Another Super Weekend in Kremnica

Wow, all I can say is wow. I had such a great time with everyone this weekend. Topics to be covered in this post are, Food, Friends, a Cottage, seeing Stars on a night full of clouds and rain and anything else I can come up with.

Friends:
While the weather was not perfect, we got lucky and Saturday turned out to be a great day. When we arrived on Friday night we spent most of the time putting things back into the cottage Joey had to remove to put down the new tile floor, which looks great and really makes a difference in the feeling of the place. I wanted to cook pasta for everyone but we were all to tired and it was about 10pm by the time we got everything put away so we could relax in comfort. On Saturday Martina, Joey and Zuzka (Joey's sister Susan) spent most of the day cleaning just about every inch of the cottage and putting everything into it proper place. It looks great now, they did so much work it was amazing.

SIDEBAR - I have not talked much about Zuzka before but the easy way to describe her is she is the female version of Joey (which is super), always has a smile on her face and is always willing to do whatever work is needed. I have started to call Joey "The OX" (vôl or býk) because the guy just keeps working non stop. You put the two of them together and they make an amazing team.

I did a little work but, I had other things to take care of. :) Sometimes it is better to stay out of the way then trying to help and only causing more confusion. (That's my story and I am sticking to it.) I did help Joey build a new table for the kitchen. The guy created a great table in about 40 minutes using some 2x2's and some plywood. All with only a hachet and chain saw and some big ass nails. The table came out great and Martina liked it so much she doesn't want it to be temporary like they had planned. At about 4pm we went into town to get a late lunch (or early dinner, your choice.) I had the best Minestrone soup I have ever had. The bowl was huge and I was not able to finish it all. After that we went to do what I had come to Kremnica for, to find myself a cottage to buy. The quick answer is, I found one. Now to tell you about it.

The Cottage:
I have been talking with Martina and Joey about wanting to find a cottage near them so we could be neighbours (susedia). While we had talked about it before we had never gone looking for a place. I have been thinking about it so much the last month, it has been my main focus of my energy to make it happen. (Those of you who don't understand that part about focusing my energy, here is the easy answer, think about what you want to happen in your life and it will happen, if you know how to focus that energy correctly. It has taken me 9 years learning how to do this and it is not something I can just write about and explain easily, sorry, but just try it yourself, you will figure it out, it works if you let it and you believe in it. No faith in it then it will not happen, faith in your energy is the one key to making things happen in your life. (Remember my mantra, Good things happen to me because I want good things to happen to me. Bad things don't happen to me because I don't want bad things to happen to me.) Back to the cottage.) So for the last month I have been thinking about not only what I would want in a cottage and also where I want it located. To me I needed small place, maybe 250 sq ft. (23 sq m) or so, something just a little bigger than my cabin at camp. I wanted something that was a in need of some repairs so I could make some changes I would want to and also to keep the cost down. I also wanted a place that had running water and electricity if possible but the water was the more important of the two for me. Electricity has not been run to any of the cottages near Joey so I knew that going in. They are trying to get electricity run to the area in September this year or April of next. I don't mind not having electricity but it does make life a little easier. The other things I wanted from a cottage are a good view and close to Joey and Martina. I have been behind Joey's cabin to pee and have seen the path up the hill from his place but never went up it and looked at was up there. I never felt like climbing up the steep hill the 20 feet to see. But when I would picture in my head what I was looking for, the location was the main thing I focused on. I keep thinking it would be great if I could get cottage further up the hill behind Joey's place. The best option was directly behind him so I would also have the forest to the right of my cottage without the chance of others building there in the future and a short 200 feet or so walk to his place. As it turns out the one and only place in Joey's area for sale now is exactly where and what I wanted and pictured in my head. (And yes I believe my energy made that happen. If you don't believe it, that is your issue, enjoy a life you let others control for you puppet.) It will need a new roof (my taxi driver John (yes I have a personal taxi driver, he is nice, his english is very good and he is always there when I need him.) has offered to also be my architect, as he is an engineer and likes to do this kind of work.) and some other minor repairs but the roof is not a problem as I plan on changing the roof line to add a sleeping loft to the cottage. It has running water, a nice bonus as it will allow me to provide water to Joey's cottage. I did not get a chance to look inside as it was locked but it is a 4m x 4m building with a basement of an unknown size. It is on about an acre of land and has about 6 terraces for planting gardens (I plan on planting Strawberries and Blueberries) on the hillside going towards Joey's place. The elevation change from the top of the property to the bottom is steep. Joey has spoken to the son of the woman selling the cottage and he wanted to make some improvements and wait for electricity to be run before really selling the place. So we have worked out a fair price for the place as is now. It is now just a matter of going back and meeting with him to have him show me everything that I was not able to see when we looked at it on Saturday. If I find no major problems I will begin the process of buying the place. I hope to be able to say by July First I will own a cottage in Kremnica. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Shit: (hovno) - I need to run out for a while so I can finish right now. (Sorry Mata, but I had to visit HOPA (HOPA=Horsky Park student housing aka Dorms.), you understand :) Vlado says hi and wants to put in a beer tap if I get the cottage. How was the movie?) I promised Martina I would have this done by the time she got home from the movie but as you see I had to unexpectedly (thanks Google for the correct spelling. Boze! (God)(And I teach English)) visit some friends tonight. Which turned out to be a great night. (Dakujem (Thank you) KK) I will deal with my love of parentheses at a later date. (But I do love them so. (Almost as much as HOPA, what can I say, I like hanging out with University Students, they have the most fun)) YBN (Why be Normal)

Food:
It was a good weekend for me and food. I cooked a late dinner on Saturday for Joey Martina and Zuzka. They had never had Chicken Fajitas before and Martina said it was the best chicken she had ever had. (Dakujem Mata :)) Joey and Zuzka also loved them as well. (Bratislava's first mobile Fajitas Kiosk is in the works as I type.) Joey liked them so much he and Mata had one each for breakfast the next morning. Then on Sunday we went to visit Martina's family (plus Joey got to play football (soccer) with his friends. Like I said he is "The OX") so I could make my version of Penne Parmesan Carbonara (Italian version of Halusky) for everyone. Again everyone enjoyed it. (I give it a 7 out of 10 but I am my own worst critic. But I know I can make it better next time.) I plan on returning to visit Martina's family on Thursday night (I am going to speak to Martina's little sister Dominika's High School English Class on Friday) and will introduce them (Martina's family, not the students, in case that was confusing.) to the Fajitas. (Sammy, I will try and not make them to spicy. And I want a hockey game rematch! :) )

Stars:
So how can you see stars in Kremnica when it is raining? Easy go upstairs in Joey's and Martinas cottage turn off the lights, lie down, turn on Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd and enjoy the galaxy Joey created with glow in the dark stars. I was really very cool and will get better as soon as we find glow in the dark paint.

So that shuld bring you up to date and after 6 hours of writing I am done. (yes it takes me that long to write but I want to make sure I cover everything I want and say it in the way I want. unfortunatly it is not always an easy conversion from my brain to written word. Thus my love of parentheses. :)