Bye, Bye September!!

I can't believe that September has come and gone and I didn't blog once!! So here is the September recap : )

We started out with a pretty mellow labor day weekend. Instead of going away for the weekend we decided to do day trips (well no hotels anywhere really made the decision!). We went to Half Moon Bay which is south of SF - a beautiful drive along the coast. Annoyingly we went in search of the sun and never found it. We had a yummy dinner at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company sitting outside amongst the fire pits overlooking the water. On Sunday we took a drive to Pt Bonita - another beautiful coastal drive (also very close to Sausalito for those looking for wedding weekend drives). We didn't get there in time to walk down to the lighthouse (closes at 4 pm) but it was still fun. Of course we forgot the camera...ooops! Our last tourist visit of the weekend was to the Ferry Building - it is a huge marketplace right on the water overlooking the Bay Bridge. We ended the weekend with a bbq at Rees and Katie's house and learned that they live literally 5 min away...LOL!

Joan and Lucy came down for a working visit the next week. Lucy and Mack had a fantastic time as usual. Wrestling and chasing eachother all over the house. Their favorite activity is playing tug with one of Mack's many toys : )

Ted was on call for the first time since we moved here this month and it was thankfully uneventful. The temptation to put his pager on mack to ensure he didn't sleep through it was high but we fought it. He managed not to sleep through any calls because he didn't have any calls : )!!

September also meant it was time to meet up with my ladies in Vegas!!! I had a great time at the Manadalay Bay with Christina, Kath, Lynn, Judy, Liz, Karen & Kelly G!! I left my camera in the hotel and let others be in charge of picture taking so I don't have any pics to show off my great bachelorette weekend : (

This weekend Ted and I started at our dancing lessons at the Metronome Ballroom here in San Francisco. We are currently learning the Rumba! Once we finalize our first dance song that may change but we shall see!! It was very fun! We were both a little nervous which made me giggle and made Ted very serious - I am sure our teacher was amused!

Here are some final pictures for September. I awoke one morning for work to the most amazing pre sunrise and sunrise out our dining room window...enjoy!

Sunset on Mt Tamalpais

How could I forget the best picture from August....

August in SF

August is almost over - I can't believe it!!! We had a very fun month! We had lots of visitors; Kath, Lynn, Joan & Lucy and are looking forward to more guests in the months to come! We have been enjoying barbequing and eating at our real dining room table that finally came!! And now that our couch is here we actually all fit to watch TV : )

We have caught up with old friends from the east coast who are now living in San Francisco and made some new friends here. We have hung out with Kristy and Hector & Max and Teeny a couple of times, including a very fun picnic in the park followed by a showing of "Best in Show" - very funny for those who haven't seen it. Rees and Katie are coming over for dinner tonight for a little of Ted's bbq action! And we had dinner with fellow residents from UCSF last weekend.

I have been keeping busy with work, wedding stuff and pilates. Yes I am taking pilates!! It is very fun and I figure between that and our hill I should be in great shape for the wedding!! Mack tries to hit the park everyday since he no longer has his big backyard to romp in. Although he thoroughly enjoys sitting on his leash in the front basking in the sun and keeping an eye on the cats. He also has found all the sun spots inside to nap.

We actually put stuff up on the walls this week so ALL the boxes are gone!!! I can't believe there are no more boxes.....ppphhewwww! Lots of people have been asking for more pictures of the house so hopefully I have included a few that will satisfy the craving to see how we are living!! Very comfortably I must say - especially curled up on the new couch!! Hope this post finds everyone well. I will make sure to write next week after we figure out and go on our labor day adventure!

Love Maria, Ted & Mack

PS Happy Birthday again to ALL of our friends and family with August birthdays!! And to the 5 new additions to my palm - holy birth month!!

Lynn's Visit!

