July 7, 2009
This past weekend we celebrated the 233nd anniversary of the
adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Somehow representation does not take the sting out of taxation, but we’re sure the Chinese appreciate our July 4th celebrations almost as much as we do. Roanoke put on a splendid fireworks display which we enjoyed from the roof of our house. The local festivities 
went well into the night, and I’m confident that more than one finger was blown off in southeast Roanoke.
We also think that Jefferson’s assurance that all men are created equal (sorry ladies!) is due to his preceding a certain Bruce Richardson (a.k.a. “Bluce”) by about 170 years. 
We think Bruce was created slightly better than your average guy, and we’re sure glad to know him. He had a July 5th birthday and we had the privilege of celebrating with him over endless plates of raw fish and bottomless hot sake, followed by a 3-D movie. Happy Birthday Bluce!
July 1, 2009
So far, so good. They finished putting the new roof on today. Our loan has been (officially) approved. The items from the inspection have been repaired. All is well.
June 22, 2009
Things have been moving forward quite well, despite a couple game-changing developments in the last few days. We’ve grappled with the changes and we’re still feeling good about it, still counting down the days until we close.
We had the inspection last week with no real surprises. The inspector
seemed pretty thorough and he caught a couple of things that we hadn’t noticed. We’ve submitted our contingencies and we’re locking in our interest rate today. We should have a new roof by the end of the week, with the shingle color of our choosing. By now, we’ve got moving down to a science, so we’re lining up dates on the calendar for executing important steps of the process. Mentally, we’ve already begun moving in..
Of course there’s still room for this whole thing to crash and burn, and our recent setbacks have been not-so-subtle reminders of that possibility. Our plan follows a fairly narrow path, with the margins spelling out certain doom, so we’re keeping our eye on the prize while bearing in mind that it’s a journey and not a destination. Thanks to everyone for the well-wishes and support and for sharing our excitement.
In other news I had a great birthday weekend with a little help from my friends. I think I’m supposed to lament the aging process and complain about how I’m getting fat and losing hair, how I can’t party like I used to, et al. I’m 217 in dog years. But I feel pretty good, I have a lot to be pleased about, and so much to look forward to, aging be damned. Plus a coworker kindly informed me that men become better looking as they get older. I’ll take that as a compliment.
June 11, 2009
You’ve witnessed the death throes of this blog- the protracted periods of inactivity, the rambling catch-up posts, and the most recent post (if I can call it that anymore) collecting cobwebs and eliciting disappointment for nearly 8 months! The drought has ended! Without further adieu, drink this in:
We’re moving again. We’re shopping around. We’re buying a house.
Everyone who’s anyone knows that the trickle of news over the last few (ahem) months has included our landlord’s desire to sell the house we’re living in (which we will certainly not be buying) and the glorious triumph of Katy’s promotion to Cataloging Librarian. This one-two combo has been enough to convince us that it’s time to stop paying someone else’s mortgage and settle in to Roanoke for a few years.
Additional factors come into play- anyone heard of the $8000 tax credit? We have, and we’ll take it. Real estate here is affordable, we’ve got a great agent and we’re getting our hunt on.
The last two weeks have been a marathon of home tours. I would estimate we’ve looked at 200+ houses and actually walked through 20 or more. Lo and behold, we’ve fallen in love with one house in particular and we’re making our move: we’ve beat out the competing buyer and we’re currently negotiating the sale. Here it is:
Three bedrooms, a sunporch, a fabulous shaded, fenced and private backyard, a full basement, and all the charm of a 1930’s home with hardwood floors, arched doorways and brick fireplaces.
After much ado we signed the contract today and we’re moving forward! Our closing date is set for the end of July and we have a lot to accomplish between now and then, so wish us luck!
October 25, 2008
It took a hot minute but we’ve finally picked up a guest bed and dressed it up pretty. Come sleep in it.
October 17, 2008
The theme of this blog has always been to update our friends and family on our life developments large and small. Katy and I went to an Obama rally in Roanoke today and heard him speak. And because we have been involved with the campaign here in Virginia registering voters, canvassing, and making phone calls, I am taking this opportunity to endorse Barack Obama on the blog. We believe that, while no politician can be everything to everyone, Barack Obama is a man of character and vision who will work to unite our divided country and begin to mend our broken infrastructure. He has shown a great capacity to find common ground and understanding with those who oppose him, and we believe he may be a much needed first step in a new direction.
