House and Mouse
Posted by marshall Fri, 02 Apr 2004 19:00:00 GMT
The past couple of days have been fairly exciting. On Wednesday, March 31st, our house in Pittsburgh finally closed, so now we're back to just one payment a month for housing. The profits from the sale should cover the cost of moving here, which is a great relief to Lara. The closing of the sale feels like it was the final step; there's no house in Pittsburgh to go back to now. This was slightly unnerving when I realized that I was still on New Employee Probation at MAF, and could theoretically still be told that I wasn't what they were looking for after all...but then yesterday I was informed that the probation period had ended and I am now a "real" employee. Whew.
To celebrate the sale of the house, yesterday evening Lara and I went with our friends Jonathan and Melody to Disneyland and got annual passes. We drove down, stood in line, bought our passes...and then the rain started.
And it seems it never rains in Southern California...it pours. Man, it pours.
I don't know what it is with rain and amusement parks for us. It rained when we went to Hershey Park on our honeymoon. It rained when we visited Kennywood in Pittsburgh. And now, in the land of blue sky and sunshine, it rained last night -- and only last night. The forecast said it would be sunny in the afternoon and clear skies in the evening, and it rained anyway.
We had reservations at the Blue Bayou restaurant, so we hurried into the park, fighting against the crowd fleeing from the rain. We went into the pavilion where they take the pictures for annual passes and got images of our soaked heads imprinted on our cards. We stopped off in a shop to buy ponchos and umbrellas, and then made our way to the restaurant, just in time for our reservation.
Dinner was excellent, as expected. Jonathan, Melody, and I had the evening's special: steak and shrimp, accompanied by their house salad that includes candied walnuts. Mmmm. Lara had some tasty crab cakes with clam chowder. All good stuff, and it's fun to wave at the folks sailing by on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.
They say every cloud has a silver lining, and the rainclouds last night certainly did. We emerged from the Blue Bayou to find that the rain had stopped, but not before it had driven most of the people out of the park. We went on the Pirates of the Caribbean, It's a Small World, and Matterhorn rides with almost no wait before the park closed. What a great way to celebrate.
Hello Lara- I Love the website !!! Mike R informed me that this site was available for viewing and I could not wait to log on. I see that you an Marshall are well. Praise God through whom all blessings flow !!!
If you get the chance please email me. I would love to keep in touch.
Take care
Hey Lara and Marshall. It's the craziest thing but I just happened to find your website. I was actually doing a search for Marianne Fischer's book, "Time of Storm." I loved it and had my mom read it. She told her sister about it so now I want to send a copy to my aunt. Anyway, it popped up since you mention the book on your site. When I saw elfstrand.net, I figured chances were good that it was you!
Well, we just closed on our new house this past Thursday. We've got a ton of work to do and it's a bit overwhelming trying to figure out where to begin. I'll be sending along our change of address card soon.
I'm sorry to hear that it rained on you for your trip to Disney at the beginning of April, but I have to admit I can't muster up too much pity--it's been raining here almost all month!
Now that I found your site, I'll be sure to check back. Take care of each other.
Karen