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.

It Rained On Our Parade!

Oh my, what a Fourth of July! It was so exciting, it took me until the 7th to write about it!
We started the afternoon with a nice lunch at our favorite deli/coffee shop, The Black Sheep. Then we wound the girls up with some yummy vegan brownies! They were exultant. They scarfed every last crumb in a Cornholionic craze. (Ask my brothers, Mark or Jeremy, if you do not understand the reference.) Then it was off to the parade!!
It was a lovely small-town parade, with police and fire departments from a few surrounding towns participating.

There were Massachusetts Minutemen.


Clara looked inspired. Ever the social butterfly, she treated waving to people as if were an honor and responsibility. She’s a smart girl. They throw more candy to the attention-getters.


Rosemary blew kisses, and looked a bit puzzled. She was probably wondering why more people weren’t looking at her being cute. What’s the big deal about a bunch of cars on the street, anyway?

Then we heard bagpipes coming.

Connelly happy. ☺

One thing worth noting about this event was the giant recycling bin as part of the parade!

There were people holding signs with facts about recycling, and you can bet that there weren’t many water bottles left along the street after the parade was over. The kid with the tricycle is adorable.
The parade hadn’t quite finished by Roses’ naptime.

She struggled bravely to keep her eyes open.
When we left, we had to walk two miles to the football field. The buses weren’t running, but the walk isn’t nearly as long as it sounds. Except when you get caught unprepared in a downpour.
The rain was coming down so hard that it was difficult to hear the bands that were playing. But this band, Blackberry Jam, was so cute!

Those little kids on the guitar could really rock!
But alas…

The parking lot was emptying as people began to go home.

Clara met a friend while we were taking shelter under a tree. We had nothing to do but tough it out and walk two more miles home. There are no more pictures here because I didn’t want the camera to get soaked. Our California jackets were slightly inadequate, but once we got the proper arrangement of how to cover the baby, and who gets to push the stroller, carry the umbrella, wear the baseball hat… it was actually quite enjoyable. It lightened up some as we walked, and Chris and I taught Clara the old School House Rock version of The Preamble to the Constitution. Rosemary just smiled and looked around. She seems to Love the cool weather.
We got home, threw off our wet gear, and gave the girls a nice, hot bath. We ate PBJs while we watched the fireworks out our back window. It was beautiful. We are so proud of our girls for staying so happy through the whole evening.

More MassAdventures...

Happy 4th of July! Wow, that really came up quick! Has the Fourth of July always come so early in the month?
The girls are adjusting to all the changes, but it's not been entirely smooth. It's like changing gears on a rusty bike: first you spin the pedals as fast as you can with no results, then a few grinding metallic jerks slow you down, finally the chain catches and you can get somewhere. Clara has spent a few days in her room alone, so she's happy to ham up for the camera. Roses is starting the "terrible twos" and is adamantly independent. It's a good thing for us she is incredibly loving. I was fortunate to snap a picture just in time to catch her using giant chopsticks all by herself!
Here is the mural in West Cemetary. Emily Dickinson is the most prominent person from Amherst, and this portrait was painted so that, as you walk by, she always seems to be looking at you. I also think it's interesting that she was painted so that she was partially hidden by a tree. She was a nature lover, and became notoriously reclusive in her later years.

Standing there touching her gravestone was more profound than I could have expected. She was too unsure of herself, and so unlike any other poet, that she never was published in her own life. She never married, and lost several people who were dear to her. She never did know how loved she could be for all that she was able to express. Look at all those offerings! We are always grateful for those who say what we cannot.
There were many Dickinsons there, and all the people the streets here were named after. The oldest gravestone we found (that was still readable) was for a woman born in 1700.
I couldn't possibly fit all the wonderful pictures I've taken, and of course no photo could fully contain the experience of being here, of feeling the history. It's as if the ground you stand on is more certain. It's older, more confident of itself. This place knows its own mind, has written its own stories. There is not the adolescent struggle for identity. (At least not until the undergrads get here in the fall.) ;) There are more people outdoors here, nature is more enjoyable. It makes one feel like a human being, in the purest sense. Despite the craziness of the last two weeks, the rhythm here is slower. Perhaps it's not having a car or office job that makes me feel less like an air-conditioned, disconnected box-stuffer. When I'm riding on the bus I can relax; I can look out the window
and think quietly, the way I did when I was a child. The scenery is different, but I'm sure I brought the right mind with me.
Well, it's late here. I've got tons more to say and to show you, but I need to wake up in six hours. Here is the sunset out our living room window at 9:30PM.
We love you and miss you. Don't forget to post comments! We would love some familiar voices.