California Fever

wings

I've been tagged.  Nancy has tagged me with a meme that asks you to go to the 5th line of your 23rd post.  I chose to use the 23rd post of THIS blog (started in March) versus going back to two years ago on my island blog.  The 23rd post was written on March 30 - "baggage" (scroll down).  That was the day before we left the island.  The 5th line?  "Think 'Wings.'"  Hmm.  Not much to go on, is it?  I was obviously not thrilled when it dawned on me at the last minute that the first leg of our journey was in a tin can.  Gee, that seems like a lifetime ago since we got on that tiny plane on March 31.  The irony here is that I probably enjoyed that short little flight to San Juan more than the others...because it was almost like having our own plane.  It was just Jeffrey and me and a family of four...and one pilot.  I can remember getting momentarily teary as we lifted off and flew back over St. Thomas harbor.  The only way I can think to describe our mixed emotions is that it was hard to leave...even though we were excited about where we were headed.

I'd like to GROW some wings right about now.  Do you know that I've never had a flying dream.  Ever.  I'm in awe of people who have flying dreams.  And I have a very active dream life.  So what's up with THAT?  It makes me feel like I'm somehow reining myself in, even in my dream state. 

One of my all-time favorite movies is "Wings of Desire," a Wim Wenders film.  That film had a deep impact on me.  You know how sometimes there's a movie where the story and look and vibe of it just imprint themselves on your psyche?  That one did it for me.  I even sort of liked "City of Angels," the American remake with Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan.  In fact, I'll even admit publicly that I bawl like a baby every time I watch the ending of that movie.  (And it's not like I don't know how it's gonna end...) 

If you were an angel and were given the option of coming back to earth in human form, wouldja do it?  Even if it meant that being human brought with it all the emotional and physical pain we experience?  Would it be worth it to experience the highs of romantic love?  Ponder that, why dont'cha...while you go back to your archives and find out what the 5th line of your 23rd post said.  If you decide to post about it, leave a comment so we can all go read it...

Hip to Be Square

Back online.  I won't bore you with the minutia of our move.  I'll just offer up some highlights of the last three days...

• The forecast for Sunday (our move day) was rain.  But it didn't rain--the temp was in the high 70's and it was gloriously sunny all day.  Same for the last two days.  They say we may have some rain the next couple of days.  We'll see.
• I don't know how this is possible, but we seem to have found a setting that combines a small-town Mayberry feel with a hipster vibe.  We just returned from a stroll around our new neighborhood--our first walk since moving in.  Within a few blocks of the house we found countless restaurants of all stripes, a music store (as in instruments), a newstand, Baskin-Robbins (we were going to stop in, but the line was ridiculously long), Tower Records, Blockbuster, a theatre (as in drama/musical), boutiques, cool gift shops, Borders plus two indie bookstores, movie theatres, etc.  (Between the newstand and Tower Records, I've died and gone to magazine heaven.)
• We finally had a chance to shop for groceries this morning.  We went to the Davis Food Coop.  What a dream!  Gorgeous produce, healthy and organic foods galore.  We filled our cart and bought shares while checking out.  The produce looked like something in an ad compared to the crappy stuff we had in the stores in the V.I.
• Our bed was delivered yesterday.  Wow.  A 'big people's' bed.  The bedroom looks lovely, and we slept so soundly last night.  This morning boyfriend said, "What a concept.  My back doesn't hurt when I get up."  The came-with-the-condo mattress in St. Thomas was truly awful.
• Considering we don't have jobs right now, we seem to be awfully busy.  We've been going and going and going.  There've been the occasional trips to stores to pick up missed items.  And the continual unpacking.  There are still several boxes in the garage that need to be unpacked.  But we're taking our time and getting things set up just the way we want them.  Bit by bit, it's getting there.
• Driving home from the coop this morning, I commented to the boyfriend that I really need to find a salon to get my oh-so-gray roots touched up.  As the words left my mouth, I looked out the car window and noticed the building NEXT DOOR.  It's not like I haven't known for a month that we'd be living NEXT DOOR to a hair salon.  Yet somehow that fact escaped me when thinking about finding a new salon.  Duh.  I walked over there today and made an appointment for next week.
• We shopped for the house for weeks.  Even though it seemed as if things would look good together, it was hard to tell when it was boxed and stored in my brother's garage.  Magically, it all works and looks like we planned it this way.  We really didn't--just kept buying bits and pieces that struck our fancy and seemed like they might fit in.
• I'll try to take some pictures in the next few days.  Our poor old Canon has been acting up again.  Might have get another digital camera after all.

