No New House

I've been in the Dog House the past few weeks due to the work I did on the leather couch and chairs. They are less than a year old and I thought they were just too "new" looking. The distressed look is really In! Unfortunately Erika and Martin didn't like the artful shredding job I did on them, but Erika is finally letting me back on the computer anyway.

Regarding the dream house in Sebastopol, Erika and Martin passed on it, mostly because Erika's job would not allow her to telecommute 2 days a week, and the commute would be a killer if she had to do it every day. She wouldn't have any time to enjoy the fruit trees, the swimming pool, the dance studio...ah, well. Sebastopol is still high on the list though, so we'll see how the year plays out.



In other news, Peter has almost caught up to me in weight, now that he is 3 months old. See comparison image above. The beautiful airplane quilt you see in the background is from our dear friends in South Dakota, who tried to teach Erika how to quilt on her first road trip from New York to California back in 2003. Peter is finally able to hold and interact with toys, though he's been leaving my toy mice alone. He especially enjoys his soft Cat book (good taste!) and his flannel lovey from Mendocino. He is getting really good at blowing raspberries and making various cute noises. He laughs a lot more too, especially when Daddy plays airplane with him and lifts him over his head. Personally, I hate it when Martin does that to me.

I was abandoned for the weekend while the rest of the family checked out Butte County and had a very nice visit with Uncle Clifton and Aunt Carol in Chico. It was hot (in the 90s) and dry, but there are some nice properties that cost a little over half what one would pay in Sonoma County. Chico is a fun college town that has worked hard over the years to get past its reputation as a party school. Oroville, where Erika's mother lived for the first six years of her life, was a nice surprise. Its downtown area has started to come back after being eviscerated by WalMart and it will probably be a nice little town in a few years. It even has its own radio station! The Kosinas were tempted by a 5-bedroom Victorian Mansion for $549,000, which would get you a one-bedroom flat in San Francisco.

Still on the list: Clear Lake, possibly Sonora, and one more visit to Nevada City and environs. In the mean time, Erika is feeling like she has enough going on with a one-month trip to France, going back to work, and welcoming her mother in law to California, all in the next 45 days. The hunt for the dream farm will continue in the Fall. In the mean time, the Kosinas are pretty happy with city living. Erika has found a nice neighborhood mother's group, the farmer's market is peaking, and Martin finally has his plane back. He is flying it down from Portland to Palo Alto the first week in August.

Life is good.