I love fall

Autumn is my favorite season. The crisp, clean breeze. The crunchy leaves. Pumpkin muffins and peppermint hot chocolate (though not at the same time!). I love turning the AC off and sleeping with the windows wide open, covered with lots of blankets (and cats). I love running and wearing makeup that doesn't sweat off. I love soft, ballet-inspired sweaters and early-morning wisps of spooky fog.

I love it all.

Cats have so much to teach us

... about self-care!

My cat Natasha always manages to find the coziest spots to rest in. Not like Elena, who is known to curl up in the middle of the floor and snooze. Um, what? Convenient, yes, but not cozy. Not like my Natasha.

Here she is between her scratching post and the little step into the bathroom.

And here she is in ooth of their favorite new spots, lounging in the very wide windowsills..

And just to be fair, here's Elena hanging out in the windowsill, too.

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Life Update

I started running again! I'm such a Type A.. I thought to myself that I would start running again this weekend, it being a long holiday weekend. Fine. But today was so gorgeous that after work I wanted to run. But I told myself, "No, you said you would start this weekend and that's when you start!" What the hell is wrong with me? I am such a rule-follower... especially when the rules are self-imposed! So anyway, I went for a run and no kidding - it was hard! But very satisfying. I'm looking forward to a long fall/winter/spring of running.

I feel very settled in my new home. I've been cooking and the kitchen is feeling more and more natural. I had a package delivered today and my mail has started coming. I know my commute and it's still a pretty easy one (30 minutes to work by bus, 30 home by metro). I'm finding my way around the neighborhood, to the little corner stores and whatnot.

I'm not sure what to read right now, though. I've been shopping my bookshelf and I have a few unread books but right now I want something comfortable. I'm thinking of re-reading the Claudius novels by Robert Graves. I absolutely LOVE them. Maybe I'll start those as well as a new one, so I have something on standby for when I want to read but don't feel like paying attention to a new plotline.

The long weekend is coming, followed by a short week. On the 11th I'll take a train to Connecticut for the weekend to attend my cousin's wedding. I get back on Sunday the 13th and on Tuesday the 15th leave for the United Kingdom for two weeks.

Why should my life slow down?

This is the weekend!

Yes folks, this is it. This is the weekend when I will resume running. As my faithful readers know, I have taken the hottest summer months off from running to focus on weights. And it's been great! But the weather is getting cool now and I'm itching to get out there. This coming weekend is a long one and now that I'm two blocks off the National Mall I really have no excuse to keep the shoes hung up.

Reports forthcoming...

Evening in my new pad

Just a Sunday night, drinking wine and working on the Washington Post magazine crossword, with the Capitol dome in the background. Sigh......

I'm Home

Well I'm here an unpacking. I'd say I'm about 80% done. It was not as rough a day as I expected, but I can't help feeling a little melancholy. Homesick? I know that sounds weird, but I feel like I've left my home to move to a new place. This place doesn't feel like home yet, but I will. I know it will.

I'd say the weirdest thing about all this, and maybe part of my anxiety, is that I'm really here now. I never had any plans to leave DC but now I'm REALLY not leaving. Not for ten years at least. That, my friends, is a very odd feeling - I'm really not far off that hectic part of life where everything moves in four-year bursts. That's over now, and I'm in the settling in part of life where roots and routine really matter.

I feel like I've entered a new stage of life, and not just the "oh you're a homeowner, you're all grown up!" part, but even without the home... the life I have now is probably similar to the life I'll have ten, fifteen years from now. Good thing I love my life :) But it wasn't so long ago that something brand-new was right around the corner - new school, new city. No longer.

This is it... and I think I'm doing good :)

I'm a homeowner!

And it really wasn't that stressful! After doing the final walk-through this morning and getting the keys, I splurged on a hot chocolate and we went to the settlement office. I signed my name about fifty times and paid an obscene amount of money... and we were done!