But right now, I'm going to finish this yummy banana-strawberry drink I found at the newstand around the corner, watch the end of the Kings game and just kick back with my sweetie.  More later...

final night in solano county

We skipped Tahoe and stayed home to attend most of my nephew's baseball game, followed by some final shopping at Target.  (Um, cleaning supplies?  Might be a good idea.  Duh.)  We've spent the remainder of our evening watching movies.  First "House of Sand and Fog" (we hadn't seen it...both enjoyed it...I liked the book) and now we're watching Kill Bill, Vol. 2 while I finish the household's laundry.  (These people are world-class laundry-generators.) 

Schedule for tomorrow:  Meet the realtor at the duplex at 9:30 to get keys and do the walk-through.  We can pick up the U-Haul truck anytime after 10:00.  We thought about sleeping in Dixon tomorrow night since our bed won't be delivered untll Monday, but we think we're just going to pile our blankets and pillows on the floor and spend our first rent day in our new place.  Much easier that way.

Our broadband won't be installed until late Tuesday afternoon, so I may be out of touch for a couple of days. 

Next dispatch will be from Yolo County.  :)

Peace.

cartwheels, popsicles and Twister

I could bore you with details about a horrific nightmare that just woke me, but suffice it to say that it was like my psyche said, "Know what?  Let's have most of her fears just come waddling out tonight and scare the bejesus out of her..."  There's so much I'm not writing about here, mainly because a) I haven't had time, and b) when I do find a moment, I'm so pooped from all the 'setting up house' errands that I don't feel like doing anything but sitting and doing pretty much nothing.  So let me sum up the week thus far on the most boring 'here's what I did' level...

Monday our mission was to buy a bed.  It was going to be our biggest purchase--our one big splurge--and by Monday boyfriend was antsy that we hadn't checked it off the list.  A local mattress store ran a big ad in the Sunday paper, offering huge discounts and free set-up and delivery.  We had visited their Vacaville store a couple of weeks ago and liked what we'd seen.   I noticed in the ad that they have a store in Davis, so we went there instead.  Bottom line:  bed was purchased and it will be delivered on Monday.  We move in on Sunday, but we'll sleep Sunday night in Dixon.  And we can finally say we own a decent bed--a major milestone for my gypsy ass.  I've been sleeping on CRAPPY (borrowed, hand-me-down or cheap) mattresses my entire life!  At 50 (and having suffered from insomnia since childhood) I think I deserve a decent bed.  Maybe I'll actually, you know, sleep through the night.  What a concept.

Also on Monday I helped CH order some stuff online for next week's Dixon May Fair parade.  They're going to have a float (representing their bar) in the May 7th parade and they've chosen a Mardis Gras theme.  The Mardis Gras masks we ordered online arrived yesterday and I can't believe how cool they are for the price (between $2.30 and $3.50 each).  Still to come:  hats (in Mardis Gras colors and most in a jester theme) and boas.  Yesterday she received a kit she'd ordered to build a set of columns with a large mask joining them.  We were going to attempt to assemble one of the columns last night, but her fabulous striper piccata dinner, followed by DVD watching in front of the fire, took precedence.

After we left the mattress store on Monday, we went to Borders to search for New Orleans music.  We were looking for tunes that could be added to the mix CD played on the float during the parade.  (CD's by Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Rebirth Brass Band were purchased.  If you've got a hankering for that type of music, check them out.)  Boyfriend will be riding on the float, playing the drums along to the recorded music.  That's because I opened my big mouth and said it would be a good idea--so now he has to do it whether he wants to or not.  :)  But he's great at playing a New Orleans second-line rhythm, and who doesn't love the sound of drummers in a parade?  First prize for parade entries is $500.  So maybe they'll take the prize, although the float is mainly being done as advertising for their business.

Tuesday was utilities day.  We opened accounts for electric/gas, land line/long distance, and cable/broadband (to be installed on Tuesday afternoon).  In the afternoon we hit Target where we snagged a TV cart (which will also be used for the stereo) and two sets of shelves for the living room.  In the evening, I took C. to her swim practice and then we swung by our new favorite (their favorite) Chinese place for take-out.  The rest of the family met up with us at home after M. picked up K. from cheer practice and CH brought Z home from his baseball game (both in Vacaville). Z. went 3 for 3 (including a home run) and pitched.  He was bummed we'd missed it, since the previous game we'd seen his team had played badly.  These school/activity schedules spread across two towns make for some serious logistics juggling.

