Buy my house!!!

Well, I'm starting to get nervous again about selling the house.
Someone...anyone...please buy my house! I'd love to be able to deposit the check in the bank and hang out at the cabin and read, read, read...and relax until we leave. Ahhh.... yeah, that's not going to happen.

I revised and re-posted the Craig's List post and also forwarded it the following message to the neighborhood listserve:

Friends and neighbors,

My husband and I have been accepted to serve in the Peace Corps--something we have aspired to do since before we got married. We are putting our non-profit and teaching careers on hold to take on a new challenge and go on a bold new adventure! We leave for Ecuador on February 5th and will be working on a Habitat Conservation project for two years. While we are very excited about this new opportunity, we are a little sad to leave our Olde Towne community and our great neighbors on our street. Our upcoming departure will be a lot more exciting if we can sell our house quickly... OR (alternatively) find reliable, trustworthy renters for the two years we'll be out of the country (a tall task, we realize!). I'm hoping this vast network of neighbors might be able to have some leads for us. Here's a link to the posting on Craig's List

1362 Eastwood Avenue
http://columbus.craigslist.org/rfs/246797702.html

you can also view our online photo album of the house at:
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbOHLhy0cNGbf


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In other news, our "pick-it up party" was a success. We gave away two full carloads of stuff. Woo-hoo! Once I take the truckload of stuff that already belongs to the sis-in-law, then we'll have our basement back in control.

AND it is official: Skate on State is Tuesday December 19th at 6!! I'm trying to get a group discount for a group of 15 or more. I have 8 people signed up. Who else is in???
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okay, now someone buy my house. puuuhhhhlease!!!!

Destination: Cayambe

Finally, we receive word on where we'll be in Ecuador...for the first three months, anyway:
Cayambe. Based on a brief web search, I see that the weather forcast for the week has highs in the 60's (nice!) but rain everyday (yes, every day!)..... It has a population of 30,000 and is at around 9,000 feet or so...and near Mount Cayambe, the third highest mountain in Ecuador (a whopping 18,900+ feet!) which is the only part of the ecuator where there is snow. So, kids, there are your fast facts of the day. Enjoy!

Clutter...and Christmas wishes

I am realizing how much crap we have in this house...and how much we need to get rid of before we have a managable amount to put in storage for two years. In addition to selling two big batches of my vintage clothes (to Rag-o-Rama and an antique store) and my good clothes (to One more Time), I'm also trying to sell/selectively give away other stuff via friends and Craig's list. I sent out the following email to my pals to see if anyone is interested in taking it away for us:

Now that I've got some free time on my hands, I've been doing some cleaning, de-cluttering and downsizing.... so before I post a bunch of my vintage collectible treasures (or crap, depending on your perspective) to sell or give away on Craig's list or eBay, I offered it up to my pals to see if anyone is interested in it. Here's a link to a photo album of some of the stuff:

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbOHLhy0cNGch

This is all crap/treasures I had planned on selling, but I will happily trade (for, say, a bottle of wine), dramatically discount, or just give away. First come first serve...and ya gotta pick it up yourself. I'm thinking about having a "pick it up party" this Sunday afternoon. You can pick up your treasure, peruse our other offerings or just hang out with us. Let me know if you're interested in any of the goods...or the gathering!

AND...lest you all forget about the other fun outings I hope to help coordinate in the next two months...here are some concepts:

1) a "Skate on State" night! Aw yeah! We'll get a big group, lace up our ice skates and act like fools, then go do some shots of whiskey to warm up!
2) Bowling night! (including a round of opposite hand bowling!)
3) New Year's at the cabin--- a blowout extended weekend in Friendsville, MD & Gruver show in Ohiopyle PA. woohoo!
4) Help us pack party (we promise to provide lots of booze and/or painkillers...and find out who the hardcore (or just plain insane) friends are!)
5) Final farewell fiesta (likely at Dick's Den) s

Let me know if you're interested in participating in any of these outings. Jeremy and I plan on leaving a mark in Columbus (but probably more notably on our livers) before we leave the country!!!

