The big moving day

The final picture of our family at our house in Burnsville.
A picture of Erin, Nina and Karren, our great neighbor!

First Sunday in New Ulm

Today was the first Sunday in New Ulm. Nina is laughing during breakfast and it was the start of a good day.




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Nina likes to imitate, as do many toddlers. In this clip, she tells herself "No" because she knows she's not supposed to put lip gloss (Burt's Bees) in her mouth.




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Saturday Nina got some cool shades that match her PJs. We're looking forward to her wearing them lots this summer.

Day Before the Close

Tomorrow the closing on our house occurs. Tomorrow will also be the first day that I'll be telecommuting on a regular basis. If you have any tips or hints, please let me know.

Nina has been wearing her sandals and sun hat for walks. Today we went to Target and got a big purple ball for her to play with.

Today for snack, Erin asked Nina what she wanted, either yoghurt or strawberries, Nina said, "Apple sauce!" That was the first time I heard her say that phrase, otherwise prior she had signed it.

It's amazing how cheap strawberries are here! It's $0.99/lb! Apparently the grocery store must compete against the local farmers.

I'm looking forward to having the Essig Kraut for the lunch special on Wednesday at Kaiserhoff!

Moving, CHECK!

We are finally done with our packing/move! The last two weeks have been incredibly busy and today was the last day!

Incredible how packing for so many evenings finally culminates in little more than one hour of moving boxes/furniture/items into a truck!

It took us two trips in our Honda Civic to get all of our stuff to New Ulm. This is in addition to the two trips that Erin's father kindly did for us last weekend!

Yesterday Nina came over to Erin with a stack of plastic cups and said, "Two." Sure enough, there were two cups! Wow! I'm impressed.

Today has been full of changes for all of us. We have so many food items to use up this next month or so.

A warm hello to everyone from New Ulm, Minnesota.

Pre-Closing Day!

The last couple of days have been a whirlwind of selling things on Craigslist, sorting, & packing. As with so many moves, we need to pack for New York, pack for the summer (New Ulm & Singapore), and toss/sell what we don't want/need.

Yesterday we sold our Toyota Matrix! We're down to one car.

Today we're going to the pre-closing and the days thankfully seem to be passing slower (because we're so busy and awake much longer).

The picture is one of Grandpa Russell & Nina sitting by our tree this past Saturday.

Last Few Days

At work we have come to an agreement that I will afterall tele-commute, but I will do a different role: reporting. I will write specs and build them. This is a role that I have done in my previous job before. It serves the purpose.

I was looking forward to teaching Nina how to swim in New Ulm, but the outside pool does not open until Memorial Day. As usual, she grown lots. Just this morning Erin and I were commenting about how tall she had become.

It was our last Friday in this house.

Yesterday was our last Saturday. Erin's parents came over yesterday and took some items for us and for themselves. As it turns out we have enough stuff that they want or we want to send with them to warrant another visit today!

We've been selling / giving away lots of stuff.

Mom & Dad have decided to go to New York for Greg's Graduation via Mauritius/Paris.

The Switch

When we had received the buyer's offer to close on April 30, I waited to respond because I wanted to seek final approval/consent from my boss to telecommute from that point onwards. Following that day (Monday April 2) I had tried to schedule a meeting with my boss to discuss my last day with the company. This meeting was postponed several times, until this past Monday, April 16. On that day, he told me that telecommuting was not going to work for someone in my role and that as long as I came into work, I would have a job!

This was absurd. This was a Bait & Switch! Had I known this policy, I would have tried to change the closing date to mid-to-later May. I expressed my disappointment and questioned his decision change. I told him that the current project has more white-boarding and customer interaction than the up-coming ones and consequently will easily be feasible while telecommuting. He was set on his decision.

I then suggested that I take a different role of spec-ing & writing reports. He said he would consider it and get back to me later that day. If this alternative is not possible, I told him that May 1st would be my last day. He told me to make the letter and .

Furious! But perhaps God is pointing me towards spending quality time with both Erin and Nina. Perhaps arguably the best month in Minnesota should be spent teaching Nina how to swim?

Tuesday. The new possibilities had started to sink in.

