House Hunting and stuff

It has been a few months since we last went house hunting and I forgot how tiring it is! We saw six houses and they all started to blend. We saw one that was very nicely updated, but it was a 1970's split level. If you don't know, a split level means that, as soon as you open the front door, you either have to take stairs up or down. This one had a small landing (I've seen worse). It was nicely priced and had both a nice backyard and front, though there is a cut through road out front. It was pretty quiet though and you couldn't hear it all inside. If it had trees down by the road it could be even better. What we couldn't see was how much of Mount Hood was there because of cloud cover. In theory, it should have been there.

Other homes we saw were across the board. A few dogs and some nice ones with lousy layouts and beautiful views. Another had a nice layout, but in despirate need of updating --- the decor included a 50's diner style bonus room complete with Elvis cut outs, mural of a classic car, and 50's memorabilia. The problem? They used cheap black and white peel and stick tiles on the back of the bar and...(wait for it)..on the walls! In addition, in the house you could also find a lime green counter top, olive green cabinet doors in the kitchen, ...and if I remember right.. an orange counter top as well. There was also a large hole in the wall in the laundry room. The lot wasn't in a great location either. The owner was so very proud of his house and said it was his wife that wanted to move to another property they owned. He was obviously hesitant to part with his pride and joy - hence the large price tag and almost a year or so on the market.

Okay 2 short stories:

Speaking of views...
On Friday, K and I walked the dog. We purposely went out to go look at Mount Hood. Whoo-hoo! We totally found it and enjoyed it along our walk. I brought the camera hoping to get a good pick from the Starbuck's down the street... kinda hoping for a nah nah neh nah nah moment - "Look what I can see from my Starbucks". However I was thwarted. From the Starbuck's patio, you can absolutely see Mount Hood, but, unfortunately, to get the shot, it includes either the pawn shop or nudie bar signs..... WE NEED TO GET OUT OF DOWNTOWN!!!

On Thursday, K and I went to Trader Joe's among other places. When we got to the register, the younger lady complemented K on her hat --- Kind of a black Fedora style with a glittery pin that says "Jazz". The gal said, "I love your hat, especially the pin." Then she and K got into a discussion about where she got the pin (Jazz festival), how there is not jazz festival in Oregon (K got it in S. Ca), how Oregon does have a blues festival. Then K pipes up with - "Blues..that's not jazz." The gal jumped on that completely agreeing - like there is just 'no comparison' and 'jazz rules' kinda of attitude. A sympatico - "sista" moment. They instantly became soulmates.... meanwhile, me, totally chopped liver. :-) Very funny -hopefully an inkling of the vibe is coming through with what I wrote here. Had there not been another customer walking up, they would have been in deep conversation about their favorite groups.