Wednesday the boyfriend had an appointment to meet with a guy at a country club in Davis.  There was a job opening listed in the Davis paper and he jumped on it.  But it was a disappointment--the guy told him he was WAY over-qualified and the opening was for low level work with pay to match.  Next up on the agenda was a meet-up with boyfriend's parents, aunt and uncle, another aunt and a cousin.  They were headed up I-5 on their way back to Portland after a road trip to Birmingham, Alabama.  (We'd seen his folks off while we were in Portland.)  We had them meet us at the BBQ spot in Woodland I mentioned awhile back.  We had a nice lunch, hit the thrift store a few doors down to buy a cane for his uncle (he'd left his previous one at a gas station somewhere) and then they were on their way.  We spent the remainder of the afternoon shopping for a stereo, finally making a purchase at Circuit City in Fairfield.

Yesterday our mission was to pick up the desk we'd purchased at the Woodland thrift store and swing by Target in Woodland to buy the dresser we'd spotted at Target in Vacaville (but had been unable to buy because it wouldn't fit in the car).  We borrowed M's pickup to run those errands.  Then CH joined us at the Chinese place for lunch.  After lunch she headed to Vacaville to retrieve Z. from school, pick up K. after her cheer practice and then hit Target for some shopping.  We went off to pick up C. from school, who was accompanied by her friend A.  We told them they'd have to accompany us to Ace Hardware to buy some paint (for the desk and chair).  C. dubbed our mission "boring"...although she wasn't so bored when a few minutes later she was surprised to find her oldest friend inside the store.  :) The girls tried out the hammocks and porch swings while boyfriend picked up our supplies.  I tried to keep them fairly restrained, but C. petty much does cartwheels all the time...including the aisles of Ace.

Then it was home for popsicles and trampoline-jumping (for the girls) and sanding and painting (for the boyfriend and me).  The girls eventually wandered out to where we were painting in front of the garage and began PLEADING for the chance to help.  I let them do some of the first coat on the chair.  What had seemed "boring"' a short while before had suddenly become their new favorite thing to do in the whole wide world.  Funny how that works.  In between coats I zipped over to Wal-Mart to buy fabric and foam to recover the seat of our $5 thrift store chair.  When I returned, there they were--cartwheeling in the front yard while boyfriend painted.  They asked if I'd be their spinner so they could play Twister, and after we finished the second coat of paint, I obliged them.  Twister was abandoned as soon as my sister-in-law came in the door bearing new sneakers for C.  So I rejoined the boyfriend (who'd already applied the final coat of paint) to help him recover the chair cushion.  We could have bought some desk-in-a-box unit from Target or somewhere else, but we kind of like having our little thrift store set-up--all painted and recovered to make it one-of-a-kind.

The to-do list is getting smaller and smaller.  This morning we'll be back at Ace Hardware for some drawer pulls for the desk, and then stop by a storage place near the house to discuss renting a U-Haul on Sunday.  M. has a small flat-bed trailer that he's offered along with his pickup.  But the trailer doesn't have sides and by the time we secure everything (to boyfriend's satisfaction, which means it would require a lot of securing), it would be easier (and probably cheaper, gas-wise) to just use a truck and move it all in one trip.  What a blessing it's been to have the garage here to use as storage this past month while we continue to add to our pile of stuff for the duplex.

And then there are a few things we'd forgotten to even put on the shopping list.  Like a printer.  (How we could have forgotten that item is beyond me.)  And an iron and ironing board.  (Not that I plan on doing much of that, but it will be a necessity at some point.)  And towels.  (I had to call the realtor to ask what color the bathroom tile is because we couldn't remember.)  We still need to find out where the nearest laundromats are.  Can't say I'm going to be looking forward to having to deal with laundromats again, but it's not the end of the world.  Our little duplex beats living in a boxy little apartment in an apartment complex.

The realtor phoned on Wednesday to say she was having the tub refinished (very nice) and that her contractor will be repainting the living room and bedroom today and tomorrow (yay!).  We meet her at 9:30 on Sunday morning to get the keys and do the walk-through.