Shortly after Kath left Jay got to town on business and then Lynn arrived! Jay got in a night early so he got to do a little scootering around the neighborhood on his own. He got the hang of it pretty quickly - he even went down our street a little! As you can sorda tell by the picture it isn't very flat : )

Lynn's trip started fast and furious with a visit to the Berkeley Cheese Board before we even got to San Francisco! The requisite cheese rolls and Zampanos were purchased as well as a 1/2 baked pizza for dinner later in the week. After a quick stop home our whirlwind tour of SF began! Day 1 - Golden Gate Park and Ocean Beach - where Lynn got a feel for just how cold the Pacific can be! Day 2 - Off to Sausalito with a quick stop at the Golden Gate Bridge for some great pictures! The bridesmaids are slowly but surely ensuring that the Alta Mira is going to work for all the festivities! We also headed up the VERY windy path for a visit to Muir Woods - a must see for all visitors! On the way back we took a little excursion and discovered Muir Beach - a great little hideaway not far from Sausalito where Mack got some time out of the car. Day 3 was spent waiting for our new fantastically wonderful spacious couch to arrive between its 10 - 2 window (it arrived at 2). Once we sat on the couch and ooohhdd and aaaahhdd for a few minutes we were off to Alcatraz. Warning for future visitors - if you want to go to Alcatraz tickets MUST be purchased early. When Kath was here they were all sold out a week ahead and thankfully for Lynn's visit I was able to get them about 4 days ahead of time. Lynn and I raced to Fisherman's Wharf just in time to grab chowder in a bread bowl and squeak onto the ferry to make our trip over to "The Rock" While everyone else was enjoying the view on the trip over we were eating chowder - they were jealous! We got in all the sites around fisherman's wharf; Ghirardelli Square, Buena Vista Cafe (no irish coffee for us though!), and the cable car - although we only looked at the cable car - no riding - line was WAY too long!! We haven't quite figured out what a good time to take folks on the cable car is - hopefully we will find out the secret to not waiting in line before our next guests arrive : )

We enjoyed a final night with Lynn and Jay at the Cliff House for a delicious dinner with a view of the ocean and sent them back to the east coast! Then we rested up and got right into wedding planning after they left!! This last weekend we tasted food on Saturday and cake on Sunday! Not to worry we weaved in some fun too. We finally made it to Stinson Beach and Bolinas - both beautiful and crowded even on a foggy day! I can't even imagine what a sunny day looks like there!

Thanks to Lynn and Jay for a fantastic visit! Our next scheduled visitors our Christina and Matt in October - Mackenzie is VERY excited!! The next posting I promise pictures of the house - now that we have the couch and the dining room table and no more empty front room : )

Love From "The Rock"

Our First House Guest!

We just had our first visitor from the east coast - Kathy came to visit for her birthday! She flew back into her birthday on the red eye last night and we miss her already! Happy Birthday Kath!


We had a fantastic whirlwind tour of the bay area. We hit Sausalito to check out all the wedding details! Kath wasn't prepared for the heat - since we told her it would be jeans and t-shirt weather and it was actually REALLY warm here Wednesday! So warm we hit the beach in the afternoon - Ted insisted!! Yes Ted - the newly tanned Californian!!

The weather did get back to SF normal on Thursday when we hit foggy ocean beach for a breakfast at Louis' Diner on Ocean Beach before heading east to Napa for the night - where the weather was warm again.

Napa was beautiful and we definitely made the most of it!! Goody started us off on the right foot with wine delivered to our room - who knew wine tasting could still be enjoyed thoroughly with a slight hangover :) We enjoyed the wine post our surprise facials from Ted! We learned lots about wine on Friday and tasted many. Our favorites for those heading this way; Pine Ridge - yummy wine and really nice; Silverado - beautiful; Vine Cliff - great wine and very interesting and fun tasting! I also decided we needed to reconnect with my dad by having lunch at Wine Country Kennels with lots of other pooches while we tromped around Napa.

