Making Lemonade!

The moving trailer arrives in 8 days... few days to pack it up, then all of our creature comforts leave us for a week.

Moving sucks
Moving cross-country sucks worse
Moving away from family that you actually like sucks even worse

But on the plus side... very excited about Boulder, and this whole adventure:

New house (to us)
New friends to meet
New favorite spots to find
New outdoor activities to enjoy
New career to start, as soon as I figure it out

... and hopefully many people coming to visit us over the next few years!

(c'mon by... we have a guest room with your name on it...)

Fitness progress (a little bit, anyway)

So I've been somewhat slack on my fitness goals (from my impossible list)... I'm gonna blame it on being busy prepping the house for sale (which is actually a workout in and of itself) but frankly I could still do better.

Anyway, I did finally get myself to do three solid runs in a single week (yes, that's how bad I've been) and today I got my pace under 9 minute miles! I don't get to cross that one off yet as I didn't go for 2 full miles; just 15 minutes... but now if I can keep the pace and stretch it to 18 minutes I can finally tick something!

I think I might be down close to 170 lbs as well; though I sold my scale in the garage sale so I have no proof...

I've been using an iPhone app called Runkeper to track my funs; it definitely helps with the motivation -- you can see where you ran on a map online, track progress over time, etc... and it's free!

There's also a website called Fitocracy that now integrates automatically with Runkeeper, so your runs get pulled into your workout log... and you get points, badges, and encouragement for everything you complete in Fitocracy. Sounds a bit hokey, but it's actually pretty addictive and motivating. Other users also can specify and share "quests" (workouts) that you complete for points... it makes fitness into a came.

If you're wanting to increase your fitness at all, check out Fitocracy!

Political rant: debt ceiling

The current debate over raising the debt ceiling exemplifies so much about what is wrong with American politics right now.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/07/11/president-obama-deficit-reduction-if-not-now-when


The Republicans have done a great job controlling the conversation as usual. Let's face it, they are really really, really good at this.

They have repeated the mantra over and over again that you can't raise the debt ceiling without fixing the long-term debt problem *at the same time*. Just. Not. True.


Let me clarify with an analogy:

We have a bomb, and it is going off shortly.

The Republicans would have you believe that we should not disarm this bomb until we have a long term plan in place that guarantees that nobody will every build a bomb again.

I can't even find the words to express how asinine this is! And they're getting away with framing the argument this way YET AGAIN.


Disarm the @#$%@$#%^@ bomb. Just @#$%@# do it! And then yes, let's tackle the long term debt problems that we have, with everything option on the table.


(By the way insisting that any and all tax increases -- specifically on the wealthy -- would kill the economy is also patently false -- just read what independent experts say on the subject. Taxes right now are near 50-year lows. We could easily raise them to Clinton era levels, have a great economy, and help pay off the debt. But the Republicans won't allow that to happen, because the middle class would benefit more than the rich and corporations would. Starting any conversation with "anything YOU want is off the table" is not a negotiation.)


I just don't get how we (the collective we):

a) Let the Republican's control every conversation,

b) Buy into the shock-and-duh sound-bite 24-hr media cycle,

c) Fail to listen to any facts that don't agree with what we already believe, and

d) Have such an incredibly short attention span.


We needs more history teachin' in our schools, I think.

Garage Sale -- Slices of humanity

Had our first ever garage sale today -- all in all, it was an interesting and entertaining experience. We netted $450 (2 big items; the rest was $1-20) which is not bad for a few hours work. Of course we shouldn't try to guess how much we paid for those $450 worth of items new... It felt great to get rid of perhaps a thousand pounds of stuff that we would otherwise feel obligated to haul across the country; and extra good to have those items not end up in a landfill.

Garage sales seem to bring out some interesting personality types. Here are some that I observed today:


The Chatty Grandparent

Probably has nothing much else to do, so this person (usually female but not always) sidles up next to the register and shares some tales about where they came from, how the neighborhood changed, and what old country singer or actor you my look like. Perhaps they buy a $1 item (but they ask to get it for 50 cents, of course) -- likes frilly things.