A couple of nice things: everyone involved was great. The seller was very nice (it was an investment property so he is used to this process). The realtors were very nice, the settlement attorney was great. Everyone was in good moods and the vibe was lighthearted.

I had been over the three main documents with my brother, a mortgage lender in Miami, the night before, so I really felt as though I understood everything that was happening, and I had the chance to get my questions cleared up before signing my life away. That surely helped the process go quickly and smoothly.

There were no "surprises" no additional fees, etc. In fact, my monthly payment (mortgage, taxes, interest, insurance, and PMI) ended up being about $100 LOWER than on my earlier estimate. Not complaining!

My realtor very kindly bought me a bottle of Korbel champagne which I will enjoy tomorrow night while looking at the Capitol dome from my new pad!

Did I talk about New Orleans??

Okay well... I will! I was there working, actually, but found enough time to have some fun. I ate my freaking HEART out. Poboys, wine, mufaletta sandwiches, beignets and coffee for breakfast every morning, a random night of sushi, cheese, gumbo, fried alligator tail... you name it, I ate it! I definitely did not deny myself. Surprisingly, my pants still fit by the end of the week!

This is a shot of me giving my conference talk:

I had a great turnout and lots of good feedback.

I went with a friend we rented Piaggio Fly's for a couple days and took our own graveyard tour! The graveyards were awesome and super creepy. Here is me on my scooter all decked out in rain gear:

All in all it was a really good trip. Long enough to really get a feel for the city and know my way around. Long enough so that I missed home :) But not so long that I was wondering what to do with myself. I'm glad to be home though and will be glad when all this upheaval is over!

Progress and Sadness

Well, the books are packed. Artwork is off the walls. Most of the real packing won't take place until Friday afternoon. I'll need stuff until then, and I'm not the type to pack halfway. I'm not going to pack the whole kitchen except for one dish. No way. It's all gonna go at once. I'm neurotic like that.

God, I guess this is actually happening. I'm not getting cold feet (yet) but I do feel sad. I talked to my neighbor this evening about the move. We've been trading cat-sitting duties for years, and he's lived in the building for 14 years... so he's seen a lot of people come and go. He got me a gorgeous pair of earrings made from 2000-year old Roman glass! Sob!! I have it good here. A gorgeous flat, nice neighbors.

But I'm really excited about my new place, my new neighborhood, my new investment... a place to call my own, where no one can raise my rent, where I'm contributing to the local economy, where I can paint the walls and re-do the floors (eventually... heh). I'm ready for this and I can't wait for Saturday evening. What happens between now and then, well, I'm just getting through.

Countdown

Thursday - Final walkthrough
Friday - Settlement
Saturday - Move

I HATE MOVING. I hate it so much. I hate being confronted with the mass of my crap. I hate the mess and confusion. I hate the sweat and the dragging and the multiple trips.

I do enjoy setting up a new place and exploring a new neighborhood. I just hate the process of moving and it's such a long process... I feel like time stands still in the middle and there's that point where you aren't close to the end at all and you feel like you'll be in the process of moving for the rest of your life.

But... I have little choice... am just trying to keep my eyes focused on the end result. My own home!

Presentation Success!

Having a grand old time in New Orleans. Feeling thick around the middle and hazy in the brain, but managed to pull myself together to give a great presentation a few hours ago. About to get together for a happy hour cocktail with some of the others in the field that I only see once a year or so at some annual conference or another.

Tomorrow - vespa rental! Gonna cruise around the city on a little 50cc vespa and give myself a personal tour of the graveyards.

Return on Saturday evening and prepare for the week of packing, signing my life away, and moving into my new digs.

Oh PS

I HAVE MY FINAL LOAN APPROVAL!

Oh god that means I am going to be paying a mortgage.

Quick Hello from New Orleans!

Having a fantastic time in the Big Easy. Started Sunday with a long exploration of the French Quarter and riverwalk. The food is too good to be believed, though the French Quarter nightlife scene is not really my thing. It's great for people watching but full of groups in their early 20's just looking to drink as much as possible and highlight their evening by puking in the street.