It's hard to believe that by the time we move in on Sunday, we will have been in California a month.  Our first weekend here, my folks were visiting, so it was all about family time.  So we had about three days (Friday through Sunday) to just kind of chill.  But even that first Sunday afternoon we went car shopping.  By the following morning we'd decided to purchase the Solara from my brother...and we've been on the go ever since.  Even our one road trip to Portland included a lot of shopping for the house.  This is the first time I've ever had to set up house from scratch.  I've either already had furniture...had it loaned or handed down to me...or in the case of St. Thomas, rented fully furnished places.  Setting up a house (even a teensy duplex) from scratch is a lot of work!  But it feels like we've done it the right way--we've tackled a few items on our to-do list every day, so we'd also have time for family activities, an occasional relaxing meal somewhere or just a few moments to enjoy the drive between points A and B.  I know it hasn't made for scintillating reading, but thanks for hanging in there during this transition time.  In a couple of days our new life begins (in earnest).  We'll have our own place and we'll be able to get back to our own rhythms.  I hope you'll stay tuned...

The Donut Report

There is much I could be posting about... 

Like how my brother said he needed the boyfriend to help him tend bar Friday night...but it turned out he didn't...so at 10:00 Friday night we jumped in the car and drove to Sausalito (I lived there for three years in the early 80's).  We went to hear a bass player friend play a gig...we hadn't seen him in seven years.  We were expecting a jazz gig...but it turned out to be a Middle Eastern band...gotta love the Bay Area.  The people-watching was highly entertaining...the place was packed...full of mostly middle-aged types, many of them on the prowl.   

I could tell you how we stopped at a Chevron station in Mill Valley to gas up at 2 am...and how we spent $30 and only got 10 gallons ($2.956/per).  Or how my brother wanted the boyfriend to sit in with the blues band at his bar Saturday night.  Boyfriend did, for several songs in the second set...he thought the band wanted him to play just a couple of tunes, but they kept asking him to play more...their drummer was sitting near me and he didn't look happy. 

Or I suppose I could tell you how P., CH's mother (whose also staying here temporarily) told us to check out this place in Woodland for lunch.  We did...good eatin'.  And how she also told us to scope out the area near the restaurant because there were several antique and thrift stores.  We did that, too.  It was the first time in our 10 years together that the boyfriend and I can say we actually went "antiquing."    But before we hit the antique shops, we hit the thrift store downtown (benefiting the local hospice).  We actually didn't see anything we liked...until we were on our way out of the store...we both stopped in our tracks at the same time...we spotted a little wooden desk painted dark green.  We bought it and have until Friday to pick it up.

We hit three or four of the antique shops in downtown Woodland.  Lots of great stuff.  I spotted a four-piece bedroom set in a "California" style (I know nothing about antiques)...for $695...FOR THE SET!  I thought it might be $695 per piece.  I SO wanted to buy it, but our place is really small and there's no way a queen-size bed and all that furniture would fit.  But, man, it was sweet...in GREAT condition.  We did end up buying a little bedside table...even got it 25% off. 

I could tell you how we saw a story in yesterday's 'pink section' (Chronicle Datebook) about Chick Corea...and decided on a whim to drive to Napa last night to catch his Elektric Band at the Napa Valley Opera House.  As we were standing in line to buy tickets, I noticed the merchandise table...and the giant words "L. Ron Hubbard" screaming from a book.  I'm familiar with Corea's link with Scientology, but boyfriend warned me when I saw the book that at least some of the music would be tied to it.  Corea is very personable on stage...the only mention of L. Ron Hubbard came when he announced at the beginning of the show that the first set would be played without interruption or announcements...and that it was music he wrote based on Hubbard's "To the Stars" book.  Although the music was pleasant enough and the musicianship was great, I enjoyed the shorter second set (and encore) much more.  That was when they played some of Corea's older tunes.  The band sounded great.  It was a good show.

