Homeowners = Joshua and Laura! (not officially, but one more step in the process)

Our offer on the house in South Philadelphia was accepted! Now we just have the home inspection and the closing before it is officially ours. Even though we had to raise our bid, we still think that we are getting the house for about $25K less than what it is worth. And our monthly payments will be less than what we are currently paying for our apartment. Yup, we said less. So now we will have more money for important things, like candy.

After we rehab our place, it is going to look more like this:

... Or at least that is how we are envisoning it!

We will let you know more as it happens.

More than you ever wanted to hear about our weekend ... unless you are our mothers

This weekend we were busy -- not a moment where we weren't visiting with people or traveling - and it was great fun.

The weekend started off with a fundraiser breakfast for Joshua's work, CCOP, which was a great event and also a nice time for me to meet all of the people who occupy Joshua's time during the week. As expected, they are a great group. No wonder Joshua is so committed to working at CCOP and within community organizing.

Even though I cannot name everyone in the photo by name, I can tell you that from left to right we have Rev. Wiggins, the mayor of Camden, a NJ State Senator, two community leaders, and Rev. Willie.

After the breakfast, we rushed off to Baltimore for some events at my school, Loyola College. It was a celebration for the alumni of the Center for Values and Service. During college I worked at "the Center" as a student coordinator for Beans and Bread, a meal program in downtown Baltimore, and also worked closely with other students to get the entire student body to volunteer in the community. Loyola boasts a 75% rate of non-mandatory participation in volunteerism, which is pretty awesome. First, Joshua and I attended a lecture and reflection about how to keep community service as part of our lives. Then we had a nice reception and dinner to celebrate the 15 years that the Center has been serving the community. It was so much fun to see classmates and it was revitalizing to know that there are others out there who are sticking in the non-profit world and seeking a community of like-minded friends.

We stayed the night with my friend, Heather, who is always a gracious host and always willing to convert her living room couch to a bed for us when we want to crash in Baltimore. On Sunday morning, we volunteered at Beans and Bread and had mass with a Jesuit priest who also served the meal with us. I have not been back to B&B since college and it was great to show Joshua the place I speak about regularly and fondly. It was also nice to see some of the regular guests who I be-friended during college. They seemed to be doing well so it was nice to reconnect with them. In general, it felt really refreshing to be back in that environment.

After serving the meal, we got a quick bite to eat before going sailing in the Inner Harbor with Heather. Here is Joshua getting excited for our voyage:
Yeah, the area is pretty polluted because the Inner Harbor is where all of the run-off from the city goes. For example, if you drop a bag of chips anywhere in the city and it goes into the drainage system, it seems to pop up in the harbor's waters. The whole thing doesn't look like this, just the edges of the water.

Sailing was really fun, if not just a little stressful because it was so incredibly windy. We haven't sailed since we came to the East Coast and I guess I either got used to sailing on inner-city lakes like Lake Union or sailing larger boats that have enough weight to handle large amounts of wind on the Puget Sound. Sailing in the Baltimore Harbor is usually obscenely windy and the boat that we borrowed is a bit "over-powered" in terms of the sail area to the size of the boat. We were really flying across the water and kicking up a healthy-sized wake. It was pretty rad.

We were able to get home early and relax with a book and a game. (Can you guess who did what? Ha ha ha, it is good that we have our own ways of relaxing!)

We both were excited by what a fun weekend we had. It is starting to feel like the beginning of summer and I am excited about all of the fun plans we have.

Next weekend: New York City for a black tie event at the Knickerbocker Club in the center of Manhattan.

Joshua the Photographer

I took a photo which Senator Menendez presented on the Senate floor to promote the S-CHIP Program. How cool is that?! This young man, Carlos, is a 4 year-old and is currently a recipient of S-CHIP benefits.
When taking this photo, I asked Carlos to stand like his favorite super hero. Carlos chose Spider Man and posed immediately. I love this kid! (... and Spider Man!)
-JC

So ... we made an offer on a house

Yup, we made an offer on a house yesterday. Someone else also made an offer on the same house, which is totally odd in this "buyer's delight" market that we have right now. We are still figuring out if we should out-bid them or just keep looking.