On the way back from Napa we made a stop so Kath could see the redwoods! Muir Woods is on the way home - well sorda, a short 30 minute windy road excursion off the beaten path - but well worth it to see the big trees! Ted got inspired to take us up to the top of Mt Tamalpais to see the sunset. Despite the scary drive it was worth it!! Kath and Macko hung on for dear life in the backseat and I swerved the Pathfinder up through the wilderness. But once up there we all enjoyed the view!

Our last driving adventure was a trip down Lombard Street - San Francisco's second but most famous curviest street. For those who are curious Vermont Street in the Potrero Hill neighborhood is technically the curviest!

Thanks for coming to visit us Kath!!! Now we are busily getting the house back in order for our next guest....Lynn will be here on Tuesday! Jay is coming to SF for training so Lynn is joining him for a few days! We are really looking forward to seeing them both and making sure they get as fun a visit as our first guest!! As you can see we are getting this SF tour guide thing down - so give us a call and come out for a visit!

Love Maria, Ted & Mack

Our First Earthquake!!

Well it's official we have lived through our first earthquake. We were on the couch and felt shaking - I of course thought Ted did it to mess with me as he kept telling me that it must have been a quake. But a shortwhile later we saw on the news that there had been a 4.4 magnitude quake in Santa Rosa that was felt in San Francisco. So Ted wasn't messing with me and he wasn't crazy! Very uneventful - I don't think Mack even lifted his head : )

Back to work!

I am officially a telecommuter! I am in my second week of waking up and getting on my computer by 6 am to start my day at Washington Gas. It is going really well and I am adjusting to my new schedule. Mackenzie loves his new window seat we had built while I am busy at my desk. Next project is to make a cushion for it and get some fun throw pillows! Judy I may have to put you to work with the sewing machine : )

We have actually emptied almost ALL of the boxes!! All that is left is the entertainment system stuff and frames and pictures - not bad! I even built us some lovely storage space for the kitchen so there is finally space for everything : ) When I say built don't get too excited - it was all in a box with instructions! (Couldn't leave out the picture of Ted in his hat cleaning up the kitchen!!)

The guest room is all ready for our first arrival - Kath gets here August 9th and we are really looking forward to it! Joan and Lucy are in town and have visited a couple of times! We had Kristy and Hector over this last weekend with Max & Teeny. So Mackenzie has had lots of friends over.

We have been keeping busy on the weekends seeing all the sights! We hit the beach again - and this time I actually dove in!! The heat wave was still going on so I figured it was probably my one chance to be hot enough to not freeze to death diving into the Pacific. We also drove to Point Reyes Seashore - which is beautiful! On our drive the temperature literally went from 110 degrees inland to 68 degrees at the shore - in about 45 min!!! We found lots of places in Marin that we want to go back and explore - and start working on our lists for when people visit!

Hope all is well with everyone! Thank you for the comments - it's fun to read them and know that folks are checking in with us. I know folks asked for a few more pictures of our cottage so here is one more. This is the view from the kitchen into the dining area and front room! As you can sorda see we have lots of windows and get great light. That window you see on the right has amazing views of the bay when it isn't foggy out - you'll have to visit and see for yourself!

Love Maria & Ted

Heat wave in San Francisco!!

Believe it or not the bay area is having a heat wave! You can take public transportation for free today to keep people cool and extra cars off the road (adds to the heat!). It got up to a SCORCHING 85 degrees in San Francisco! So we did what everyone should do during a heat wave...we hit the beach!

We went to China Beach and with the backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge Ted dove into 55 degree water! He swam with a pod of dolphins! Well not too close but they were out there : ) As you I am sure you all have guessed I got my feet wet ONLY! For those of you who notice such things I found a great nail place in our neighborhood - got the toenails done and the eyebrows got a much needed wax. Since that was all taken care of you can now see pictures of not just my feet on the blog...LOL!!

We are doing well. Still settling in although thankfully almost completely unpacked! We bought a couch and a dining room table today so we are really excited for their arrival (in about 2 weeks - just in time for Kath's visit!) Mack seems to still be having a rough time of figuring out this is home - but I will let him tell you all about it!