To be sure, policies are imperfect and campaign promises are seldom realized in all their glory. But what we see in Barack Obama is a man who cares deeply about the issues that effect people and understands that people feel increasingly alienated and ignored by their own government. He has run a fairly clean campaign and has the integrity to be transparent in all things, never shying away from difficult questions or harsh criticism. It’s time to elect a representative to the highest office who can unite and inspire, envision and realize, someone intelligent, articulate, reasonable, and someone who people can identify with. We need a leader who, together with the best democratic, republican and independent representatives, can right the vessel of US government and set it in a new direction. That is what we see in Barack Obama.
October 10, 2008
Meet the newest member of our family “Luna”, her adopted name which we’re keeping for the time being. She’s a boxer and Australian shepherd mix. “Merle” is the term that describes the two different colored eyes. She’s only 25 pounds at 10 months, so we’re trying to fatten her up. She is very loving, smart and obedient, and very much an imposition on Henry and the only-dog lifestyle to which he had become accustomed. He has been less than receptive since her arrival, but he’s slowly working through his insecurities and accepting her as part of the household. We’re confident that, once they become friends, they’ll compliment each other well and keep each other company in our absence during the work days. Until then we’ll be the full-time obedience trainers with muddy clothes and scratches all over our arms.
September 13, 2008
I’ll refrain from my usual verbose blogging and just pass along some pictures of the new place. We still have to hang pictures and get some furniture, primarily for the guest bedroom and the dining room (plus some area rugs) but we are very pleased so far with the space.
Having a drum room and a darkroom have been good news for us, and Henry has been beside himself about the yard. He’s even got a peculiar sun tan. But wait, there’s more! I didn’t include pictures of the office, guest room or front porch. As you can see we have a lot of space to work with, hence the title of this post.
In other news, Katy has started an art class at Hollins. She’s already begun working on her first project for the semester. We’re both semi-active in the Obama campaign, canvassing this weekend and trying to register voters next week. Also, our first official visitor is scheduled to arrive any minute. When will you be visiting?
August 27, 2008
Our packing has not yet begun in full, our moving date is set for this Saturday, and yet my body is already revolting against me, punishing my every move. Katy and I managed to create copious amounts of work for ourselves, each effort seeming to multiply the work ahead. First we decided to move, that being our initial invitation of long days, endless detail-attending, and multi-tasking between our regular regimen and the additional tasks of relocation. Our second casual invocation of labor was the decision to pull up the carpet and paint in the new house.
I will accept most of the responsibility for this decision- I have a certain aversion to carpet, particularly baby-blue carpet that has been lived on by the unwashed tenants that apparently occupied the place before we signed our lease. The carpet had obviously been cleaned, but with little visible improvement. I can’t seem to overcome my innate disgust toward the dirt-, dust-, and dander-filled, fluid-sponge that is wall-to-wall carpeting. So, I said, let’s just pull it up! No problem! We peeled up the corners to reveal what appeared to be hardwood in acceptable condition. What we found once we pulled out the hundreds of square feet of said filth-sponge was a discolored, stained, and paint-splattered mess. Some of the floor had the added bonus of a thick coat of adhesive gunk from a previous application of tile or something, which I spent several hours scraping up with a painter’s knife. Good times!
All self-deprecating humor aside, with the aid of good music, some foresight and some cold beer, we mostly enjoyed ourselves and seeing the transformation that resulted from all our hard work. The end result is a space that we have some stake in, and one that finally offers the room that we need to host our hobbies, families and friends. Even Henry gets a yard for his hobbies of running wild, peeing on everything and howling at the neighbors, and perhaps a companion in the near future.
Right now there is a lot of packing to do so I’ll wrap this up. My next post should include some stories about moving, although I truly hope they will pale in comparison to our last adventure from Chicago.
August 12, 2008
How quickly we forget even the most recent suffering we’ve subjected ourselves to that we’ve decided we should move, again. It’s only been three months, but we’ve found ourselves in a less-than-desirable living situation and we’re pulling up our still-tender roots and heading east a few blocks.
Most of you have heard the tale of how we found our current place online, and how we found it
when we arrived. Not much has changed, including the ‘uninhabitable’ back porch that will not be habitable in the foreseeable future. Thankfully our landlord has decided to let us out of the lease to seek bigger and better things, and that is just what we’ve done.
The moving date is set for that great date that we are glad to call our anniversary, August 30th. We’ve had several offers to help us move and some offers to help us paint the weekend before, so we shouldn’t have to break (only) our backs. The good news for all of you readers (and most everyone else we know who doesn’t actually read my sad little blog) is that we will have a full-blown guest bedroom which should be in use as soon as we can furnish it 
and lure in our first guests. So call, write, email, or send by courier to get your name on the guest list because we’d like for everyone to be able to come soon and often. Don’t forget my promise of good wine, and my cooking ain’t bad either.
See you soon!
