Welcome to the 21st Century

When J and I moved to Portland in 2008, we sold (and gave away) a lot of our possessions** in order to cram all that we owned into a single 7'x7'x6' moving crate. Among the things we left behind was our medium-sized, but rather bulky television that we scored on Craigslist. When we got to Portland, our apartment was not much bigger than our studio in D.C., so we decided to go without TV for a while (that and we felt rather broke, since the economy tanked and I was without a steady job). 

Three years and three months later, we took the plunge and bought a TV -- a brand new, flat, and comparatively light TV. I can attest to it's relative lightness, because I carried it 4 blocks home from the car. We now stream our Netflix and Hulu onto 32 inches of beautiful screen. And M watched football in high definition for the first time on Thanksgiving day. He was enamored with the clarity (as was I) and even after the TV was switched off for the afternoon he would walk up to it and point while saying "boot ball." 


We had to do a bit of rearranging to accommodate the new technology. In terms of decor, it does nothing for the mid-century modern credenza that had to be placed awkwardly in the corner. However, it felt wonderful to kick up my feet and watch a little Masterpiece Theater after a long day with M, so I'll bend this time on appearances. 


**One possession that made the move and still remains is that damn drying rack from Amish country (seen to the right in the above photo). It's like the weirdo kid that shows up in all of your vacation photos, but I can't give it up, it's just so functional. I still maintain that if you come to visit, we'd be happy to air-dry your entire wardrobe on our 15-foot-tall rack in the living room. Some day we'll have a house with a basement where the drying rack can live out its retirement in peace and solitude after years of being shoved around, kicked, cursed, and crammed in closets.

Goodbye October

October 2011 turned out to be an incredibly shitty month. Lots of travel, sadness, and unanswered questions. It's fitting that it isn't even acknowledged in my blog. But I'm back, maybe not fully, but life continues and there's lots going on lately. My job has picked up, Miles is growing and changing like crazy, and we're looking to move to a bigger place -- I guess I'm not giving October enough credit. 

It made me remember how important family and friends are in my life. If I'm smart (and I like to think that I am) I will keep October close by and use it as a reminder to take a break now and again from my busy life to be thankful. Here Miles and I are with my sister, her fiance, Eric, my parents, and grandmother all together for the first time in a very long while.