Rainy Days and Mondays

Love this color, originally uploaded by kyredbutterfly.

I took this picture probably a month ago. Back when I still owned a camera separate from my iphone. Sigh. I hope whoever found it enjoys it thoroughly. But other than the fact that the flowers have raindrops caressing the petals, it has nothing to do with anything. I just thought it was pretty. Oh, and it's. still. raining. here. Daily. But also horribly hot and humid. Talk about the worst combination of summer.

Anyway, despite the heat, I found myself making French Onion Soup on Saturday evening. I had four Vidalia Onions that needed to be used. I had beef stock. Like always, it was a match made in heaven. I had to get a little creative with the cheesy toast, however. All I had was a dense oatmeal wheat bread sliced for sandwiches. But I wasn't deterred. I broiled it with provolone cheese on top, and it served as a successful substitute to the typical French bread.

I just finished having a second helping of my soup, along with a salad featuring veggies from my community supported agriculture half of a half share for dinner. At work. With no end in sight. These would be the Mondays when working for the state legislature doesn't seem nearly as great of a career choice. I think I'll be here for several more hours while the legislators debate. I just love special sessions.

At least the soup was good. And the air conditioning is working.

A Home of One's Own

With respect to Virginia Wolff, I appreciate the idea of a room of one's own, but I'm finally ready for a home of my own. Or in my case, condo. This is a view from the walkway leading up to either the (open) front door or the side porch. More pictures can be found at my flickr site. One thing none of the pictures show is the fact that the condo comes with a full unfinished basement. Woot!

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Now that the seller has agreed to the repairs I've requested, everything should go smoothly. (Ha!) Closing won't occur until sometime in August, probably, but I'm having a hard time thinking about much of anything else these days. I'm really looking forward to being able to paint all the rooms different colors. In fact, I've just about figured out what color each room will be, all based upon this fabric, which will be my bed set. Those of you who know me well won't be surprised that I love the colors, but you might be shocked because it is a type of floral, which isn't something I'm typically attracted to.

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My camera still hasn't appeared, so this little site might be without decoration for awhile. I'm going to use what I've got, and see how my iphone pictures look when uploaded, but it could get a little grim. A new camera isn't in the budget right now, when I'm planning for closing costs, movers, and a new bed!

Good Tidings...

DSC00858, originally uploaded by kyredbutterfly.

Oh, where or where to begin?!? First, happy belated birthday to my dear friend Kat, who spent her birthday on Sunday enjoying Portland's Rose Festival by dragonboating. Such fun. My birthday was on Saturday. I managed to extend the celebrations from last Thursday through this coming Friday. Talk about a successful birthday bash!

While I intended to blog about her regardless, the sadder reason for using this picture from my April visit to Portland is that I think I've permanently lost my camera. Boo hoo. There's still a possibility that it's at a particular restaurant, but it hasn't been seen since Friday night, and I just realized that yesterday. And unfortunately, the money isn't there to replace or upgrade this camera at the moment. So we may be stuck with iphone pictures for awhile.

There's good news, though. The reason a replacement camera isn't in the budget right now is that the budget is completely devoted to the condominium that I have a contract to purchase on! Woo Hoo! I should be closing sometime in August. Pictures to come - I downloaded some onto the computer, but was too lazy to upload them onto flickr a few weeks ago.

I'm very, very excited about my new place. So far everything's going along fine. There are a few things I want the seller to fix, but the place is in really great shape. I am definitely hoping to have enough time between closing and moving to paint throughout, but that's about all the work that will need done prior to occupany.

As you can imagine, the last few weeks have been a whirlwind of looking, making an offer, getting financing lined up, having the home inspection, etc. Being totally new to this process, each step is like a new discovery to me. Oh, I need to do that now? Okay. I can't imagine selling a home while buying another one. The buying alone is complicated enough. May I live in this condo for years to come!

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes. Here's hoping that one of them helps me find my camera. But at least I'm finally moving towards the "home of my own" goal!