We Got Into Family Housing!!!

We have been busy! I am working a lot, and it's been a month since we made a major stock-up run to the grocery stores and Target. We rented a car for one day (5PM-5PM), and put 15 miles on it running local errands. The next morning we found out we could move in to family housing...immediately! So we prolonged the rental a few more days and put 50 more miles on the car! We had a lot to do! We are starting with nothing now. No furnished sublet, all we have is the clothes in our suitcases, some shampoo, silverware (thanks mom!), and some books. That is ALL. No lamps, beds, dish soap, broom, dustpan, ironing board, Nothing! We have blankets and floor and toilet paper. That's a start!


This is our new front door. #H12.


There is a rope swinging from the apple tree in our front yard. Clara loves it! My new garden has tons of mint, some chives, ferns, and lavender, to start with. I haven't identified all the plants yet.


Hug! Inside our entryway, in the livingroom. Behind the open door, a coat closet! Yay!


My new tiny kitchen appliances. The rest of the kitchen is huge, including the pantry. I could fit two baker's racks in the pantry. Partly because there are no shelves in it.


Roses is trying to get out the back door in the kitchen. "No touch, Roses! You don't open doors!...But wait; let me get a picture of you. Reach for the handle again!"



The girls' room has carpeting and two individual closets. So as long as the clothes are put away, Chris won't try to squeeze Clara into Rosemary's pants or hang one of Clara's tee-shirts over the baby! He'll know which clothes are which.


This is our back yard.


This is our new park. We're just as close to this one as we were to the last one, but instead of a busy street and parking spaces between, there is only a walking path and another home. It's a very well designed, community-focused neighborhood.


It's a jungle out there! This is what separates fam housing from the apartment we're in now.


Chris is so happy. Our parking lot has two basketball hoops, and a small soccer field.


And in response to Chris's nagging...I mean requests, here is a picture of me, happy, in Amherst (at the bus stop in front of fam housing). This picture, like most pics of me, was taken by Clara. Until Rosemary can handle a camera properly, she's the only person I will allow to photograph me.

I love you guys and miss you very much. I keep half-expecting someone I know to walk through the door at work, just like usual. But I'm nowhere near Riverside anymore. It's tiring being surrounded constantly by strangers. Luckily everyone and everything here is so wonderful. The Only thing missing is you. Wish you were here!

I'M IN CONTROL! HAHAHA! I CAN FEEL THE SATISFACTION PULSING THROUGH MY VEINS LIKE SWEET BUTTERY CHOLESTERAL! I-AM-THE-GOD-OF-THE-BLOG! HAHAHA!

I could just keel over with happiness! Helen has given me permission to do this weeks post. She's worked quite a lot this week and needs a break. I told her it's not a good idea. I'm going to do everything she hates. But her response, an incoherant wave and grumble, seemed clear enough - she really doesn't care right now...right now, sleep gooooood. Later, hehe...we'll see. Anywoo, here goes...expect far more pics and far less typing...I'm lazier than she is...

JUST CLICK ON THE PICS FOR A LARGER VIEW


This pic is a leftover from the 4th of July. We promised Papa that we would post it. Unfortunately, we didn't try any of their food.


This is our view from the dining room. At night, it sparkles with fireflies!


This is the view from our bedroom.


Also from the bedroom.


This is sunset in front of our house. Wonderful. I feel like I'm in another world.


We saw this eagle while we were walking around town the other day. Though I couldn't see it up close, it is likely a bald eagle. They are quite common here. A couple of weeks ago, I had a baby eagle fly about 4 ft. from my head! It was being chased by a bunch of small birds.


This pic and the next few are all from our neighborhood. We took them while walking this evening.










The next few are just random shots from home and around town from the past couple of days. One thing to note: Helen has yet to post a picture of herself. This is partially my fault in that I rarely take pics of her. Our two monkeys seem to grab my attention before I can remember to. Also, whenever I do try to take a picture, she "doesn't look good enough" to have her picture taken, as she often puts it. The first picture in this set is of Helen and Roses after a bath. I'm not sure if she will allow it to stay up. If not, a clear demand in the comments section would hold significant weight. No matter how beautiful I think she is, she always finds a reason not to allow the pics to go up...We'll see. Here they are.
(Note from future date. Helen has removed awful picture of self, which she suspects Chris to have chosen purposefully for its bad angle and poor lighting in order to encourage her to put pictures of herself on. So here instead is a picture of Helen that she likes. It's too bad for Chris if he doesn't like the way he looks in it. He got to post his "cute" photo.) (Too bad for Helen that she had to go all the way back like six months to find a photo, using one from before we left Riverside. I was only working with what I had, trying to give the people a picture of what things are like NOW, HERE, IN AMHERST! they all know what we looked like and what things were like for us THERE. Nice try!...But you do look beautiful in that pic).







Apparently, Clara put it in there and left Roses to keep watch so it wouldn't get loose. I think Helen watched too much Adult Swim while with uncle Mark while she was pregnant...both times!


Planning their next job, no doubt. Smart girls




She wrote the word "Amherst"! What a smart girl! She also reads it all over town, "Look daddy, Amherst! Look Mommy, Amherst! Look!...Look!...Look!...Look!" Gotta love it. She's learned to constructively annoy her parents.




This guy is pretty good. Irish music. You should see Roses Riverdance.


This one is from this evening. Clara scratched her nose and wanted a "bambayd." So I had her do her best Rocky pose...Looks more like Olive Oil though.


Reading and beating my head against a wall at the same time: Parental multi-tasking.


This is the one and only "cute" picture ever taken of me. Enjoy it while you can. When school starts...















CAPTAIN INSOMNIAC shall return with a half-hearted, slow-minded, sloth-like vengence!........and a latte.



Well, happy trails boys and girls. Hope you enjoyed it because I am assuming that this is the last time she'll let me do this. Please be kind in your comments...I'm sensitive. I've put my heart out there for you all to see...I'm v...vu....vul...ner...a...ble..........ahem!.........and I need encouragement.....or a hug...or professional help...I don't know!

I DO know that we love and miss you all very much. We wish we could move you all - every single one of you - here...then it would be perfect. Take care.