and invited strangers in to oogle our stuff. That's right, our very first yard sale. Initially, I didn't think we had enough to justify our own solo sale. I was wrong. Over the last ten years and six moves (more if you count the individual college moves), we amassed an impressive collection of crap. High-value items like the PS2 (mine) and window A/C unit (mine) were tempered by lesser items like a box of sexual-orietation themed buttons (not mine).
I love getting rid of things and supported the yard sale, but wanted nothing to do with conducting it. Thankfully, Mike allowed me to take a hands-off approach; probably because whenever somebody asked me how much something was, I routinely said 25 cents regardless of what they held. My job was quickly relegated to keeping the area tidy, procuring food and drink for Mike, and making periodic markdowns.
The sale resulted in just the right level of peculiar neighborhood antics - crazy, but not too crazy. As expected, there were bargain hunters showing up 20 minutes early. There was the woman who chided Mike for stepping away for a few moments when she ready to pay. ("I almost decided to leave!" The urge to amass others junk proved too great, though.) Mike overheard a shopper disgustedly exclaim "Who are these people?" though he has no idea why. A burly middle-aged gay couple purchased all my Smokey the Bear merchandise, exclaming, "The Northwest Bears group will love this!" And, the crazy ex-boyfriend of a friend breezed through and bought all our Tori Amos albums, only to hand them back and ask we deliver them to his ex since he stole all her copies.
There also were multiple bids on various items well beyond the vacinity of the yard sale, such as the lawn mower, an old car parked next to the house, the neighbor's flower pots, and a chainsaw sculpture of a bear by our front door.
At the end of it all, we boxed up whatever didn't sell and hauled it away to charity. It feels great to have that weight lifted before we pack up and move to a new place in a few weeks.
I love getting rid of things and supported the yard sale, but wanted nothing to do with conducting it. Thankfully, Mike allowed me to take a hands-off approach; probably because whenever somebody asked me how much something was, I routinely said 25 cents regardless of what they held. My job was quickly relegated to keeping the area tidy, procuring food and drink for Mike, and making periodic markdowns.
The sale resulted in just the right level of peculiar neighborhood antics - crazy, but not too crazy. As expected, there were bargain hunters showing up 20 minutes early. There was the woman who chided Mike for stepping away for a few moments when she ready to pay. ("I almost decided to leave!" The urge to amass others junk proved too great, though.) Mike overheard a shopper disgustedly exclaim "Who are these people?" though he has no idea why. A burly middle-aged gay couple purchased all my Smokey the Bear merchandise, exclaming, "The Northwest Bears group will love this!" And, the crazy ex-boyfriend of a friend breezed through and bought all our Tori Amos albums, only to hand them back and ask we deliver them to his ex since he stole all her copies.
There also were multiple bids on various items well beyond the vacinity of the yard sale, such as the lawn mower, an old car parked next to the house, the neighbor's flower pots, and a chainsaw sculpture of a bear by our front door.
At the end of it all, we boxed up whatever didn't sell and hauled it away to charity. It feels great to have that weight lifted before we pack up and move to a new place in a few weeks.
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