Monday I was in a workshop for part of the day (I AM supposed to be working, after all!) but found the time to take the St. Charles St trolley to the Garden District. The houses... amazing... I love the second-story porches and floor-to-ceiling shutters. Love it. Walked back along Magazine St through the warehouse district and ate at Mother's, a New Orleans institution.

Now I am waiting for my travel companion to get back to the hotel with our rental car. We're setting out to explore the bayou and find some real Cajun food...

The conference starts tomorrow and I speak on Thursday. I do intend, however, to find some more jazz, do some more shopping, and continue to commit a very slow suicide by food.

I can tell that I'm stressed

This condo situation must be stressing me out more than I think. Lately, every little inconvenience has felt like a catastophe. I can't handle the slightest bit of uncertainty and my frustration level over things that are really no big deal is through the freaking roof.

Case in point: I just found out that use of the fitness center at my hotel in New Orleans next week is $10/day. I honestly feel short of breath with anger over this. I'll be down there for a week and I really want to maintain fitness, continue with weight-lifting, etc so I don't undo all my progress being sedentary. But I'm trying to drop a couple hundred thousand dollars on a condo and really don't want to spend $70 for the privilege of working out for 45 minutes per day.

And before you tell me to just bring clothes and run outside - it's an option I'm consider but it's not ideal. I haven't been running this summer because of the heat, and the heat in New Orleans is going to be WORSE than the heat I've been avoiding in DC. So I'm not acclimated. And even if I were, the amount of running I would have to do to maintain my current fitness level (which is pretty damn high, frankly) would be difficult if not impossible to fit in, time-wise, along with conference obligations.

Something SO SIMPLE - finding a place to work out at a hotel - has become difficult, and my disproportionate reaction is a strong clue that I am tolerating - but barely - massive amounts of stress and frustration.

I imagine that some people function like this all the time. I can't imagine that. Feeling like I'm on the edge of a major meltdown is just no fun; if this were my status quo I would definitely be in therapy or on medication - or both.

Sharing Experiences

I think it's fascinating, the human inclincation to share experiences. I was walking home from dinner tonight and there was a ton of heat lightning in the sky - some big flashes and some bolts. After a particularly severe bolt, I look around and there was a girl walking behind me and we both sort of smiled at each other as if to say, "Did you see that?"

If you've ever seen anyone high-five a stranger at a sports game or peer over a crowd to see what people are looking at, you know what I mean. I've done a fair bit of traveling on my own, which has it's advantages, but there's nothing like the feeling of witnessing something amazing/touching/hilarious/weird and saying, "Do you see that?" and getting the affirmation and talking about it with someone.

I think this inclination goes to prove that man really is a social animal; even the most shy and reclusive among us.

Killing Time

Don't you hate it when you have like 30 minutes before you have to leave the house? It's too soon to get ready to go but not enough time to really start reading a book or get involved in a project. So here I sit, obsessively refreshing my email (none new), doing the dishes (took five minutes), putting away laundry (another five minutes) and back to my email again.

In other news, I can feel a major purge coming on. I have some little knick-knacks lying around, random papers and things that have been shoved into drawers, a couple pairs of shoes to get rid of. Moving is hopefully at the end of August but before then I hope to be a lot "lighter" - both in possessions and weight.

In preparation for two upcoming trips, one to New Orleans and one to the United Kingdom, I am trying to slim down so that I can stuff my face with beignets and beer and still fit into my pants when I get home. That effort is going pretty well, but I leave for New Orleans a week from today, so it's crunch time... gotta stay on the train for seven more days.