Thanks all!
Studer King (aka Sting)

P.S. here's the posting for our house on Craig's list. Please spread the word to anyone who's looking for a house. We've got a number of people interested, but no offers yet: http://columbus.craigslist.org/rfs/238559319.html

BREAK--

earlier this morning I posted this for the benefit of my family who requested some direction on gift giving this year. I realize the irony in making a list of more crap I will collect in light of my earlier complaining that we have too much crap already. Well...this is all stuff I hope to take to Ecuador with us...

by popular request...and only because I'm being forced to...and I have a lot of free time these days) here is my Xmas wish list:

iTunes credits! (for music and movie downloads to the ipod and laptop while in Ecuador!)
Quick dry pack towel (medium or large size)
watch (fun, funky, nothing flashy)
women's Black softshell jacket, size medium (i.e Columbia Titanium Ice Fall, NorthFace Apex)
one 3-pack of high-quality, super-short ("no show" below the ankle) athletic socks preferably with arch support (i.e. coolmax or SmartWool Running Ultra Light Micro Sock)
Wick-dry shirts; size Medium (stylish, longsleeve ones)
Just about any clothes from prAna (they're all fun!)
Book: Ines of my soul by Isabel Allende
Book: Birds of Ecuador Field Guide (2006)
Book: Neotropical Companion by John Kricher OR A Field Guide to the Families and Genera of Woody Plants of North west South America : (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru) by Alwyn Gentry (OR other similar plant ID book for Ecuador area)
Book: Other America by Barbara Kingsolver
Book: True Evil by Greg Iles
Wine or coffee or chocolate I can consume before we leave. : )

NEW!!! ITEMS ADDED TO MY LIST:

1) (Luxury) Cool polarized sunglasses

2) (Luxury) Seat Belt wallet. I saw one of these in Healdsburg, CA and fell in love with it. They're pricey, but cool. I found them online at:
http://beckersurf.com/ProductDetails.asp?product_id=29855&product_subgroup_id=264&KBID=1023

3) (Basic/boring) Large plastic storage bins (hey, we have a lot of crap to pack up!!!)

4) (more!!! books)

• Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan;
• The Creation: Appeal to Save Life on Earth by E.O.Wilson
• Tropical Nature, by Adrian Forsyth and Kenneth Miyata
• Defending Our Rainforest: A Guide to Community Based Ecotourism in the Ecuadorian Amazon, by Rolf Wesche
• Amazon Crude, by Judith Kimmerling

other requests: please don't buy me/us any stuff for the house...cuz' well, we're going to have to just pack it up anyway...
A lot of the sporting goods stuff on my list can be found online (and often a lot cheaper than the stores) on sites like Moosejaw, campmor, REIoutlet, backcountry, etc. (yeah, I've been doing some surfing...)

Happy holidays!!!

Here we are among the Redwoods in Armstrong Woods in Northern California. We're in a fairy ring, actually

Okay, so I'm a virgin blogger. I'm a little nervous...and haven't quite figured out all the different tools of the trade here. We'll see how this goes. My first entry: basically an explanation of why I chose the obscure blog name that I did. Dorky, maybe...but some of the other names I wanted weren't accepted. What's a girl to do? So, anyway, I'm hoping that I can figure out how to make the area of the screen where the text displays a tad bit wider. I don't want to scroll so damn much. And I want to figure out how to make a cool header. Well, I guess I'll keep playing around.

Ciao 79

Ciao: (n) A word that expresses greeting or farewell in multiple languages. A word I use a lot. A word that seemed appropriate, since I'm saying hello to Ecuador, and goodbye to my life in Ohio...for now.

79: The line of longitude that passes through my current stomping ground in North America AND my future home in South America. Cool, eh?