Long Absence

Hey Y'all.

I apologize for my long absence (again). The truth is, there is a lot going on in our household, which you all may or may not know about.

No, I'm not pregnant. We're not ready for that yet.

The hustle around here stems from something big, though not as big as a baby. Tony and I are buying a house. In southern California. Because...we started to like it here. Well, not just like it--love it. We've made good friends here, and the jobs can't really get much better for either me or Tony than the ones in San Diego. Biotech is HUGE here. There is a strong military presence, and lots of government jobs for Tony. There are many other reasons that factor into our decision, but I won't belabor the point. The fact is, we are deciding to make a home out of this place--buying a house in the hopes of living in it for a very long time.

We are far away from our family, which is hard. But, in reality, they are only a plane ride away, and that's the way it has been for both of us for over 6 years now.

So, we are in contract for a house, which, if everything goes as planned, will be ours in less than a month. There are things that could still go wrong and delay the process, but I'm stepping out in faith and posting a few pictures of the place here before we actually have the keys.

Perhaps now you'll understand my absence--it's been a rollercoaster these last few weeks, and I haven't had much time to take pictures and update.

I hope you'll forgive me!

Here's the house, from the end of the cul-de-sac and from the driveway:

We have an avocado tree!

And some palm trees...

And some gophers (or snakes). I'm hoping for the former.

There is a lot of succulent plants around southern California. We are in a desert climate, and the native plants reflect that fact.

Also, there are lizards everywhere. When you spot them, the start to do push-ups as an aggressive action.

Ok, on to the good stuff...

For you especially interested folks, here's the floorplan:

Here is our kitchen, and gigantic pantry space. We have two of these large cabinets in the kitchen/dining room area!

The bedrooms are a bit lack luster right now--once they are furnished there will be better pictures to come. The house has four bay windows with seating--two in the living room, and one in two of the three bedrooms.

Here's a view of the living room. The bay windows are across from the fireplace, which has some pretty detailing on it.

Tony's favorite part of the house is probably the garage area--it's huge! It has a workbench already built in, so he has lots of space to work on projects, in particular the coug.

In the backyard we have a storage shed that will house all of the lawn and garden tools we are going to have to purchase (can't wait to hemorrhage more money).

We also have a deck! I can't wait to entertain on it, and just enjoy the view.

(Yes, that's a swing set. No, I haven't played on it due to the unholy amount of spiders.)

I can't wait to post more pictures once we've made the place our own!

Now, I'd like to end with some prettiness. Thanks for being patient with me!

Congratulations Julie!

My good friend Julie graduated from college today :). A bunch of us went to her ceremony, and celebrated with her family afterwords by eating a delicious lunch.

We are all so proud of our friend!

We had fun hanging out in the gigantic arena, waiting for Julie's name to be called. I never get the memo about making silly faces.

I just like Shaza's face in this one. She's probably going to hate me for life, but everyone knows how normally photogenic she is. See.

Julie decorated her cap (which is evidently normal 'round these parts), which was so sweet.

No doubt her garlands, sashes and other decorations weighed a ton! She was definitely the most decked out of the whole bunch!

Congrats Julie! You have more than earned a celebration!

Hawkeye

No, not the guy from M*A*S*H*, and yes, I am old enough to remember that show.

I apologize for the silence. This past month has been a pretty challenging time. I am preparing for my oral qualifying exam (which is this Tuesday), which means lots of reading, writing a proposal, preparing a presentation and dealing with nervous jitters. Basically, most (if not all) people pass this exam, but it is a rather stressful experience.

On top of dealing with grad school, my laptop decided to go into death throws the past few days, making it totally unreliable. It also humiliated me in front of my boss, which made me want to drop kick it into the ocean. I was very worried that I was going to spend a better portion of my weekend shopping for a laptop, instead of de-stressing. Tony surprised me yesterday afternoon by bringing home a new Macbook Pro (well, I guess it was slightly used, and on CLEARANCE at the base...it's a model that they JUST replaced). I was anxious about it at first, because I'm not totally used to the operating system, but I think that I'm starting to enjoy it.

I woke up at 6:00 AM this morning (Saturday), and it seemed to play Laguna Beach on Hulu (a website that lets you watch full TV episodes) just fine. Don't judge me. Laguna Beach, the Hills, yoga and diet coke are responsible for my sanity this month.