I have absolutely nothing in my fridge but milk, butter, mayonnaise, pumpkin butter, and a little bit of raspberry syrup - I am very much looking forward to stocking up on healthy veggies, yogurt, greens, eggs, and hummus for the week. For lunch I am going to make my very simple, delicious, and healthy two-bean salad:

One can chickpeas
One can cannellini beans
One large bell pepper (color of your choice)
One bunch scallions
Three large cloves garlic
Juice of one lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Drain and rinse beans, chop vegetables, mince garlic, and combine all in large pot. Serve as a side dish with half a sandwich or eat as lunch.

Okay... now I have fifteen minutes before I gotta run out the door. Time to get dressed. Thanks for letting me kill some time.

Where have I been?

I light of my upcoming trip to the UK, I thought I would make a list of all the countries I've visited. This does not include airport layovers or passing through on a train; for a country to be included on the list means I've spent intentional time there.

United States
Canada
Ireland
Greece
Germany
Austria
Switzerland
Liechtenstein
Czech Republic
The Netherlands
China
Iceland

In September:
England
Wales
Scotland

Hopefully next year:
Denmark
Sweden

Now you go!

Standing up for Myself

I am very bad at standing up for myself. I'm bad at asking questions when I don't understand things. But I can't afford to take the easy way out with this condo purchase, and today I stood up for myself twice and had very positive results!

Situation #1 - Home Inpsection.

My home inspection is tomorrow. My realtor told me to expect the price to be between $150-180, which is fine. But when I got the invoice, it was $250! And this was after two BS "discounts." The original price was $310. So I emailed my realtor to see if he knew if this price was negotiable. I was really embarassed about doing this, but at this stage every dollar counts. He wrote back and said that everything in life is negotiable He said when the inspector sees the actual square footage tomorrow, the price will be close to $180, and that he has my back. Whoo!

Situation #2 - Good Faith Estimate

My lender advised me to ask the seller to contribute xxxx amount to cover my closing costs. I wrote that into the offer and the seller agreed. Then, when I got an updated estimate, the closing costs were almost $1000 higher - and of course *I* have to pay any closing cost overflow beyond what the seller agreed to. I was pissed! WTF So I sent the estimate to my brother who is a mortgage lender and he told me to ask my lender to reduce the "Loan Origination Fee" by xxxx amount so that the closing costs would equal what the seller agreed to pay. I NEVER would have done this on my own. I asked my lender to reduce the fee feeling confident that he was going to say no or try to tell me that he couldn't do it even though my brother told me he absolutely has the power to reduce the fee.

My lender wrote back almost immediately and told me the fee had been adjusted I'm really annoyed that he jacked up the fee when HE WAS THE ONE who told me what the closing costs would be.

Oh well - two good lessons here, and I'm proud of myself. Plus I had French toast and a milkshake for dinner. So it's been a good day :)

An Unexpected Afternoon to Myself!

I was 50% sure I had plans after work today but they have been postponed, so I have the afternoon and evening to myself! Ah, the luxury.

Here is my plan:

• After work, nap.
• Wake up, lift weights, get sweaty
• Shower and crack open a bottle of wine
• Finish Season One of 30 Rock and maybe start Season Two
• Turn a few more pages of the great novel I'm knee-deep into reading
• Fall asleep early

Doesn't get much better than that :)

Oh Angelina!

Yesterday I went up to Baltimore to take a workshop from my all-time favorite banjo player, Angelina Carberry. She taught a great set of jigs but didn't spill nearly enough information about how she developed her style.

Afterwards, she and her husband Martin Quinn played an intimate little show at the Stony Run Friends Meeting House. Here's a quick shot that I snapped with my phone (I have a fancy new phone and couldn't figure out how to turn off the flash - thanks to Sean McComiskey for admonishing me via text message! Was that really necessary? (Heehee)

I noticed that she holds her banjo a lot differently than I do... with the neck out at a 45-degree angle from her body. I also found out that she uses much heavier strings that I do, but about the same thickness of pick.

Anyway, the result of all this is that I am more inspired to play than I have been in recent months. All I want to do is go home and practice my new set of jigs!