mrs-roboto's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Things and Stuff Despite the rather frantic pace of life and the lack of daylight hours, I feel pretty darn good these days. So many of the things I'm involved with right now are energizing and challenging. Most of last night was dedicated to writing and editing my story for the homeless news. It's been some time since I've had to limit my word count (the parameters on the publications I put together for my organization are pretty much up to me) and I forgot how tricky it can be to get your message across without being verbose. In the end, I wound up calling Pete into my office and having him cross out all the material he saw as extraneous. I was still about 40 words over the limit but the paper has a full time editor and I'll leave it up to him to make the final cuts. I'm pretty excited to see the story in print and even more enthused to work on the next piece. Earlier in the week I ran a practice 5K with a nine year old girl. The race is part of a program that helps educate and prepare young women for a lifetime of self-respect and healthy living. I had gotten a call the night before on the girl I'd be running with. I was told that she was slow and that I should expect her to walk most of the way. With this information in mind, I did a hard workout in the morning. When I arrived at the 5K it turned out my girl wasn't there, she was being punished for getting caught playing with matches. So they assigned me another girl and she was fast!!!! There was NO walking - none! I had a hard time keeping up with her because I had expended so much energy at the gym. But I somehow managed to make it to the finish line along side my girl and I think I made a connection. I'll see her again in a few weeks at the real 5K and I better work on my stamina in the interim. And just because I really don't have enough on my plate, we may be moving (sorry to drop this bomb on those I haven't mentioned it to before). On Monday night, we met with a Realtor and had a market analysis done on our house. It was very favorable. I've alluded to this before, in some ways we are really outgrowing our home. We only have one guest bedroom and it doubles as an office. We also have a single bathroom which can be inconvenient. I have been known to sneak across the yard to the neighbors house to use the loo on occasion when Pete was taking a particularly long shower. We don't have enough storage space and I really wouldn't mind having a separate craftsroom for my sewing projects. The ultimate home for me would be in the same general area (although I would try to get on a block that wasn't zoned for multifamily - the townhome boom is killing me), have three or four bedrooms, a fireplace, a large kitchen with separate dining area and at least 1.5 baths. The direction my career is taking will require me to have an office that is strictly for my own use and Pete has been doing a bit of consulting so I think he'll need one as well. A yard for the dog is a must too. Gosh, I look at this list and I think about the fact that we are only two people and I realize what a space whore I really am. Our other option is to expand the house we have and we are getting estimates on this as well. I believe we will need a new foundation if we want to go up a floor. I have been told that we will also need to bring everything up to code to get the permits. Our house was built in 1905. There is much that is "unusual" about it. I Imagine the upgrades will get costly. So we're researching and gathering information and doing our best to make the right decision. When asked about features we'd like in a new home, we mentioned Judy and Jiri and RDG and R within arms length and also maybe a hot tub. It's true, a major drawback of moving is that I love my neighbors. Just the other night, my neighbor with the child who has Down Syndrome came over and asked me to be on call for assistance in her physical therapy (they need three people to perform the exercises with Nora who is having delays in her mobility). It's definitely hard to leave that kind of close knit community even if it is just to move a few blocks. There's lots to consider and we are taking it all in. 2:15 p.m. - 2005-11-03 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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