Waiting

The house continues to move slowly. As Brian is worried about the age of the furnace (and it wasn't serviced last year), we asked for it to be maintenanced. The sellers removed an old, empty oil tank from the ground. The soil had low levels of contamination, one sample above the Vermont acceptable level. So, now the state will take samples and determine if a clean-up is needed. So, we wait. I continue to look at decorations and paint.
I think we missed fall! The weather has been in the 40's and we already had snow.
Brian has been off traveling the world, but it was a rocky start. He had a greyhound ticket for a 4 am shuttle to the Boston airport, so I brought him to the bus stop and we waited in the rain. We checked in online and continued to wait for an hour. We called the station closest to us on the route and found no one knew when the bus would meet us! We were getting closer to his flight to Costa Rica, so we drove to Boston. I was in my pajamas! It was quite a morning, dropping him off and still having most of the day. He did make his flight, but got a bad cold in Costa Rica. He safely traveled on to Mexico City and then to Texas.
I went to a speaker on the books Hospital Sketches, but Louisa May Alcott, and March, which follows the trials of the father from Little Women in the Civil War. It was a wonderful discussion and I am excited to read the first and maybe the latter book.
I had a busy week working, also. I have been giving flu vaccines as fast as our clinic receives doses. We have not had word about the H1N1 vaccine. I made some new friends through church and choir, and learned how to make beer with some other friends.

Bats in the attic, but not the belfry

We made it through the inspection without any major shocks! We knew there were some issues with the garage and driveway, but the house has no structural issues looming. We are likely to need to replace the furnace and water tank soon, but they work now! As alluded to in the title, there is evidence of bats in the attic, but there is no way for bats to get into the house itself. I was able to take some videos of the house and re-discover the size of some of the rooms. I will post more pictures when the rooms are not filled with other people's belongings. We have had more paperwork to complete, and hope to have a closing date soon (it is not usually set until after the inspection).
This last weekend was memorable because I turned 29! I celebrated all weekend, starting in Boston at my Grandma's house. I met my roommate from Nashville, Stacey, in Cambridge and some jazz and fancy hotel bars with her and her friends. We went to the Liberty Hotel's bar, next to Mass General, and found why the hotel's name was ironic. Until 1990, it was a prison for short-term attainments. It was really interesting, but I am not sure if I want to sleep there! Brian flew in on the red-eye on my birthday, so I drove him home from Boston in the hard rain (I was able to stop at Target, yea). He was out for the whole afternoon, but we gathered with 5 friends for drinks and desserts at the one trendy local place. We had a fancy brunch the next day at our favorite Inn and it was soooo yummy. Overall, it was a nice birthday with icky weather.
I don't have much to say about entertainment this week. I have finally become a follower of the Office last year, just in time for the big wedding. I was a little disappointed; I thought the show has been better before. However, there is nothing like watching the character Kevin wearing Kleenex-box shoes!
I won another radio contest for naming a song on the oldies station. Hopefully, we will have time to use the 2 movie tickets that I won before they expire in 60 days. Brian and I have been working with some young adults, grad students, and our priests to get some ministry and social activities for our age group. Brian is off to Costa Rica, Mexico, and Texas for the rest of the month, while I work a lot. he has been trying to get prepared today with a flu shot, Malaria and Typhoid prevention, and packing. Oh, and I need new tires, so if you have advice, please let us know.