I could tell you all of that...but what I really want to tell you is that while we were scouring Woodland's antique shops, I spotted a GE tube radio exactly like the one my Italian grandmother had on her kitchen counter when I was a child.  I called the boyfriend over to show it to him.  It was $75, much more than I would normally spend on something like that, but the price tag said "works."  WORKS!!!  I asked one of of the saleswomen if we could plug it in to give it a try.  She found a plug behind the counter and turned it on.  As we were waiting for it to warm up, she said, "You can come back here (behind the counter) and fiddle with it if you want."  I stepped over to the radio and began turning the tuning knob...and then I began hearing the AM stations coming in, loud and clear...and I began to cry.  I was very close to Nanny, my Italian grandmother...she played a particularly important role in my life, especially after my mother left when I was 14.  Nanny kept everything in her simple home in immaculate condition, so by the time someone (my aunt and uncle maybe) bought her a more modern electric radio, that GE tube radio was still running like a charm.  To find the exact model, in the same color, was a VERY big deal to me.  It wasn't just that it sat in a prominent location on her wooden kitchen counter (counters and cabinets that had been built by my grandfather--he built their home), it was also the memories of her listening to her favorite radio station on it (a station owned by a family friend...a station where my mother had worked in the early 60's).  Nanny liked to listen to the morning news...and the noon news...and "Trader Horn."  The boyfriend gets a real kick out of listening to Trader Horn if we happen to be in the car at 12:30 on a weekday when we're visting my hometown.  It's basically an on-air garage sale.  I have no idea why my grandmother listened to it every day--she never bought anything.  Maybe in our little Mayberry-like town, she just liked to see who was selling what.  The same radio station had the "donut report" every morning--something my brother and I still laugh about.  The owner of the station (who was their best on-air personality) would call the bakery and ask them what kind of donuts they had for sale that morning.  It was just a clever little ad gimmick, but it tickled us nonetheless...since the donuts were the same every single day.  :)

But back to the crying...the reason I felt so overwhelmed when I saw that radio was because I've often felt sad that the boyfriend and Nanny never had the chance to meet.  They're so alike in so many ways--blessed with such innately kind hearts--that I have no doubt it would have been a mutual admiration society.  So as I stood behind the counter in the antique shop, hearing the AM stations suddenly come in loud and clear, it felt like a message from Nanny...as if she was saying, I'm still here...I'm always here...and if you ever need to be reminded of that, just turn on this radio.  With that radio sitting on the kitchen counter of our little duplex in Davis, it will feel like Nanny is watching over us.  And that, my friends, will be a very, very good thing.

road trip

We're heading to the Rose City (Portland, OR) for a few days.  Leaving early this morning.  It's a straight shot up I-5.  We'll head west on I-80 for just a few miles to I-505 which will take us to I-5.  We'll stop briefly in Mt. Shasta to see my mother (take her out for breakfast, mostl likely) and zip up to PDX.  We'll pick her up on the way back and bring her back here for a few days.  We plan to return on Tuesday.  I'll try and blog from Portland...if the boyfriend will give me a few moments of free time.  The last time we were in Portland (also for three days), he had me running all over the place with him, so I didn't have a chance to blog at all.  We'll see.

I scored at Goodwill here in Dixon yesterday (the store is just across the street from my brother's bar).  Found a small oak dining table for fifty bucks.  Also got a set of dark green canisters for $5 (for the set), a cool mosaic-style vase in blues and white for $7 and a picture for the kitchen for five bucks.

Our beloved Canon digital camera has truly died.  We picked up a new camera (Nikon Coolpix) a couple of days ago.  I'm still getting used to it.  Even though we've gone from 3.2 to 5.1 megapixels, I'm not very impressed so far.  Maybe I just have to get more creative with the settings.  But what I loved about the Canon is that the quality was fairly good in the 'auto' mode.  I like to take pictures, but I don't want to have to learn camera settings.  I just want to point and shoot.

While we were camera shopping, I spotted a pen-style toy camera for $17.99.  Had to have it.  Lo and behold, it actually works!  :)

We all went bowling on Thursday.  Fun!  Although I'm horrified to have to say that my 14-year-old niece is still using bumpers.  :)  Boy, bowling alleys sure have come a long way.  This particular complex in Vacaville also has a large arcade area, several snack bars, a pro shop and a large two-story sports bar, complete with a huge wall-size TV (in addition to all of the other TV's) and eight pool tables upstairs.  There's also a photo booth in the bowling alley.  And after bowling, the girls (both nieces and a friend) clamored to have their pictures taken...repeatedly.  :)  Afterwards, C. pointed to one of the photos of herself and said, "I like that one the best.  It almost looks like I have teeth."  I said, "And that's important right now, isn't it?"  "YES!" 

After bowling, my brother treated us all to dinner at Hisui, a Japanese steakhouse and a favorite of the kids.  The boyfriend and I had NEVER been bowling together (and we've been together for 10 years) and it had been YEARS since we'd had Japanese food, so we were thoroughly enjoying ourselves.  And, yes, this photo was taken with the 'real' camera.

