Progress

Here we are in our new kitchen which is moments away from being completely unpacked and organized. Baby steps. Oliver has been a huge help, alerting us to all the goings on outside his new windows. I think he preferred his previous view from the third floor but he is willing to trade that for the frequent trips to the "backyard" to play fetch..sans leash (shudder). So far so good. He is being a very good listener.

An organized house is within our grasp at this stage and our spirits are high. Vampire Weekend is dancing along on the cd player in the living room and I can hear the whir of Stephen's drill and he starts to put the art on the walls. We debated about whether to sleep beneath the owl or the polar bear and landed on the polar bear as he is slightly injured and will feel less self conscious in the bedroom. The owl is coming in for a landing over the computer desk in the living room.

Stephen is so amazing at making a new place feel like home. He made a few simple alterations to the light fixture in the "dining room" and voila we were able to hang out old green light that we had at the other place. He also went out and got a tiny under cabinet light to put over the sink.. we both hate overhead lighting so these things make us feel good inside and more mentally stable. We are both very dependant on our surroundings for mental stability. Thus the last week has been pretty rough and has seen us spending an unhealthy amount of time in the bathroom, as it was the only room in the house clean and fully put together.

We keep being blown away by the number of people, friends new and old, who want to hang out and visit with us. These new relationships seem to come so easily as, oddly enough, everyone around us is in the same boat - young, married, expecting in the late summer or fall. It's sort of crazy how many of these new friends are having babies around the same time that we are. It's just as awesome hanging with those that are not expecting..overall it's just amazing to have so many arms reaching out..helping us not feel trapped.. helping us feel good about our decision to move here.

Still doesn't feel real though. I watch the Today Show in the morning and and the NBC evening news at night. When they show shots of the city it doesn't feel far away. I feel like I could hop on the train at any moment and go do a little shopping downtown. Sometimes I try to remind myself that I am not there, I am here... but it doesn't work. The city is more a part of me than I thought and I think I like that my mind has tricked itself into believing that I have just moved to another borough.

hangin' tough

New Kids on the Block are playing out on the plaza today. I have to say that I sort of wish I was back on the 24th floor, able to hang out the window in conference room A to see the crazies in the crowd lose it over these guys. I remember listening to New Kids at the Rolla Rink and feeling super cool as I skated around in a circle on my brown rented skates with orange wheels. No, I was never asked to couple skate. Maybe that was because when couple skate started I made a beeline for the snack bar where I sat staring at the menu choices wondering which item I would spend my snack money on, normally settling for Skittles.

We are hanging in there around here too. Still unpacking.. can you stand it ??!?! I can't. I have never take this long to unpack in a new place ... ever. I am practically useless, that seems to be the problem. I can work for an extremely short amount of time before I am dizzy, tired, Braxton Hicksy etc. etc. etc. Then I have to sit down, have some water, rest.. sometimes take a nap. I know it will get done eventually but right now it feels like an eternal task that won't be completed any time this century. I have dreams of our nice neat apartment in Brooklyn, then I wake up here amid the boxes. Grrrrr.

The girls had another measurement ultrasound on Monday and they are measuring exactly as they should be for 25 weeks. They are both the same size and weight and for the first time actually had the exact same heart rate. They weight about a pound and a half each right now. Still super busy and kicking constantly.

Still don't have our own internet service (soon we hope) so I better try to post this before I lose the one bar of WiFi that I have going here. Will post pics as soon as it starts to look more like a home instead of a rummage sale...

Floridian..?

Still without a camera cord so I feel like I have blindfolded my readers, unable to give you a peak at my current surroundings. Still without consistant internet access, stealing wireless when it becomes available.

After two days of unpacking boxes and running local errands to attempt to get settled in our new surroundings, we packed the car and headed down to Florida to visit Stephen's family. We spent the night in Tallahassee with the parentals and then headed down to Palm Harbor to enjoy a long weekend with Elsie and Laura and John and the boys. The weather could not be better. It's the sort of Florida spring weather that temps you into thinking you would enjoy being here all year round. Humid but not too much so, warm not hot. Sunny and breezy and generally a nice change from the weather we had been enduring in NY. We are enjoying our mini vacation.

Right now I am sitting by the pool, watching Oliver run round and round the edge as he tries to get up the nerve to jump in and save Stephen who is spashing around in the deep end. Stephen comes to the side of the pool and Ollie, relieved that he is actually safe, smothers him in puppy kisses. Oliver is not used to seeing the leader of our pack jump into that much water and it seems to be unsettling to him. He is also locked in a battle of wills with the beachball that is drifting in the water. He wants it to stay put and the breeze keeps sending it his way, ignoring his insistant barks that it back off.

We are leaving tomorrow to head back to Tally for more visiting and family time. Being here seems to make the transition seem less shocking for some reason. We are actually starting to enjoy the slower pace, finding the minimal traffic and clean public restrooms a novelty.

Met the Ringling gang in Tampa for dinner last night (Shawn, Ryan, Nathan and his new chica Suki). That was fun and mentally refreshing as always. Not sure why sitting around a Tiki Bar with 4 grown men spouting adolescent comments and inside jokes, simultaniously remarking on the burdens of current student loan ballances, mortgages, and new policies at Ringling is so refreshing to me but I laughed until my sides hurt, as I always do. These things feel like home to me and at a time when my home is not yet fully established those are precious moments.