Friday morning...

Well, Jeff made it here at 9pm Central time after 3 hours stuck in Houston traffic. The four of us then decided to go rustle up some grub at the local steak house. Everything seemed to be winding down... until we came back to the hotel. I knew something was amiss when I walked in the building and saw doors open, people standing in their doorways, the rent-a-cop security guard with his flashlight out and on (?) and the hotel manager standing there looking around. Oh, and dogs barking and howling at the top of their lungs. The manager says to me "are you in room 109?". Yes, unfortunately we were. Turns out Kona and Chula had flipped out at some point and starting barking and barking, waking up the entire hotel at 11pm.

I was informed that it was a $100.00 per pet fee and that we were in the poor house. Luckily they hadn't learned about the cat or the 4 fish. That would have run our bill up around 1K! Ah! In the end, I convinced them to only charge us $75.00, as is stated on the web site. Phew.

Fun In.... Houston!

Well, we have arrived!

Vanessa, Maddie and I are here in the hotel. (MUCH better experience this time than last time!!! Always choose Hilton over Ramada.) Jeff, the poor thing, is experiencing Houston traffic for the first time. Last I heard he had moved 3/10 of a mile in 20 minutes trying to get to a main artery out of the city. Yikes. He's stuck in NW Houston and we're up here waiting for him. I think I'm going to have to pump some milk and go get a drink. This moving experience has been a bit chaotic.

Our loan has gone through and we're approved to close tomorrow morning. Thank goodness! The house will be ours by noon on Friday. YAY!!!!!

More later. Off to find a margarita...

The Maiden Voyage of The Scout

Well, the Camry and The Scout are being taken away today! I snapped some shots of Jeff getting it ready to be loaded. He also took it for a joy ride around the park. She purrs like a kitten!!

first foods

Last night I gave Maddie some pearsauce that I made from Organic pears bought at Whole Foods. Wanna see how long that good intention lasts?? Ha! Anyway, we decided to start her a little early on solids because we honestly can't keep her out of our food (or Jeff's beer) anymore. Plus, she's sitting up unsupported for about 10 seconds at a time and sits perfectly with just a little help. She loved it!




nice, Jeff...

...and another one

Some Videos

I took this the other day just after she woke up from a (rare and infrequent) nap. I love the way she kicks her legs and moves her arms when she's excited... so cute!

still bald as a cue ball

Nice weather... just a taste of it

We had a cold front come through this weekend, so we took the opportunity to get out of the house and hike. Here we are at South Mountain with the off-road stroller. It has shocks. Fantastic.

How Big Is Maddie??

Is this advanced? This is my first go-round, but it seems pretty impressive to me. Particularly because she picked this up in about 5 seconds. I only had to do it once. After we made such a big deal of it, she spent the rest of the night with her arms up just slightly above her head, looking more like Richard Nixon. Pretty cute.

(note: I apologize for my shrill voice. I was really excited.)

Holy Crap! Feet! I found feet!

You think anyone wants a roundhouse kick to the face while I'm wearing these bad boys?

forget about it...

Oh, Big Day!!!

Well, we had a great day today. First we went to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum in Superior, AZ with our friends Leon and Julia Manfredi. (As a bonus, our mechanic Carl gave us two free rotors!) When we got home, Spicy Latina Vanessa had planned a surprise party for us to say goodbye!!! I don't have pictures from the party (will get later) but I do from the arboretum...

see the hummingbird?


Grandma Roth made this little hat for her. I just love it!

Sedona

We're systematically saying goodbye to Arizona for now by revisiting some of our favorite places. We went to Sedona yesterday to hike with Maddie and get her a onesie at the Harley store that says "My Grandpa Rides a Harley"!

Weekend Update

Where to start?? Well, we've had a tumultuous weekend. Last Thursday, Jeff noticed something interesting on a document related to our "new house". It was a lawsuit filed by the current owner, suing the previous owner for nondisclosure of flooding problems... for the entire cost of the home! Thanks to some sleuthing work by my dear friend Elise, we recovered a document in the lawsuit that had the words "if I had known how bad the flooding was, I never would have purchased the house". Yikes! We got the hell out of there. And because Mr. Sue-happy didn't disclose anything to US, he's giving us our money back for the inspections we paid for.

Then we put an offer on another lovely house. The same day someone else put a "considerably better" offer on it. Apparently it's 2005 and no one told me because we offered full price. Huh.

So yesterday we put an offer on a third house. I guess the third time is the charm! (I sure hope so anyway!!) It's just gorgeous. It feels like a lodge with big open windows and tons of trees. There is even a screened-in porch off of the master bedroom. It needs to be updated (shag carpet in the bathroom! ahh!) and painted, but it's all small stuff. And for you geologists, it has gorgeous labradorite-rich granite everywhere! Mmmmm....