SOLD!!

It's official...I sold my house! I am scheduled to close October 1.

Talk about feeling mixed emotions...excited, scared, happy, sad - I've pretty much got them all covered.

The official packing party announcement will be forthcoming, but it will be probably be Saturday, September 29. I've reserved the truck for pick-up on that day. Last minute stuff and cleaning will happen on Sunday.

Wow. What have I done?

Let The Games Begin

I received the offer, and it was very low. So I have submitted my counter. They have until 6pm tomorrow to accept or counter. I fully expect another round of negotiations before we come to a price agreement.

Then we begin the fun process of inspections.

They want to close 9/21 - which I don't see happening. I requested a close of 9/27.

Wish me luck!!

Maybe?

Matt just called - there is a contract offer supposed to come in tonight. It seems, on the surface, unreasonably low, but we'll see where some possible negotiations might lead.

Wish me luck!

The Trip - Monday and Home

We woke up Monday morning to find fog had engulfed the entire region. We couldn't see more than a few feet from the balcony - it was crazy! After a hearty breakfast from Holly, though, we packed up and hit the road.

First stop - Golden Gate Bridge. It was still relatively early, and a Monday, so there were nearly the crowds we saw on the weekend. We walked across and back - a little over 2 miles. Very worth it though. The views were constantly changing because of the shifting fog. One moment everything would be grey. Suddenly a gust of wind would blow through, clear it out and blue skies would appear. Then the fog would creep in, spreading its tendrils out as it sought refuge in the crevasses and rocks of the bay. I really enjoyed the walk.

Our next stop was more of an accident. I wanted to go sit on the beach for a while, but en route to the one Dan had found we stumbled upon a different one. There were some surfers in the water, but otherwise it was fairly deserted. We sat and watched the waves for a while, then strolled down the beach until we couldn't go any farther. I got some amazing pictures there, as the rocks were perfect for photographing. The water was ice cold, but it felt wonderful to walk in. After a few hours of wandering, the sun was coming out and the beach getting more crowded with dogs, kids and families enjoying a picnic. We decided it was time to move on.

A brief stop at Safeway for some Aloe, and some ice cream at a local place called Woody's, and we were back on the road.

We drove over the Oakland Bridge, through the Berkley area then back across the Bay Bridge and headed south. We found the hotel and checked in, then went in search of dinner. I had been craving raw oysters, so dinner was at a great seafood place called The Fish Market. Oysters, clam chowder, a salad, and skewered swordfish, scallops and shrimp lightly grilled. It was divine.

Dan then took me on a tour of Silicon Valley. We saw every major name in the computer world- including Google and Yahoo. It was an amazing sight. We had a nightcap margarita at a nice little Mexican place, then headed back to the hotel. Dan's flight out was at 6am, so he had an early morning. My flight didn't leave until almost 11am, so I slept in and took the hotel shuttle to the airport. I was home by 7:30pm.

All in all a very nice trip. I'm already looking forward to our next one.

The Trip - Sunday

We decided to ditch the car and take the ferry from Sausalito to the Ferry Building in San Francisco. It was a very good choice. We left around 11am, and the fog was still so thick you couldn't see more than a few feet in front of the ferry. It was crazy - like a wall surrounding and dividing the city. Once you passed through it, it was sunny and clear without a cloud in the sky.



We walked up Fisherman's Wharf (total tourist area - feel free to avoid it) and found the cable car station at Powell and Hyde. The line was huge to get on the car, so Dan bought tickets and I stood in line to get on. What I didn't realize (although Dan did) was the cable cars stopped at every intersection. So rather than wait an hour in line to get on the car, we hurried to the next intersection up and caught the first car - total wait was about 3 minutes. Yeah Dan!!



We hopped off at Lombard Street, which is dubbed the crookedest street in America. It is a series of switchbacks that is pretty cool to see. Your best view is from the bottom though, so we walked all the way down. Not bad, as the flowers are beautiful. Of course, then you have to walk back UP - which is a little tougher. They aren't kidding about those San Francisco hills.



Back on the cable car and we headed to Chinatown for a dim sum lunch at the Gold Mountain. The food was good and plentiful, and we had a nice time wandering through the strange area. The shops alone are worth browsing through, although you won't know what anything is.



