First Tomato

One thing we will miss about the old place are the cherry tomatoes, which have been ripening at their leisure in our small garden plot. Yesterday the first one was finally ready. Nicole and I shared it. She had her half straight up. I put a touch of black pepper on mine. It was amazing. Hopefully more will ripen before we make the big move on Saturday.

The Amazing (Apartment) Race

We found a new apartment!



Our search for a new apartment sauntered on at a casual pace for much of May and June. Basically we just looked at various apartment buildings in our neighborhood and said to each other, "I wonder what it's like inside there..." Then we'd shrug and keep walking.

Truthfully, we were THIIIIS close to just saying to heck with it and staying in our current place. Yes, there wasn't much light, and it was a little grimy, and I had to constantly duck to avoid concussions... BUT it was cheap, and had a cute little back yard, and the neighbors were super nice, and with all of our stuff set up it was kind of cute. Plus, we had no desire to pack up and move yet again.

In the end, common sense won out. For me the decision was made when I whacked my brain but good against the duct in the living room for the 300th time. For Nicole, it was the fridge that finally did it. (It barks like a randy seal whenever it has to make more cold air... that is, every time you open the door.)

So we started aggressively searching.

I'll spare you the annoying details, but allow me to suggest that if I were faced with the choice of repeating the apartment search process in DC or, alternatively, yanking out, one-by-one, every single one of my body hairs while being spritzed with a fine spray of rubbing alcohol... well, I would have to ponder that.

OK - One story... We saw one place that was awesome. Great neighborhood, great price, great apartment. The problem was that at least 25 other people were also at the open house, and they all wanted the place too. Apparently apartments are dished out on a first come, first served basis and they judge "first come" by whoever faxes in their application first. So, at the kind urging of the sadistic real estate agent ("...if I were you, I'd be running to a fax machine...") we all tore out of the place like a stampede of drunken water buffalo.

We got our application in within 25 minutes, and didn't get the place. Got charged $80 bucks though, so that was nice. And I almost had a heart attack. What a joke.

So that was Saturday. Sunday our luck changed. A great place opened up, and NOBODY else came to the open house. It was the weird. It was great. It was really, really lucky that we even bothered to see the place.

So now we have this great place! It's close to the subway, in a nice neighborhood, has huge deck, high ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, working fireplace, and it's a separate unit rather than in a huge apartment building.

We're stoked.

As of today the place is ours, but we don't need to be out of our old place until the end of the month. So we're taking our time settling in. Today we painted. Tomorrow I'll bring a load of stuff over and then we'll throw on another coat of paint. Next weekend we'll take the big stuff over and maybe buy some plants for the deck.

Here are a couple more photos. I'll post more pictures once we've settled in.

Garage Sale

In Guatemala, Nicole and I had oodles of conversations about wanting to live a simple, uncluttered life. We're working towards that goal, but holy Toledo, do we have a lot of "stuff" standing in between us and that goal. Example: between us we have 8 suitcases, including 2 that I picked up for free at a yard sale 2 years ago and have never used. I don't even use suitcases! I just use my backpack when I'm traveling! Why the heck do I even have these things?

Anyway.

It's been a three month process, but Nicole and I finally had our big yard sale.
It was a total success - we got rid of half of our unwanted stuff, and the rest (mostly clothes) can go to Goodwill.

And it was a lot of fun, not least because our friend Yungju showed up with these very handy little bottles of champagne. Bless her.

Dave kept us company for most of the afternoon too, and Carissa made a cameo appearance to show off her new haircut. Thanks guys!


And Boo, heads up: you're about to become the proud new owner of some rarely used luggage. We'll be taking it down when we come down to visit, OK? I promise, it's good stuff.

Return to the Motherland

I don't know about your family, but when my clan gets together something always ends up on fire.


That's right. It was family reunion time back in the great state of Michigan. And with it came the picture fest. Click the link below to see some highlights.... including a picture of Bambi!


Get ready for some cuteness. Here's my brother-in-law introducing his son to a young friend they found while on a walk through our fields. (Click on the photo to see a larger version.)





While we're on the subject, here's more animal cuteness. This adorable little beagle pup (whom we cleverly named Schmeagle) decided to live with us for a few days. No one knew who he was or what he was doing there, but we figured he wasn't hurting anyone so we let him hang around.

This is one of the funniest parts of any family reunion... the ol' try-to-get-the-kids-to-stand-still-in-a-group-so-we-can-photograph-them bit. Funny stuff. The shot below is a classic. Half the kids are looking up at an airplane. One kid is smiling, but not looking at the camera. One is looking at the camera, but not smiling. One - front and center - is crying. And one is sprinting towards daddy.

Awesome.

Helping my nephew swim at the river....

... so he can show off at the kiddie pool.


My oldest nephew doing his best Saint Francis impression.

This little guy cracks me up to no end.

My youngest nephew and I had the chance to reacquaint. He took the opportunity to sock me in the snout.

My niece on the tire swing.

My oldest niece celebrated her birthday with gusto. I'm doing the exact same thing next time my birthday rolls around.

Camping in Prince William Forest

Nicole's got a great group of friends here in DC, and they've been kind enough to adopt me. A while ago we all trouped out to a campground a couple of hours south of the city.

It was the perfect chance to get my s'more fix and spend some quality time with baby Maya...

Baby Maya and her dad, Tate.

...Chris (Maya's mom) and David...


...Carissa...


...and that one girl...


For those of you thinking of camping around DC, I'd avoid the Prince William Forest Park. It's not terrible, but kind of bland, and the ticks are insane. We found something like 25 ticks found between all of us... including one on baby Maya! :-(

I guess it's a big park, so maybe the small portion we explored wasn't representative?

Superheroes

You may not have seen the news, but in May the world's greatest superheroes gathered for their annual convention in Gloucester, Massachusetts. A host of speakers covered topics ranging from...

The New Deathrays: How the Emergence of the Anti-Matter Pistol is Reshaping Old Battles

to

Latex vs. Leather: How to Choose the Right Material for Your Costume.

Oh Smitty. There are no words to describe...

Left to right: Some sort of samurai, 2 supergirls, and Rosie the riveter. Together at last.

Nicole and I made the trip up to reacquaint our selves with our old superhero friends and, of course, to build new super alliances. (And to get the last of her stuff out of storage in Boston.)

My friend Peter has some other photos up on his blog... including one of yours truly (winner of the lamest costume award.) Enjoy.