New member of the family

Well, it's been quite a while since I posted anything. Mostly, I've been keeping folks up to date via Facebook, but I thought I'd add a quick blog post about our newest family member, Nick. He's a 7 year old Red Heeler/Yellow Lab mix (at least that's what we've been told he was, but I wouldn't be surprised to find he's much more of a Heinz 57). BTW, a Red Heeler is a type of Australian shepard.

He came to us when because one of Judy's coworkers had 4 dogs. (She also has 4 cats, but I digress...) One day, 3 of the dogs got out of the fenced enclosure in her yard, but Nick stayed behind. One of the neighbors called animal control and they came to investigate the situation. When she called the dogs, they came home and animal control deduced that she had the situation under control However, while the officer was there, the 3 other dogs turned on Nick. He suffered several serious bite wounds. Fortunately, with the help of the officer, she was able to seperate them. The hypothesis is that while the other dogs were out running the neighborhood, they formed a new pack, and Nick was no longer a member since he wasn't with them. In order to keep him safe, she needed to find a new home for him. She asked if we would take him in. All it took was just one meeting for me to be smitten with him. He's a real charmer. He's smart and funny. (And now that he's had a bath, he's even pleasant to be around.)

He is settling in nicely. The vet said he's in good health, except for a little extra weight. So we're walking about 60 minutes a day, which is good exercise for both Nick and his mommies. Ricky and Marci are adjusting to having a dog in the house. (OK, Marci is taking a little longer with the adjustment process.) I don't think we realized how much we missed having a dog in the house. It's a really great feeling.

A big Texas “Howdy!”

It’s been a little while since I posted an update because things have been a little crazy. I’m just back from Austin, TX where I attended the Out & Equal Workplace Summit. As always, it was incredibly informative and empowering. It’s just great to be surrounded by 2500 like-minded individuals, working towards workplace equality for everyone. I got to reconnect with some old friend, met quite a few new contacts and with any luck, some prospects for a new job.

The last week or so has been quite a whirlwind. Last Sunday (Sept 7), I helped my friend Santa with the annual fundraiser held in memory of her brother Vinny. Like my friend Trent, who we lost recently, Vinny died of a heart attack that was connected to his diabetes. The fundraiser supports the American Diabetes Foundation. As usual, the silent auction was my charge. This year, the bke tour and family fun day raised over $10,000 for the Vinny Zaccheo Memorial Fund.

On Monday morning (Sept. 8), the movers arrived at the apartment to move everything (finally!) over to the house. Hooray! No more living between two places! We’re all settled in and the boxes are all unpacked. Everything’s put away in its place. And if you believe that, there’s a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you. Even if it’s not put away, at least it’s all under the same roof and that’s a big improvement.

On Tuesday (Sept. 9), I flew out to Austin. I thought my flight was on Wednesday, but when I went online to check it, I discovered that I had made an error. So in the midst of all the boxes and piled up furniture, I had to find a suitcase and get it packed. I was a little bleary eyed, but managed to get to the airport on time Tuesday morning. (My flight was late getting to O’Hare so I missed my connecting flight and ended up sitting in Chicago for 8 hours, but that’s a story for another day…)

So now I’m back home. I’m trying to tackle the boxes one at a time. I’m loving my part time job at AIDSWalk. (Click here to sponsor me – if I can get five people to sponsor me for $20 each, I’ll reach my goal.)

That’s it for now. Take care of yourselves. Email when you get a chance. We miss you all, terribly!

Job Front

Well, I received my first job rejection via email today. The job that was an hour north of Albany didn't come my way. That's OK - I didn't really want to be driving an hour north in upstate NY winters anyway.
The good news is that a former boss of mine is now running a non-profit in Albany. They sponsor the local AIDSWalk and she needs some help with that, so she's hired me for a part time, temporary gig. It gives me some pocket change and keeps me off the streets. :-)
BTW, I'll be expecting all of my friends to sponsor me in the AIDSWalk. Every little bit raised helps to make a difference in the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS.
The house is coming along. Boxes are slowly but surely getting unpacked. We put up a new mailbox today. The old one had a spider in it, so we had to get rid of it. (Really, it was a rusty, old mess and needed to be replaced - the spider taking up residence just made the replacement happen sooner!) We've met some of the neighbors and everyone seems really nice. So far, things are going well.
Take care! I'll write more when I get a chance.

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

I finally got the silly slideshow gadget to work (I hope!) so that you can see pics of the new house. There's even a pic of me painting the bedroom. It was a nasty, khaki green color. (Who paints a bedroom khaki green?) Now, with a lot of blood, sweat and tears -- mostly sweat -- it is a very pale shade of pink. I'll take some more pics tomorrow once the paint's dry and add them to the slideshow.
I've learned a lot about painting over the last couple of days. First, I learned that the right tools make all the difference. I learned that a little help makes a big difference (thanks, Stephanie!). I've learned that painting a single room takes at least 2 to 3 days, especially if the humidity is high. But most of all, I've learned that I'm not cut out to be a painter! Boy, it's a good thing that I have a Master's degree to fall back on. :-) The rest of the house, Judy will have to paint! OK, OK - we'll hire painters. (Judy's not cut out for painting either!)
Our things arrive from storage on Monday. The furniture will be moved from the apartment in early September. That will give us time to have the hardwood floors at the house re-finished. So things are coming along nicely, slowly, but nicely.
Take care! We miss you all lots and lots! Drop us a line to let us know what's up in your corner of the world.

