August 2, 2009
It’s official- we’re homeowners! Although the closing date was postponed from Thursday ’til Friday, we managed to scrawl out all the signatures necessary to buy a house of our very own. We spent most of Friday wandering around the house with glasses of sparkling wine and envisioning where all of our worldly possessions will go. Most of our time since then has been spent packing our worldly possessions, an activity we’ve become all too familiar with. We have some movers coming on Friday, and then we’ll finally say goodbye to this side of Roanoke.
I’m confident that this move won’t develop into the kind of moving experience we’ve had previously. I’ll post some pictures of our moving experience eventually, some even more exciting that me holding a bottle of bubbly and grinning like an idiot. Katy rejected most of the pictures I took of her as unsuitable for public posting. Anyway, feel free to give us a call and give us a welcome break from bending over cardboard boxes and sneezing out newly-discovered dust. We’ll have our landline for a few more days- take advantage!
July 16, 2009
So, last Friday we blew into the windy city for a little visit- some business, some personal. Katy was attending the America Library Association conference and I was just enjoying myself. Our friend Bill was a gracious host who put us up for a few days and showed us a good time. Thanks again, Bill!
We hit some of our favorite dining destinations, including Jerry’s,
Sultan’s, Feed, Piece, Sunrise, Alliance, and so on. We caught a Magnolia Electric Co. show, I went to the Field Museum and some record stores, and we spent a shameless hour at H&M. The weather was beautiful and 
I got some good bike rides in. It’s so flat, ten miles on the bike seems like nothing.
Katy had a bit of a commute in and out of the loop to get to the conference, but she reported back on some interesting seminars on cataloging, she had lunch with a new future Hollins employee, and learned about a program which seeks to increase the production and availability of books in South Africa, which suffers from an unfortunate shortage of relevant local literature.
As much as I wanted to spend a couple more days (or months) there, we were both glad to be back in tree-filled mountain-lined Virginia, and to resume our excitement about the new house. We had a couple of dogs who
were also glad to see us. I guess terrorizing the pet sitter loses it’s appeal after a few days. Too bad I couldn’t bring them one of these bones to chew on..
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?
