Archive for March, 2008

Books for Thought - March’s Selection

Published by kindli on March 31, 2008 in reading and update. 0 Comments

I have not done much reading this month outside the Calvin & Hobbes collection that remains stashed in the upstairs bathroom, my Martha Stewart Living magazine, Cooks Illustrated, Cooks County and America’s Test Kitchen 2007 Favorites. I also occasionally flip through Gavin’s collection of the Economist.

I have done a fair bit of book organizing, a weekend or two ago I helped our friend Dana move into her new house in Sunnyvale, and one of the many things I accomplished was to divide and conquer the book situation: dog books, fiction, non-fiction, DVDs, comics, and a few token video games.

I have also done a fair bit of book-watching. Gavin and I recently acquired more Marple and Poirot Mysteries that have been, in many cases, very liberally adapted from Agatha Christie’s original works. The dramatizations take great artistic license (of which Gavin approves) and work in Nazis, lesbians, and other sub-plots which are not entirely true to the original work. The costuming and set decor, however, are fairly accurate, and the actress who plays Miss Marple is rather brilliant, and I am becoming increasingly fond of the actor playing Hercule Poirot.

I’ve also been converting audio books to mp3 format so we can enjoy them on our Audio-Book iPod. Yes, we have an iPod just for audio-books. It’s my old one: it no longer holds a charge, and cannot be moved from the power source for more than about an hour before it decides it won’t work properly. Gavin and I enjoy listening to a chapter or two before bed. Right now we’re listening to a selection of Sherlock Holmes short-stories.

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I also read The Distant Land of My Father by Bo Caldwell. Apparently the entire city of Palo Alto is reading it and my MIL happened to have an extra copy. It would not be a book I would pick up on my own and read, and it was interesting to see what someone in Palo Alto deemed good reading for the entire city. March is about to turn into April, so I will write more about it later.

GavNav’s TomTom

Published by kindli on March 27, 2008 in California, adventures and car. 2 Comments

Yesterday afternoon Gavin got a new toy: a TomTom GPS. We’d been talking about getting one for a while now, and our up coming trip to Abilene seemed like as good an excuse as any. Gavin spent most of the evening fiddling with it, and this morning he proudly displayed it on our windshield.

Gavin was quite excited by every little feature: “See, it shows us the street names!… It shows us how fast we’re going!… It’ll tell us if we’re going over the speed limit!” Most importantly, as long as you can see the sky it can tell you where you are, so if I take another adventure into dead cell-phone territory I can find my way home.

This morning, when we pulled into the parking lot Gavin offered to set the device to “go home.” That was all very nice, but I wasn’t going to go directly home. “It’ll recalculate for you,” Gavin replied as he set the device.

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I almost miss our Junk Mail

Published by kindli on March 26, 2008 in adventures and townhouse. 0 Comments

A few months ago, in a fit of frustration, I signed up for Catalogue Choice. We were averaging 2-3 catalogues a day, they would pile up in the garage and eventually get recycled. No one every looked all the way through them (thats what the internet is for). They would pile up on the dining room table in dangerous and slippery stacks.

I came across Catalogue Choice in Martha Stewart Living (I think, but it might have been Unclutter or NotMartha). It is a rather brilliant service, we’ve unsubscribed from about two dozen catalogues (although Frederick’s of Hollywood, NewPort News and the Metropolitan Museum of Art have refused our requests… LLBean and LandsEnd have been most cooperative).

Now when a catalogue arrives I check Catalogue Choice and add it to our list. If it is already on our list, I report them. Most places have been quite accommodating, but now all we get are grocery fliers (which get promptly recycled), credit card offers (which get promptly shredded, then recycled), and requests for donations for various charitable endeavors (discussed and dispatched on a case-by-case basis). The mail is far less exciting and our recycle bin is feeling lonely.

The Mallards in the $500,000 House

Published by kindli on March 20, 2008 in California, adventures and fun. 0 Comments

This morning we saw the Mallards crossing the street, again. They stopped traffic and waddled unconcernedly from the house to the park.

Gavin and I have seen them do this several times now. At some point between 8:45 and 9:15 in the morning, the Mallards hop off the sidewalk, waddle and go for a romp in the park. Sometimes I am the unlucky one who has to stop for them, sometimes I am lucky enough to drive past as they are hopping up onto the grass.

As we watched the Mallards in their morning routine, Gavin excitedly pointed out that they cross the street in front of the house with the FOR SALE sign.

The house in question is on the market for about $500,000, a real bargain for the area. It has 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, 2 car garage, remodeled kitchen, and a pool. It is quite nice, we’ve seen photos of it online, and if the price was to drop substantially, we might consider it.

We are fairly certain the Mallards are living comfortably in the backyard, possibly enjoying the pool, and taking a morning stroll to the park every morning. Gavin pointed out the ducks could easily jump the fence, or squeeze through/around it. The backyard would be cozy and reasonably safe from raccoons and other annoying creatures.

The Mallards spend their days in the park, so it is unlikely they’ve ever been around on a house tour. The house is unoccupied, so there is no noise or light to disturb them. There are also no humans or house pets to intrude on their little slice of paradise. They also might have found away to access the pool.

