Unpacking: A Nice Surpise

I can't believe it's almost Friday already. The biggest thing I miss about having a job is all that free time. (Huh???) To be fair to myself, moving is a bit time consuming, and moving to a new country a bit more so. But it still seems crazy that I haven't been able to sit down and blog for almost a week. Of course, the problem is compounded by the fact we've only had one computer, which Ali totally dominates. (I'll be getting my own computer set up and running soon - maybe even tomorrow. Yeah!)

Enough of my pity party. This week we unpacked, washed, sorted, and found a place for nearly everything we own. Except the books. Because we don't have any bookcases. Just when I thought the great search for new furniture was over. Fortunately, we got out of the house today and found a place that had really nice, reasonably-priced-yet-still-good-quality storage units. So another piece of the puzzle should be in place soon.

Opening all those boxes after six months - we left Philly six months ago Monday! - felt a little like Christmas. It's a real treat to have pillows again, to be able to cook with my own pots and pans, and to see all the glassware and dishes arrived intact - except for one stemmed cordial glass. (Proof I've become an expert packer during our last five moves.) But the biggest treat was opening a box we'd packed in Seattle, and finding our dear friend - the eminent Seattle artist, Aaliyah Gupta - had slipped in a charcoal drawing. It's an evocative, mysterious, shape-shifting image that makes me think of the birth of a bright and hopeful future.

Cheers,
Sandie