Shoveling Sunshine

After reading our daughter Mallory's blog reporting 13 inches of snow at their house, and Laurie's sister Mary's blog reporting an ice storm, I thought I should share a bit about what we are dealing with here in Los Angeles.

Today, for example, we had to shovel a ton of sunshine in order to get out our front door and make our way to the beach for a long walk. We braced ourselves for the 80 degree temperature and cowered from the 10 mile an hour sea breeze gently ruffling our t-shirts. And don't get me started on all that stinking sand in our flip-flops.

Just look at some pictures of the aftermath from our severe sunshine. . .

The lake at the Chinese Garden in Huntington Botanical Gardens
Tidal pools at Abalone Cove near Palos Verdes south west of L.A.
The mountains north of Malibu.

I realize that we are not taking as many pictures lately, because I struggle to find new stuff for the blog. We will work on that. Last week we were in Atlanta for Habitat's national conference. It was good catching up with old friends, and reconnecting to the larger mission of Habitat.

We are starting to think about buying a home here-a daunting venture given the housing costs here, even in light of the down real estate market. Now is a great time to buy though, because interest rates are down as are house prices, and it's a buyers market. It looks like we will be able to get a nice place in a neighborhood near where we live now within our budget. Buying now should prove beneficial when the market turns around and we realize an increase in value. We are in prime position to take advantage since we don't own a house now, so don't have to sell in this market. We'll keep you posted with pictures of potential properties (phew!) as the search goes on. We figure it will be about 3-6 months to find and finalize a deal.

That's all for now-Love Ya-Cheers! Mark