October 14, 2012

Housing update

We've sold the house in Texas! *happy dance* It's a huge weight off our minds, and it didn't take nearly as long as we'd feared. It was a wonderful house, and it provided a haven for many cherished memories.
We celebrated the sale of the house the same way we celebrated buying it :-) Margaritas and texmex! Ok, maybe not actually texmex, more New Mexico/Southwest style, but extremely tasty with excellent margaritas. The place is called Cactus, a small local chain with one location nestled at the base of Jonathan's office building and three others scattered elsewhere in the Seattle area. I suspect we'll be visiting them fairly frequently.

After a full month in the apartment, we're all desparate to get back into a house. Unfortunately, we've been having a hard time finding a place--two not-small dogs make the whole thing more complicated. At one point we had a good place picked out, and our rental application was submitted and accepted. But then, as we were waiting for the lease paperwork, they came back and said "sorry, someone else put in an application after you, and they don't have dogs. Have a nice life!" That was not fun.

But now we officially have a house! Did the walkthrough yesterday and got all the details, which were really impressive. It's very tech-friendly with lots of nifty gadgets built in, I think Jonathan will have lots of fun with them.

Gotta admit, at first I was a little . . . unenthusiastic about this house. It's not in our first (or even second) choice of locations, and because we were running out of options and time, we didn't spend very long thinking about it--just moved ahead. (I think I literally spent 10 minutes walking through; we had dogs in the van that day.) So I didn't have time to fall in love with it like I had with several other houses over the course of our search, but the size and price were right, it was available and willing to accept the dogs.

Then yesterday when we did the walkthrough, I did have time to fall in love. The neighborhood is full of giant trees, several little windy roads and a couple of parks within walking distance. We're in a small culdesac, set back out of the way, and the fall colors were stunning. The house itself just got better and better the longer we were there--skylights, beautiful light and window fixtures, huge sink in the upstairs laundry room, on and on.

Now I'm really excited, ready to be out of the city, into our house, and get all our stuff back! Movers come Tuesday, and I'll try to get some good pictures ^_^

October 6, 2012

Cougar Mountain Zoo

Last weekend we made another escape from the city, out to Issaquah and the Cougar Mountain Zoo. So far Issaquah is our favorite Seattle suburb--full of trees, right on the slopes of two small mountains that are also large wilderness parks, with a charming downtown reminiscient of a ski town. It was our first choice for a house, but the rental market has dried up and we had to look elsewhere. Oh well, we can still visit!

Cougar Mountain Zoo is a small private zoo in Issaquah. Private means that its a little pricey, as zoos go, but well maintained and clean. The scenery is beautiful, and the best part is that you can really get up close and personal with the animals.


The zoo mascot was waiting to greet us as soon as we got in (apologies for all the phone pictures, I keep forgetting the big camera!)


What a handsome pair!

How up close and personal? Well, outside all the tiger areas there are big signs that warn "you are in a spray zone!" so look out for tiger butts.

As for the less dangerous animals, you can buy various animal treats all over the place in order to tempt them closer, and even though we didn't have food most of the time, the animals seemed to expect it. We stopped by the alpacas as another family was feeding them and Sam thought they were hilarious! He laughed and laughed, until the alpacas decided they didn't appreciate us getting a free show and started making sounds that sent us running. (We know just enough about alpacas to keep our distance if it sounds like they're going to spit)  

This crane was disappointed in his search for treats, but didn't mind a quick photoshoot.

The mule deer agreed to pose in exchange for kibble, which Sam gladly handed over. Sam thought that was pretty cool, but not as funny as the alpacas!

 This is the button you push for the animals to come, right?

Watching the cougars :-)


October 2, 2012

The Journey by Kathryn Lasky

This second book in the children's series Guardians of Ga'Hoole expands both the world of the owls and the reach of the plot. It's starting to feel like Redwall meets Harry Potter, although aimed at a slightly younger age. (Not 100% sure about that, Redwall and Ga'Hoole both have fighting and blood, but so far it seems a little tamer in the owl's world.) Still a fun read, excellent kid lit!

Review also posted on Goodreads