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.