We met a contractor today to do a walkthrough and discuss our plans. He seemed nice and competent enough. He would really put out a serious estimate, which I would not call an estimate but actual project plans. He did give us a ballpark estimate just by looking at things; he thought it would be around xxx dollars to do the downstairs and another yyy to do the upstairs (xxx and yyy are large numbers). That was just an educated guess, as he would have to work things out to come up with a better target. I am not surprised it is that much; I dunno if we should be spending that kind of $$$, especially since we don’t have that kind of $$$ lying around right now and may have to borrow it, but I guess we will see. But perhaps the Bonasaurus will appreciate later in life that we paid for her education instead of remodeling our house.

It is farmer’s market day in Columbia City, so I took the Bonasarus down there and met up with Amanda and Lonan. It was a nice day… eighty degrees and party / mostly sunny… so there were a lot of people there. There were long lines at the various prepared food places and gobs of families in Columbia Park. Obviously they were families; I had discussed with various people before that the farmer’s market is really just a huge social event for families. Single and/or child-free people go to the market, but they tend to go there, get what they want, and leave. Families hang out.

I actually prefer to go when the weather sucks, because I feel all the vendors appreciate it more.

Amanda and the Kai got ice cream before I arrived. We ended up getting goat cheese with garlic and herbs (ok price-wise, but not cheap), a couple of pounds of asparagus (ok), and a baguette from Columbia City Bakery (a serious luxery item now). The baguettes went up in price from four dollars to five! And they were expensive at four. I could get three perfectly fine baguettes from Paris Bakery and Deli for that price. Of course, they are different types of things, and the Columbia City Bakery baguette is very tasty in a more unique (for Seattle) way.

Kai also really wanted apple granita (expensive), so Amanda made him by it from his allowance as she only gets him one treat (ice cream this time) per visit to the market.

Amanda actually went to the credit union and withdrew enough five dollow bills (52 I guess) for the Kai’s allowance for the year. She asked if they had that many easily available, and the teller said that the can just process such requests thru some machine in the back that spits out whatever is desired. The teller remembers us as the people with the kids with Cool Names. Funny.

It was hot and I was thristy so I made sangria to have with dinner. I did consult recipes on the internet, but basically just made one up since sangria is wine, fruit, maybe fruit juice, suger, and water or some carbonated mixer. I found it funny that almost all the recipes recommended using a bottle of cheap red wine which seems obvious. I used the box wine we get from Trader Joes.

It was tasty enough and might be dangerous for me if the summer stays hot. Amanda sensed the danger admonished me to “stop drinking” because she did not want me to fall asleep early after dinner and leave her with the kiddies. As if I would be so irresponsible. I do think that sangria needs orange juice; I did not have any and used lemons and limes and it felt like something was missing.

I bought the electronic version of the first four books of A Song and Ice and Fire. Since the Game of Thrones television series has become such a cultural phenomenom, I decided I should go ahead and read it especially since it is a fantasty series. I only read a bit of it last night, and it seemed a easy enough read. I guess we will see if I am wowed by it.