Week 2 in California

Week 2; status report:

-The kitchen is unpacked.
-The bedrooms are unpacked.
-The bathrooms are unpacked.
-There are still boxes.
-I am tired of boxes.

Mostly, these remaining boxes contain pictures, mirrors and other wall hangings. There is also a smattering of office supply boxes and a few boxes of unpacked books (for which we have no shelving). In another 2 weeks I am hoping to be living in a box free home.

The biggest unpacking frustration is the lack of a good linen closet in our new house. Our current "linen closet" looks remarkably like a large cardboard box. It contains towels, sheets, Children's Tylenol and toilet bowl cleaner all mixed up together. The packers were men who didn't understand the finer points of linen closet packing - apparently. Or, maybe the just didn't care, and dumped everything into a wardrobe box figuring we'd be in California and too far away to hunt them down - yeah, that's probably it.

What this new abode lacks in linen closets it makes up in location. We are literally right next to an open space. A 1 minute walk up a small hill yields views of the bay. At sunset it is breathtaking. B.R.E.A.T.H. T.A.K.I.N.G. And if by chance you walk a minute down the hill, you will cross a little bridge and discover yourself walking on a path lined on one side with blackberry bushes....which taste yummy in scones. As I said, the kitchen is unpacked. If you keep walking down the blackberry path you'll cross a road, and enter Lake Chabot Park and Open Space. There are miles of trails, great fishing spots, and importantly, a snack shack that sells Push-up Pops. Ethan cannot wait for his friend Jonah to visit. Jonah loves to fish. Ethan loves push-up pops. The days have been planned, furthermore Jonah's entire future has been planned, as the kids have decided he should become a Park Ranger at Lake Chabot. Actually, that might be a good gig for Jonah, but as he is 10, we will give him a few years before he has to decide.

This is Small Town, USA - the neighbors are friendly, and charmingly nosey. The old guy down the street brought over beer to share with Eddie. They sat on the porch shooting the breeze for a couple of hours. Freshly picked orchard apples have been left on our porch. Flower's delivered, and a dozen of introductions made. Nice place, this.

But it has not all been sunshine and roses (or blackberries and sunsets). We still don't have our internet working. The California branch of ATT must hire employees from a pool of high school drop outs and losers. We are under-impressed. Our cable doesn't work, either. And pretty much nothing is straight forward. There are big emotions and their coinciding behaviors happening round here. Eddie's work is overwhelming, and challenging. I don't often see him legitimately "frazzed" (I just made up that word). The dude can handle more responsibility and stress than most everyone I know. But he's "frazzed".

Today, we're finalizing the kids school enrollment. Tomorrow should be there first day. We are all freaking slightly...the poor kids have to start another new school, and mid-year this time. Here's betting a therapist will here about it 15 years from now...

So breakfast needs to be served, and I am the short order cook round here. I must be done. More to come...