We miss everyone lots!! It definitely feels very far away to be on the other side of the country and I am still getting used to the fact that 10 pm here is too late to call anyone on the east coast!

Love Maria & Ted

Update from Mack...

Ruff, ruff! I am still here in this wierd house. Although it seems boxes are disappearing instead of multiplying so I think that is good. One of them worked as a great window seat though so I am kinda bummed that that one is gone. I am ok, I really miss my house and my yard and my Matt and my Tia and all my other friends in Virginia but I am getting used to being out here :)

I do like my front yard here. I can lay in the sun in the morning in the mulch or on the steps. It is really warm and nice. The cats next door keep things interesting too. There are lots of windows for me to keep an eye on them through. And I can smell them if they have been walking around my turf!

Today I got to go to a beach but not for long - there was some sign with my picture on it and a line through it - I guess no pets allowed at China Beach :( My mom promised to take me to Baker beach this week where I can run off leash....HURRAY! They also took me to the dog park down the street from our house - that was fun. Met some other pooches who seemed nice.

Licks to all of you!

Love Macko

Moving In!


Morning everyone! Well after a few nights sleeping on an air mattress, watching tv in fold out chairs, using a box as a dinner table and let's not forget falling asleep in front of the tv on the dog's bed (with the dog!)...we have our stuff!!! It wasn't easy of course...the movers finally got here during daylight and realized that walking our stuff down our hill wasn't going to work, so then they tried to drive the truck down the hill. The front of the truck hit the road because our street is sooo steep. So a quick trip to UHual and finally our stuff started coming into the house. So 4 UHual trips later the movers were finally done! Thankfully at 10 pm when they left I was able to find our sheets : )

We now have a couch to sit on AND our bed!! The boxes are everywhere and a wee bit overwhelming! It seems that near the end of my packing I stopped marking what was in the box - ooops! I started unpacking last night - I have never seen soooo much packing paper!!! I did find the Tassimo this morning so I am sitting here with non instant coffee - never knew how exciting that would be!

Well one more week off of work to get us settled in and unpacked. Today I am off to the DMV to get my license and my car registered - they have appointments here - I'll let you know if that makes the wait less.

Hope all of you are well!! I'll try to write once a week or so and report in on life in San Fran! For now I am off to get the house unpacked...see ya!

Maria

PS In case you hadn't heard Ted bought us a scooter! Despite my initial skepticism, it is actually really fun!! The hills are still a little tough because they are sooo steep but it is still easier than walking : )

Macko's Recap...

TED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You're here!!!

Today was a really fun day - ending in a weird house that everyone keeps calling home - Ted was here though so that was very cool!



My mom made me pose in front of big rocks - I guess for you guys to see the rocks.

We also went into this HUGE salty lake thing where I got to run and play. Of course then in the car I was all salty it was really wierd. Is that why I got ANOTHER bath tonight....uuuugghhh what is up with all the baths this week - it wasn't my fault I got ALL salty!

Can't wait to see Fort Funston and all the other cool doggy places my mom keeps telling me about. I am not sure what she means when she says this is home - maybe she doesn't want me to terrorize the place when they leave here alone : )

Day 4



We made it!! Today was a beautiful drive through Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and then California. We stopped and waded into the Great Salt Lake in Utah - a decision I regretted later. We both spent the rest of the day COVERED in salt...oooops! Nevada also a VERY wide state....409 miles!! And surprisingly flat - the things you learn trekking across the country. The funniest part of Nevada was the random casinos. Literally right over the border from Utah there are like 5 casinos, a burger king and a few gas stations then you go back to nothing!

So we are home...I keep getting teared up when I say that. Its wierd that home is on the other side of the country. Mackenzie sat straight up as we crossed the Bay Bridge as if he knew it were a big moment.

