#35 - Closer and closer - July 6, 2012

I got to the office this morning at 5 to find the lights off, the alarm screaming about a loss of AC power, and the breaker box ok.  The email server was running, so I sent a quick email off to some people who may know what to do about it, and went into the factory to start my day. 

Nothing major in the fab in the morning, and I went back to the office to find the power still out.  An hour later, I heard an explosion.  And the rest of the lights went out.  No power, no AC, no water (the building is on a well), no email, and no internet.  Not much I could do.  So, like the rest of the office, I went home to work.  I got a bunch of stuff done there, and also set up electrical and garbage service for the house, paid our last bill from our Oregon house, and confirmed that a couple more things had been reviewed by the lender and approved. 

Just a couple things left - a survey, the title, a receipt for some work the sellers are doing, and a title report for the sale of our motorhome.  The hard copy of the title report request arrived UPS today (I checked it), so I expect to have the report in hand on Monday after it is FAXed to the office. 

That's it.  And then we can close.  And this interminable wait and limbo-ness will be over.  It has been stressful being a nomad.  For me, sure, but more so for Katrina and the kids.  I've had 1 thing constant since I arrived here: I work M-F.  They have been switching lives every couple months, from suburban Oregon, to hotel in rural NY, to urban NY.  In school, out of school, in school, out of school.  The pressure of having to constantly readjust to new surroundings (where is the grocery store?  Where is the bank?  Where can we go for fun?) is steady.  After so long on the road, it seems that everyone has become accustomed to it.  It's no longer a big deal for us all to sleep in the same room or to live in very close proximity.  We're all used to minimal privacy at this point.

I think the only thing I have left to arrange to move in to the house is for oil.  Hot water is necessary.  I really think that's it.  And I have to make sure that we close before July 19th.  We need to own the house before we move in.

I stopped the work stuff at 3, packed for the weekend, went to McDonald's for lunch, and caught the 4pm train out of New Hamburg.  After catching the express subway out of Grand Central by mistake, I met up with Katrina and the kids at 103rd St.  She's been taking them to different parks inside Central Park this week, and today's plan was to go to the Tarr Family Playground.  It was cool. 

After the playground, we chased fireflies (we all caught at least 1) and got home just before 10.

Here are some pictures.

"The Lake"  We saw a turtle in the water and some frogs
and dragonflies. 

"You see, dad, when I put on my glasses I can stare
in the water and it doesn't get in my eyes!"

Aria spent most of the time chilling with the parentals.
She ran around with the other kids for the last 45 minutes or so.
Aria is in the space where she wants to run and play
and also wants to sit and talk.  Choosing which
place she wants to be in is a constant choice for her.

This pyramid has a tunnel underneath that feeds a ladder
to the top.  Christian spent most of his time on or around
this concrete cone.

Liberty found a place to kick off her sandals,
shoes, and pants.  And then the ran to climb
this thing.  She got up to the top of it with
some teenage boys, and I got this shot as she
came down.