Summertime and the living is easy

I have been enjoying my life of leisure for the last couple of weeks. I've been watching watching game shows and eating bon bons...
OK, I've also been applying for jobs, transferring bank accounts, and planning for the move to the house. We finally got confirmation that we are closing on the house in Albany on Monday, Aug 18. I'll have a week to clean and paint before our stuff is delivered from storage. Of course, I've had to spend a lot of time on the phone with realtors, lawyers, mortgage brokers and relocation company representatives trying to confirm dates and details about the move. I can't seem to get direct answers from anyone. It's a lot like hearding cats.
Speaking of cats, Marci bolted out of the apartment door a few days ago just after Judy left for work. I was in my pajamas and bare feet, but I went out into the hallway after her. I pulled the door shut and of course it was locked. I ended up having to go from door to door in the building, with Marci in my arms, looking for someone who was home who could call the rental office. Needless to say, the incident left me horribly embarrassed and left Judy highly amused. :-)
The last bit of news to share is that my job interview today at AngioDynamics for the Corporate Training Manager went well. The only problem is that the company is located an hour north of Albany and I just don't think I want to make that kind of commute anymore. I guess I'll keep searching until I find something closer to home...
Signing off for now,
Jaye

National news

Several of you have emailed or called to say that you heard me on NPR news this morning. I was also quoted in the Washington Post on Sunday (although they referred to Judy as my "husband").
There seems to be a growing consensus that it may have been the pressure from the investigation that caused Bruce to take his own life and that there is a possibility that the FBI had the wrong man... yet again. I don't think we'll ever know the full picture, but I certainly don't believe that the neighbor I knew was capable of what they've accused him of.
Hopefully the media frenzy will die down and Bruce's family will be able to pick up the pieces of their lives and move on.

Endings and Beginnings...

It has been an emotional roller coaster of a week.

As I counted down the final days at the library, there were many loose ends that required tying. I conducted one final session of Civil Treatment for Managers, a very intensive training which looks at building a respectful workplace based on employment law and organizational policies. It's an extremely well designed training and I enjoy presenting it. (and I'm available as a freelancer now, so if you know of anyone who would be interested...) In addition, I worked to set up the library's training calendar for the next couple of months. This was important in light of the fact that this week, the Maryland State Dept of Education announced that more training hours are required for librarians to maintain their certification. This announcement meant that my final days were punctuated with phone calls and emails from folks wanting reassurance that they were on track to meet the new requirements. Taking care of all this kept me busy right up until the very last minute. I didn't leave the my office until almost 6:00 on Friday night.

I did take time out from the frenzy at work to say so long to friends. On Thursday, "Jaye's-Last-Night-in-Maryland" happy hour was a blast! I didn't do a head count, but I think at least 40 people showed up, including both library friends and aquarium friends - even an old college friend. It was quite a night... or at least what I can remember of it after 2 margaritas, one sangarita (Don Pablo's signature mix of sangria and frozen margarita) and a double shot of Malibu rum. :-) Thank you to everyone came out to send me off. It really meant a lot to me and I hope you know that I treasure each and every one of you. I know there were some pictures that were snapped, so hopefully I'll have them to post here soon.

In addition to all the things happening in my world, a bit of sad news from the real world penetrated my little bubble. The man who was the primary suspect in the anthrax mailings, Bruce Ivins, was our next door neighbor when we lived on Military Road. I knew Bruce to be a very sweet man, a considerate neighbor - the kind of guy who would shovel your walk if you hadn't made it outside to do it or would just stop to chat on a sunny afternoon. More importantly, he was loved and adored by the best judge of character I've ever known, our dog Samantha. I don't know what evidence the government supposedly has against Bruce, but I'll never believe that he's guilty of what they've accused him of doing. If I were still living in our house, I'd be the neighbor on CNN saying, " This is just shocking. This is not the Bruce we knew." In fact, my friend, Bonnie is that neighbor. Check it out - AP video. Rest in peace, Bruce.

In a word, "WOW!"

Judy and I took a much needed break from all the hectic stress of moving. Back in January or February, we planned a mini-vacation for July 21, 22 and 23. The plan back then was to take a couple of days off and relax with some day trips from our home in Frederick to celebrate Judy's birthday. (Today, July 23rd, is her birthday.) That was before everything turned upside down in our world. Since we no longer have a home in Frederick, we found a nice B&B in Old Town Alexandria called "Yesteryear's Treasures" Over the last couple of days, we went to the National Zoo to see the baby panda, Tai Shan (who doesn't look much like a baby anymore) and drove past Arlington Cemetary. Generally, we behaved like tourists, knowing that it would be a while before we got back to DC.

