Catching Up

Hi, folks. Long time, no post. I've been very busy. I don't know how I manage it, but I seem to keep myself crazily busy. Rod calls me his "busy bee". I'm going to try to catch up on some news, here, this weekend, now that Drew's wedding is over and I can think a little more. I'll get back to the wedding.

Here's the latest news.

I had a very nice birthday. I was home for the wedding, which turned out great and was a lot of fun. So glad to see him - and her - so very happy. Rod gave me perfume - Vera Wang's "Princess". He's been wanting me to have a scent to linger when we're apart, but he knows how I feel about perfume. Ick! But this is not bad. Doesn't make me sick! :)

And my sister made me a beautiful necklace with black pearls and deep red crystals, very unique. I should remember to post a photo.

And we had a nice visit home and a birthday party and brunch at my parents place the morning after the wedding, very relaxing. And, best of all, we bought a house on the way out of town! Rod decided to retire and move to Tucson and I'm thrilled about it! We've been looking at a lot of properties, debating about old/new, smaller/larger, further out/in town, old character vs. spanking spiffy new. We settled on something that's just barely out of the foothills, very close to work, and old and charming.

We stayed very conservative, planning to be able to afford it on one income if we ever need to. Housing is a good bit more expensive in Tucson than in Columbus. We offered and they accepted but we're finding a lot of issues in the home inspection, so it may not work out. It's in an older neighborhood, soon to be designated a historic area, and we really like its cabin/cottage feel. Its' close to town and work, just barely out of the foothills, which is a good area. Beautiful, near the mountains, but not so near that our doggie will get eaten by a mountain lion. :) However, problems with termites, roof, AC, electrical, etc. They need to fix it or we can't buy. Even if we wanted to, we wouldn't be able to get a loan on it in the condition its in. So, a lot of "lipstick on the dog", which I was afraid of.

Our new home?? 6941 E. Taos Place, Tucson, AZ 85715

I think it would compare to Clintonville in Columbus, but it's not yet ridiculously expensive because of its "cuteness".

There's always still drama with the condo in Columbus. It's on a lease-to-own setup, but I'm skeptical that it will ever sell, that the woman will get her divorce settlement and financing. In fact, she had 60 days to produce loan papers and she hasn't. Now, I got a letter from the condo association with an official complaint about her large dog that they're not cleaning up after - and they're keeping a bed frame and box springs on the back porch - pond side!! I didn't even know she had a dog, no deposit, etc, so have to deal with that.

And I have drama about the condo I'm in here. It's being sold at auction on November 20th because the man who owns it has not been paying his mortgage. Supposedly they can't "displace" me until my lease is up, or for at least 90 days. We're hoping to be in the new house the week of Thanksgiving, so I'd break the lease on the condo.

My health is good, though. I've only missed 2 work days since moving out here, and had only a few weekend down-times. I've had no further belly symptoms after being so sick when home in the spring. I have to have another gall bladder ultrasound in a month or so to see if the sludge has completely cleared, but that's all.

I've been able to be more active, but honestly, the heat of the summer set me back. It was just too hard in the evenings to get exercise when it's still 99 degrees at 7 PM. I finally learned that it had to be AM or nothing, so started getting up in the mornings early enough to take a walk before work.

I did start to get a little creeped out by the critters around here. Saw a mountain lion on my walking path this spring, have seen javalena in the complex several times, and a bobcat. And one morning about 4 AM a hootin' hollerin' yelpin' crazed pack of coyotes came through the complex raising holy hell. So...when I walk now I take pepper spray and my big flashlight with me. Besides it's getting quite dark in the evenings now, and we don't have daylight savings time here - we just stay the same time all year long, AZ time they call it.

Work is good. My boss and I have reached an understanding and come to appreciate each others' strengths. My co-workers are very good men, but sometimes annoy the daylights out of me, as always happens when people work closely together. We're learning a lot from each other though, growing more proficient every day, and the company is supporting us with needed hardware and software and storage - LOTS of storage. Although I want 300 gig all to myself. I don't know if they'll grant me that or not. The only real problem is that we face very aggressive deadlines that seem completely arbitrary. I don't have any idea what's driving them other than our vendor and our management. If we had time to do things well and right and at a sane pace, it would be a perfect job. The biggest problem right now is that there is so much to do in so little time. Life in 2009, I know. Glad I have a job that's interesting and challenging with such great people.

I miss my friends in Columbus, though, a lot. So many evenings I wish I could just call one up and chat, chat, chat. But the 3-hour time difference is the killer. When I get out of work a lot of people are settling down to bed in Ohio. And I can't seem to get on an earlier work schedule. I try, but my body just wants to do 9-6. The boss doesn't like that, so I'm having to kick it into an 8 AM arrival lately.

Miss you all. Call me, write me, and let me know when it's OK to call you!

Love,

Beck