Marlene's point of view

As Joel mentioned, the past few days have required some major adjustments for me, and except for a minor tantrum yesterday morning and almost crying at the Wells Fargo on Tuesday, I've been holding up pretty well. Joel was being modest when he says he's just been going "bof". He's been really patient and helpful, which is nice because if we were both like me, I think we would have spontaneously combusted...

Have either of us mentioned how many people here have cell phones? If you don't walk around with an earpiece looking like you're talking to yourself, or looking like it's an ear accessory, then you stand out. Oi, I think we're going to take a little while to adjust to that!

Our ride into SF yesterday went really well, it looks like my commute will be just under an hour, but 30-35 minutes of that will be on the train so I can nap. Maybe I can get a sign to put on my forehead saying: wake me at Embarcadero (my stop). It was really nice to walk through a city with a lively downtown again, as Joel called it: a city like you see in the movies. We didn't take too much time to check things out because business called, but since it's such an easy ride in, I can see us going into town relatively often (not counting my daily commute in...).

So Joel was also modest about the BBQ. It's a Weber, the super deluxe version. When we walked into the BBQ store (called Barbeques Galore) we went straight to that one, at which point I leaned over and whispered: "I waaaaaannnnt thaaaaat". It burns charcoal (we bought real Tennesse charcoal, smells like Scotch), but it also runs on propane to get the charcoal going. No lighter fluid, no matches, and it has a built in starter, charcoal bin, BBQ utensil hooks and a prep table. No more walking up to the BBQ with meat etc. in hands and thinking: dang, how do I get the lid off??? We tried it the day after we bought it and just the smell of the burning coals (which blew into the house) made your mouth water, reminded me of BBQ ribs or brisket. With the propane on and the coals going Joel was able to get the temperature in the BBQ over 600F, he maxed out the temperature gauge (which is on the lid). Oh yeah, best BBQ ever! There's a bit of a lead time for the coals to get smoldering, but with the propane starter it takes less than 20 minutes before you can start cooking on it. And did I mention how nice it smells???

As for our other outdoor activities: we bought flowers for a little front garden (which Joel planted at 8am yesterday) and two pepper plants (anaheim and serrrano), three heirloom tomato plants (two San Marzanos and a beefsteak) and herbs: oregano, parsley, basil, peppermint. We've been scoping out the backyard to figure out the best place to plant: the herbs will likely go next to the house, facing east so they get the morning sun, but the peppers and tomatoes is a little tougher because there are trees in the yard that at one point or other in the day case a shadow. But then, if it gets to 100F here, is it really critical for these to be in full, all-day sun? We're not sure... so for the time being they're still in pots. Hopefully we can get to them today.

And clean the house. We've been running around so much these past few days that we've hardly had time to stay around the house much. I did get the kitchen in order, though, so my stress level is reduced, but our bedroom looks like a tornado and a hurricane danced the salsa all over our suitcases.

Alright, more errands are calling, so I'll wrap this up. Like Joel said, we're healthy and happy, and managing to keep our (my) emotions in check. Our number is xxx-xxx-xxxx (Joel edited this out, if you need it, email us) if anyone needs to call us. We'll give out or landline number on Monday once it gets set up.