Nap Time

It was another four-day weekend for Aimee. After a couple of hours of softball and then frisbee with Rosebud at the park it was time to come home and get in one last nap for 2011.

At 79 degrees, it didn't take long for Aimee to ditch the blanket and come in looking for a cold drink.

Rosebud, however, manages to get her nap in no matter what. Not even the falling leaves raining down on her will get in the way of some well-deserved rest.

Christmas at the Beach

We had several days off for Christmas vacation and got lucky with beautiful weather. On Christmas we spent the afternoon at the beach.

The beach we went to is a few minutes past Zuma beach. It is a state park where you can take your dog onto the beach. There were several other dog owners there who had the same idea.

One thing we know Rosebud is not crazy about is swimming. You can see some pictures here of her trying to avoid the chilly water.

Merry (early) Christmas

Library Trip

On the day after Thanksgiving we paid a visit to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Musuem.

It is a very impressive place that just recently underwent a major re-model. It's located in Simi Valley, about a half hour drive from where we live. This was our first time there but as you can see from the pictures, we had some very special out-of-town guests who treated us to the visit.

One of the highlights is a walk through Air Force One. This is the plane that flew several presidents, up to and including George W. Bush. There is also a full-scale replica of the Oval Office just as it appeared during Reagan's time in office.

Here is a jelly bean mosaic of the former president that has caught Aimee's attention. We didn't have time for her to count them all.

At the end of the tour, not far from the spot where Reagan is buried, is a replica of the White House Rose Garden and a large chunk of the Berlin Wall.

The weather was very nice and, even though it was one of the busiest days of the year for visitors, we had a great visit.

Moving Day

Today was a good day. We officially closed escrow on the purchase of our new house and now have the home-buying process behind us.

We spent most of the day loading and unloading a U-Haul 14' truck moving our stuff from one house to another. Unfortunately the house we're moving into is not the house that we bought.

We are moving into a rental house nearby while we wait for the sellers to complete the purchase of their new house and move out of our new house. That was supposed to happen already but a last-second snag came up involving the title on the house they were purchasing and now there is a delay.

Hard to say how long the delay will be. It could be 3 weeks or it could be 3 months. We'll know soon. They are scrambling to get their move done as soon as possible because they have a 1-yr. old and another one on the way.

Lucky for us that we were able to find a rental that would give us a month-to-month lease. Hopefully we won't be there for long and then finally we'll be able to settle into our new house.

For now, we've still got some moving to do but the big stuff is taken care of. We'll be out of our old house for good this weekend.

Sold

We are no longer homeowners.

Yesterday the sale of our house closed and now we are officially renters at our house.

Fortunately, we have bought a new house and we are scheduled to close that sale in a couple of weeks. We should be all moved in by the weekend before Thanksgiving. We are lucky that we found a house we really like in the price range and area that we wanted. We also got lucky in that the house was not yet on the market and we were the first to see it.

It was just great timing that our agent got the listing for the house right when he did and knew that we would definitely be interested, which we were. Nobody else got to see the house and now we will move directly from here to there in a few weeks.

R.I.P. Harley

The Chair

One of the things about moving is finding some stuff to get rid of.

Here is a chair that has been around for quite a long time. I don't know how long exactly, but at least 40 years as far as I can remember. It's been with me for at least 15 years.

When we got Rosebud she was about a year old and still prone to chewing on things she shouldn't. The arm of this chair is her handiwork from that time. Other than that and some minor touchups needed, the chair was still quite useful.

Rosebud was the one who got the most use of it. It seemed to be her favorite spot for napping.
That's why it was a tough decision to make when we decided to part ways with the chair.

We're a little bit lighter in the furniture department and Rosebud is minus one favorite sleep spot. That's the way it goes. I imagine she'll find a way to adjust.

Housing update

Here is a picture of the built-in microwave in the kitchen of the house that we will not be buying.

We intended to buy the house. Until this morning we were about two weeks into escrow to buy the house. But that was before the inspection process turned up some issues with the house that needed to be dealt with.

