We have internet!

I still don't have a way to transfer pictures until we get the other computer set up, but here's a quick text update for you. Moving was a much bigger hassle than I expected. I've only ever moved cross-country before, never in-town, so I foolishly expected it to be super easy. Actually, I now think my cross-country moves were easier. At least then I could only take so much and then I had to just forget everything on move on. This time, we made so many trips back and forth and back and forth, moving stuff and cleaning things and forgetting random necessities... Gah. It was a mess. But we're done now - handed over the keys to the old place Thursday, so for better or for worse, we're stuck here.

Here, incidentally, is a total wreck at the moment. This place is currently, for lack of a better term, a complete shithole. It's been foreclosed on three times in the last decade, and nobody has lived here for nearly two years, so you can imagine the condition it was in when we first stepped in. Fortunately, Emmy and Ilya (my lovely sister and brother-in-law, for those of you who may not know) came down to help clean. We spent a solid three days scrubbing the walls and wiping out cabinets and cleaning the absolutely disgusting toilets. It was terrible. I probably shouldn't forget to mention that we did it all in the freezing cold. The gas company can't get here until tomorrow, so we haven't had heat.

The mess and the cold weren't the only problems. The same day that we officially moved in (ie, slept here), a pipe broke, so we were without water for three days, too. The pipes hadn't been used in two years, remember, and the previous owners did an awful lot of half-assed DIY, so something was bound to happen, but it still wasn't much fun. Fortunately it's back on now, though, and taking showers again is absolutely glorious. Once we get heat tomorrow, we'll have a fully functioning modern house.

Basic necessities aside, it hasn't been too bad. Our last place was around 1800 square feet and this one is about twice that, so it looks cavernous and empty with our puny bits of furniture peeking out of the corners. Jim sleeps well, but he's very clingy during the day - no wonder, given this huge change from the only house he'd ever known before. Most importantly, we've finally started to eat real food again, after a week subsisting on fast food and frozen pizzas until our appliances arrived and the water turned on.