I arrived in San Francisco to a drawn hot bubble bath (in our claw foot guest tub!!) and a bottle of champagne (our landlady left it for us with a nice card!). Ted did some major bed, bath and beyond shopping!! He also has us all set with our emergency gear in case of an earthquake! He is happy to have us home (and to have a microwave and computer that the internet seems to work on!) - teasing he is most happy that we are here safe and sound! And the TV he bought rocks, we've never had HDTV! Looking very forward to sleeping in tomorrow on our very fancy air mattress!!

So the trip to California has drawn to a close. Thank you to everyone who called, wrote comments and thought of us on our journey you all made it that much easier to drive for 4 straight days! It was long and tiring and very hard to leave DC but we are happy to be here. I miss all of you TONS and can't believe that I actually live in San Francisco - its a little surreal.

Our plan is to actually keep up this blog to keep all of you posted on our year on the west coast. Of course it won't be every day but check in every once in a while and see what we have been up to! Come visit - we have lots of room in our Noe Valley cottage!

Love Maria

Good morning!

Had to write a quick note because we just saw our first REAL cowboys - in their wranglers and cowboy hats and big buckles!! Mack and I just went for a walk around the hotel - Rock Springs is tucked down between beautiful huge rock structures - pretty cool! This is my first time in Wyoming so I am taking it all in! Hope to get some good pictures today to post tonight.

From Macko - Tia what are you talking about new "home" - where the hell is mom taking me anyway??!! I am so confused!

From Mack...

Hi everyone! Thanks for the messages - I miss all of you LOTS!! And believe it or not I think I am sick of the car! I never thought I would dread jumping in the back seat but I am beginning too! I pretty much slept all day. I saw some things that looked like animals out the window but they just stood there - didn't bark or move or anything. Cows I think my mom called them - very boring! And I guess I must smell better today because I didn't get in trouble for getting to close : )

Lastly cross your fingers for me...I am trying to see if I don't eat all my food tonight maybe she will let me finish it in the morning - I don't like this night only feeding thing!

PS - Lucy, Max and Teeny - I can't wait to play - please coordinate play dates with my mom!

Day 3...


Ahhh Nebraska!! Who knew that Nebraska was SOOOOOOOO wide...435 miles to be exact! Mostly very flat, very full of corn but near the end actually quite beautiful - rolling hills as we neared Wyoming. We drove through Cheyenne - which if I hadn't see the sign I would have missed - there is really nothing there. Rock Springs, WY where I am tonight has way more going on!

We only hit a little rain in WY - thanks Christina for the heads up. The rain was weird with the sky half black and half blue - hope my picture while driving through the corn bug stained windshield does it justice.



As we neared Rock Springs we saw a beautiful sunset, unfortunately by the time I parked there were no good pictures to be had from the La Quinta Parking Lot! Tomorrow we hope to get up early and get on our way. Looks like we have 13 hours to go which is what we ended up doing today. So we may try to hit San Francisco tomorrow night. We gain another hour of sunlight as we enter Pacific Time tomorrow when we cross the border into Utah. Be sure to check in Sunday for the exciting news of where we end up tomorrow night!

Love Maria

PS - For those following my entertainment on the trip...I finished Angels and Demons and started Deception Point. I highly recommend books on tape for long trips. Also finished Kath's mix - where she found the hysterical song about William & Mary girls I don't know - but I laughed A LOT! Started my shower mix from Nita - plan to finish that and Deception Point tomorrow. Thanks to folks who called to check in - it was fun to chat and get voicemails. I don't always have great signal so I apologize for not answering or calling back sometimes.

Macko's Recap....



Finally after all the boxes and following my mom furiously around the house for weeks I can sleep! She has me locked in the car with her ALL DAY - so she can't leave me! It's been a pretty weird few days - first we go back to the house empty again and my mom wants me to say "goodbye" to the yard - huh?? Then she and tia start crying like crazy and hugging - I made sure to jump in the packed car at the point just in case anyone got any ideas about leaving me! I figured out pretty quick that we weren't going to PetSmart or the park so I curled up and went to sleep! Woke up a few times to stretch and when we stopped I got to get out - new smells to pee on! Finally we pulled my bed and bag out of the car and went to a house!! They had the most glorious backyard - I rolled in this REALLY stinky stuff I found and chased rabbits!! Inside I could smell kitty all over but couldn't find the darn thing! My mom kept scrubbing me with paper towels - I don't know why I smelled great! She also seems to be forgetting to feed me in the morning so I stole as much of the cat's food I could!