The Pro

Gets there at least 15 minutes before you open (even though your ad says you will kick any early-birds square in the nuuuuuts), and exhibits a laser-like focus as they scan for under-priced merch that they can resell on eBay/etsy/craigslist. No time for chit-chat; though sometimes they call their lackey to check the value of a particular item... I had one of these folks drive by a full 50 minutes early as I was setting up the first table, and shook their head in distain that I wasn't ready for them. (They also pillage the "free table".) Get a new hobby, people.


Latino Families

Usually with kids in tow, but not always... they are the group that really get into the grand tradition of haggling. First they'll talk amongst themselves in Spanish about how much they like something or where they would use it; then they offer exactly half the tagged price. This must be an oral tradition; because the first offer was almost always exactly half. (The funny part is I can understand Spanish.)

I even witnessed the passing of this practice to the next generation. A mother had her little girl approach the cash box with a $1 trinket and asked (with big eyes) "50 cents?" ... Way too cute to resist.

Bonus Latina story: I had 2 bigger electronic items that I set a mental reserve price for; 75% of what the tag read. Early in the day a senorita tried hard to get me to agree to 50% of the tagged price; I just didn't feel good about parting with the item at that price... felt sure that (a) it was worth more, and (b) I could get more on craigslist or ebay... so I said sorry, no. A couple of hours later the same senorita came by, acted like it was her first time seeing these items, and offered the same bargain -- because clearly all Mexican people look alike to me, si?


The Shopper Girl with Whipped Boyfriend in Tow

Self-explanatory. These are common to every retail establishment; but it was really entertaining to watch a few come by today.


Surprisingly Pleasant Neighbor

They aren't really shopping, but take the time to come by and say "hi". We met 3 seemingly great new neighbors today; should have done this much sooner... the conversation sort of stalled out after we said we were moving away soon... definitely should have done some kind of neighborhood event sooner.


The Free-coholics

We had a "free table" today... some stuff that we really just didn't want to go to a landfill, but which didn't seem to merit a real price tag. Odd mismatched logo glasses, not-fun-at-all books, things like that. Certain people seemed unable to resist the charms of this table; after verifying that indeed these items were "really? free?" their eyes glazed over and they were unable to resist whatever dreck was on offer.

Here's why it really amused me -- there were a great many $1 items at our sale today. As the morning wore on, I moved a few things at a time (which weren't getting much action) over to the free table. Once they hit the free table it was a feeding frenzy! (And sometimes, it was the same people.)

If something is not worth paying $1 for, why would you possibly want to bring it into your home?


The Free Vulture

This type was a bit of a surprise to me... toward the end of the sale I put away anything that I didn't want to just give away, and left the rest with a "free stuff!" sign and went inside; just hoping to have these things become someone else's problem. At least 2 or 3 people come around right at the end of the day, apparently looking for just such a helpless dead carcass of a sale... and yes, almost everything left unattended for that 10 minutes was taken. I guess this practice offers all the benefits of the "free-junk-to-sell-online" without the nasty need to actually interact with another human being.


So in any case... garage sale was a success. One more step in getting ready for the big move across the country... and really some great people-watching as well.

Boulder Exploratory Trip

So Melissa and I decided to take a little trip to Boulder to explore the town together, and try to decide if we felt like it might be the place for us. Spoiler alert: the answer is yes!

Some highlights below...


Day 1 - Thu 6/16

We drove down to Southern Pines in the morning to drop Sydney off with my parents. Luckily they only live an hour away and Sydney absolutely loves her "Nama"!

Then off to the airport, and after only a 1 hour delay in Philly (thanks Southwest) we made it to Denver.

I picked a cheap hotel for that night at random from Expedia; and I have to say: sometimes saving $30 isn't worth it -- very sketchy part of town; got what sounded like a drug call on the phone... and then in the morning as we headed out we thought we might literally witness a murder. And yes, I know what the word "literally" means.



Day 2 - Fri 6/17

Spent the morning in downtown Denver wandering around 16th street and Confluence Park -- very cool. Hit the flagship REI (wow) and then the Denver Aquarium including their funky restaurant where you can watch the "teenage" fish that aren't quite ready for the main tanks while you eat seafood.

