Juliet Martinez

01 Jul 2003

01 Jun 2003

Sat, Jun 28 2003

Take the tahini

After tossing and turning all night, waking up repeatedly between road dreams, I have finally given in. It's a quarter to six and I'm up. At least this way I will probably remember to pack my toothbrush after I use it and not have to share Joel's little travel toothbrush for the next two weeks.

At least I hope I'll remember the toothbrush. I've been so forgetful lately. Yesterday I stopped by this health food store someplace west of Cicero (we were in Cicero to wash almost 3 weeks of dirty clothes at our favorite laundromat) and I left one of my grocery bags there. The only way I knew something was missing was that I couldn't find the tahini I bought. I had no idea there was a whole bag of other items missing from my little natural-road-snack haul. I called the store and then wondered about all the learning I've recently done and its possible negative effect on my memory.

So this morning after eating, bathing, getting our camping gear out (just enough to plop down in a campground and sleep for the night), emptying the trash and washing our breakfast dishes, we'll be schlepping back to someplace west of Cicero to pick up the tahini and whatever else is in the truant bag.

After that we can pick up the rental, drop off our van in my brother-in-law's garage and hit the road. I'm totally not in vacation mode yet, still obsessed with getting everything done on time so we can leave as early as possible. Once we're heading out of the city with a 10-hour mp3 mix on random, I'll start to feel vacation coming on.

We decided to drive to Colorado instead of fly because we love to have long stretches of unstructured time together. It's conducive to long, unstructured conversations of the kind we can't normally fit into the "How was your day?" format. On the other long road trip we have taken together, a car delivery for some friends who moved from Chicago to Oregon, we had conversations that blew us both away. I can't remember what we were talking about on that winding road through Idaho, but we felt closer then than ever before. At one point (and don't tell Joel I wrote this), we pulled over onto the side of the road and both just cried. It was such a powerful moment, and it couldn't have developed without the days of jokes, singing, companionable silence and pointing out roadside attractions that preceded it.

I'll try to check email as often as possible while we're away, but I won't post again until after we get back on the 11th. Our landlady and our friend Julio will be checking on the house, but I seriously doubt they would be willing to post dictated messages while I'm gone. I'll try to keep a written journal so I don't forget the good stuff, and tell you all about it when we get home. Until then, enjoy your summer.

by Juliet Email me!

Thu, Jun 26 2003

Nelly Furtado

We're getting our favorite CDs ready for the trip and Joel has been putting some Nelly Furtado into a mix. I'm looking at the case that my Nelly Furtado CD came in. Craig B., one of my friends at World Book, made the CD for me before I left for grad school. On the inside he wrote: "Juliet, Good Luck on your Future Endeavors."

I've been out of touch with Craig now since I started at Medill a year ago, but the CD he made for me has been an almost constant companion, especially in the last few months. When Joel went with his band to North Carolina in March, I became strangely dependent on hearing Craig's Nelly Furtado compilation all the time until Joel came back. When Joel spent a week in Washington, D.C., in April, I listened to the CD obsessively again. Now I just listen to it any old time. The music makes me feel really alive, and I couldn't begin to tell you why.

Listening to this CD so much has given me a profound appreciation for Craig's generosity, even though we weren't close friends and haven't kept in touch. He is an extremely gregarious person with a boisterous sense of humor and a welcoming air about him. Our friendship consisted of short conversations when I walked past his cubicle. We never ate lunch together or got together outside of work. He was just a friendly office guy, but he went out of his way to do something nice for me when I left World Book to go to grad school. It was probably hit or miss, but it has turned out to make a big difference to me, especially when I've felt lonely and stressed out. I wonder if he had any idea it would be such a perfect gift.
by Juliet Email me!

The inspection was...

Sorry for the late start this morning - my sister called me at 9:30 saying, "Where is the update? What happened at the inspection?"

Well, it was good.

Dad liked the house, the inspector, Mark Ladner, liked it, and Joel concurred. The house has no serious flaws (YAY!) just a couple of issues that we are going to ask the owner to repair. Those are: put a liner in the chimney and fix some of the outlets. Some of the outlets are not grounded and those in the kitchen and bathroom don't have ground fault circuit interrupters (you know, in case the blow dryer falls in the sink). Dad and Joel said they felt like the seller made noises like he was amenable to fixing the stuff himself, and goodness knows we have been very easy going on his requests so far.

