The House That Makes You Go 'Huh'

Well, the days are growing shorter in the journey to actually LIVING in our new house. We've spent the time since Dec. 26 working on it every day. We (we being Leslie usually since Brian is at work typically) have met, and often gotten services from nearly every type of contractor/service possible: house inspector, rodent control, furnace repair, plumber, general contractor, really old window specialist (the windows, not the person), mason... 

I've joked with people who ask that our new home should be called, "The House That Makes You Go 'Huh'" because it has so many odd quirks and idiosyncrasies.  I guess I will too by the time I'm 102. 

Money seems to be flying out the window at a an alarming rate, or at least threatening to, but we knew this was coming when we bought an old house under market value. 

The days have a sameness to them that is unsettling but that will end next weekend when we move our belongings into the new place and begin to make it our own. 

I've not attached any photos of the new house from the outside because it's not much to look at. Paint is peeling from the siding and trim (and the rest is on the ground where the lazy contractor left it when he scraped some loose paint off), and the yard is naught but blackberries and some unnamed ground cover that with our luck is a weed. 

We will face off with the exterior when the weather warms up a bit. 

Not much time to enjoy the city or the people in it but that will start soon, we hope. We attended a neighborhood association meeting earlier this week and volunteered for a local arbor effort, so making connections should begin. 

Our very own Portlandia

Well, it hasn't been all work and no play for us in our new town. 
In the month before the house sale closed and we got busy, we socialized and explored to our heart's content. 

Here, we visited our friend Brandy and Jason's son in the hospital. He was accepting visitors like royalty, sometimes dozens a day. T accepts his illness with amazing grace and style. He's an inspiration, as are his parents. 

Here was our Christmas dinner, wedged into our friend Brad's small little house. Remarkably, it was very enjoyable and relaxing. Our Christmas tree branch (in lieu of a whole tree) providing some holiday cheer and we even lit a fire in the fireplace, which is usually unloved and unused. 

Jess was home from college and we tried to take the time to take her out to meet Portland. Crazy girl, doesn't she know there's no phone in that box? Oh, that's her cell phone. 

Below, we visited the famous Peacock Lane - one solid block of Mega Holiday Lights. 

And we're meeting new people and trying our best to form new friendships in our new town, not an easy thing in a city so large. But our friend Debbie has proven useful for this, as has Brad. 

We're still not used to be so close to the oldest two kids and with the house needing so much work we haven't had the opportunity to make the most of the proximity. But that will come with time, I'm sure. Meanwhile, Sarah and Trusten introduced us to an amazing Russian restaurant with hundreds of varieties of vodka on the menu...