The sorting out goes on...

Wednesday 07/30/2008

It's been a busy couple of weeks as we prepare for the arrival of Teddy and Sophie next week. There have been lots of bits and pieces to sort out around the house and we've also had to get a smaller blow up bed that we can put into Debs' office for one of the kids to use. We re-stocked the bird feeders, put out the summer plants, opened the patio doors to let some fresh air circulate and generally let summer wash its warming rays over our apartment.

Other changes in the apartment include getting a new phone service. It was goodbye Vonage and hello T-Mobile @Home. All our phones are now provided by T-Mobile and all in all we have a great service for everything. You can read about our experience of putting in a new phone on my technology blog. I also changed our default voicemail providers and now we can control exactly what message different callers get when we're not at home.

Debs has been very busy designing and drawing her Christmas balls for a show later in the year. She also had a few special orders to deliver and she has put together a nice selection of jewelry for the show too. She has been working non-stop including her 'day job' at Chinook's but we're both benefiting from the extra money she's bringing in during the busy summer months. So far the poor economy hasn't hit her restaurant too badly. In other places however the downswing of the economy is starting to take its effect. With gas at over $4 a gallon and all basic food prices up, people aren't taking as many journeys as they used to. Many more families are opting to stay at home for the summer. House prices continue to fall as well and I was reading today that overall prices are down nationwide over 15% on average since a year ago. It looks like it's going to be the deepest recession for many years.

Still, we mustn't all be doom and gloom. As I said earlier, we've been doing lots of little bits of sorting out and overall we are both very happy with the way things are going. We have also both been very conscious of our diets recently and have given up beer (which has been the hardest thing I have ever done in my life). Still, it has had its effect and the pounds are slowly dropping from our bodies!

August time always seems to be car time in the Cox household and this year has been no different. Last year we got Debs' Kia Spectra5 and this year my leased Mazda CX7 was due to go back. I have been hoping to get another Mazda Miata as they are by far and above my favorite cars to drive (and economical too) and last week I began my Internet search. As fate would have it I found a nice car tucked away sitting in the car lot of a Honda dealer. Needlees to say they were looking to offload the car and so with a combination of a poor economy, a slump in car sales, a car in the worng dealer's hands, I ended up getting a great deal on a four year old silver Mazda Miata. Now Debs and I both have cars we really love and a 'family' car when we need one and a 'us' car for those other occasions.

I've also made a few changes to our website and I'm hoping to persuade Debs to contribute a little piece about her for the 'About Us' page so that things are a little more complete. Like I said earlier, the sorting out goes on. Well, next week brings August and the kids. I'll write again soon.

 

 

Well it's been a pretty normal week for the Cox houselhold this week as summer kicks well and truly in in Seattle. At last for the past couple of weeks there have been temperatures in the high 70s and low 80s. It should stay like that through September now.

 

As for events, well there's not really been anything too exciting. I had my standard heart and blood pressure check-up this week, a full year after I first went to the doctors and they quickly got me on medication! It seems like things are a lot better now. That's a good thing. A year has made a big difference there. So, now it's only the weight to look at. I really want to try and get back down to my fighting weight again (not that I've ever fought - but I have a good idea what that weight should be). To that end I've given up drinking beer - about the hardest thing I've ever done in my life I think. Beer has been such a staple for me since I was 18 years old. Still, 30 years of beer drinking should be enough for anyone! I've switched to drinking spritzers now and I hope that makes the difference I need. Over the past few months I've also mostly given up bread, potatoes and rice too. I have a little pasta now and again, but my bad carb intake has been drastically cut. I read an article on the internet about a 2 year study done on different diet types and for men the low carb type diet worked the best and also even improved cholestorol levels. I can only wait and see.

 

Debs has been really busy both at home and at work. She has started her long run up towards the holiday season and started designing and painting her christmas decorations. She's also now got a good supply of jewelry made too. I'll post a few pictures of the finished products when they're ready.

 

As usual I ran the quiz night at the local Irish pub, JJ Mahoney's on Monday. I switched up the question format after finding a new supplier and the scores were a lot tighter and a good time was had by all. If you're ever in the area on a Monday evening at 8pm you should drop by for some good clean fun and a chance at good money prizes.

 

That's about it for the main news this week. All the kids are doing well. Grace, Teddy and Sophie are just off on vacation to Switzerland for two weeks before they come and visit here for four weeks in August. John and Becki are both working hard although Becki has been planning a long backpacking trip later this year. She's hoping to stop by in Seattle early next year.

 

So that's it for today. It's time to watch the Formula 1 qualifying and cook up a batch of spaghetti bolognese sauce for later...

 

 

 

 

It's already July and I don't know what happened to the time. The last few weeks have been very busy and I haven't even written anything about them. So, here goes:

 

On Sunday June 22nd we had our wedding celebration dinner at The Melting Pot restaurant in Bellevue. Debs' Uncle and Aunt and one of her sisters flew into town and several other friends and my parents joined us for a large four course fondue dinner. A good time was had by all and we'll soon have the pictures to show for it (Once we get them developed. We decided to use disposabe cameras but there are still a few pictures left on two of the cameras). When we get them back I'll post a couple for viewing.

 

The following week saw several departures. Debs' Uncle Fred and Aunty Barbara flew back to the east coast on the Tuesday, the day after her sister Denise had gone back to work in Indiana and the day after placing second in the JJ Mahoney's trivia quiz night (a combined effort by Mum, Dad, Fred, Barbara, and Debs). My mum and dad then flew back to England on the Thursday, 6 weeks after their arrival (time flies so quickly sometimes). Suddenly the apartment was empty again and the cats stretched out and wondered what all the fuss had been about.

 

Then on Sunday June 29th Debs and I flew off to Las Vegas for a few days. My brother Ian and his wife Wendy were visiting Vegas and we decided to drop by and see them. Ian is playing for the third time in the World Poker Series down there. I'll let you know how he got on next week. We enjoyed a crazy few days in Vegas doing the normal stuff and contributing to the local economy before flying back home to Seattle on Wednesday night. Unfortunately the plane was delayed and we didn't get into the house until about 4am - very late for both of us. Debs was up to start a double shift at 11am but I decided to try and catch up on my sleep and took an extra day vacation. Friday (yesterday) as you are all aware was Independence Day but Debs had to work again. Still we have got a lot of things accomplished recently and it's only another few weeks 'til Teddy and Sophie arrive here to stay for a while.

 

Life moves along at a pace sometimes...