Close of escrow!

Today we had our final inspection going through all of the items we marked in the first inspection. However, they took down all of our pieces of tape as they fixed everything so we couldn't even remember everything that was done.

After ensuring that all of the down payment moneys went through and all of the title documents were properly filed, we finally got our keys at the end of the day.





Here we are in front of the community park with "Aunt Jill" -- our realtor and Max's family friend.

Welcome home!

Today was our first inspection on our home. We met with Larry, our Lennar representative, and went through everything inside and outside of the house with him for about 4 hours. There are so many things that I've never even thought about that we are now responsible for knowing, such as:

• How to turn off water in an emergency
• How to tell if your A/C condenser is leaking
• What to do when an electrical outlet goes out
• What GFCI means
• Where does all that sprinkler water go?
• How to make hot water hotter
• The true troubles of "water-saving toilets"
• Where does all the rain water go?
• How to fix the springs on the windows
• Granite and marble need sealant
• When and how often should you water grass
  

Oh boy.

iPhone Usage in the last 10 days

Me
Minutes: 51
Texts: 906

Yona
Minutes: 16
Texts: 208

Aai
Minutes: 146
Texts: 1388

May Madness

It seems I will not be able to focus on work or any sort of productivity until I've done a brain purge, to rid my mind of all of this excitement, nervousness, worrying and such. So let's go.

My mom is coming back to LA tonight! Picking her and Aai up at the airport after work and hopefully heading straight to dinner. Her extended vacation in Indiana has ended and she'll be looking for a more permanent home somewhere near. It's so weird to think we haven't all been together in close vicinity in a long time, there was always someone in Indiana, or San Diego or Japan. And now after my mom settles down, Vina will be joining us in June after graduation. So what does this mean, now that all of us will be in the same part of the country? More home-cooked meals? More visits to Athai's house? More get-togethers? Or just more frustration at the sight of Timmy... >.<

Not to mention that mommy will be meeting Max for the first time, I think. They may have met during my high school graduation. It's so weird because in my mind they already know each other. My mom knows -of- him, of course, in fact she remembers seeing his name in the from corner of the envelope many times during high school and college when we used to handwrite letters to each other. But tonight will be the first time they sit around a dinner table together, or sit in a car together... and be forced to talk to each other. :)

My ankle is healing! After a clumsy fall down the steps at my apartment, I ended up with an extremely painful high ankle sprain and had to deal with a crutch for an entire week to keep weight off of my right foot. On Saturday I endured the most painful 30 minutes ever: acupuncture. Nobody told me acupuncture involved sending electric pulses through the needles! Ouch! In addition to my ankle, I also treated my left shoulder -- the tension has been bothering me for weeks and threatening another trigger migraine.

We bought a house! Well, almost there. I can't believe how fast this process is. Last Saturday we visited a new housing development in Buena Park and immediately took a liking. By Sunday we submitted an offer, applied for the loan on Monday, got qualified, they accepted the offer and by Tuesday we were signing papers for escrow! We have to rush through escrow and close by May 29th... That's less than 2 weeks from now. Once we do the walk-through later this week, I think it will hit me enough to at least get started on organizing the move. I can't believe that after 10 years I'll finally be leaving West LA.

Work is busy, busy. I just tallied up: 16 projects across 3 clients, most starting this week. Vehicle launches, Facebook games, mobile, twitter, preference managers.... It's a nice change after having such a s-l-o-w couple of weeks (I thrive when I'm busiest) but might backfire and leave me out of brainjuice. Here's to work-life balance.

June 1st is my mediation for my apartment case. I have to take the day off to attend the mediation in Century City. I really hope these cases get wrapped up soon, I'm getting pretty tired of these things dragging!

No time for homework. I am so behind in my UX class at UCLA it's not funny. I have to skip another class tonight to be able to pick up my mom from the airport. I promise that I will put some time aside today and tomorrow to catch up on my assignments. Promise, promise.