There are other awful things that have transpired this past month, but I'll spare you the gory details.

Ok. On to the meaning of the title.

Last time, I posted about a hummingbird that lives outside of our balcony. This post is about the hummingbird's arch nemesis...dun,dun,dun...the HAWK.

Tony was talking to his mom on the balcony last night (he sent her flowers at school for mother's day---how sweet!) while I was getting acquainted with my new computer, and all the sudden I think he must be having a seizure. Arms flailing. Odd grunting noises. "Pointing" using his eyes.

As I walked out side, I saw him.

"What you lookin' at?" (for Amber)

He was so beautiful in the evening light.

I thought he was gorgeous, until I realized he was looking for a snack. The baby bunnies by my apartment were done for. He began his hunt.

I decided not to stick around to see what he was going to yank out of the bushes. I want to remember him as regal and powerful, not as a bunny killer.

I couldn't post a poem for this guy, simply because there was no poem any better than the hummingbird poem I found.

Enjoy your weekends, and the spring weather. If you happen to be reading this before Tuesday, May 11, say a little prayer for me and my exam :).

Hummingbird Chronicles

My cat's interest was (exceptionally) piqued by something outside the window today. I walked out on the balcony to check it out. Could it be the amazing marigolds that survived my black thumb, remained dormant for months, and have timidly decided to join the world again?

Probably not.

I brought my camera, my telephoto lens, and some patience to our balcony today. I was rewarded by a hummingbird, also called the lifeblood of my cat's entire existence. Here are some photos I snapped of her while she drank from the Dr. Seuss plants outside of our balcony, followed by a poem by D.H. Lawrence. I chose this particular poem because no matter how tiny these birds are, they will defend their territory TO THE DEATH, and because I think they are magnificent little creatures.

Humming Bird

by D.H. Lawrence

I can imagine, in some otherworld

Primeval-dumb, far back

In that most awful stillness, that only gasped and hummed,

Humming-birds raced down the avenues.

Before anything had a soul,

While life was a heave of Matter, half inanimate,

This little bit chipped off in brilliance

And went whizzing through the slow, vast, succulent stems.

I believe there were no flowers, then,

In the world where the humming-bird flashed ahead of creation.

I believe he pierced the slow vegetable veins with his long beak.

Probably he was big

As mosses, and little lizards, they say were once big.

Probably he was a jabbing, terrifying monster.

We look at him through the wrong end of the long telescope of Time,

Luckily for us.

Work

What do you think of when you think work?

I think of chemicals, and a general, intense feeling of confusion and ineptitude.

Awww. Boo Hoo. Seriously, when I think of work, I think, "Girl, you WORK that up-do!"

Mad TV skit: "Can I have yo number?" should explain that.

These are other things I observe while at work:

The pretty time of day. This last only about 15-30 minutes, and since the view in my office is of a concrete wall (yes, I know that sucks), I really, really love this time of day.

Then there's Amber, my office mate. She likes to push my buttons. One day she thought it would be HILARIOUS to put all of the stuffed animals that have accumulated over her desk to face me over our desk's divider. And have them judge. 24/7.

Yep, there's good ol' Amber in the background.

Today, she added the judging, hand drawn face.

And finally, she added the piece de resistance: a picture of her eyes, judging.

Oh, and in case you were wondering about the other characters in this totally annoying cast: The big red thingy is a giant streptococcus (sore throat bacteria), there's a turtle in the middle, and the ripped off face of a stress-reliever, squishy horse. Yep, that's right, there's a horse-face looking at me at all times.

It's a little like the Godfather, don't you think?!??

Happy (Easter) Weekend Everyone!

Spring Lovelies

Hello all!

I'm sorry I've been delinquent about posting for the past week or so. Tony and I have been very busy, both during the week and on the weekends, which doesn't leave me much time to take photos or blog.

I did manage to take a few photos of flowers around our complex today--hooray! One of these days I'm going to go to the flower fields in Carlsbad. But, forn

I love the way flowers are automatically associated with Spring in my mind. It sure doesn't hurt that it's about 80 degrees now in sunny San Diego!

Enjoy the photos!

Bees are so pleasant in the early spring. At the end of summer, you wouldn't catch me taking any photos this close. They get really cranky right before they die...

Straight out of Dr. Seuss:

And how could I not end a photo post without a picture of my cat judging you?

Happy Spring Everyone!