The weather was gorgeous yesterday--warm, almost 80.  CH and I drove over to Davis and had lunch on the patio of a wonderful restaurant next to a Borders bookstore.  It's within walking distance of our new place.  We drove by our place so she could see it in person (having already seen photos).  She thought it was cute.  Then we went to Cost Plus to pick up the furniture I had on hold.  (We were in her Ford Excursion, which came in handy later when we also needed to pick up the table at Goodwill.)

Boyfriend and I tried to buy Mexican food for the kids for dinner from the wonderful tacqueria across the street from my brother's bar.  When we walked in, there were three Mexican musicans playing.  It's been AGES since I heard mariachi music--what a blast!  But, alas, they were closing.  Bummer.  The kids settled instead for Taco Bell.  Then we met M. and CH at the bar for dinner.  They do a prime rib dinner on Friday nights.  I'm not a huge red meat eater, but I have to admit that the prime rib was very good.  The guys were in a celebratory mood, since their foursome had won the golf tournament they played in yesterday.  The prize is green fees for four at a Monterey golf course.  My brother also won EIGHT raffle prizes.  He began to feel so embarrassed by all of his winnings that he gave some of the raffle prizes back.  The tournament was sponsored by Travis Air Force Base (in Fairfield, two towns west of here.)

Shortly after dinner we came home to pack a few things for the trip.  (We didn't stay to hear the band.)  We'll see how our litle Toyota Solara does on her first real road trip.  We're already digging our new AAA membership, since it's saving us $8 a night on our motel room.  We're staying in the same motel where we stayed the last time we were in Portland.  Nothing fancy, but it's in a great central location, close to light rail, includes a nice continental breakfast, and there's a small fitness room and an indoor pool.  It might seem odd to be paying for a motel when Portland is the boyfriend's hometown and we could certainly stay with his parents.  But, oh, the joys of having our privacy for a few days.  Plus, I just saved us a bunch of money by finding a perfectly good table at Goodwill...so we deserve a little splurge.  :)

I'm a winner!

Lucky me!  I've won one of the paintings given away by Shelagh at Blueberry Moon as part of her raffle to raise money for her trip to Paris next month.  'The universe is being awfully good to me right now!  :)  Go pay her a visit and check out the artwork at her website.  I adore her gentle and creative spirit (and would even if we weren't the same age, with birthdays only a day apart.)  :)  Thank you, Shelagh!

dirt roads lead to muddy shoes

First of all, thank you for all your kind, sweet and supportive comments and emails the last couple of weeks as we've begun dipping our toes into this big ol' messy California pool.  Secondly, please forgive me for not personally responding to all of them--I'm way behind in my emailing.

There's a lot going on under the surface that I'm not blogging about.  It's to be expected when there's big, monumental change going on...all while staying with family.  Staying here is a bit like being on a group tour (not that I've ever done one of those...well, except for that time at JazzFest in New Orleans...but we did the Festival by ourselves...the 'group' part was just a couple of shindigs...and since the tour was hosted by the wife of a musician, it wasn't corny).  My brother is like an activity director--he's constantly planning things for us to do (with them).  It's all quite sweet (and most times, he's treating).  But I need downtime.  I've just spent the past five years holed up in a Caribbean condo.  Just me, the boyfriend...and the laptop.  And after a whirlwind six weeks of planning/organizing/doing a sudden move, I could really just use some time to do nothing.  Actually, we both could.   And that brings us to another issue...

I'm stuck in the middle.   Because the boyfriend is growing edgy with all of the constant planned activity.  But of course he's never going to say anything...except to me.  And then I feel put on the spot because, well, we're staying at my brother's place...for free.  We're guests in his home, so if he decides he wants to treat us to something, what's the harm, really?  My brother and I could not be more opposite in some ways.  He hates to do anything alone.  And because they have busy lives and three children (all of whom have busy activity schedules), there've been moments when we've helped out...running errands, picking up kids, etc.  And of course I'm going to offer to help out.  It's the least we can do in return for a free month's room and board.  (And lest you think we're tackily not offering to pay for groceries...we've been eating out a lot, and we've picked up tabs, too.  And we buy stuff as needed for the house.  We haven't been on a big grocery shopping stocking-up trip because the fridge and cupboards are already filled to the brim.)