Today, Wednesday, since I read the handbook I typed up my notice letter and went over to HR to inform them. At this point, the HR person took my account of the events and expressed her eagerness to try and have the company do what's fair. Her understanding was that my boss had not finalized the consent to telecommute! This was completely different from my understanding because had that been the situation, I would have told him to obtain the final decision prior to signing a purchase-seller agreement.

Later, my boss approached and told me that he was close to decision that would allow me to telecommute and work on reports, so long as I come to the office one or two days a week. I looked at him. He knows that New Ulm is 90 miles away. Given that the company handbook states that employees working further than 60 miles away may telecommute, I asked him if the company would reimburse me for mileage. He said he would get back to me.

I can not imagine driving for 3 hours each day.

And of course there's the moving. We selected Graebel today.

Began the Packing in Minnesota

All of us safely arrived back from our travels! I was fortunate enough to make it successfully out of the Big Apple given the Nor-Easter!

Nina has grown so very much! It is absolutely incredible. She speaks phrases now such as "Dup Daddy" for "Picked Up Daddy" and "Bye Daddy." She has a sense of maturity about her that the growth is amazing in four days!

Thank-you Popo & Coucoun for the Mega Block Cinderella toy. She loves it!

NYC/New Ulm

Erin & Nina (and Milo) went to New Ulm yesterday. I hope they are having a good time. I miss them. I look forward to speaking with them this morning.

I have had an eventful last two days. It began with snow in Minnesota and my flight getting cancelled. Fortunately it resulted in my flight switching from one with a layover in Chicago (American Airlines) to a direct one (Northwest Airlines).

Thursday's Events
Registration/Breakfast
Cluster Welcomes with Hermes Society/Peer Advisors (PA)
Class Visit (Customer Experience Management - Prof Bernd Schmitt)
Uncluster Lunches in Morningside Heights (Le Monde)
Class Visit (Why Do Countires Grow? - Prof David Beim)
The Ecademy Awards
Thursday Reception
Thursday Night Happy Hour
LABA Party Spring 2007

A brief summary: Met lots and lots of people from an Australian working in Dubai to a New Yorker working as an oil field engineer in the Sahara! I liked both of the sample classes because the Profs not only kept my attention, but also got me thinking.

The Ecademy Awards were just plain cool. The presentations included the CEO/founders of Out 2 Play, Recycle Bank, and Surf Parks among others. Something like Recycle bank is not only cool and profitable, but it also helps people & the environment!

My voice was hoarse from all of the talking (and of course listening).

Friday's Events
Registration/Breakfast
Career Services / Executives in Residence Panel
Intro to the Academic Program by Vice Dean Amir Ziv.
Lunch with Faculty (Social Enterprise)
Student Panel
Keynote Speaker (Carol Einiger '73) President of Post Rock Advisors & member of CBS Board of Overseers
Club Fair
Reception at Bloomingdale's with address by Michael Gould '68 chairman & CEO of Bloomingdale's & member of CBS Board of Overseers
Informal Dinner with 7 other future students
Informal event at 230

I really liked listening to the Carol & Michael. Their advice is priceless!

Today I'm off to walk around the campus & the surrounding neighborhood.

Daddy's in New York

Nina is wearing Erin's shoes and has a credit card!

I left for New York today to attend the CBS Open House. Erin and Nina dropped me off at the airport. When it was time for Nina to go to sleep, the routine is for the three of us to stand, hug each other, and bounce up and down a little saying "Hugga hugga hugga!" Usually we get a little smile out of Nina. Erin told me that tonight, Nina said "Daddy?!" Nina signed "work" thinking/questioning whether I was working. Erin told her that I had taken the plane. Nina began to cry a bit and so Erin distracted her by including the friends in the hug: Popo Bear, Mousy, and George. This story warms my heart.

3 Word Phrase!

Nina said her first three word phrase today: Mommy candle hot! She continues to grow each and every day. Something new is just around the corner.

My Mom's latest test results are discouraging, see her blog (link at the right) for the latest information.

I'm speaking to a colleague of mine regarding selling our Honda Civic.
I will post our Toyota Matrix upon my return.

This Thursday/Friday is the Columbia Business School (CBS) Open House in New York where I'll meet many of my future classmates. Itinerary

We'll start our packing and selling of the remaining items very soon.

The photo is of Nina waking up following Saturday's nap and being happy to see "Panda" which was her favorite new word and ASL sign on the weekend.

