Alright! I have just under an hour to catch up with all of you. I’m at the beautiful downtown Cedar Rapids library (no joke–it is gorgeous, like most facilities in downtown CR–everything is big, clean, beautiful, and most offices I have visited are way more technologically with it than those in Pgh).
What to tell? We’re in but not totally settled. There’s still the mattress to get up the stairs and the books to put on shelves that are not yet assembled. I hope that in the next week we can get the house in general working order. We also need to find a way to acquire a couch, vacuum cleaner, lawn mower, dehumidifier, and portable dishwasher. But we’ll get there.
We already have a dinner invitation for Saturday. I met an incredible woman simply by making a phone call to Iowa for information on Iowa adoption laws. She has a crunchy-sounding husband and two great-sounding kids. I’m really looking forward to meeting them. And dude! Unless they’re total losers, which is not likely, the loneliness thing I most feared will not come to pass.
What’s good: our house is much, much smaller than the last one, but it’s laid out so much more sensibly. There’s tons of storage and it’s generally nicely organized. So even though it has been a challenge to find places for everything, it’s working out. Also, the yard is huge. It’s literally five times the size of our concrete enclosure in Pgh and has GRASS. The dogs are absolutely in heaven. Their anxiousness about the move dissapated in a matter of minutes when they discovered that they had a yard of their Very Own to sniff and run and pee and frolick in. The dead rabbits were an extra bonus. Really, though, it’s amazing how the happiness of your own animals affects your quality of life. When I see Lenny wild-eyed with his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth, and it’s not because he’s in trouble, it makes my heart swell.
Another interesting/good fact about CR: I’m seeing tons of multiracial families in my travels, and some that I am assuming are that way through adoption. This is a very good sign.
OK, so it smells like wet, hot cereal and ethanol. But it’s a pretty nice place all around.
Attic Man and I have both registered with a temp agency and he will probably start something next week. I got on Medicaid so the baby and I will be covered (whew!). My computer is not working. It is cooler now.
I’m going to stop now and read your blogs before I become even less coherent.
Good to hear that you’re settling in. Are you in the house you bought now?
been thinking about you. so happy to hear you’re getting settled in!
Things sound like they are going swimmingly! I’m so happy for you all.
HURRAY for settling in. BTW – what makes a husband “crunchy-sounding”? Is that like “delicious”? I like all things crunchy, so he sounds fabulous. Sugar Cookie is doing well – 19 pounds of babbling, teething baby girl – 2 choppers poking through, and standing up by holding on to things. I can’t wait to hear YOUR thoughts on all these stages too. Oh mercy. It is the hardest thing I’ve ever done – and the most wonderful thing I’ve ever lost sleep for.
The “smell” is, um…interesting.
Is there a Norell temp agency there? I worked for them summers during grad school and had great experiences with them.
My best to you both.
Thanks for the update! I’m glad to hear you have a dinner date already.
Hope that goes well.
If there’s a Spherion temporary staffing service, check that one out. I used to manage one of those (in another state) and they’re a pretty decent company. Not sure if they’ll have jobs you want, but it’s worth looking into.
Love your new blog design, by the way!