Sunday, June 22, 2008

Congratulations to My Boy!


The Graduate!
Originally uploaded by Prairie Brown

With all the celebrating and house hunting of the past few weeks, I hadn't had the chance to put up a public post to congratulate Michael for achieving his first college degree. I couldn't be prouder of him--I'm in the unique position of knowing how hard he worked for this, how many late nights he spent studying, and how many fun activities he didn't attend because he had to either study or work. He's an absolutely amazing person, and I know he's going to do great things. I feel really privileged to be a part of his life. Congratulations, Michael! You deserve this happiness--you earned it!

CWU Graduation Pictures


Me, Cory, and Sandy
Originally uploaded by Prairie Brown

I did take a few pictures at CWU's graduation ceremony, and I'm finally getting around to putting them up for everyone to see. Enjoy!

New Home!

Michael and I spent most of the day on Friday touring apartments and trying to find a new one, closer to CWU and Highline so that we don't have to continue to spend a couple hours on the freeway every day. Michael and I had been screening buildings online for the past couple of months, and we'd narrowed our search down to four buildings that we thought would be acceptable. Michael had called all the buildings, made appointments to view apartments, and printed off maps to get us from each one to the next one in line (yes--he was ORGANIZED!). Our initial screening criteria was this: at least two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a reserved parking spot, a washer and drier, and a pool.

The first apartment we toured was in a nice neighborhood, and the apartment itself met all the criteria. We felt the day was off to a good start--until we realized how far out in the boonies the apartment complex was. The neighborhood was nice because it was a million miles from anywhere.

As we exited the freeway to find the next apartment, we began to be worried. Off the exit, we found an industrial park, a string of used car dealerships ad auto parts stores, some pawn shops and sex toy stores, and a lot of graffiti--oh, and the building where we'd scheduled the appointment. We politely toured the building and told them we'd get back to them. Honestly, they wanted $300 more than we were willing to pay for an apartment the size they were offering, for an apartment in a neighborhood where I'd be afraid to wait for a bus.

The last apartment we looked at (I'm going to skip the one we picked) would have been the winner, had we not looked at the really awesome apartment first. It was in a quiet, residential neighborhood next to a dog park. It had two massive bedrooms and tons of storage space. It had a view of a gorgeous greenbelt. All the appliances were brand new (stainless steel)--we'd have been the first people to use them. But...

We'd seen one more apartment before visiting the last one, and once we'd seen it, nothing else could hope to compare. We put in an application, and this morning, we got the confirmation call: we're in. We will be moving to Kent in mid-July (we get the official move-in date tomorrow).

Our new apartment has three bedrooms and two bathrooms (on the top floor, so we'll never have to hear our neighbors stomping around). Michael and I will both get one of the smaller (still big) bedrooms for an office. Yes--I'll get my own room after three years of having an office in the living room! My office will be the official guest room, with the small guest bed that's been in Michael's office. I'll get a frilly new bedspread and make it a gorgeous, feminine room. Michael will get the futon couch that's currently in the living room in his office, and we're planning to shop together for a brand new set of living room furniture (our second major furniture purchase). Michael will lay claim to the larger of the two bathrooms, and I'll get the slightly smaller master bathroom, which will become a fluffy pink girl's bathroom. Mine! The master bedroom is plenty large enough for our king-sized bed and dressers and other bedroom paraphernalia. We're getting a corner apartment, so the master bedroom and the bedroom that will become my office each have extra windows. My plants will be very happy!

The kitchen is enormous, and while the appliances aren't brand new, there is a lot more storage space than we currently have, and a whole lot more counter space (important for someone who likes to cook). The kitchen connects to the living/dining area with a breakfast bar, so we're also going to be shopping for barstools. The living/dining area is giant. It has a sliding glass door that opens onto a large deck. We're going to need to get patio furniture! There's a huge storage closet on the deck where we'll be able to keep all our camping equipment, seasonal decorations, and luggage. In the living room, there's an absolutely gorgeous, old-fashioned brick fireplace. There's a small alcove on the deck that will be perfect for storing a small stack of firewood. We'll be able to curl up by a roaring fire on cold winter nights. In the hallway near the bedrooms is a laundry closet with a full-sized washer and drier and some additional storage space.

Let's talk about the complex itself: when we arrived for our tour, we walked into a professional looking office with big, dark desks and other impressive looking furniture. The smell of fresh cookies filled the air, and the girl behind one of the desks greeted us by offering us cookies still warm from the oven. Near the door, we noticed a large rack of DVDs, and she explained that they refill the rack once a month--tenants can borrow one movie (for free) every day! She then showed us around the fitness room, indoor racket ball court, sauna, tanning salon, and pool--state of the art everything. The complex also has several playgrounds, a basketball court, and a tennis court. The banquet room (where she'd been baking cookies) is available for tenants when they want to throw parties. It has a full-sized kitchen, a large dining table, and a living room with a big-screen TV. Movie night, anyone?

