Playing for Change

Hey guys, just thought I'd put in a plug for a rockin' organization I've been tuning into lately. It's called Playing for Change. They film artists from all over the world and then splice their music together to create one piece. It's awesome. The artists are so passonate about thier music, and I love to see how each adapts his/her instrument of choice to their own style. My most favorite episode is No More Trouble, followed by Chanda Mama. I put a link to their site on my blog, where you can see their latest episodes and such. Check 'em out!

Biting my nails

We're putting in an offer on THE house for us today. When Jason first suggested we look into it, I told him it was butt-ugly. So maybe it could have a better color siding, but really-it's head and shoulders above anything else we've considered, even that Springville home we were so in love with. We call it the Ugly Duckling now. Ugly at first, but really a swan in the making. Sigh. It's in North Orem, within walking distance to the city center, library, park, grocery stores galore. Less than a 1/3 mile away from the elementary school, in a great neighborhood. And it's in immaculate condition! It was built in 1953, and lived in by one owner the whole time. They took wonderful care of it and the property (.19 acres!) :) Three bedrooms, two baths, a covered patio out back-tons of built in storage- new carpet and linoleum on the top floor. All freshly painted. It's 1640 square feet. Oh man, this is the ONE! I just hope we can get under contract with it and that Loan to Own will come through in time for us. We should hear back from the listing agent by Monday at 5pm, though I'm really hoping maybe we could know by tonight...
Keep us in your prayers, will you?

***Update***
Loan to Own is history. We decided they can keep their 15K and all the red tape that goes with it. Instead, wonderful, loving, and generous family members will help us make this home ours. We are going to sign the contract tonight (hopefully). Of course, nothing's final until we've got the keys in our hands, but still...we're on the path...way closer than we've been before. I'm giddy with anticipation!!!!

The Happy Hamster Hospice

Everyone give a warm welcome to our elderly friend, GusGus. He'll be spending his "golden months" with us. I gave the story of why he's come to live with us in the house sitting post. Whatever the reason, we're very glad to have him here. Rudy really enjoyed giving me play by plays of the little hamster's movements through the day. "Dus Dus up! Dus Dus down!" I just hope Rudy's young enough not to be crushed when our little guest 'goes the way of the world' one of these days. Ah well,if he does notice the change, it will be a relatively soft entry into the concept of death, I guess.

Home

Even though Rudy really loved being with Sam and hanging out in Midway, he was glad to come home. Very glad. :)

Aprons!

Ha HA! I finally, FINALLY, finished mine and Rudy's aprons. I've had mine cut out and ready to sew since the beginning of May. Then it just got stuffed in my "to sew" box and haunted me from my closet. I guess this is the month of taking care of unfinished business. (First Timp, now my aprons.) Maybe I'll even get the bathroom painted before this month expires. :)

House Sitting

I'm house sitting for my parents for a couple days. Well, more like pet sitting. They have two cats, a dog, and a hamster living with them. The cats were gifts to my brother and sister about 10 years ago. We didn't really think 15 years ahead when we bought them, so they've been charges of Mutti and Vati since my younger siblings moved out into "no pets" apartments. The hamster is my sister's. She's moving into a new place as I type, and I guess she's tired of keeping her hamster hidden during apartment checks and the like. I'll be taking GusGus the hamster home with me when I'm done here. He's an elderly fellow, so we'll be his hospice center-Heidi predicts he'll be gone by the end of the year. In the mean time, we'll have a fuzzy little friend to keep us company in the apartment. I think it'll be fun-especially since Heidi's still gonna do all the cage cleaning and food etc purchasing. I'm just boarding him, really. A perfect arrangement, if you ask me. If only she had been smuggling a guinea pig into her apartments. They're way cooler (though noisier and stinkier) than hamsters. :)

Anyway, let me tell you about my day. I've been a bit nervous about how it would go, 'cause Sam, their dog, is an over 50 pound 8 month old lab puppy, and he's really energetic. He tries real hard to be good, but sometimes, he just HAS to misbehave. Between Rudy and Sam, I was worried I'd be a frazzled heap of nerves by the end of the morning, not to mention the day. So, I've been pleasantly surprised at how recharging and productive my day has been.
Both Sam and Rudy slept in until almost 8:00 am. Hobbes (one of the cats) did his usual 5 am batting of my face and nipping of my ears, but he was thwarted with a simple pillow over the face maneuver. :) I slept until about 7, then had about an hour to myself to get ready for the day, prepare both Rudy's and Sam's breakfasts, and even do my scripture study. Sigh. It was heavenly. Sam waited patiently in his crate while I got Rudy dressed and started on his breakfast, then we headed out, warm waffles in hand, to take Sam out for his morning "relief" and a walk. The air was warm, yet fresh, the mountains beautiful. It was great! (Except when two yappy little dogs passed and Sam practically took me off my feet-but like I said-he's a puppy).
Sam and Rudy had a blast with each other all day. Like they were born and raised together. It was so awesome to see them getting each other's 'jokes', playing and running around like madmen. They even begged to outside together. By ten, Rudy was hoarse from all his shrieks of excitement and hilarity, Sam was tuckered out under the kitchen table, and I was basking in the beauty of the friendship between a boy and 'his' dog.
Sigh. This day made me so house trunky. Even though our house wouldn't even be half as big or nice as my parents. Even though the dog we would eventually get would probably be more like those yappy dogs Sam tried to eat this morning than the big beautiful dog he is. Even though everything about house shopping has become absolutely unpalatable to me as of late. Even with all those things, I found myself dreaming of the day when Jason and I would be masters of our own home, with a yard, and the freedom and space to bring whatever animals we want to into it. Spending this time being in charge of this home and it's animal occupants has reminded me how much I love having pets. Sure, I've got Bruce and Clementine at home, but they don't quite fit the 'dog' bill.
It'll be great one day to have a house. In the mean time, I guess I'll just have to keep up my spirits in the drudgery of house shopping with practically no money and pages of government stipulations breathing down my neck. And maybe teach Bruce how to play fetch. (I've heard Betta's are very smart, for fish.) :)

Gone

Both Jason's and my bikes were stolen Thursday night. Some slime ball just cut our locks and helped himself (or herself) to our property. At least they left Rudy's big wheel (which wasn't locked at all), though that's not much to their credit, seeing as it was pulled out of the canyon and held together with duct tape.

I'm angry that someone would barge into my happy, trusting life and make me feel as though I need to keep my doors locked again. I had just come to that nice, trusting place where my door was only locked if we were going to be out of the neighborhood or at night, when I went to sleep.

Then, the one thing I did keep locked up was taken. Rude! And the house we thought was ours for the taking was rented out on a month to month basis, until we closed, which made it ineligible for the federal grant we were banking on, thus putting us out of the running with that house. It was kind of a lame day.

Funny thing is, I'm so into the whole minimizing thing, that I kind of admire our freshly cleared out bike rack. So nice and clean. So orderly. So empty. Sigh.

I hope who ever stole the bikes used the money to pay for their kids' school supplies, not for their next fix. Even better, I hope they were just dumb kids trying to impress their friends. Maybe then they'll just abandon the bikes, and we'll get our wheels back. I'm glad I didn't leave my stroller down there that night. As I said before, I was beginning to feel really safe in my neighborhood, so I would frequently leave my stroller, with my iPod in the little cubbie part, out over night. I use my bike infrequently enough that it's only a mild irritation not to have it anymore. My stroller and my iPod--I use them everyday. That would have really been tough to handle.