Need to go to the gym. I haven't gone in over a week (due to ankle injury, I promise) and we still have to go 8 times before May 25th to get our refund! It'll be a shame to have this gym membership go to waste. I'm going to try to make it a point to keep a regular workout, amidst all this craziness, to really take advantage before I move out of LA and have to think of another way to get in shape for the summer.

Lulu vs. Tofu Day at the Office

I am worried I am going to be dubbed the "dog lady" at work because I brought Lulu and Tofu to work so close to each other. :P

Lulu has her routine down at work. She hops around and greets everyone, spends the morning sleeping in my cube, then becomes escape artist by the afternoon, roaming the hallways and cubicles.



To avoid tying her down, I made her lie down on my desk next to me. I cleared a spot next to my files and she snoozed for a good 20-30 minutes.



Then, for some odd reason, she got up and walked to my computer and just sat down, facing me. She sat here for a while and even almost snoozed off.



So then I thought, why not give her some entertainment. I found some birdie videos on Youtube which amused her for about 2.5 seconds.



Then towards the late afternoon, the little princess just collapsed on the chair behind me and slept until it was time to go.

On Tuesday, I brought Tofu with me to work for the first time in almost a year, and found she was no different than Lulu.



She slept next to me for a good 80% of the day, and under my desk for the rest of the time.



In fact, she only came out when she smelled that I was eating lunch. ^.^

Bill it to the dog.

Runyon Canyon Hike

On Saturday I went on a doggie hike with Max, Yona, Aai, Phil&Judy and all of the doggies: Lulu, Tofu, Monty & Luke. Phil and I have been planning this for a long time (before winter); the last time we had a hiking trip planned my car was broken into so I had to skip.

So I really wasn't sure what to expect. I thought it would be like a long walk through a hilly path. Mostly dirt, lots of doggies, maybe like an extended version of a dog park. As we followed Phil's car up the canyon to the parking lot, we all grew nervous as we realized that the path would be up and down the entire canyon.



We started at the top where the view was stunning. We took a paved road down to some vantage points. There were a few benches and a watering hole and my sisters looked relieved to take a break. That's when Phil broke the news: this was the starting point. We chose to go down the steep path so that we could walk up the paved, less steep road back to the top of the mountain.



It was a little bit unsettling that we were walking downwards and in every direction all you could see was down. I was a little worried that one of the dogs might slip at the edge and roll down the side of the hill but they were a lot more agile than us humans.



The path was getting more and more steep and at it started to get tiring trying to keep our balance as we make it down the steps. None of us were wearing hardcore hiking shoes so there was a danger of slipping and falling. I think Joanna was crying inside -- with her fear of heights it's a wonder she made it to the bottom without crying.



The dogs had a great time. Lulu was so exhausted that she kept resting in the shade on the way up. We gave her a summer cut the day before we went and that was a BAD idea. Her paws were exposed to the hard, hot gravel for the entire run so she had some sore spots by the time she was done and was limping for a good 2 days. Poor baby toes.

Brunch in Malibu

Mmmm! Finally I wake up early enough on a weekend to drag Max out to Paradise Cove in Malibu for breakfast! They stop serving their breakfast menu at 12pm and it takes a good 1/2 hour to drive up there so usually by the time we're up and ready to go on the weekends we miss breakfast.



Max had the seafood omelete, which he had the first time he visited (without me).



I had my usual favorite, the macadamia coconut pancakes which were so good as always. Something about the toasted coconut and macadamia nuts on top with what seemed to be coconut syrup was just so satisfying.



And then, of course, I couldn't help but order the clam chowder. I have to say this is probably the best-tasting clam chowder in all of Southern California. And it also makes me want to try making some at home and do it right this time with bacon or salted pork. (Sorry Yona & Ai)

Lulu Friday

Lulu is always so excited to come to the office. She spends the first 5 minutes hopping around and visiting her favorite place: Barbara's office where she typically gets fed Chipotle. Then, without fail, at about 10:30am she always just knocks out behind me.