The neighborhood is absolutely amazing. The complex is bordered on the back by the Green River, on one side by an elementary school, and on the other by a golf course. It's set off of the main road in the front by a large grove of trees, but the main road is lined with sidewalks, and the neighborhood is incredibly well maintained, with prosperous businesses within easy walking distance. There were several interesting-looking restaurants in the area. We'll be within walking distance of a movie theater, a small mall, several parks, an ice skating rink, and the mini golf course connected with the big course is just steps out of our complex. Along the Green River is a 19-mile hiking and biking trail (completely paved) that will give us a beautiful place to exercise on nice days, without being on city streets breathing exhaust and wondering if we're about to be run over.

We're going to sign papers tomorrow, but we're planning to start packing tonight!

Friday, June 13, 2008

When Banking Goes Bad

On Tuesday, I was reviewing my back account and figuring out how much I could spend on Michael's graduation party. As I went over the recent purchases I'd made, I noticed the usual: groceries and gas. I saw the charges for the birthday shopping trip on which I'd taken Hope on Monday. Then I saw a charge to something called Gamma. There was no address, and my bank provided no information beyond the name of the theoretical company at which I'd purchased some service.

I wracked my brain for a while, pondering where I could have been and what I would have bought that cost only $9.25. I couldn't recall anything I would have bought in the past week that would have cost such a small amount (we typically never spend less than $30 when we grocery shop or hit Target for a "few necessities"). Every time I'd gone out recently, either someone else had paid, or we'd gone to one of my usual places. I paid cash for parking at CWU's graduation. I couldn't recall anything I I would have bought for $9.25, and I certainly didn't remember any Gamma.

I showed the odd line on my bank statement to Michael. He was puzzled as well, but he pointed out that the number next to the Gamma name had the same number of digits as a phone number. We gave the number a call: an answering machine with a man's voice, speaking in a bizarre accent, saying that he was unavailable to come to the phone, but that we should leave a message.

Completely baffled by this point, we Googled the number. What we found was appalling. Apparently I was not the only one who couldn't remember using my debit card to buy something from Gamma. There were dozens of people with similar stories. They too had found a weird charge on their bank statements, for around $9.00, to some company called Gamma from which they couldn't remember buying anything. The same phone number showed up on their statements. When they called, they got the same recorded message.

Some horrid, dishonest person had gotten a hold of our debit card information, and was fishing, making small charges, to see if we would notice missing money before making a bigger charge!

Michael and I immediately headed to the bank, where I closed that account and opened an entirely new one. I didn't bother to try to get my $9.25 back (it would have taken an hour's worth of paperwork), and there's no real way to pursue tracking down the ass hole who stole my debit card number, since he didn't steal enough to make it worth filing a police report.

I just spent the morning transferring all of the bills I pay through automatic payments over to the new account. What a complete pain in the butt!

I hope the jerk who stole my debit card number gets run over by a bus. Twice. Then dropped out of the medical helicopter that's attempting to save him, and falls 3,000 feet and is entirely squashed into an unrecognizable pulp. I work really hard for my paycheck, and I truly resent anyone stealing from me.

Everyone else out there reading my tale of woe, let this be a lesson to you: pay close attention to your bank accounts. I could have been out a lot more than $9.25. I was lucky. There are a lot of dishonest weirdos out there. Watch especially for charges from Gamma.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Congratulations CWU Graduates!

Last night, I attended CWU's graduation ceremony, held at Benaroya Hall in Downtown Seattle. Since I attended as a faculty member (hey--it's a great excuse to dress up in a robe and wear a funny hat), I was allowed backstage--probably the only time in my life I'll get to go backstage at a concert hall. Faculty were put into the musicians' greenroom to put on their robes and wait to go into the auditorium.

When I got there, there was some excitement backstage--a pigeon had gotten in, and the stagehands and staff members who were setting up were chasing it around, flapping brooms and waving towels at it, trying to either capture it or shoo it out the door. It was flying from one end of the entry hall to the other, trying to find a perch. Eventually, it perched on the drinking fountain (if you're even backstage at Benaroya hall, you might want to think twice about using the drinking fountain), noticed the open door, and flew out.

The ceremony itself was beautiful, and I couldn't have been more proud of the CWU students I knew who participated. I know how hard all of them worked to be there: the immigrant from Africa who earned his Master's degree while caring for a sick mother, the single mother who put herself through school while supporting two children, the lovely young woman who broke up with her boyfriend three weeks before finals and still aced all her classes, the pregnant woman who finished her Master's degree at the same time her husband finished his Bachelor's degree, the young woman who didn't think she'd finish this spring who spent at least two days a week in my office studying to pass her last class. There were hundreds of other success stories in the auditorium last night, and I feel privileged to have shared a small part in the success of some of them. To all the recent CWU graduates: congratulations! You worked very hard for your achievement, and you will go far.