It is a typical South Philly house, as you can see by the photo below. It has a wall full of wood paneling, a weird tile ceiling, and a mirrored section of the wall. This just means that the price was super low. With a little bit of work, we will be able to make a nice profit on this house within a few years.

Happy 28.5 Birthday, Joshua!

Boy, you are lucky ... some people get candles on a cake -- but not you! -- you get them on a hard boiled egg. Yummers!
(We finally got around to decorating eggs last night. We say "decorating" instead of "dying" because we end up having so much fun dripping candle wax on them that the Paas ends up only being an afterthought.)

Shanti X 2!

This past weekend, at Paige's First Communion Celebration, Little Paigy informed us that Shanti is also the name of the girl in the Jungle Book story. They look similar, right?!

Heart Attack VS Stroke

VS


King Kong VS Godzilla, GI Joe VS Cobra, Peanut Butter VS Jelly, and now the ultimate: Pat's VS Geno's!

Around here cheesesteaks are king and Philadelphias align themselves with a cheesesteak place to which they are devout. Pat's and Geno's are two of the most well-known of these artery-clogging factories and are located just across the street from one another. Since we live in the neighborhood, we thought we should test them side-by-side to see who is the real king of 9th and Passyunk.

We started at Geno's. The line goes out into the intersection and one can get a close look at the motorcycles cruising by slowly. The cheesesteak was delicious -- warm, sizable slabs of meat, properly melty American cheese -- and, while the American-centric propaganda (i.e. "This is America, Speak English!") was a bit much, the experience was wonderful.

We headed over to Pat's. While we didn't have to wait in the street, we did have to wait in a slow line. Our cheesesteak was still warm, but the meat was a little dry and the cheese was sparse. All in all an unimpressive cheesesteak.

WINNER: GENO'S!

Now, the overall king of cheesesteaks is yet to be decided. Who do you think is the best?

"Everything but the squeal!"

I'm sure Central Oregon has its oddball festivals, heck my high school had an agriculture class where you could lay sod and castrate sheep, but I feel that this upcoming Philly festival tops it all.

Scrapplefest!!!

Really, how many ways can you eat "animal parts"?
-JC

Here we are with our neighbors, Robin and Bobby, playing CURSES, a game I got for my birthday from Erica and Greg. (Really fun time!) Obviously the game consists of sitting really close together on the couch, holding the cat, and smiling at the camera while the timer blinks. ... We seem to play this game often!

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In other news, look at this house that is for sale within our price range, is beautiful (the photos do not do it justice), and is located in an awesome area of the city:

Oh man.

Joshie Goes to Washington

Check out the link below! Pay attention to some of the scenes, there is a dashingly handsome man in a pea coat and black beanie you may recognize. Hint hint, wink, wink! Pay close attention at minute: 2:28.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyRcbGME2Xs

Easter and Birthdays, Thompson Style

Yeah, there was an Easter bonnet competition at the ol' Thompson Easter Gathering.

Wonderful craziness was guaranteed when we had the following equation:

Giant Bubble Wands

+

Smallish Backyard

+

Cousin's Children Loaded with Candy

+

Aunt Claire backed by her sister's loving energy

+

Edible Easter Bonnets

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We rang in my 28th birthday with a breakfast at the Pink Rose Cafe, a homebuyer meeting (fyi: we are starting to consider purchasing a house since we know that we will be here at least two years, with Temple and all), too many decorations to mention around the house, a presentation for class, tons of fun voicemail messages/cards/emails from family and friends, a carrot cake cupcake, and little gifts including veggie-handled butter/jam spreaders!

Two days before, I celebrated with my parents at Piatto's, a swanky Italian restaurant in Carlisle. I took the train out to Carlisle to say hello to the folks and spend a day working with my father. Now I can officially say that I know how to hang a wallpaper boarder. Not super well, but at least I know how!

Tonight: Egg coloring party! Dr. Kate Yoder coming to visit! Cousins and more family! Beer, or, as it is known around here, "lager"! A huge birthday cake! More exclamation points!!!!!!!

We aren't in Seattle any more, Toto.

We finally cashed in on all of our REI gift cards from the wedding registry and some past holidays. The almost $700 in gift cards helped us to obtain great loot including a .3, .5, 2 and a 3 cams (Moms, you don't have to understand that), a kick-ass water filter, "adrenaline" hiking socks, and a few other items. We still have some funds left which will go towards a GPS device for sailing once the systems upgrade in July.

