To Whom It May Concern:
The Core family issues its deepest regrets for so sadly neglecting our duty to blogdom. Clamoring hordes have assaulted our inboxes crying for more more more!!! Well, at first they did. Now the residents of the www have turned to greener blogstures and left us to our neverending real-life house project, which has been the culprit for our long neglect of this small garden of virtuality.
It is time, however, to machete back the weeds. Now we must redeem ourselves, and in this effort we offer this brief catch-up entry and promise to do better in the future.
FEBRUARY 2008
We continued to live lives of wanderment. Luckily, some dear and sainted friends asked us to house-sit while they would be away for several weeks. We hoped that by the time they returned we would have some clear path for our future (because three months of homelessness was getting to be slightly wearing). In their townhome, Jonah learned how to crawl down the stairs and took his first steps. He also discovered the supreme joy of swiffering.
By the end of the month, we finally received the word that we had been so desperately awaiting and not telling anyone about--our secret move to Salt Lake City had a departure date! On February 26 we hastily packed our bags to catch a last-minute flight to Utah for a house-hunting trip and to drop the news on our families.
Bugged-out eyes, hands clapped over mouths, squeals, chuckles, hugs, smiles, "Huh?" 's and "REALLY???" 's punctuated the next couple of days as we spontaneously showed up at people's homes and workplaces. It was a good time. Then the work began--to find a house.
After several days of hunting and searching, we stumbled upon a rental in Sugarhouse that didn't sound particularly promising, but we checked it out anyway. It was perfect--well, not in every sense, but the price was right, the neighborhood was darling, and the house itself packed enough charm to make the whole deal worth it. We signed on the dotted line and our souls breathed a massive sigh of relief: we had a home. Finally.
MARCH 2008
The following weeks were a whirlwind of activity consisting primarily of packing and bidding adieu to dear friends. Our last day in Virginia dawned a gorgeous, sunny day. We spent the morning cleaning house, then headed out to say good-bye to the city that had been our home for so long. We walked the Mall, got hot-dogs, rode on the carousel, visited the Hirshorn one more time, then headed over to the U-Street District to meet up with friends at Ben's. It was a fun night and we're grateful to all who made an effort to be there (hopefully we made a few converts to the chili half-smoke).
March 16 we hit the road to West Virginia to take our leave of James' sister and family, then the next day we were off with a week's worth of clothes, a broken camera, and a prayer for good weather and lots of cartime napping for our little bundle of eleven-month-old energy.
Highlights of the trip: fortuitous timing of hotels for night-time stopping, scoring of seriously sweet lamp at Kansas Goodwill, calling in to Bob's radio show in Kansas to tell him he was full of crap (but surprisingly never put through to Bob himself), listening to Bryson's
Short History of Nearly Everything and learning about geology whilst driving through some of the most amazing mountains and hills, visiting Core and Iverson graves in Grand Junction, putting in at
Green River and hitting the local mart (complete with hand-written sale signs and cowgirl-booted owner/manager) for Ramen and pork & beans, landing on I-15 and passing familiar landmarks of Provo and Salt Lake City as we sailed on to the Legler home in Kaysville.
Immediately upon our arrival at my parents' home, Jonah got his first haircut. It took five of us to do it, but the kid looked much better. He totally rocked his Easter Sunday duds two days later.
Since arriving in Utah:
- Jonah turned one
- we vacationed in St. George with the Cores
- James got a
scooter- Jonah grew a
chest hair- we planted a garden
- James and Mejkin have been on a handful of dates--without the boy
- we've explored our new neighborhood
- fed the ducks (and ducklings) at Sugarhouse Park
- Jonah got a second haircut
- met lots and lots of super-great people
...but those are worthy of their own posts.
Stay tuned for more updates of Core adventures and developments.
