We got a House

After a short house hunt, Patti finally found a house for us. She looked at many houses, some too far, some too expensive, and some too fancy for us. This one looks like just what we needed, although I haven’t seen it myself yet. So slowly things are moving on.

The Hunt

Tuesday, May 24th, 2011 – The house rental market is very active in the WA area., Houses are added and rented all the time, and you need to be constantly online to find and get the house you want. Our main sources are Trulia, Craig List and Zest, and the process is tedious. Patti or I are finding the houses and sending the links to each other. I try to keep a Google map updated with all the options and the details too. Then we comment on the houses and evaluate them. One is too far, and another is too much in the city. Another one was in a bad school area… When we find a house we think could work for us, we try to call and set an appointment. In Craig list many times they don’t even leave a phone, so you have to send an email and wait.

The Catch

So today, Patti scheduled a house showing after work. She meets with the owner at the house and while still there she calls me – We got a place! she said. Great – I said, what is it? Oh, you will like it. I already gave her the check! She is Jewish, and she also have a Pom, we became friends… Congratulation to us, I said.

The house sits on 3/4 acre lot, bordering with public land, so no neighbors from the back. There is ample parking for the RV, the car the boat and the guests. Wrap around deck, a finished basement, doesn’t sound too bad.

At the Concert

Thursday, May 26th, 2011 – Today my son had a concert at school. The original plan was to meet with his mom before the concert, and regroup at the school. I asked my son to go to a friend’s house until the concert so I can meet with his mom, and so he arranged. I moved some work meeting planned for the day, and just before I was ready to drive and meet his mom (yeah – My Ex), she calls and cancels. Why ain’t I surprised? I think it is very disrespectful to other people’s time, but oh well. That’s is just another reason why we are not together, right? Being used to ever changing plans – I make some phone calls, and drive to meet my son at the mall. Quick fast food dinner, and going to the concert. Well, this is not Simon and Garfunkel Live in Central Park, but it was nice to see my sons plays the sax in a band, and he actually did pretty good.

Closing another week

Friday, May 27th, 2011 – So here comes Friday again. Although Patti is not with us, I decided to keep the tradition of Shabbat dinner, so I am trying to do my best. We stopped at the grocery store on the way from school and got some groceries.

So here is what I did:

On a big frying pan I fried some onions and mushrooms. I cut three big chicken breast to squares about 2” in size (Yes – I pounded it first), and added it to the pan. I also chopped around 10 garlic cloves and added them as well. Added some paprika, salt and pepper and little bit of yellow curry. Let it cook for a while but before it was ready I added 1.5 cups of red wine, reduced to low heat and let it simmer.

In an oven pan I cut potatoes, carrots, yams, onions and acorn squash into big pieces. Added some garlic oil, Soy sauce fresh cilantro, honey and some salt. Preheated the over to 400, and put the pan in the oven. This is going to sit there around 90 minutes so except from mixing it from time to time, this dish is on its way.

Last, I threw some corn on the cob into some boiling water and let that cook.

I covered the chicken and stir it every few minutes. Just before it was ready, I added some parmesan cheese, and corn starch (not too much – just to give it some volume).

I was proud of myself – pretty nifty huh?

My son is not picky at all, when it comes to food, and appreciates good taste, so that helps.

We actually found real challah bread this time, so we did the blessing and all the 9 yards. That was nice. The only thing that is missing here now is Patti. Still about 4 weeks to go.

Slowly but surely we are stepping towards de-RV-tization. We already have a house. Tomorrow Patti is going to buy some essentials and move in.  She did mention that the handyman still comes to make some fixes. His name is Bruce, and he is good lookin’ she said

Hope to meet finally with my son’s mom next week some time, and get that taken care of.

Oh and I forgot to mention – most of the pictures in this post are from today. I realized I don’t have photos to show, so I took my camera (the old one. The new one is in repair, they want $250 for this stupid plastic door, imagine that!!) and captures some pictures around the RV.