#CatsToCalifornia

Well, I grew up in #NormanOklahoma -- leafy college town, bright blue spot in red state. If offered the job, we could make a life there.

Tick, tick, tick, both waiting to learn if either had an offer. What if we BOTH got an offer?!!

I was not hopeful, hiring manager, graduate of ultra-right Liberty U. I was right, they did not choose me for the job. (whew in a way, but now fingers crossed for Craig and life in Bay Area)

TL;DR He got the job! (deep exhale)

4/

#CatsToCalifornia continues (I do have a point here!)

Summer 2013: Craig a finalist for workers' comp insurance job in SF. Don a finalist for IT architect job at #University of Oklahoma (my alma mater).

We'll take the first one offered, but can an Okie-born gay liberal not go crazy back in deep-red OK? Cheap real estate was a tease, though.

Craig flies to CA for interviews, he uses address of a friend in #Alameda to appear local.

We both go to #NormanOklahoma for interviews....

3/

This is the passive solar house I mentioned in my previous post. Built in 1980, it had period-appropriate style and colors: chocolate brown tile floors to soak up sunlight, forest green carpets and wallpaper, brass fixtures. Almost no glass to the north, almost all glass to the south, with overhangs that shaded the windows in the summer. Most of these photos were taken during construction. I did all the tile, most of the trim and interior painting.

#PassiveSolar
#NormanOklahoma

Can a thing be valuable? To me, yes--if it represents great design, and/or if it has become part of the story of my life.

This #Chemex carafe kettle is both. I bought it in my 20s, and used it this morning to boil water for iced tea. Handblown, the chimney is also a handle, kept cool enough for bare hands by the "steam stopper" that sits inside. The second photo is from 1982, where it's in the passive solar house I built in 1980 in #NormanOklahoma

#design
#coffee

I am remembering my Mom, Betty, on what would have been her 108th birthday. Our home in Norman OK was 4 blocks from the University of Oklahoma campus, where Dad was a professor.

This photo is from 1958, and my memories are of a wonderful childhood. So much of who I am comes from Mom's teaching and example. I still miss her a lot.

#NormanOklahoma
#UniversityOfOklahoma