May 17, 2011



Leaving Jo's Temp Residence

It has been a long time since the last post due to the move into our new house.  First, we were without any internet access for a week and then we were swamped with unpacking hundreds of boxes.  We are finally through unpacking those boxes that we plan to unpack now, so it is time to start back with some posting.  I'll try to get back to a more regular weekly update although since we aren't probably going to get a in garden in this year, I'm not sure what I'll be writing about as the summer wears on.

The New Homestead

Jo and I are settling into our new home.  As with any transition there have been a lot of adjustments from Jo's new commute, figuring out where everything should go, what shouldn't make the cut for being in the house, new gym, and the list goes on.  As with any change, each day is a little more settled than the day before.  We are enjoying the fact we can now walk to our gym and there are restaurants within walking distance.  Although, we are missing some of our favorite foods that aren't carried by the local grocery stores. 

The New Kitchen

The last two weeks have been primarily occupied with opening over 300 boxes, figuring out what is inside and where it should now go.  One of the first challenges was clearing enough space in the room to actually have somewhere to put the unpacked items.  We had so much stuff that the boxes and furniture alone filled the room.  While we have most of the boxes unpacked, the third floor and garage look like the warehouse at the end of the first Indiana Jones movie.  We don't have sufficient bookcases for the many books we have accumulated, so until some construction happens, there are about 40 boxes filled with books stuffed upstairs.  We are also still adjusting our furniture to find the right combinations for each room.  Not sure we have all that set yet, but we have a workable version 1 (or 2, 3 depending on how you count our rearrangements so far).  A few photos are included to give an understanding of the challenges of shrinking your house by almost 50%.

Boxes, Boxes Everywhere

On the "not working on the house front 100%", we have enjoyed several visits from Kathy, John, and Drew (Jo's sister, significant other and Drew) which is one nice advantage of our new location.  My sister has visited and my parents are coming up from Chicago in a couple of days.  We are slowly finding new running paths with the advantage of many different runs due to the number of interlocking streets.  We particularly enjoy the runs along the lake although we are ready for more spring/summer like weather in which to enjoy our runs.  We also attended our first Brewers game courtesy of the Northwestern Mutual luxury box to which Jo can obtain access occasionally with her new job.  So it hasn't been all work.