House Hunters: Part Deux

On Sunday, Hubby and I met with our realtor to take a look at a few more properties. The first was a 1930s schoolhouse (see picture) which has been updated to be a home, the other two were manufactured homes on acreage. The manufactured homes were nice, but as I explained to Hubby, I see moving into one of them as "moving into someone else's broken dream". Somewhere along the way that family envisioned building a home on that land (like we do) but life got complicated and they grew old and never did and we would now be taking on that broken dream. Am I weird? Yes, but you must admit it makes a little bit of sense. 

The house I am leaning towards right now is the schoolhouse. It has charm, has unique architecture and is huge in size but it also comes with its own set of potential problems. The last few days I have been on the phone with our realtor, the County and the insurance company, trying to see how much effort this home will take and the restrictions that could be imposed since it is historic.

This whole house buying escapade is time consuming and we haven't even gotten to the financing part of it yet! Oregon is a "buyer's due diligence" state, so it is better to do the legwork now than get slammed with something unexpected in the future. If this doesn't work out, I don't know if I have the enthusiasm to do this again with another property. :-/

Second Model

I am still building models with the "old guys" on fridays. I finished my second rubber band model some time ago, but only found the pictures on my phone today.

The "old guys" teased me unrelentingly about the fact that my first rubber band model was pink and the second was purple with flowers. Now, however, they enjoy it and brag to the museum customers about how unique my airplanes are. I am currently building my first RC model from scratch and the guys are already taking bets about what color it will be. :-)

House Hunters

Hubby and I have started house hunting for our first home. We are talking to lenders, doing research on mortgage programs, have a real estate agent and have already started looking at homes. It is simultaneously fun and terrifying! We have looked at two homes so far, both out in the country and with acreage. The first home was hands down the most disgusting house we have ever been inside of. It should be condemned and burned to the ground. The second, at less than 800 square feet, had potential but was far too small for our furry family. 

The highlight so far has been Gordy the goat. He lives at the first house and will need a home if it ever sells. I really want him to come live with us, so I am researching how to care for a goat. :-)

Memorial

I walked into work this morning to see flowers set at the feet of our Neil Armstrong replica. Don't ever change Evergreen people, you are awesome!

Neil Armstrong (1930-2012)

Hubby and I were at dinner last night when he broke the news to me that Neil Armstrong had passed away. My initial reaction was disbelief, I made him say it again because I swore I misunderstood, but than I was overcome by the overwhelming magnitude of this loss. Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, is gone. I just can't believe it...

Neil Armstrong: a redwood among mere sprouts

Spruce Goose: Kinney Family

I finally got around to digging my scanner out so I could scan this photo from the Kinney family vacation. It turned out so well!

I Met The Bloggess!!!!!

I don't know how many of you follow The Bloggess but she is one of the blogs I follow on a daily basis and frankly, she is hilarious! She recently wrote a book and is on tour to promote it. My wonderful hubby drove me out to Powell's Books and waited in line for 2.5 hours so I could get her autograph and my photo taken with her. 

Best. Day. Ever

Me, Jenny Lawson, and Copernicus the Homicidal Monkey

Happy Birthday Lily!!

Lily celebrated her 8th birthday on August 8th. As you can see, she wasn't exactly patient when it came to her special treat. :-) You would never know she is as old as she is, except for maybe the occasional joint pain from chasing squirrels all day long.

Why the Olympics are Amazing

Each Olympics the committee invites five athletes to participate as wildcard entries, not because they have outstanding abilities or because they "qualified" but because they are underrepresented and are typically from less affluent countries.

Hamadou Issaka is a 35 year old man from Niger who only learned to row 3 months ago...in an old fishing boat. Today he finished dead last in his race to the applause, encouragement and standing ovation of all watching. He crossed the finish line almost 2 minutes after the gold medalist, exhausted but smiling.

This, my friends, is what makes the Olympics great! It isn't about your position on the podium or how many gold medals are dripping from your neck. It is about cheering on the underdog, it is about hope and encouragement, it is about supporting those less fortunate than ourselves and creating opportunities for Olympians of all countries! Bravo Mr. Issaka!

Kinney Family Vacation

The Kinney's escaped the Arizona heat and arrived in Portland on Saturday morning (7/28/12) to begin their summer road trip. We accomplished quite a bit in the 3 days they were here. Some of the highlights were Ocean Side Beach and Evergreen Museum. We also went to downtown Portland to eat at the food carts, visited the Tillamook Cheese Factory and several visits to local eateries.

Ocean Side Beach

The Kinney Fam

Uncle Matt teaching Max how to play in the sand

Auntie Kristi being silly!

Max didn't want to let this airplane go

Space Museum

Outdoor playground

Big Kid

Beautiful day in Oregon

Biplane ride, probably Max's favorite event of the trip!

Happy Birthday Trudy!!

Yesterday Trudy celebrated her 12th birthday! What a wonderful day it was! Hubby and I were not naive to the fact that she easily might not have made it to this milestone after the rough 5 months she has had. We are so grateful and looking forward to lucky number 13 with our sweet, old girl!

Frosty Paws doggie ice cream for the birthday girl

That's quite the curl!

P.S. Happy Birthday Alana Banana!

The X-Files (1993-2002)

Back when Trudy originally hurt herself, she needed constant contact and attention, so I was desperate for something I could do without using my hands or getting up off the couch much. That left television for the most part, so I popped in season 1 of X-files which lead to 2 and 3 and so on until just last week I finished season 9. My overall feeling a week later is that I am glad I survived it. :-)

It was fun to take the adventure all over again and watching all the episodes in order really made the mythology arc of the show make so much more sense. However, the writers/creator of the show changed the characters and scripts so much the final two seasons that it was almost unrecognizable. I am glad I experienced the X-Files again (this time older and wiser) but I cannot imagine doing it again anytime soon. Maybe in another 10 years.

 P.S. Trudy is feeling much better today!

Jinx

I think I jinxed us by posting about Trudy yesterday. She had an episode this morning. It seems to be under control with medication, a heating pad, and being kenneled but I should have known better than publicly declare a victory. It isn't nearly as bad as in the past, so hopefully some rest and downtime will do her good. :)