Life begins (again)

Once again we are starting life almost from scratch. We brought and are shipping quite a bit of stuff from Montana but it still feels pretty brand new. We went to Costco today and got a round of basics (25 gallons of chicken broth, a new shower head, etc.). Yesterday we spent a very long time at IKEA (including time we spent in the parking lot because a fire alarm evacuated the store. We ordered a bed (king size!) and it was delivered today. We still need a couch and some odds and ends and we'll get them this weekend.

Living here feels a lot different this time. We had considered living somewhere else and a lot of the attributes we were looking for we are finding here. We live in a cute old house in a safe neighborhood that has character. Previously we lived in a crappy basement apartment in a crime-ridden neighborhood with no personality, except of the crack-addled variety.

A quick inventory of our neighborhood leaves me very excited:

• There is a halal butcher a block away. My plan for this week is to get some fresh goat meat and make a Jamaican curried goat that I heard about in Jamaica but never tried.
• There is a Thai place one block away that delivers.
• There is a coffee shop (Rappahanock) that roasts there own beans. We bought a pound a few days ago and are going to make some in the morning.
• There is a kabob stand.
• There is a movie theatre that serves beer and food a la Alamo Draft House. In fact it's called Arlington Draft House.
• Costco is only 1.5 miles away. A nice organic market is only 2. Work is only 2.

Basically it feels like we did move to a new city and a experiencing the requisite excitement. I'm sure a little DC crapiness will mix in soon enough, but for now I find myself surprisingly excited about where we live.

Also Georgie really likes it here. At first I gave Nikki a hard time for saying that but she is right. There is a lot for her to do here. And today she met Milena again. She loves to be around other kids and loves to watch them. She's fascinated with Milena, who is only a year older and has a lot of the same interests but is a lot more mobile and has a lot more opinions. Georgie watches her like Milena's her role model.

Speaking of Georgie, I can't post any new pictures or video right now. We can't find the cord that connects the camera to the computer and the computer doesn't have an SD reader. I ordered a new one but it's not here yet. Stay tuned till it comes or we find a workaround.