Being that it's an aquarium you feel like you should eat fish; but then you remember that you're in Denver... so it's clearly optional.

After that we headed to Lafayette (suburb of Boulder) to meet up with Maria Florencia, who was generous enough to offer to host us for the trip! That night Lafayette had a cool little outdoor art festival, and we all had ice cream and enjoyed some live music. Nice!











Day 3 - Sat 6/18

Saturday was all about Pearl Street -- a great pedestrian mall in the center of downtown Boulder. Always stuff going on; always great people-watching. Lunch with a friend, then more Pearl street and driving around checking out various parts of town.

Trying to live right in downtown Boulder is tough, unless you're $$ with the $$$ and some $$$$. House prices are all over the map, but you can easily pay $500,000 for a tiny 1960's house near Pearl street... or well over a million for a 4-bedroom in tip-top shape.

So if we decided to move here we'd have to choose between living in a tiny fixer-upper within walking distance of all kinds of cool stuff (which would rule!)... or living further out in a place that actually has room for a family. Or up in the mountains; where you can get some big lots and decent houses with absolutely amazing views -- but a 30-45 minute drive into town for anything (worse when it's snowy). Given that we have a baby and would probably be going into town quite often, we ruled out the mountain option. For now at least.


Day 4 - Sun 6/19

By now we were feeling pretty bullish about Boulder, so we thought "what the heck"... let's actually look at some houses. We had pretty much crossed off a couple of the suburbs already; so we focused on some places around Lafayette. That's about 20 minutes from downtown Boulder (by car -- but people bike it all the time!), and has a huge range of options, from ranches to 100-year old houses to brand-new construction.

We toured 9 houses and did a drive-by "no thanks!" on 3 more (quite an efficient realtor!)... and actually found one we quite like! Too soon to get excited about that house just yet, but at least we know that we should be able to find something in our price range that will suit us just fine.

One of the awesome things about that particular place is the backyard -- huge (for suburb standards), and it backs up to a horse ranch and some public trails... and you can even see a lake off in the distance (not in this photo, sorry). And we saw a wolf or a coyote there too... Very cool.

Oh, and the basement has been finished out as a complete in-law/nanny suite -- and by complete I mean bedroom, bath, laundry, kitchen, and study. Crazy, eh?


Day 5 - Mon 6/20

After a wake-up-we-have-15-minutes-to-grab-free-waffles!! kind of morning, we headed up to Chautauqua park (5 min from downtown Boulder) to do some hiking. We did the easy meadow hike, and then I somehow cajoled Melissa into giving the Great Arch trail a try -- 4 miles round trip and something like 1600 feet of elevation gain... but the views are totally worth it!

The pic on the right doesn't do it justice at all... was a great hike, despite another unusually bad (for Boulder) weather day... and at the top we hand fed a walnut to a super cute and obviously domesticated chipmunk.

An hour after taking the picture here, we were back on Pearl street sitting down for some tasty pizza and more people-watching.

Gotta love Boulder.

New sand on volleyball courts!

After 10 years of rumors, the parks and rec department has put down new sand at Jaycee park -- and it is glorious!

Played for a few hours today, and not a scratch on me... the old sand is still around the fringes of the area, and whenever you would fetch the ball from that area it was kind of like "wow, we used to play on this???"

I suggest everyone take a minute to email the parks and rec department and say thanks... so they know these courts are important to us! (and pass this along to other Jaycee'ers to do the same...)

Raleigh Parks and Recreation Department

Email Address: 

PRContact@raleighnc.gov

Office:
919-831-6640

Address:
2401 Wade Avenue

Raleigh, NC 27607

http://www.raleighnc.gov/home/content/PRecParks/Contacts/RaleighParksAndRec.html

Angel Bootcamp in Boston

I'm heading to Boston! Just a one-day trip on Tuesday 6/14... to attend an Angel Bootcamp event.

24 very busy folks are contributing a day of their time to put on this free event, and I feel lucky to have been able to snag an invite... was like the universe was telling me something about my current Boulder plans -- nice to know that The Force approves of what I'm doing!

Would have been great to make it into a 2-day trip and see friends there, but I gotta get back and get turned around to head to Boulder on the 16th.

Life refuses to be boring!