The centerpiece of the trip, however, was "The Lion King" at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. I bought the tickets back in the winter and the show has been completely sold out for months. To say it was spectacular, breath-taking, beautiful, and truly awe-inspiring would not do it justice! If you only see one show in your lifetime, this is the show to see!!! We found out that we were particularly lucky because the travelling company will be scaling back the production after the Kennedy Center run, so we got to see the last full version of the show on the road.

As if that wasn't enough, we went with my friend Katie, her husband and another friend. I invited Katie because she's a puppeteer (actually, she has a Master's degree in Puppetry) and thought she would really enjoy the show. Well, the world of puppetry is apparently a close knit community. On the way out of the Kennedy Center, Katie ran into an old friend and fellow puppeteer. He happens to be working on the crew of "The Lion King" and invited us backstage after the show for a behind the scenes tour!!!! OMG!!! You can't even imagine how magnificent it was!!! I was so excited, I was shaking!! It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and a memory I will treasure forever. In a word, "WOW!"

So, in the midst of tying down loose ends at the library, keeping our fingers crossed that everything continues to go smoothly with buying the house in Albany, worrying about not having a job to go to and all the other stresses of our current situation, this was a welcome and much needed bright spot.

We passed inspection!

Good news! The inspection went well yesterday. Judy had the inspector really pay attention to the roof to make sure that there isn't any damage hidden. Apparently, the roof -- and everything under it -- is in great condition. The inspector said he was impressed at
how well maintained the entire house is.

So we've jumped another hurdle towards the purchase of the house. Here are some pics from the realtor's site. It really is that ugly on the outside, but the inside pictures don't do it justice. It is quite lovely and spacious inside. It's a raised ranch, which means both floors are above ground and there's no basement. The ground floor has a family room, full bath and 2 small rooms. Judy's home theater will go in the family room and one of the small rooms will be her game room/bar. Upstairs has a large kitchen, living room, dining room and 3 bedrooms.


Look for the next update soon. And if there's someone I forgot to include on the list when I emailed the link to this blog, please feel free to forward the link to them. The whole point is to keep everyone updated.

Ciao!

Jaye and Judy's Albany Adventure

Well, I've been trying to keep everyone up to date on what's been going on with our Albany odyssey, but it's darn near impossible. I can barely remember what I did 5 minutes ago, let alone what details I shared with what friends about what happened last week. My friend Bonnie suggested that I write a blog and that way I could get the updates to everyone at the same time. So here it goes...

June ended in what felt like a cyclone inside a hurricane during an earthquake. Our house in Maryland sold and we went to closing on June 30. That means that the movers arrived on Thursday, June 26 to pack the house and on Friday, June 27 they loaded the truck and drove away with all our worldly possessions. Judy drove to the apartment Troy, New York (right across the Hudson River from Albany) on the 26th, with two screaming cats in the back of her car. They did settle down after the first bit of the trip, but you should have heard the howling when we first put them in the car! After the movers were done on Friday, I stayed behind to clean the empty house, then drove up to the apartment on Friday night, arriving at 2:30 AM. At 7:50 AM on Saturday, the movers called to say they would be arriving any moment to unload. Considering the move was from a 3-bedroom house to a 2 bedroom apartment, things went smoothly. Lots of stuff went to storage. Given that we'll only be in the apt. temporarily, we'll make do with the cramped quarters.

We have found a house in Albany that we put an offer on. It was accepted, with a few minor changes. Our revised contract was in the hands of the selling agent, on its way to be signed by the seller, when another offer came in. It was slightly higher than our offer, and even though they had already agreed to ours, the seller decided to go with the highest bidder. Our agent called me in the middle of closing for the house in Maryland to give me the bad news. We quickly made an adjustment to our offer to match the counter-offer. Our offer has been accepted, and we now have a signed contract, but it has left me with a queasy feeling about the whole thing. If the seller will pull an underhanded trick like this, will there be other unpleasant surprises waiting for us when we move in? All we can do is hope for the best.

Meanwhile, I'm still working at the library in Maryland. I had trainings scheduled through the end of July because I never imagined that the house would sell so fast and that we'd have to go to closing so soon. My last day at the library will be August 1. Until then, I'm house sitting for a lady that works at the library, Beth. She and her husband are on a month long camping trip and needed someone to look after their cat. I needed a place to stay close to work, and I love cats. Neither of us knew about the other's plight until we walked in Relay for Life 2 weeks ago. Just goes to prove, miracles happen all around us; we just have to be open to them when they arrive.

Judy's job is keeping her busy at least 12 hours a day. But now that she has been re-united with her TV and the desktop computer (she didn't like having the Vista laptop when she was staying at the hotel), I think she's feeling a lot better. Besides, she's got Ricky and Marci to keep her company. (Lucy left us on June 11. We miss her a lot.) Oh, and her dad, who was initially diagnosed with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, is doing better. It turned out to be some other tick-born illness, so it's not quite as serious. The antibiotics are working and he's back to his normal smart-alecky self.

OK, I think that's all the news for now. I'll keep you posted on new developments, so stay tuned.