Fresh Start

So much as happened since our trip to the Bay Area.

We moved out of a one-bedroom apartment into a two bedroom. We spent one day moving all our belongings to the new place & five days settling in & organizing. Our moving day was fun because we hired our neighbor's teenage son & his friend, who were so indispensable to our tasks that day. We couldn't have done the move without them. They were good-humored and friendly, which made moving day less stressful.

Atticus had outgrown the bassinet and was sleeping on the floor beside our bed. He was sleeping poorly because we made too much noise coming in & out of the room. Now, he has his own room, which has a mural & a cool rug. His changing table is in the corner of the room, so he can look out onto the backyard. The last tenants pasted stars made of aluminum on the ceiling. I love it.

This place is a definite upgrade from our last apartment & Robby & I are very satisfied with it.

Our kitchen walls are a deep red. Our living room is light green. & our bedroom has two cornflower blue walls. & we bought fabric with wacky patterns from Ikea & made curtains.

On the first night, Atticus slept 6 hours - a record! He woke up smiling & looking curiously at everything on the walls. He sits steadily in his Stokke & today tried out a bumper jumper chair that hangs from the doorjamb that divides the kitchen & the living room. Today, he finished two full containers of baby food (carrot). Impressive.

We love our new home.

After I start work, I hope I can still enjoy it.

Bye, Bay Area!

We returned from the Bay Area tonight. The drive was long and arduous. Robby must has been a truck driver in a past life because he has immense stamina for driving long distances. He plugged in his earphones to listen to his sci-fi podcast while I sat in the back with Atticus and we baked in the 100-degree heat under the sun.

Our five-day trip was a fun one. We hung out with my sisters & their children. We kissed all our nieces. Met a new niece (2 months old). We hung out with Robby's dad & stepmom (Gramps & Grammy), first in Berkeley, then Moraga, then Palo Alto. I showed them around the UC Berkeley campus & explained all my old haunts to Atticus. The grandparents bought some Cal gear for him. We had dinner with Aunt Pat & Uncle Tom & their friends in Moraga, an lush & quiet oasis beyond the Berkeley Hills. Made some new friends & made smores. It was a wonderful trip full of family gatherings.

Now we've unloaded the car, unpacked, bathed & fed Atticus, put him to sleep, & scarfed down a Trader Joe's dinner. We have 3 days to box our belongings before we move to our new apartment.

Note: Robby & I love to have conversations in bed before we fall asleep. Last night, we talked about the pros & cons of buying a house. No way are we in the position now to purchase a home, but recently some friends have & it got us thinking. As we talked, a very simple idea occurred to me (I don't know why I didn't realize it so plainly before): We will always end up paying more than the sale price of the home because of interest from a loan. Does that mean that most people end up paying more for their house than what it's worth? I've read numerous articles about the housing crisis, so I am familiar with the different theories that explain the bursting bubble (though some economists will argue that there never was a bubble to begin with). But last night the thought finally hit me loudly & clearly, & suddenly the thought of buying a house made my stomach turn. Why lock yourself into a house that will end up costing more than its worth? I guess we can't predict the worth of a house over time, but people are misled to assumed that housing prices always rise. Anyway, our conversation gave me some food for thought. We like renting. We like the idea of not being locked into one place, one house, one city. If we wanted to pack up & move to Europe or the East Coast, it would quite easy for us. I guess we both don't mind being nomads.

Good night!