kismet09

We have a robin living in the pansies on our front porch! Our house is surrounded by trees, but I guess there are benefits living in a planter instead of in a tree. For one thing, since it's rained more or less every day of June (and July so far), our robin stays nice and dry while less fortunate nesters are pretty moist. Awww.

The stuff is all out of the old house and into the new house. The second POD arrives today or tomorrow with the rest of the stuff. Then, we'll get rid of a lot of it so that we'll fit comfortably in the house.

It's crazy to move into somewhere that's move-in ready. The only thing we had to do was repaint one room (now a non-voc paint from home depot in the color 'tranquil pond' - light blueish-grey). Compare this to the last house , which required stripping wallpaper in almost every room, replacing large things like roof and furnace, ripping out carpet, refinishing hardwood floors, etc. etc., this is amazingly, wonderfully easy. The furnace was recently changed to a super-efficient one, the appliances are gorgeous, the paint colors are warm and - while not exactly what we would have chosen - completely acceptable.

We got rid of most of the furniture, since it was worn and/or broken and/or not suited to the new space. So far, we've bought a dresser and bed for our room, a sectional couch and tv stand for the living room, and a dining room table and two chairs (still working on the rest of the chairs). There are a couple of larger things left to purchase - bar stools for the kitchen bar area, a grill, possibly some more outdoor furniture, coffeetables - but nothing immediately critical. We have internet and television again, so we feel more grounded than we have for the past month (even though I already broke the HD part of the cable box).

In this house, I'll have a room to myself for crafts, video games, my ridiculous number of collections, my computer, and Tim will have one, which will also serve as the guest room. It's nice to have enough spaces so that we each have one, and also so that the dining room table doesn't become an office.

My sister u4ic is in town for a week or so (I misread the email and thought she came in on Friday and left on Sunday. Turns out she came in on Friday and leaves next Sunday, which makes a lot more sense, in retrospect). It's fun to take her around to see nature, which she doesn't have in Chicago. She has spent much time playing in our creek and in the ocean, collecting acorns in the yard and shells on the beach, and looking at the stars. We hope to go apple picking (which she has never done! poor deprived sister!) this coming weekend.

There's just too much to recap for a Monday morning post. Maybe I'll go and backdate some stuff later.

Thanks to everyone who has helped (and will help) us pack, load pods, unload pods, and unpack. We couldn't have done it without you!