Woke up after a comfy sleep on a new bed to sausage!! And more cat food - again she didn't feed me my own food - what was I supposed to do??? I also saw the cat - he wouldn't stop staring at me so I ran away - showed him whose boss : ) The bags came downstairs and I realized I better get in the car again before she tries to leave me AGAIN! So we were off for another long day of naps in the car and random stops! Finally we got somewhere and out came the bags. It was a small room FULL of smells and lots of pillows to hide my dog bone in (Thanks Matt for the treat from Carlyle - my mom gave it to me). Then the WORST thing happened I got a bath!!! It was awful especially because the only thing to dive-bomb and roll like crazy on was the bed - no couches or anything!! Slept well even though I was wet and only had to bark at the noises a couple of times - mom was mad! I guess we are off to take a walk - hopefully!!

Good morning everyone! Sorry for the delay in writing! I finally was able to get to a computer! Last night my room had TERRIBLE wireless so I am on the computer at the hotel. Here is the recap of the last two days...



Day 1 - Left the house in tears - very hard to say goodbye to Christina. We headed out 495/270 - roads I won't miss! Up the Pennsylvania turnpike in the rain - all the while laughing and crying listening to Christina's mix for me. Finally got to Ohio and hit the open road! We got to bowling green around 4 pm and spent the afternoon/evening catching up with Uncle Kenny and Tyne! Mackenzie had a great time - he will recap his trip below :)

Day 2 - Spent the morning in BG - Tyne made a delicious breakfast of Finnish Pancakes and Sausage to send me on the road with a full belly! Got on the road about noon to head towards the corn! I had forgotten about the flat and the corn from my Illinois State Days. Made it out of Ohio and then through Indiana. Saw what will soon by the RV/MH Hall of Fame - no I am not kidding!! Driving too fast to take a picture! Unfortunately hit a lot of traffic trying to get across the Illinois border and into Illinois but finally made it back into my old stomping ground!! And more corn! Today my entertainment included more songs about san Francisco/CA and VA than I ever imagined existed - thanks Kath!! Looking forward to finishing the mix today! I also got really into my book on cd - "Angels and Demons" - makes the trip fly! We made it through Illinois and into Iowa - more corn! We finally settled in last night at the Sheraton at the airport in Des Moines - the capital!! I saw it along the skyline - very pretty!

So that is about it for now - heading to Wyoming today! Hope to make it to Rock Springs if we can if not Cheyenne! I have my cowgirl hat in the back : )

Thanks for all the comments they have been really fun to read! Hopefully tonight I will have more luck with the internet!

Love Maria

The house is empty :( The movers left yesterday with all our stuff and hopefully are on their way to Cali on Thursday! I attached a few pictures from the big move! Thanks to Christina and Matt for the final push to get everything done this weekend and for housing me and mack after the furniture left!

My last weekend has been very fun and a little sad : ( Starting with Tim McGraw with Kath,Lynn and Kelly G on Friday night and then a great weekend with Matt & Nita. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to say goodbye and pack a box or take a few remnants from casa de bartlett!

I leave tomorrow for my trek west. First stop Bowling Green to see Uncle Kenny and Tyne for a night and then we are off towards San Fran!

Ted is doing well. He got the keys to our place Saturday and loves it!! He has been staying with Kristy and Hector - many thanks to them for taking good care of him! He has had two orientation days and starts work at VA tomorrow.

Hope all of you had a wonderful Fourth of July!! I will try to send out updates and pictures everynight so keep checking the blog!

Love and miss all of you already!