So as long as we can get him to agree to fix this stuff, we may be able to make it further in this process than we've ever made it before: through the lawyer approval period. If we can do that, it will be a big accomplishment. After that we just have to make everything okay with the bank and get our loan.

Unfortunately I can't write too much (you may be relieved) because my mom and dad are coming over to drop off my car and then we will take them back to O'Hare and put them on the plane to Puerto Rico. It's been so nice having them here.

I'll try to write again tomorrow, then Saturday before we leave on our trip. We're going to be rushing around between now and then, doing laundry, making mix CDs and cleaning house. I promise a full account of the trip after the 12th, and some big news you might not have heard yet. But you're going to have to wait for it.
by Juliet Email me!

Wed, Jun 25 2003

Inspection day

Aside from reading great books and seeing great movies, Joel and I have also been very busy because we have a contract on another house. Yes, we're going down that road again, really hoping that there will be a new home at the end of it.

Today won't exactly be the moment of truth, but it will be important. The previous two houses we have wanted to buy were both struck down by a very negative inspection. We're hoping and praying that this one will be different.

The house is a one-story brick home that is actually only about 1 1/2 blocks from the very first house we tried to buy, but on a much quieter street. It has three bedrooms and two bathrooms, one on the main floor and one in the finished basement. The floors are mostly hardwood, a big plus, and the basement is very nicely done by the owner. The owners say they have never had flooding. On the back of the house there is a slightly unusual but still alluring enclosed patio. It's a room (about 12' x 12') with screened and louvered windows that stretch from floor to ceiling on each of the three exposed walls. It looks perfect for a hammock, a greenhouse, a wood-burning stove and parties in weather turned suddenly inclement. We like.

Well, as much as we like this house, I have come to hate and fear inspection day because of the bad news it has brought us in the past. So today I have a great plan: I am sending my dad to the inspection in my place! He's more knowledgeable and less easily scared than I am when it comes to any kind of home repair, he's easy to get along with and definitely has Joel's and my best interests at heart. So I am going to hang out with my mom (they're still in town following my graduation on Saturday) while the boys take care of the inspection.

Wish us luck with everything! By this time next month we hope to be on our way to closing on a new house.
by Juliet Email me!

Tue, Jun 24 2003

It's working!

This is great! Finally my site is up and running, and I promise to try to post as much as I can before, well, before the two-week Colorado road trip Joel and I have planned starting... Saturday. Okay, that is very, very lame blogger behavior, I know. But once we get back, not only will I write more frequently, but I will be sure to tell you all about my trip.

Now that that's out of the way, I want to recommend some books that have occupied my time while my site has been in limbo. I have been devouring Alexander McCall Smith's novels about The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. The four novels so far published in the series follow Precious Ramotswe, a female private detective in Botswana. Mma Ramotswe (her polite name in Botswana culture), like most private detectives, deals with the undesirable facets of people's personal lives, but does so in a way that combines modern sensibilities with a traditional African morality. This mix has affected me so much since I began reading the books that I find myself confronting difficult situations thinking, "What would Mma Ramotswe suggest?"

Rather than being straight mystery novels, these are stories about Mma Ramotswe and how she lives her life, her meditations on her country and Africa in general, and how she confronts the moral questions that arise in her line of work. The writing is inviting and lyrical, funny and poignant.

One other thing I want to pass on to you: I saw the movie, "Whale Rider," last weekend. I highly recommend this film about the struggle to bring a traditional culture into the modern world. The film revolves around 11-year-old Pai, a Maori girl whose birth as the first child in a long line of chiefs was a major disappointment to her grandfather, who hoped that his grandson would be a kind of prophet who would bring back the traditional Maori ways. Pai is played by Keisha Castle-Hughes in her first acting role ever. Not only is her portrayal both profound and unselfconscious, Castle-Hughes' acting carries none of the cutesy child-actor gimmicks that would have ruined this film. She is truly outstanding. I won't say more, except to wholeheartedly praise this film and urge you to see it.
by Juliet Email me!

Wed, Jun 18 2003

And now Does it work???
by Me Email me!

Posted at:Sat, Jul 12 2003 04:21:45 PM