Part of the joy of a cable car is riding on the outside of it. So after wandering Chinatown we managed to catch a car that had 2 spots on the outside - yippee! It was definitely more enjoyable to ride that way. We hopped off at Kennedy's Irish Pub for a beer for Dan and a Pear Cider for me. I don't recall where we were, but I recommend you find that place and have a drink - very nice.



We walked back and caught the 6pm ferry back to Sausalito, picked up the car and drove to Marin County Headlands. It's an old Army fort that overlooks the Bay and the Pacific Ocean. (My earlier picture of the foggy bridge was taken there). The view was spectacular. It was getting foggier and the temperature was dropping, so we opted not to walk the bridge. We walked around the area and took lots of pictures.



We could see traffic into San Francisco was horrible, so we opted for dinner in Tiburon at a little sushi place. Afterwards I took another soak in the jacuzzi and, quite literally, passed out as soon as I hit the bed. Poor Dan probably thought I was dead.



When we woke up in the morning, not only was San Francisco gone - the entire world had disappeared. We couldn't see 3 feet beyond the balcony railing because of the fog. Stay tuned for Monday's adventures...

The Trip - Arrival and Saturday

We had a fabulously wonderful trip out west. Because we flew into different airports, we met at the hotel on Friday night. A bit of sleep and we hit the ground running the next morning, fueling ourselves up at a great little French crepery.

We drove through San Francisco, and I got my first glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge as we drove across into Tiburon. We had rented a room from a wonderful lady named Holly there. I had found a website that let you rent a room from an individual. They often cooked breakfast for you as well, but these weren't businesses - just someones home. Holly said she rented out her room about 2x a year - whenever she was bored.

The room was fabulous - one wall was almost all windows and French doors that looked out over San Francisco Bay, the city, and the Golden Gate Bridge. We slept with those doors open every night - the weather was perfect for it.

Saturday afternoon we wandered around Alta Vista Park (where the picture was taken). They had some of the most spectacular houses. We walked over to Haight-Ashbury (the original hippie area) and walked through that area. We spent a bit of time in Dan's favorite place - Amoeba Records. There is still quite an eclectic group of people in this area - from hippie's to tourists to homeless and everything in-between. It was a fun place to wander, and turned out to be one of my favorite areas.

When we got hungry we headed to the Castro district (the predominately gay area) for food. They had some interesting window displays there, that are definitely not for the prudish. But we found a nice restaurant and had a great time.

We walked back to the car to head back to Tiburon. I soaked my sore legs in Holly's wonderful jacuzzi tub, then we both fell into a comatose sleep. When we woke up in the morning, San Francisco was gone! The entire city was blanketed in fog. It was the strangest sight, because the sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky - except over Alcatraz and San Francisco.

Come back tomorrow for our Sunday adventures...

We're Back

We're back from a fabulous tour of San Francisco. I'm sunburned, sore from all the walking, and very tired. It was a great trip though, and additional posts are forthcoming...

Not Much Going On

Still no movement on the house. In fact, Dan and I are discussing (at the recommendation of the realtor) dropping the price a few thousand. We'll see.

There's really nothing else exciting going on, or even unexciting. I went to a bridal shower Saturday, then to a movie with some girlfriends. We saw Stardust, and it was excellent. It's essentially a love story, but has a nice sci-fi/old English twist. Sunday Michael and I went to see Nancy Drew. It was really cute too. And since it's been between 95 and 100 degrees every day for the past two weeks, a cold theatre was a perfect way to spend a few hours.

In Dan News, he turned down the job he was offered. It was not an easy decision, and he's still not sure it's the right one, but he's opted to stay where he is for now. His current employer offered him some nice things to get him to stay, including managing a couple of underlings, additional pay, and more authority in the business. Add that to the incredibly flexible work hours he already has, and the extra vacation he gets and his current job morphed into something he really wanted to stay with. Both companies offer him wonderful potential, but in very different ways. We'll re-evaluate in a year or two to see how things are going. Who knows - maybe we'll take that position at Google in Sydney. :)

I honestly can't think of much more. Dan and I head to San Francisco for a long weekend on Friday. I'm sure I'll have more stories then - I've never been to San Fran.