The News

Remember when we first moved to Maryland and were without Internet service for the first six weeks? Ever heard that history tends to repeat itself?

We’ve been living in our house for a bit over 2 weeks now, and it will be another 2 and ½ before we have Internet access. Thus, sparse blogging. Again.

In house news, we’re making (slow) progress. The kitchen and I, while still battling furiously, have reached a grudging, two-fold understanding. What, you may well ask, is the substance of that understanding? First, it is that I will survive the kitchen. That is, when all is said and done and this kitchen has passed away to Kitchen--well, we won’t venture to say where this kitchen will spend eternity, as judgment is not the purview of man--but when it has gone to its eternal place of rest, I will still be here with its successor. Second, in this war of wills between cleanliness and grime, I will win. That, I hope, is self-explanatory.

So far, 4 of the 6 storage units (call them cabinets and counters if you will) have been scrubbed inside and out, papered, and inhabited by our kitchen accoutrements. The other 2--the largest and most intimidating 2--are awaiting their scouring. The floor has been swept and mopped once, resulting in one layer less of dirt. It begs for a repeat performance and will get it in due time. The stove absolutely gleams--as long as you don’t lift the stove pans. I’ve only cleaned (really cleaned--I did vacuum out all the loose dust and cobwebs) under 1 of the 3 of those. The chrome on the stove looks like chrome again, and the gas burners and I are getting to know one another admirably. The oven has not yet been touched. I refuse to clean it until we’re sure that it works, and, since the pilot light is out and has to be manually ignited to turn it on, I’ve not yet done that. The exhaust fan over the stove, after 90 minutes of scrubbing and 2 sore arms, is about half clean--the half you can see, though, so I feel better about it. I’ve vacuumed cobwebs and dust from the ceiling, windows, walls, and baseboards; washed and given away the curtains; sprayed and wiped down the walls and baseboards behind furniture. And, amazingly enough, we have at least half of our dishes and foodstuffs unpacked.

We bought the first microwave of our married bliss. Kevin replaced the leaking, corroded trap under the sink (the kitchen sink’s story entire is a whole post in and of itself). He put up towel racks in the bathroom, put knobs on the closet doors, and is in the midst of reinforcing the clothes rod--another task that turned into a bigger ordeal than planned. Soon (hopefully), we’ll find a light fixture for the dining room and material to make curtains for the kitchen, dining room, and living room. There is light ahead.

In baby news, this Thursday will mark 20 weeks, halfway. We have an ultrasound and checkup scheduled for next week, though we’re not going to have the baby’s gender revealed to us. I’ve been feeling well most of the time, and my eating schedule has settled into something more manageable than every 75 minutes. I got a few maternity clothes at one of the local church’s clothes swap this weekend, and we also came home from there with an electric swing in great condition. Our church is giving us a shower in April, while my mom is here to visit. Kevin’s mom and her mom are planning to come up for the festivities as well, though they’ll only be here for that weekend. So, we registered for baby things at Target on Sunday--at least, for most of the bigger stuff. I balk at registering for the little things--onesies, sleepers, crib sheets, blankets, bibs, etc.--because they’re more fun to choose, and we’d rather receive whatever people want to pick out than what we specifically request. Mostly, we searched for the model of each item with the fewest number of bells, whistles, and flashing lights. What does a baby need with battery-operated accessories, anyway?

In random news, Kevin has been working in D.C. for the past week and will continue to do so for this week. That means he leaves the house a bit before 6:30 each morning and gets home sometime between 6:30 and 7:00 each evening. It’s been tiring for both of us, but only for a few more days now. There are trees, bushes, and flowers blooming and budding in earnest here, and I’m thrilled to watch them. Spring is a beautiful thing. We’ll need to buy a lawn mower soon for the meager grass our yard boasts. I hope we’ll get at least a small garden planted this year--tomatoes and peppers, if nothing else--but we’ll see how that goes.

That’s our update for the past week. I promise to take more pictures after the war with the kitchen is over. It takes most of my energy these days. . .none left for artistic pursuits, even simple photography. Have a lovely week, and we’ll meet you here, same place, next week for more news.