We're getting there!

I know, I know -- we're slackin' hard core with this blog thing! Well, to be fair, we are not slacking in other areas. We are working our butts off unpacking, having finished the actual moving of the things. Soon we will have technology properly set up in the new house, and then we can show exciting things like photographs and ... well yeah that's about it.

Anyway, I figured an update was in order, and since I'm at work and only have access to non-Cole-related things, I will talk to you about something I'm SURE you've been dying to read about: my commute!


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My cycling commute has gone from 3.6 miles to just about 9 miles. It may be longer, but it's much more pleasant. I am no longer going down the bike lane on Mass Ave and turning onto Comm Ave, jostling for space on the asphalt with cars the whole way (the bike lane on Mass Ave is notorious for being ignored by motorists). The commute is a bike path that follows the southern bank of the Charles River pretty much the whole way. Sections of it are essentially a sidewalk to Storrow Drive / Soldier's Field Road, but then there are good chunks of it which are wonderful pathways through lush greenery or quiet runs right next to the water. It's pretty awesome.

I wonder if I'm going to at some point eschew beauty for efficiency by cutting off a huge stroke of the charles by taking Western or Brighton Ave... but so far I am enjoying it. Pictures to come!

A house! Seriously! It's ours! We live there!

Front:


Back:


From the sidewalk (note car 2.0 poking its butt out):


Our little garage:


Our back yard:


I love ferns:


And we have some stairs in the back yard too:


These are the wild flowers in our front "yard."


This is the west side of the house. It's like ... a quarry or something.


Here's the east side of the garage with the stairs that go down to the back yard:


A detail on those stairs: they are beautiful brick with fantastic moss. I love moss.


The back side of the garage. MORE MOSS!


There's a beautiful japanese maple tree in the front:



Holy moly! More moss in the driveway!


The garage is really ... small. Note how the mini looks kinda normal in there. As if the garage was made for it or something. Too bad I have to sell it, it fits so nicely!


So I guess we don't actually live there yet. But we could if we wanted to. And we do want to. We just have to get all our stuff there, first. Our plan is to pull down the wallpaper, paint the walls, pull up the carpet, and then move all of our worldly possessions over in small piles.

Now, there are a couple of terms one can use to describe the removal of wallpaper. Strip, scrape, etc. Those two involve tools, steam, maybe chemicals, and a ton of effort. We are going to use the word "pull." Because all we did was pull it off like a banana peel. Check it out!

Grab the edge:


and PULL!


A couple hours later, you've got a fully stripped house!



So here's our piles of wallpaper, ready to be sent to wallpaper heaven:


Fun! Next steps:
- Wash the remaining dried adhesive off the walls.
- Spackle all the crumblie bits, cracks, edges, and holes we found lurking behind the wallpaper.
-PAINT!

We're thinking we'll paint with some of the newer primer / paint combinations in white. We want to live there for a while before choosing colors.

So yeah! That's our house! Come on by any time! We'll be there spackling! Or drinking champagne! Or doing backspins on the kitchen floor!

Awesome.

Kate is an awesome cook.

So it turns out that Cole thinks store bought food sucks. I suppose I'm being a little harsh, but whatever. Regardless, we decided to start making our own baby food because it's more natural, more pure, easy to do, and cheap. Kate is actually doing all the work so I must give her the credit. I'm just the documentarian.

It turns out that when I fell in love with Kate so many years ago due to her being an excellent chef, it was with good reason. She makes excellent combinations of M&Ms and Reese's Pieces, and excellent smooshed fruits and vegetables. Dig her handiwork:

Soften:


Smoosh:


Store:


Chill!


Here's proof that it's delicious and that Kate is a genius and that Cole will grow up big, strong and healthy:











It was so good that Betty even wanted some!