So there's tension that's getting played out in the privacy of our room or in the car.  But overall, things really are fine.  My brother wanted the boyfriend to play golf yesterday afternoon.  (They've already played four times together and the boyfriend played 18 holes by himself the other day.  I should be off doing something fun while they're playing golf, but mostly I just want to sit.)  But the boyfriend chose instead to spend his afternoon yesterday shopping with me for our new place.  We hit several stores in three towns, and it turned out to be a very productive day. 

As we were tooling down the freeway, me with a calculator in my hand, the boyfriend insisted we give ourselves a budget and stick to it.  We came up with a number that I'd been thinking would be the probable amount we'd end up spending, so no surprise there.  But we decided to stack it heavily in favor of a good mattress--that will be our big splurge purchase.  And for an insomniac like me, that's huge (especially since I've never really had a good mattress...ever.  Neither has he.)  The duplex is tiny, so it won't take a lot of furniture.  By the end of our shopping yesterday, we'd placed on hold some funky (but comfy) living room furniture (which we'll pick up today and store in the garage)...bought dishes, glassware and silverware...discovered a cool antique shop in downtown Dixon (only because we parked in front of it on the way to watch some of C.'s gymnastics lesson)...and found a table and chairs for the kitchen (at a store here in Dixon which we wouldn't have even investigated if the woman at the antique store hadn't referred us to it...AND they offer free delivery to Davis).  We also spotted a couple of items in the antique store that looked promising, and walked away from that shop with an antique knife that we plan to use a letter opener.  All in all, a good day.

I know I haven't updated you on the status of our possible road trip.  We keep talking about it, but realistically we just don't know if we want to spend that big a chunk of change out of our nest egg right now.  Because we were talking about at least a couple of weeks.  And with gas prices what they are, plus motels every night and all of our meals...well, it adds up.  And frankly, I think I'd rather use the money differently--mainly to buy us a little more time before we start feeling like we have to generate some income.  (And boyfriend doesn't even have a new drum kit yet--the shells for the bass drum size he wants are on back order.)  So probably what will happen is shorter trips here and there.  Stay tuned...

In miscellaneous news, our digital camera has been acting really weird lately...but not all the time.  It started acting up again yesterday, and this time it didn't correct itself after being turned off for hours.  It might be time for a new one (and that's an expense we weren't counting on right now).

C. is one fierce little 7-year-old.  After school yesterday, she had dance team practice from 3-4, gymnastics team practice from 4-6, swim stroke clinic from 6:45 to 7:15...AND she was supposed to play in a softball game after that.  My sister-in-law drew the line at the softball game.  I have a feeling that's the sport that'll get dropped.  Oh, and she managed to squeeze in some time on her big-ass trampoline in the backyard before dinner.  (C., I mean...not my sister-in-law.)  :) 

Auntie?  I could be found with my ass parked in front of the fire in the family room, leaned back against the boyfriend and half-dozing through "Mean Girls" (a movie my 14-year-old niece watched four times in one day the other day).  :)

digs

It's official--we have a place to live!  It's a tiny duplex unit in downtown Davis.  The realtor called yesterday afternoon to deliver the news.  This was SO easy.  It was the first place we drove by and the only place we looked at.  We both really liked it.  Friday (on faith) we went to the post office substation that's half a block from the duplex and rented a P.O. box.   There's so much that will be within walking distance--a branch of our new bank is 1-1/2 blocks away and there's a park right around the corner where they hold the weekly Farmer's Market.  I'm looking forward to getting back to a lifestyle that incorporates a lot of walking.  Yeah!

The duplex will be available May 1, so we plan to chill and relax until then.  Tomorrow night we're all going to the A's game in Oakland (they're playing Toronto right now).   It will be the boyfriend's first time at a professional baseball game.  Woo hoo!  We were going to go to tonight's home opener, but my brother couldn't get good seats for tonight's game.  Supposedly we have good seats for tomorrow night's game.  I promise to post a photo.  :)

K. and Z. start spring break today.  They'll be here shortly.  Looking forward to spending time with all three kids this week.  C. has been a blast.  I've been having such a good time with her.  She's so bright and funny and sweet.  Saturday morning we went to her first softball game.  It was hysterical (although unintentionally so).  The girls were really cute and fun to watch.  C. even got a hit!  (A much bigger accomplishment than it would seem to be.)  :)

