Live from Red Bricks

We have been here only a week but it seems like much longer, probably because I have little sense of what day or date it actually is. I think it’s Saturday. I’m told my birthday is approaching. That’s about it.

The first few days we felt like we were living in chaos and accomplishing nothing, but we finally got ahead of the curve and are pretty well unpacked. Look how complete my office area looks!

Unless, of course, you look in the closet.

We are in a townhouse which is pretty nondescript, Number Four Privet Drive -esque on the outside but much nicer than “student housing” would imply. Downstairs is the kitchen, dining, and living area plus a small half bath. Upstairs are the bedrooms and full bath. We got a three-bedroom so I can have an office, although we quickly realized that the basement is too much of a dungeon for Aaron to study down there (it’s fit for laundry and storage). So on our first night here—literally at 9:30 p.m.—we had to shove office boxes around to set up our bed in the smaller room so the larger one can be our shared office/computer room.

The Joygirl’s room was chosen for the view. Specifically, she needed the view of a tree and not the playground equipment which is literally twenty yards from our back door. As you can imagine if you’ve ever been to a playground with AJ—and especially if you’ve ever tried to make her leave one—she is in heaven when out there, but wants to be there ALL. THE. TIME. and acts as though being cruelly tortured when denied. At first it was, shall we say, a bit of an issue. Thankfully, she seems to be realizing that the “park” is not going anywhere. We are code naming it Umberto so we can mention it without her trying to drag us out there.

The townhouses are situated around this city block with the play equipment and open grass as a shared backyard of sorts. There are lots of other kids and it’s been a great way to get to know some of our neighbors. They even kept an eye on AJ while she played while we moved and unpacked the first couple days. Thursday there was a cookout/potluck, and then some of us put our kids to bed and stayed outside around our next-door neighbors’ fire pit, conveniently located right in front of our house. We have been warmly welcomed and helped out with moving in, directions, and local advice. We feel like we are going to connect well with some people and living in this kind of community is going to be a good thing. We hope that someday soon, it will even feel like home.