The property sits on a hillside and there is a retaining wall at the lower end of the property that is holding back quite a bit of earth from sliding into the neighbor's pool below. The wall is doing a very good job of that and has been doing it for at least five years. It may very well continue to do a good job for another 10 or 20 years. There's no way to know for sure.

We do know that the wall was built without permits and not to code. And we know that the geologist we hired to look at it recommended it be torn down and rebuilt correctly. And since we know this (and the sellers now know this) we felt it was fair for some adjustment to be made to the purchase price of the house.

We consulted with several contractors about the scope of the job and the liability issues if the wall were to fail. It was made clear to everyone that this would be a very expensive fix.

In the end the sellers were not willing to reach an agreement with us that we could live with and so we have now cancelled the contract. We are disappointed not only because we thought the house was otherwise fantastic but now we will be in between houses for a short while because we sold our house on Wilbur.

That's the good news. We had a lot of interested buyers the first few days it was on the market and we were able to make a deal with a nice couple for a bit over the asking price.

So, we will probably be in a rental for a month or two or three while we look for our next home.

Minnesota Wedding

Last month we went to Minnesota for Aimee's brother's wedding. We hadn't been there to see Lars in five years so it was our first chance to meet his bride Molly.

We went there several days early and got to spend the week at their house near Minneapolis and we had a blast. The weather was perfect and we had a great time hanging out with the two of them in the days before their wedding.

We went out to eat a few times, took in a Twins-Red Sox game at the new outdoor ballpark downtown, played some miniature golf and took their pontoon boat out on the lake for a little cruise and some fishing.

Nils and Richard and Sook showed up a couple of days later and the whole family had a great time hanging out at the house (there was plenty of room for everybody) bar-b-queing and relaxing.

The wedding was on the second Saturday of the month and took place at a beautiful resort in northern Minnesota on the shore of Lake Superior. The day was beautiful and the ceremony was perfect. You can click here to see some pictures of the big day.

We can't wait to make it back to Minnesota for our next visit.

House Update

This is a picture of our front door.

That is a lockbox on our front door. You may recognize these lockboxes that are used by real estate agents. Why is there a lockbox on our front door?

Aimee and I have put our house up for sale. After 10 years here it is time for a change. We have begun looking for a new house in the area.

Last Sunday we had an open house and there was quite a bit of interest. It looks like we are very close to making a deal to sell our house. Then it will be up to us to find our new home where we can live happily ever after.

Leg Bruise

Softball season starts up again next week and Aimee and I are both looking forward to playing. She, of course, will be on several teams although not quite as many as last season.

One thing we're hoping to avoid this season is the type of injury that Aimee got towards the end of last season. She was a baserunner on second base when she got nailed in the left thigh by a line drive. Not only did she kill a bases-loaded rally by making the third out of the inning by getting hit by the ball, she sustained a rather nasty bruise on her leg.

This bruise started out bad and got worse over the next several days. You can see in the picture above how bad it was. If you want to see more pictures click here.

It took quite awhile for the bruise to go away. To this day it is still tender or itchy at times.

The worst part is that she robbed her teammate of at least two, if not three RBI's on the play.

Poor Bird

Recently I surpassed 100 thousand miles in my Blazer. I'm pleased with how well the car has served me for almost nine years and hope to get several more good years out of it.

The other day while stopped at a red light, I saw some birds standing in the street ahead. I figured they would fly away after the light turned green and cars approached them.

And they did. Except for one who was a little slow to get out of the way of the oncoming traffic.

He took off at the very last second but didn't get out of the way of the first car - mine - and ended up getting pulverized by the front grill of the Blazer. I wasn't going that fast, maybe 30 miles an hour. But that was more than enough to do the job and it was a direct hit.

There was nothing I could do, it all happened so fast. Birds always fly out of the way of traffic don't they? This guy didn't make it and it was quite the impact.

A cloud of feathers flew up in front of me as I continued on my way. There could not have been very much left of that bird. It reminded me of Randy Johnson's exploding bird pitch from years ago.

