The exciting event of the week is a concert, the first in a loooong time for us! We're going to see Ben Folds and Rufus Wainwright at the Mountain Winery tomorrow night. Despite large crowds, we managed to score a pair of close-up but off-center floor seats - I'm pretty stoked.

In other news, Mel was accepted to the remote study oenology course at U.C. Davis! I'm ecstatic - this should be a great way to tell whether it's something she would want to do as a career, and I don't lose her for a year. (Or have to drive out to Davis. Yet.)

We're postponing the home search for a bit, it would seem - the prices seem over-inflated and even the sellers agents don't seem to be able to convey enthusiasm for the properties on the market right now. After some serious consideration, we're going to give it six months to a year and see what happens to house prices - we'll have far more of a down payment saved up at that point, anyway.

That's assuming that our vehicles don't fall apart where they stand, of course. The rover failed a smog check last week, necessitating a trip to the shop. The OBD-II code from the computer suggested the catalytic converter would need to be replaced, but the dealer thinks it may just be an oxygen sensor. Give the residual value of the vehicle at this point, we're probably going to give up on it if the repair will cost more than half the value of the truck. Here's hoping that's not the case.