The Mallards are enjoying the $500,000 house. I wonder if the House’s Future Owners will enjoy the Mallards.

Demon Kitty & Baby Cheesecakes

Published by kindli on March 18, 2008 in adventures, cooking and townhouse. 2 Comments

Demon Kitty came by this afternoon to investigate and shed on our new patio furniture and look disdainfully at our hammock. He did not look pleased. I would’ve thought he could be a little less grumpy looking, we’ve put the umbrella up, now he has a place to lounge in the shade!

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you can’t have my hammock!

Published by kindli on March 17, 2008 in adventures, fun, townhouse and weather. 0 Comments

In the last few weeks, Gavin and I have taken steps to make our backyard a more inviting and useable space. We already have a grill and a rather lopsided outdoor umbrella, and I’ve been potting and gardening around the small flower beds. We’ve also acquired a nice outdoor dining set, and have enjoyed several lunches outside.

During the backyard usefulness/beautification project I managed to convince Gavin that we needed a hammock on the lower deck. He balked at the idea until I showed him some websites, and explained I had done the measuring and explained what would fit nicely.

The hammock arrived early this afternoon and I had a fairly easy time assembling it. I had to wait for Gavin to come home before I could properly test it, everything needed to be tightened, and that was easier with two people.

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Gavin doesn’t think it will get much use, but I’m going to do my best to prove him wrong. The weekends have been so nice it would be a shame to waste them sitting in front of a computer. Go lay in the hammock and read The Economist instead!

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apartment hunting for Nick, not for me

Published by kindli on March 13, 2008 in California, adventures, apartment, family, townhouse and travel. 0 Comments

On Wednesday Nick and I drove around Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park and Cotati looking at apartments. We looked at five or six total, and drove past countless more in greatly varying condition. They were all in the same price range but what was offered varied greatly.

Of all the places we visited, only two did NOT automatically assume that Nick and I were an item. I tried to make it quite clear that he was looking for an apartment NOT we. I suspect part of the reason they thought we were an item is because I asked a lot of questions, and peered in the closets, laundry rooms, and cabinets. I also commented to Nick about kitchen layouts, bathroom proportions, and the alloted closet/storage space.

I remember last year when Dulce and I went apartment searching. Dulce asked all sorts of questions I didn’t think to, so I tried to do the same for Nick. I asked about websites, brochures, electric costs, water costs, what was/was not included, washing machine rental, parking, mail location, security, accent walls, furniture rental, etc.

Consequently Nick has a stack of apartment brochures, copious notes, and an increasingly well worn copy of the San Francisco/Silicon Valley Apartment Guide (we picked up a copy of it before we started our adventures).

Today Nick and I drove around Sebastapol and discovered several small apartment complexes, and several condo/townhouse groupings. None of them offered much information, or a way to find much information. We also came across several very very very large homes, I told Nick that if Gavin and I could ever afford such a place he was welcome to rent out the “granny unit” (many of them looked to be the size of the townhouse we’re currently renting).

I am quite excited to say that we did not get hopelessly lost, slightly turned around, maybe, but we always found our way back to 12 or 116. There were no random accidental detours through Occidental/Gurneyville/Graton and the back hills filled with cell-phone-dead-zones, I made sure of that!

parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme

Published by kindli on March 7, 2008 in California, family, hobby, photos and townhouse. 2 Comments

I’ve been busy potting, weeding and beautifying the garden. Dulce came up Wednesday. We went pot shopping, rounded out my herb garden and played in the dirt. 

 

happy 11000 gavin!

Published by kindli on March 3, 2008 in family and marriage. 0 Comments

Today was Gavin’s 11000 birthday. 11000 is 24 in binary - Nick told me so (and google backed him up).

We had a low-key celebratory dinner of spaghetti bolognese, caesar salad and garlic bread with a bottle of sparkling apple cider. Dessert was carrot cake (the same one as yesterday).

After dinner Gavin opened his present. I got him a trebuchet and a t-shirt from ThinkGeek. The trebuchet is going to be his “weekend project.” I don’t mind as long as he promises to only project things outside.

Apparently there is a “bug” on the t-shirt (not the creepy-crawly variety). Gavin was quite excited about it and tried to explain. The last I saw of him (and the t-shirt) he was running up stairs so he could “tell Nick about it.” Nick seems to have gotten it. The shirt reads: while (!(succeed=try())); I think it’s a geek thing.

adventures in Graton

Published by kindli on March 2, 2008 in California, adventures and family. 1 Comment

Today Dulce and Stephen drove up to help us celebrate Gavin’s birthday (which is tomorrow). We went to lunch in Graton, and then drove around enjoying the beautiful weather. 

Dulce continued assisting us on our quest to find the perfect plant to hide the unsightly water meter. I think we’ve finally found one: I don’t know what it’s called, but I’m not supposed to over water it, and it should do well in the shade. Now to find the perfect pot to keep it in. Gavin thinks yellow would be a good color.

We also got some starter plants for my herb garden: parsley, oregano and thyme. I’m hoping to add basil, dill, and possibly mint to the mix so I can stop buying them at the grocery store. 

After the repotting was complete we sang an enthusiastic round of “Happy Birthday to Gavin” and cut into the carrot cake, iced with maple-cream cheese frosting.

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