The House Hunt is Back on

I know, you are all saying that you didn't know it was on in the first place, let alone that it was off.

Jim was indulging my favorite form of free entertainment - going to open houses. We were doing investigational shopping, just to get a feel for the market here, what neighborhoods are like, that sort of thing. We figured that we would sell the condo and move to a single family home.

It turns out that we have negative equity in the condo. Unfortunately, Jim bought at the top of the housing bubble and we all know what happened to the bubble. So, we figured we were stuck and the search was off. Plus, we were seeing places that we really liked and weren't ready to make an offer yet and that was just depressing.

So, we quit looking for a few weeks while we did more research. We concluded that I would see what sort of mortgage I would qualify for on my own (the condo is in Jim's name only). So, I am meeting with some bankers to see a) if I qualify for anything and b) what price point I should be looking for. If I get good news back from the bank, we'll go back to looking. We plan to keep the condo as a rental property until the market recovers enough that we can sell and break even.

Fresh Veggies without the Work

Today I bought a share of a garden.

Bull Run Mountain Vegetable Farm is a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm, providing fresh, subscription vegetables grown on a family farm without chemical pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers.

A CSA is not for everyone. Most Americans plan their meals then buy their food. A CSA is the other way around - you get the food that is ripe and then plan your meals around what is available. This means no tomatoes in June or October but all the tomatoes you can eat in late July through early September. It means no salad in August but plenty of greens in June and October.

In other words, with a CSA you are getting vegetables and fruit as they are locally in season. You are getting vegetables, herbs and fruits that grow in this climate and you are getting them when they come ripe in this area.

This a radical departure from the international food distribution system that most Americans have become accustomed too. The average distance that the food in your grocery store has traveled is well over 2000 miles. With the CSA, the vegetables travel less than 40 miles from the farm to my table.

For 19 weeks, from June to October, I will get a box of whatever veggies and herbs are in season that week. The farm is out near Manassas and they will bring the produce to a pick up location near DuPont Circle. I ordered a peck, which Bull Run says is enough for 1 or two people, and it averages out to about $22 a week, which is about what I normally spend at the farmers market in the summer. For an extra fee, you can also get fruit (which in Virginia means peaches and a million varieties of apples) and fresh eggs.

Some of the items from last year's crop were broccoli, cabbage, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, leaf lettuce, mustard greens, okra, tons of peppers, potato, pumpkin, salad greens, squash, string beans, sweet potatoes, tons of tomatoes, radish and zucchini. Herbs included garlic, basil, chives, oregano, lavender, parsley and sage. A couple of weeks, they even had local honey.

It will be bit of a cooking adventure, too, since I won't know what is in the box until I get.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

It started snowing last night around 8:00. It is still snowing and not supposed to stop until late tonight. This picture is of a ruler stuck in the snow in the middle of the yard (not in the giant snow drift behind our car) and it is a good 18".

We went out a little while ago to dig out the cars before the snow got all packed down and icy, so that we would have a small chance of getting them out by Monday. Here is Jim shoveling the sidewalk in front of our building and me standing knee deep in the snow behind our car.

It's been kind of nice being snowed in. We slept late today and now I am making bread. We are going to get all the laundry done today, too.

Bad Blogger

Hi Everyone,

I want to apologize for being such a bad blogger. I'm going to try to catch you up very quickly. This week was our two month "anniversary" and we are loving being married. I do still smile whenever someone says Mrs. Watts.

We finally (this morning) got the last of our new appliances, purchased with wedding gift money, installed in the kitchen. Of course, this desperately makes me want to rip out the floor, counters and cabinets and just finish the whole thing.

Last weekend, we walked in the AIDS Walk Washington 5K. It was warmer than last year, but not as humid as the first year. We went with the pastor from our church, her sister and nephew and had a great time.

Work has been very busy this month and I've started a new online accounting class at NOVA, so I just haven't been on top of it as I should be. I'll try to do better.

One Week Anniversary

You might have heard that we had a wedding last Friday. It was truly the happiest day of my life, even with a few minor hiccups. We got to spend some time talking to everyone and it was over way too fast. If you'd like to see more pictures, click here.

Screen on the Green

Last night I was able to check off one more item on the 101 Goals in 1001 Days list. A co-worker and I went to Screen on the Green on the mall for a showing of On the Waterfront and Jim came down and joined us when he got off work. People started showing up right after work to stake out a spot. By the time the movie started, the grass was packed like the Fourth of July. The weather was great, as was the movie.

No Water

I got to the office this morning to discover that the water main in front of our building broke at 5:45 a.m. This means that there is no air conditioning and, more importantly, no working restrooms. It will take them at least 8 hours from the time they start fixing the main to have the water restored and they haven't started yet, because they are waiting on the other utility companies to come mark the lines. We made an executive decision to send everyone home to do whatever work they can today. I figure for most people that means little to no work, but a pretty relaxed day.