I took this picture the next day and you can still see some remnants of the incident.

Swimming Time

The weather is getting hotter. . .

and Mark is enjoying the pool these days.

Rosebud likes to monitor Mark's progress from a comfortable and dry seating area.

She celebrates with him, when the laps are complete.

Jury Duty

Tonight I completed a full week of Jury Service. I was able to do it all by telephone.

Here, like many places, you can call in the night before to find out if you will be needed at the courthouse the next morning. Starting last weekend and continuing each night this week, I called in (with my fingers crossed) and found out that I was off the hook the next morning.

Tonight I found out I won't be needed Friday morning and my duty was complete for another year. Aimee got just as lucky the last time she was called and she never had to report either.

Broken Shoe

Recently Aimee and I spent the weekend in Pismo Beach and we took along our horseshoe set so we could pitch some shoes on the beach.

We were having a good time until one of the horseshoes broke. We weren't using the horseshoe in an unusual way - it just broke. From what I have found out through a little bit of research this problem is not uncommon for horseshoes sold by this company.

We finished our games with the broken shoe. It did not stop Aimee from her usual excellence at snatching a last-second victory with a double-ringer or a ringer and a leaner. She has a knack for getting just enough points at the very end to win the games.

Next time we'll see if we can find some equipment that is manufactured a little closer to home.

Crop Report II

I should mention that we have been enjoying quite a bounty of cherry tomatoes this Spring. They are very tasty - tangy and sweet. Every time we need a few tomatoes we can grab a few off of the four above-ground plants on the back patio.

The plants are in the same spot where we used to plant in-ground but Aimee constructed some pot-holders out of some old wood we had to raise the plants a couple of feet off the ground. They seem to do very well like that. Last year, the first year of the new planters, we had hundreds of tomatoes to enjoy all Summer.

Aimee also planted two kinds of basil, some parsley and a chocolate mint plant. All are good for adding to whatever we're having for dinner.

Crop Report

These are our plums. The plum tree we planted the same time as the grapefruit tree (more than six years ago) is now giving us fruit for the third year in a row.

The season for this tree is brief and what you see is what you get - one big juicy batch of small and sweet plums. They are very tasty.

We also planted an apricot tree at that time. That tree gave us fruit this year as well but it was gone before we could enjoy them. The tree is planted out front near the sidewalk and it got picked clean by people walking by when they saw the fruit. Unfortunately, the apricots were still a week or two away from being ripe so we never got to find out how they were.

The grapefruit tree turned out to be a winner. It gave us fruit well into April and I finally picked the last one sometime in May. They were very good too. The tree is about six feet tall and the fruit were about baseball-sized.

Maggie's Visit

We enjoyed a brief visit last weekend with Maggie, Elizabeth and two of their friends.

They drove down and arrived late on Saturday afternoon. They kept busy on Saturday night and Sunday getting to a couple of restaurants and checking out some colleges in the area.

Sunday night the adults had a bite to eat and a bottle of wine at the house while the two spring-breakers hung out on the patio.

First thing Monday morning the group was out the door and headed for Phoenix. The idea was to be on the road at 7am. They made it because when I got back from walking Rosebud at 6:58 they were gone.

Aimee's Glove

Here is a picture of Aimee's softball mitt about to be baked in the oven. First though, it needs to be coated with Hot Glove Heat Treatment. That is a lotion that gets rubbed into the leather to help soften the material.

After it cooks for awhile, the remaining lotion gets wiped off and the mitt needs to be broken in and flexed for awhile to help soften it. We did about 3-4 treatments to get the glove really soft.

This is a new glove that Aimee has had for at least a couple of years but wasn't using because she couldn't give up her old glove that was about 30 years old. That thing was paper thin and falling apart but Aimee just didn't want to use any other gloves. Finally it just got to the point that it was no longer feasible to use that old thing in a game anymore.

She heard about this product that helps loosen up new gloves to make them feel like older, worn-in gloves. So far it seems to work very well and the new glove is very soft now and serving her well during games.