Nina Wearing a Back Pack

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Phrases!

Nina has begun to both speak and sign phrases! Upon returning home from work, Nina said, "Daddy home!" Erin informed me that Nina has also said, "Cute baby", "Baby shoe", and "Milo back" after he returns from going to the bathroom outside. Furthermore, she has begun signing in phrases such as "Help please", "Again please", and "Read please." We are elated to have Nina learn signs and manners from Signing Time!

Since returning back home from New Ulm yesterday, Nina has been wearing my old big Jansport backpack that I used while in college. It is a large back pack and Nina loves wearing it! I will try and post some clips/photos. Today she says "Backup off!" or "Backup on" and we think she is simply adorable wearing it.

Our house "Sold" sign is up.

Happy Easter

We sincerely hope you had a Happy Easter!

Story Time

Auntie Kelli's storytime with Nina. Little Gorilla.

Counter the Counter

Buyer countered with $1000! And we've agreed to it. No house changes. $1000 as is! House Sold!

Now there's the appraiser.

The Post-Inspection Amendment

Nina and Friends in the Morning.


The buyer includes a significant portion of the inspection report. Nothing major, but follows with 10 items of small requests from labeling the fuse box to large requests of moving the hot-water heat pipes in the basement from the ceiling to the floor! Our realtor said that this last request is unreasonable since most, if not all, houses of our style and layout have pipes similar to ours. The buyer then said that he would buy the house "as is" if we reduced the price by $2000! The list of all ten items definitely do not sum to that amount. We countered with $700 so we shall see tomorrow.

Waking Up with Nina and Friends

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Inspection!

Today the inspection occurred in the morning. The scheduled time was from 9-noon. We had showing #40 scheduled from 11-noon. Erin and Nina left the house and saw a white van (presumably for the inspector) just pulling into the driveway. Erin and Nina went grocery shopping. They had left a note for the inspector to call her upon completion. By lunchtime there was no call. As some of you may know, the longer the inspection, the worse the findings may be. They then went to grab some lunch. Erin finally received a call at 12:53 that they are leaving! The buyer had arrived at the house and left the earnest money! A good sign. He has one day to make a decision regarding the inspection findings. We shall see what tomorrow holds.

Tomorrow I will call our realtor front desk declining the scheduled House Showing #41.

On the Nina front. She is so funny and LOUD at times. She likes playing the piano with us. She is becoming more independent in the mornings. Erin says that Nina plays on her own for about two hours!

Nina's favorite song had been "Na na na" aka Every Move I Make by Jennifer Carozza for at least the past six months. Each time we would turn the computer on, she would make that request, until now. She now likes the Cartoon Song by Chris Rice and the Big Fish by FFH.

The Offers!

Thank you Lord for taking care of us and providing us with not only one, but two offers! We have selected the higher one. We will respond to the buyer today. We want to confirm with my work that telecommuting will indeed be viable for an April 30 move date. I had received tentative verbal approval for telecommuting about three weeks ago and want to confirm specifics.

Thank you for your prayers.

Monday

Today we had another showing (#38) in 2.5 weeks! We found out around 6:35pm that there are two offers! We are both excited and anxious about them. Our realtor will present them to us tonight.

Nina did not want to sleep during her nap and exited her room once, ecstatically, only to be disappointed in tears when she was put back to bed. However, that's all it took. Nina was much better than last night.

Tonight she was even better, no resistance. "Resistance is futile" for all those TNG fans out there.

I submitted my Gap CSR Scholar/Fellowship application today.

I'm signing us up for electronic statements (credit cards, bank statements etc).

Sunday

Yesterday and today we had second showings bringing the total number of showings to 37! We got a call around 6:15pm from our realtor stating that there are two parties interested. Nothing is in writing yet, but we're keeping our fingers crossed. One party apparently ideally wants possession at the end of July (end of their apartment lease). We shall see what the terms are!

We are very excited.

With Nina's nap typically in the afternoon, the 1-2pm, 2:30-3:30pm, and 3-4pm showings, it was difficult for her to have a nap as long as normal. In fact, it was only 45 minutes. As a result, she is extremely tired and is crying/putting up a fight tonight.

We went to Brooks Brothers at MOA today. They are having a 15% off sale.