Thank you all for the awesome gifts!

One interesting part of going to the REI in New Jersey was having the climbing department employee seek us out to ask about placement of sport gear and then have the shoe department gentleman ask Laura about sailing schools in the area. In Seattle, we became accustomed to REI employee's intensity and huge body of knowledge. It is odd to be considered the "experts" here on the East Coast. Just the mere mention of the fact that we came from Seattle seems to give us this prestigious title. Weird because we are so not the experts ... Joshua still isn't even sure how to spell "expert"!

Kittens RULE!

ngfvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv';[[ ,mm

This is another attempt by Ms. Shanti Grey to type on the keyboard.

We imagine her blog would run something like this:

Morning Schedule

3 a.m. Run up and down the hallway. Repeat three times. Begin reaching under Owner Lady and Owner Man's door. Find the springy-trigger (=doorstop) and twang it multiple times.

5 a.m. Do the same as the 3am regiment but this time with more vigor.

8a.m. Carry all toys out of shelving unit and spread through the house. When in the bathroom, play with toys and moan loudly.

8:30 a.m. Sit by doorway and listen to Owner Man and Owner Lady talk in bed while listening to the only station that comes in clearly in their bedroom: Poorly Done Remakes of Slow Jam Hits. When they open the door, run inside and dart under the bed.

9 a.m. Eat breakfast in one bite.

10 a.m. Go crazy and run into walls for no apparent reason, attack the bathtub (water drops, caulking, shadows), meow at Owner Man and Owner Lady for attention, roll around the floor with toys making sure to use hind legs to kick the toys repeatedly.

10:15 a.m. Nap on windowsill while watching and planning the death of millions of flying rats (= pigeons).

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We have a wonderfully crazy cat whose personality has really started to shine through now that she is over her upper respiratory infection. We love how affectionate and cute she is. We especially love how much she makes us laugh. She fits in well in our household!

Note: She was having a wonderfully crazy moment in this photo.

Drug Bags, What Else Would You Expect?

Joshua had his first "action" as a community organizer in Camden, New Jersey for the Cramer Hill neighborhood. St. Anthony of Padua's church and school communities are trying to get rid of an abandoned house that is just a few feet from the school and is known for drug deals. To the left is a poster used during the presentation -- "these drugs bags and vials were found on the property next to St. Anthony School in the last three months." That's almost 70 little bags, some of which still have residue in them! And the craziest part is that those living in the area weren't totally outraged by this sight. Unfortunately, seeing such things has become part of daily life in the area.

If you could like to make a financial contribution to Joshua's organization, please feel free to contact Camden Churches Organized for People (CCOP) through their website at http://www.camdenchurches.org/.

Weekend of My Favorite Things

I finally got to meet my favorite poet, Billy Collins! He was the Poet Laureate of the United States (2001-2003) ... and really, he is just amazingly funny and well-versed. You can hear him here or here is one of his gems:

Another reason why I don't keep a gun in the house
By Billy Collins

The neighbors' dog will not stop barking.
He is barking the same high, rhythmic bark
that he barks every time they leave the house.
They must switch him on on their way out.

The neighbors' dog will not stop barking.
I close all the windows in the house
and put on a Beethoven symphony full blast
but I can still hear him muffled under the music,
barking, barking, barking,

and now I can see him sitting in the orchestra,
his head raised confidently as if Beethoven
had included a part for barking dog.

When the record finally ends he is still barking,
sitting there in the oboe section barking,
his eyes fixed on the conductor who is
entreating him with his baton

while the other musicians listen in respectful
silence to the famous barking dog solo,
that endless coda that first established
Beethoven as an innovative genius.

(pictured l-r: Joshua, Matt, Bob, Billy and me)

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I also got to see my favorite live concert: Toots and the Maytals. Here we are gettin' into the groove before the concert. I saw Toots on Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands and at Bumbershoot in Seattle. Joshua has been living through my two albums and my horrible singing of Toots for awhile now, so it was good for him to finally see why I like the guy so much. He has the BEST energy and his music is all upbeat. I couldn't stop smiling the entire concert. Joshua seemed to enjoy it -- he stayed awake, which is better than the bluegrass concert we went to! -- and had a great population for people-watching activities.