Yesterday we had a completely lazy day at home.  TV's tuned to the Masters, most of us in our sweats and PJ's.  CH and the boyfriend did a taco run for lunch.  REAL Mexican food--god, it was SO GOOD!  (There's a large Hispanic population in Dixon.)  We had leftovers for dinner (because, good god, have we ever been eating!) and then boyfriend and C. and I hit the drive-thru at Baskin-Robbins for dessert.  DRIVE-THRU ICE CREAM!  Man, is it ever good to be back on the mainland!  I swear I'm bursting out of my jeans (not that I couldn't use a few pounds...but why does it all have to go to my belly?)  Today we did a little shopping.  Still trying to pick up some wardrobe basics.  I grabbed a black wrap jacket and a black newsboy cap. 

I know this is all boring crap to read, but I'm having too relaxing a time at the moment to come up with anything remotely introspective.  :)

SFJazz Collective

Living with my brother is a little like being on a film set--there's a lot of 'hurry up and wait.'  That's because:  a) he has a LOT going on, b) he has ADD, so he gets very easily distracted and c) he has a lot going on.  And it's always been this way, so no surprise there.  (Although I did warn the boyfriend because even though he's spent time with M., it's been limited time.)  So we didn't make it to the resort yesterday; M. rebooked the hotel room for Thursday night.  (This whole 'let's go to the resort' thing being his idea, of course.)   But now that we have wheels, we can do our own thing.   So yesterday we vowed to get an early start.

We dropped C. at school and then drove to Davis (8 miles east).  The boyfriend had never been there, and since I've been touting it as being a better fit for us (when we'd ponder living somewhere nearer some of my family for a while), I was anxiously hoping it would appeal to him (in spite of its overwhelmingly white population).  We had a gorgeous day for exploring--the weather was beautiful yesterday, as it has been for most of our first week.  We took the first exit off the freeway which took us right to the UC Davis campus and an information kiosk.  We pulled in at the information building and the young man working there gave us some maps.  We made our way to downtown and drove around a bit.  I had told the boyfriend that Davis would probably remind him of Eugene (Oregon).  They're both university towns and have a similar feel, at least to me.  We stopped at the Chamber of Commerce office and grabbed a bunch of free info.  Then we found a restaurant, bought a newspaper and basked in the sun streaming into our booth while we pored over the rental ads while awaiting our breakfast order. 

We had a couple of errands to run in Sacramento and we were trying to get back to Dixon by about noon, since the game plan was to head to the resort around 12:30.  So our time in Davis was limited, but we drove by several places we'd seen in the paper.  One would be absolutely perfect--a 1 BR/1 BA duplex right downtown.  Still waiting to hear back from the owner.  It's available May 1.

As boyfriend discovered yesterday, Davis is night-and-day different from Dixon (where we're camped out).  And M. is night-and-day different from me, so Dixon fits his lifestyle.  (Dixon, like Vacaville, is housing developments and strip malls--Davis is an actual town.)  M. phoned while we were having breakfast and when I said we were in downtown Davis, he grudgingly admitted that Davis has a lot more of what I like.  Honest to god, sometimes I wonder how we came from the same gene pool.  :)  Boyfriend liked Davis and we plan to go back today to look at more places.

Our next stop was a restaurant supply store in Sacramento to get some supplies for M.'s bar.  Then we went to Rancho Cordova (a Sacramento suburb) to an area full of auto wrecking businesses (where the streets have names like Recyle Road and Dismantle Way).  We were in search of a new windshield for the Solara.  Ours is cracked, but still drivable.  No luck, so we may just keep the existing windshield for the time being.  BUT, while sitting in the waiting room at one of the auto wrecking places, I picked up yesterday's Sacramento Bee while boyfriend was looking at windshields and spotted a blurb about a concert tonight by SFJazz Collective at the University of the Pacific in Stockton.  So guess where we'll be tonight?! 

What a FABULOUS way to reintroduce ourselves into the mainland jazz scene.  We adore Nicholas Payton's music.  We saw him perform at a Newport, Oregon jazz festival where boyfriend was also performing.  If you're a jazz fan but unfamiliar with Nicholas Payton, check out this New Orleans trumpeter.  And with Joshua Redman as artistic director, the program should be great.  I saw Redman a couple of times in Portland (boyfriend missed the shows since he was playing gigs.) 

So we're quite excited--two great jazz shows in this area in a matter of days.  Yeah, baby!