It really is the city of Niceness, I tell you. It's similar to Portand, Maine, in that people are down-to-Earth, active, and outdoorsy...but here people are over-the-top nice. If you tell them that, they'll just say that you must be putting it out there to receive it. How sweet!
Well, there's a lot that I've missed since my last blogger. We left Duke, visited snowy ole Syracuse for testing (they already have had 70 inches this year up there, I hear), then proceeded to return to PA for the holidays where we wrecked one car and took the other one to the shop 3 times. Needless to say, we decided not to drive across country as originally planned.
Instead we bought one-way plane tickets, took a light rail, bus, and hiked almost a mile carrying mounds of luggage. I thought my arms were going to fall off at the elbows.
Christmas was nice though...mainly it was filled with playing games with Kt and Phil and the rest of Bobby's family as well as some of the stress of looking for a new car (post-poned that). We've graduated from Pitch onto the threshold of feisty card games like Bridge and Canasta or Pinnacle....I have no idea of their names, nor how to play them (yet) but I know that I associate most of them with smoking older women with Brooklyn accents.
Anyhoo, this is an exciting time for us because the final leg of our journey is here. TWO more rotations to go and our dreams of an income and our own place and no more living out of boxes and suitcases will be realized! I'll be able to have a garden and spices and a sound night of sleep....and all my clothing available to wear. Little as they seem, these are some of the things I miss. And Bobby will know which drawer the silverware is in (you start mixing it up after so many houses). So, we're putting out applications and praying.
Portland will be a different sort of rotation, since we're living with a lady and her early-20s son and don't have a car (already annoying). Lots of the people here are into board sports, like even the cardiac surgeon is an avid snowboarder, and there's that laid-back Western "go for it" attitude that I love. Portland is clean. It's evergreen and house dotted hills, landscaped by a couple of volcanic snow-covered mountains melting into the sky. It's the perfect place to start experimenting with soups and rustic breads from scratch...mmm. I'm interested in cooking more than ever right now (thanks, KT, my fearless inspiration!). Yep, made my first beef soup yesterday and it was good!
Well, I suppose that I will leave off there.
Sorry I've been so MIA and hope you all are doing well.
K&B