Bonus - Hot Glove is endorsed by Bobby Cox.

Summer Trip

This summer we will be heading to Minnesota to attend Aimee's little brother's wedding.

Lars and Molly are getting married at a resort on Lake Superior in northern Minnesota and we are looking forward to making the trip.

Aimee is part of the wedding party and she has ordered her dress and it looks fantastic.

Obviously, we are very happy for Lars and can't wait to see him walking down the aisle on the big day. It will also be our first time meeting Molly and that is something we are really looking forward to.

We are planning on flying out a few days early to give them a hand with anything they might need and also to get to a Twins game or two at their new ballpark.

Last time we were in Minnesota we saw the Twins play the Mariners at the Metrodome. That game had a triple play.

The Face of Shame

This investigator breaks down his suspect.

The Finish Line

This is what the conditions looked like in Santa Monica on Sunday at the marathon's finish line.

Rainy Sunday

This weekend was a good one to stay inside. On Sunday, while thousands of L.A. Marathoners were getting drenched by record rainfall, we spent the day indoors.

We didn't have much choice. It started raining first thing in the morning and poured all day long. The streets were flooded and the wind was bringing down trees all over the place.

This is definitely not Rosebud's favorite weather. She barely gets out of bed all day. I took her to the front door at one point, opened it and told her we're going for a walk. She looked outside, looked at me, looked outside again, looked at me again......and then ran back to her bed.

Pebble Beach

This weekend I drove up to Pebble Beach and got to spend a great weekend at Pete and Michele's house. All the Williams guys were there when I arrived on Friday around 12:30.

Mims and Jim were just showing up as well when I pulled into the driveway.

The house sits right on the 18th tee of the Spyglass Hill Golf Course which is one of the courses used for the AT&T Pro-Am tournament. The backyard is a perfect vantage point for watching both the pros and the amateurs teeing off. Many players and caddies stop to interact with the very small gallery and say hi to Bill's dog.

The first golfer we saw upon walking into the backyard was Phil Mickelson. There were several other top players and also many celebrities among the amateurs playing. Nearly all of them were very friendly.

This was a good way to spend the afternoon. It was a beautiful day weather-wise and plenty of ice-cold beverages were enjoyed by all.

On Saturday, Mims and Jim and I went over to the Pebble Beach course to watch the golf action there. It was another perfect day and we spent the afternoon taking in the scenery of the holes closest to the water.

We quickly found out that cameras are not allowed on the course and picture-taking is a good way to get your camera confiscated. Fortunately, we were able to get off with a few warnings and we managed to snap off a few shots without ending up in too much trouble.

You can see some of the pictures here.

Sunday morning we took off. Mims and Jim left for SFO before 8 a.m. and I was on the road before 8:30. I got home about 1:15 and caught some of the final round on TV.

Pete and Michele were very gracious hosts and it was great to see Bill, Dave and Uncle Bill. It was a quick weekend (especially for Mims and Jim) but a very worthwhile one with unbeatable weather and excellent company.

Aimee's Vibe

Here is a picture of the right rear of Aimee's car. A few months ago, another driver smashed into the back of Aimee's car while she was on her way to work.

We knew the bumper was banged up but didn't know the extent of the damage until we got it into the body shop. That finally happened last week. The reason for the delay was the insurance company that was paying for it could not get ahold of their client.

Either they finally did hear from him/her or they gave up trying and decided to move forward.
The police report from the incident made it clear that the other driver was 100% at fault.

The damage was not too bad. It took them about 3-4 days to fix, paint and polish the car. In the meantime, Aimee cruised around in a white Beetle from the Enterprise across the street from the shop. The repair and rental cost the insurance company about $2500.

She is happy to finally have her car back and looking whole once again.

Cheesehead Win

We enjoyed an entertaining Super Bowl yesterday. Aimee was especially happy to see her Packers get the win.

Aimee is a native Cheesehead - having been born in Milwaukee.

Now she has bragging rights with the Steeler fans in her office. To make it even better, Aimee won the 'squares' pool based on the final score of the game.