Monday, September 05, 2005
Your Daily Sadie
Playing with hervery cool early birthday present from my sister.
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Your Daily Sadie
Also pictured are my niece and nephew, Alicia and Hunter.
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Rest In Peace Your Honor
Via Aziz Poonawalla at Dean’s, Chief Justice Rehnquist has died.
Life gets more interesting by the day.
Drippage Update
The landlord left moments ago. Apparently the problem is intermittent and hard to identify. Multiple flushes, and sitting on the toilet to put weight on it, resulted in no noticable leakage. It’s likely a dying seal.
So when we’ve moved, he’s going to remove the toilet and reseal things. Meanwhile, we’re keeping an eye on it and letting him know if it goes rogue. So much for all that excitement.
I took the opportunity to point out the need to fix the bathroom faucet after we move, and to promote the idea he ought to replace the carpeting before it gets rented again. Hey, maybe it’ll help the next people out.
Best Quote From A Blog Post Ever
Also possibly the best post on Katrina ever.
Adventures In Sewage
About an hour and a half ago, we discovered there was a sewage pipe leaking in the cellar. I called the landlord. He was calling a plumber, and coming over to check on it.
Yeah.
At least it’s like a slow drip, from the pipe leading down from our bathroom, and the only thing we lost as a result of the leak was the empty box the air conditioner came in. I moved all our other stuff to the other side of the cellar, both just in case, and to make things easier for them to access the problem pipe.
Still waiting…
(And glad we’re moving. Bonus: the new landlord’s brother is a plumber, and is on the formal emergency contact sheet he provided as part of our paperwork.)
Your Daily Sadie
Friday, September 02, 2005
All I Have To Do Is Dream
Longtime readers may recall that I dreamed kids before I got together with Deb. In that, the oldest was a girl, and she was chastising me for making them wait in limbo to come into the world. She was far older, but looked like Sadie, and had her personality.
Voila, the firstborn was a girl, and she came along as immediately as she could.
Last night I dreamed of Sadie, a little bit older, and a brother, slightly younger, shorter, and remarkably similar in appearance to Sadie. It was cool and strange seeing them, to the point where I think it startled me awake.
We won’t know what we are having this time until the 26th, assuming the critter(s) cooperate with the ultrasound, but as far as I know, everyone has predicted a boy. Guess we’ll see if they are right…
Carnival of the Recipes Is Up
The Glittering Eye has this week’s Carnival of the Recipes. It seems less extensive than usual, but no surprise. We’re all pretty distracted by Katrina, and it’s a holiday weekend. I mean… I’m the only dessert entry? Wow. But check it out anyway! There’s some yummy looking stuff.
Welcome!
Todd added a new member to his family Wednesday. His name is Zach, and he’s very cute. Yay for new babies!
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Your Daily Sadie
Recipe: Old Fashioned Molasses Cookies
Another recipe courtesy of my sister…
Old Fashioned Molasses Cookies
1/2 Cup shortening
1/2 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup molasses
1 Egg
3 1/2 Cups flour
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1 Teaspoon baking soda
1 Teaspoon ginger
1 Teaspoon cloves
1 1/2 Teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 Cup buttermilk (or milk with a dab of vinegar)
Cream shortening, sugar and molasses. Add egg. Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with milk. Chill. Roll on lightly floured surface (or wax paper). Cut (use a glass or something) and bake at 350° approximately 10 minutes - until just set. Sprinkle with sugar before baking, or decorate with frosting or glaze after. They are good plain too.
15 Weeks
New Apartment
So. More about the apartment...
Last night we did the paperwork and put down the deposit for the new apartment. About the only thing we hadn’t known so far was the availability date. It’s ours as of the 15th. I have to call the current landlord today and give them notice. We’ll have some overlap, which is useful for winnowing out stuff we shouldn’t keep and haul to a new place.
It would have been nice to have lower rent. We pay $1050 now, including the $50 extra for water usage for the washing machine. The new place is $1050, but it’s so much bigger and nicer.
It’s a second floor of three. The first floor people have been there 28 years. The third floor people have been there a few. There are a couple of satellite dishes sitting on the roof of our bay window in the living room, which told us we could have Dish Network if we wanted. The highest speed DSL is available.
At least two of the five rooms are bigger than our biggest room. The kitchen is big, so we will be able to have a table there now. Gas stove, dishwasher, decent looking refrigerator; all seemingly newer and nicer than what we have here. There’s a bit more counter and cabinet space. The bathroom is close to double the size; plenty of potty chair space. The tub takes a curtain rather than door, which makes for easier cleaning and kid baths. Last night I told Sadie she can have baths in the big tub when we move. She’s getting kind of big for the baby tub. In fact, the overall apartment seems to be nearly double the size. The two small bedrooms are around the size of the bedroom the three of us use now. The master bedroom has a walk-in closet. There are lots of windows. It’s bright and airy. There are ceiling fans in three rooms.
The living room and master bedroom have hardwood floors. The other two bedrooms are carpeted. The kitchen and bathroom are tile. The whole place is wallpapered. There’s plenty of room for books, including many of them where Sadie won’t be able to abuse them so readily. There are laundry hookups in the cellar, and minimal storage space. We officially have two parking spots, but the landlord thought we might be able to squeeze another car in if needed. Interestingly, it’s a long driveway and the spots are along the right side, in order by floor. First floor is right by the road, then us, then third. In theory, that divides the snow shoveling in three.
Middleboro has municipal gas and electric, so that should be cheaper than in other towns. Being on the second floor and apparently better sealed, heat would probably cost less even without that.
We fell in love with the place immediately, and pursued it aggressively to cut out any competition. We saw it Monday, hand delivered the application and credit check info Tuesday, got accepted Wednesday, and signed the lease Wednesday night.
The fun continues. I have to call the landlord and formalize our notice and all. We are paid through the 13th. We have to give 30 days notice. I am assuming I can pay them the 17 days and be done end of month. If they really wanted to be difficult, which isn’t like them in such things, they’s make us pay through a full additional month, to October 13. We have to arrange for the utilities at the new place, and to end them at this place. We have to pack. Despite having literally dozens of boxes already packed, we’ve only just begun. We have to get rid of stuff.
Between this and work, blogging may continue to be light.
One amusing thing about the new apartment is that it is “around the corner,” really almost literally across the street, from my brother’s ex and his five kids. It’ll presumably mean I see much more of them, but their mother probably won’t appreciate it. Oh well. We weren’t looking to be so close; it just turned out that way. On the other hand, part of the reason for focusing on Middleboro was to be closer to my nephew and his wife.
We’ll be closer to Super Wal-Mart. We’ll miss being near Roche Brothers. There are other conveniences. It’s 17 miles from the office, about a 17 minute drive, rather than about 8 miles and a 10 minute or so drive. It’s all very fitting, as I was born in Middleboro, but never lived there. My first doctor was in Middleboro. He’s the one who saved my life by sending me to Boston when I had meningitis. The landlord’s wife was delivered by the same doctor and he was her doctor when she was young. That’s so cool. But I digress. I think Sadie helped us get the place by charming her. Heh.
Yay for a better apartment!
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Your Daily Sadie
