Home Is Where The Heart Is

Well, you may wonder what the heck Courtney and I've been doing for the past month. Packing, moving, unpacking, unpacking, unpacking some more, moving it over here, no--over here, hanging it here, no--over here. That's what we've been doing. But I'm happy to say that we both pretty much feel at home now. (The garage will have to wait patiently for our attention. Until then, anything we don't want to deal with gets thrown that way.)

For the most part our furniture perfectly fills the spaces of our new home. Except that I inherited Courtney's computer desk, so we got a new desk for him. And last weekend Courtney found a great computer desk and chair for Aaron at a garage sale in the neighborhood. After that the only thing missing was a comfortable reading chair for the living room.

Yesterday morning Courtney found a chair on Craigslist described as "totally groovy--straight out of the 70's--Sears & Roebuck pleatherette chair--clean and comfortable. You'll love the brass accents." And sure enough we did.





Here it is after we've lovingly stuffed it into the Honda as far as it would go. You've heard of over-stuffed chairs before? Well, this was an over-stuffed Honda. (I'll venture to say that we probably didn't get our average 41mpg on this little trip across town with a honking big chair hanging out the rear end, but that's not how we normally travel, so....)




We brought it home to our happy little prayer-flag-strewn house and, as you can see below, it is the perfect addition to our living room. So we can now stop making purchases and stay home and enjoy our new paradise.




Here's what first attracted me to this house, and what makes me so happy every time I look out our many windows: enormous shade trees in every direction. The whole neighborhood is full of big old trees. At odds with this is Courtney's desire to grow food--which needs sunlight. So we are watching the sun patterns at different times of day to see where plots of garden will work.

First thing this morning we sat under the trees in the backyard and had our coffee--enjoying the sounds of birds, a chainsaw in the distance, people talking as they biked by. Total ecstacy. After that we took a short bike ride to the park and frisbee golf course and around the neighborhood, peeking in gardens and getting ideas.





Yesterday evening we had five friends from my work over for dinner. It was the first warm day we've had in a while. Just in time so we could eat out on the deck. There was just a light breeze, but it was comfortable enough for us to sit out there until it got pitch dark. It's very fun to have space enough to have friends over. We actually have space for many people in our backyard but they would need to ride their bikes over (and 3 out of 5 did ride their bikes here last night) because we have only the driveway to park in. There's no curbs or roadside on this street, so no on-street parking. For really big parties we could offer valet bike parking. (Just kidding, Courtney, don't panic! We won't have any really big parties!)




One very lovely touch to the inside of the house is the color that our bedroom is painted. It's called "Melted Butter" and it changes colors as the light comes and goes. Everything looks beautiful next to it. Lots of fun for decorating.




Below is the view from one of the three windows in Aaron's room. They all look out to trees. Not that I think Aaron has noticed that. But if he someday looks up from his DVD's or ipod or computer, hopefully he'll see them and it will register that there's more on the planet than electronics. I have set myself a challenge to get the boy outside this summer and keep him there. How, I'm not sure. But I bet bribes will play a part. And maybe threats and blackmail. I'll feel free to use all tricks at a mother's disposal.





One very great thing about having all the space we do in our new home is just having a place for the little things I love. Like Buddhas and shells. Candles and postcards. Collages and polished rocks and houseplants and family photos.




AND, last but certainly not least, we have a big old double-wide fridge and you see what that means: room for more photos and magnets. I'm just like a dog that marks his new territory. Except instead of peeing around the perimeter I cover the fridge with pictures of our loved ones.





Well, part of my devious plan for getting Aaron outdoors is to get myself off the computer before he gets here on the weekends, and be available to cruise. He brings his skateboard and we check out new paths around the neighborhood together. It's always fun, but it takes a certain amount of effort on my part to make it happen. One thing that will make all this easier is when he makes his first friend in the 'hood. Wish us luck!

As you can tell, this move has brought enormous blessings for us. I feel quite grateful. Hope you are feeling the same in your life. Thanks for reading this, take good care, enjoy the summer,

Valori