Arrival and Implantation

Internets are mine again! So we arrived in Ohio on Day 5, we crashed Josh's family reunion (or at least the tail end of it for him) then joined him and his wife and two kids at his house. His house is enormous. The basement is as large as a 3 bedroom apartment and includes two rooms that could be used for just that purpose. We stayed in one of the rooms there, while our daughters stayed in the other. Unfortunately because it was the 4th of July the office for our apartment complex was closed :(.

The next day (Sunday) we got into our new apartment. It's very nice, just about the size of our apartment in California (but half the price). We spent some time getting our meager belongings transferred into the house and then headed down to the Ikea. In the process of moving we left a lot of belongings including our coffee table and most of the bookshelves (they were decaying and we didn't figure they'd make the trip). So we picked up new ones at Ikea, rather nicely priced and they seem very sturdy. I'm going to wait to construct them until my power tools arrive with the rest of our stuff on the 9th.

It was about this time we learned the price for the girls being so well behaved on the trip up. Because of all the variability in their bed times and the changes for us they have been terrors as we try to put them to bed. The fact that they don't have their own beds yet probably contributes to the problem. But everybody eventually made it to sleep, which was important for me as I had work in the morning.

Monday morning rolled around and it was time for my first day of work. Yes, for those of you keeping score at home. I got off on Friday the 26th. Spent a week packing/driving and then had Sunday to go shopping, and went to work on Monday. Yes I am that crazy. But money is important to keep flowing. So bright and early I headed to my new office. Turns out the government requires a lot of documentation. So I'll be reading a lot of that and trying to get a handle enough to be useful to the team as quickly as possible.

Then Monday night was dinner at Josh and Diana's. Turns out around 30 people (kids are people too) gather around their table and potluck their way into hanging out together... Every Monday night. That's a lot of work, cleanup and cooking and preparation. And I thought I had my work cut out for me when I had everyone over for gaming. But they all fit in Josh's house, and the 8-10 kids run screaming and tearing around the house. I tried to help with the setup and the cleanup, but I'm sure the dishes load is terrifying in the morning.

So far Ohio seems pretty much just the same as Santa Rosa. The weather's a little schizo. The town area we live in is more posh, with two huge parks and lots of trees and a very quaint community. All of the diners and things have different names, and the supermarket is Kroger not Safeway. But generally there's not much in the way of culture shock yet. I'll keep you posted, as it's time for me to prepare for more tomorrow.