The Pineapple House

We are moving. For many reasons, including storage space, yard size and family, we have bought a new house. We have been working on this deal since the end of June and the purchase didn't close until this Wednesday afternoon. It took forever; I caution those of you tempted by foreclosures like we were. The bank and title company that we were dealing with were incompetent! They lost our contract, had us fill out the wrong forms, never returned phone calls and the list goes on.

However, in the end, it was a great deal in a really nice part of town. I am not excited about the packing and moving part, but I am excited about the more rooms part. We have to rent our current place because the market is too bad to sell - it may never sell for what we bought it and it definitely won't rent for our payment.

So, mom has been here for two weekends helping us pack, unpack, line cabinet, buy appliances, etc. She is cooking dinners and baking cookies, lucky us. We are so thankful for all her help because Patrick is exhausted from harvest and I don't have as much energy as I used to.

The new house is great; it needs work in the kitchen, yard, roof and a few other small projects. Nothing too hard for us to handle and a place we can stay for many years. Yeah! Come visit soon- y'all can help us unpack boxes.

Crash

I was in car accident last week. I was attending an autism testing conference in Berkeley. It was kind of fun because I got to see an old friend from graduate school, Michelle.

So I had to stop and get some gas and as I was driving around to get on the freeway and got crunched from the behind which led to me hitting someone else. Of course the person that hit me drove away and the person that I hit didn't speak English. It was really weird; he wouldn't give me his name, number, Driver's License or insurance information. I don't think the guy who was driving was actually the truck owner.

Anyway, AAA came to the rescue and took care of the car. I am still waiting to hear if I will be found at fault. I hope not, but I have no proof that I was hit. Hopefully my dented bumper and broken lights were enough proof. GAG, such a waste of my time! At least no one got hurt.

Blackberries

We went blackberry picking this weekend. About five blocks from our house is a state park and lots of overgrown bushes. Patrick has been bugging me to make him a pie so we finally went to collect our ingredients. Not surprising at all is that our hands turned red - partially from berry juice and partially from blood. I was too tired to cook so I froze the berries. But they are waiting for his pie, maybe next weekend.

Southern France

So, since we were already in Italy, it would have been a outrage to go home without stopping to see Neale Ann's new house in Pollestres, near Perpignon. We swam on the Mediterranean Sea, saw a Fauvist museum and wandered through an artist colony in Collioure. There was lots of delicious food and pain au chocolat! We were so lucky to have Alain as our personal chef and chauffeur. (The food in France is soooooo much better than that in Italy!) We even had a day wandering around Barcelona and seeing the Picasso Museum. It was a long, but good trip. Poor Patrick, I was gone for so long that we didn't have time to take a vacation before school started. Well, we are going to Wisconsin for thanksgiving; lets hope he doesn't pass out with exhaustion before then.

Italy

I went to work with a family in Italy for a few weeks in July. My mom came along as company and she wanted to tour around Florence. She invited my Auntie NealeAnn to meet her at my apartment in Florence and they ran about together for about ten days while I worked. It was really exhausting trying to work with Jet Lag, but I was lucky to have someone make me dinner each night. Here is a picture of a street, the synagogue and us touring around. Oh and did I mention that the food in Italy is HORRIBLE! Its been a few years since I was there so I must have forgotten, but GAG! The most abhorrent is their pastries, but I don't understand how that can be with France so near by. The only thing that they so well is gelato; there are many more original flavors than here. At least the people are friendly. Although it is basically impossible to get dinner before seven pm and all the stores close in the middle of the day. Such a slow pace. At the end of two week I was so ready to come home and get a big BLT and rootbeer float.

Jambo's Wedding

Where do I begin? Jaime got married; Steve is one lucky guy! Patrick and I flew in a few days early to help her get ready. There was much driving between parents' houses and carting people and to and fro. Patrick and I stayed at the Four Seasons hotel in Westlake - really swanky! He mostly slept (anyone noticing a theme here) and didn't get to see much of the hotel, but we ordered some tasty (and expensive) room service one night.

The rehearsal dinner was at Steve's parents house and the the big event was in a secret garden/barn, behind a golf course in Ventura. Jambo was so gorgeous (and calm, can you believe it?) The reception went very smoothly, until the power went out. That was actually kind of fun! I gave a great speech - of course - and almost cried several times. It was a beautiful night!