Astrological Shift?

Was there some sort of Astrological Shift that nobody told us about? My life is still pretty much the same except that I have made some progress on training Peter in how to properly pet a cat. That kid learns faster than I thought! However, Erika and Martin are just trying to hang on as they are buffeted by the winds of fate.

First, more house drama. I really should have a category on this blog just for house drama. For those of you who would rather just wait until we have actually made it through escrow on a place, skip this part.

The Kosinas (minus moi) spent a very nice weekend in Nevada City, looking at houses and enjoying their stay in "Auntie" Kristina's beautiful historic home. OK, just to side track a bit, let me explain about this home. It was built in 1885 and sits on a gorgeous 2.something acre lot two blocks from downtown Nevada City. Kristina's parents bought it in the late 1950s and lovingly modernized the whole place themselves. Sadly, Kristina's father passed away in 1963, and the house has been sitting empty since then. Empty except a grand piano in the music room, which necessitated keeping the heat on at 55 degrees until the oil ran out in 2003.

Kristina, being the extremely kind and generous person that she is, offered to let us stay there during our house hunt. The place is amazing – decorated at the height of late 50s fashion which happens to be right in style today. They kept the beautiful wood floors and antique wood burning stoves and everything is in perfect condition. The dust has built up a bit over the years, but we made ourselves quite comfortable with just a bit of vacuuming and dusting. In fact we are quite in love with the place, but Kristina's mother is not selling.

So, we went house hunting with our beloved Super Agent, Dawn Ryley. And we found yet another house that we would be quite happy to call home. Unfortunately it is another short sale, which means a world of complication and being subject to the whim of the paper pushers at the bank. But we made an offer anyway. So we'll see. I'm not even going to share any details until there is a reason to believe that we might have a chance at getting it. Ok, well one detail. It comes with a family "pet". Garbo the gopher snake. He hangs out under the blackberry bushes near the pond. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but we can probably work out some division of territory and mice if it comes to that. The place is on 5 acres, so there should be room for both of us.

In the mean time, *another* dreamy house that friends of friends are selling in Nevada City just boomeranged back into Erika's email box with a price reduction. !!! On top of all this, this astrological shift (I am convinced that is what it is because the only other possible explanation, the full moon, was *last* week.) has somehow bumped Martin's resume to the top of the pile. Recruiters are calling. And calling! In this job market! And they have some interesting openings... We are just hoping that the house stars and the job stars align all together. Stay tuned.

And speaking of staying tuned, if any of you all really were wondering what Erika did with the rest of the 13 pounds of lamb, all I can tell you is that none of it made it into my bowl. Julia Child came to the rescue. Erika fed the whole family for a week with Julia's "non-traditional moussaka". Not sure what made it non-traditional, other than Erika forgetting to put the egg in (it was still quite good!). This week: Jacques' lamb and barley stew from the Julia and Jacques cookbook. Possibly with lemon herb popovers if Erika is feeling motivated. That won't happen until later in the week, when the home-made spaghetti sauce runs out (from the Laurene Willett cookbook*).

The little guy is doing great despite the gale-force emotional winds. He still pretends that he doesn't know how to walk or stand on his own, but I've seen him take a few steps when he thinks mom isn't looking. Another tooth broke through on the bottom, so instead of "Chief Two Tooth", Erika calls him "Chief Half Tooth", soon to be "Chief Three Tooth". He is taking it all in stride. And speaking of unbearably painful torture, if anyone has ideas on how to entertain a 1-year old for 16 hours in an airplane, do send them our way. Erika and Peter depart on May 28th for a grand European adventure with the Willett (and maybe even the Kosina!) grandparents. Erika is hoping to find her happy place next week at Esalen and stay there (at least in her mind) until her parents pick her up at the train station. Yes, train. Don't even ask.

*No Andrew, there is not REALLY a Laurene Willett cookbook and I am sure you would be the first (ok well maybe the second) to know if there was one.