Virginia Smells Lovely

I think they should make that the new state motto...

Virginia Smells Lovely

Dave thinks it might be more accurate simply to say,

Virginia Smells Loads Better Than China

but that one doesn't have the same ring to it. So I'm pushing the first. Flowers, fresh cut grass, rain, a general lack of heavy industrial pollution or thick exhaust. I hate to close the windows, because Virginia Smells Lovely.

Home

We've been in the house for a little over a week. We had no furniture, dishes or internet access for most of that time. Two days ago, everything arrived - the internet, cable and local phone were installed and connected to our new TV. The boxes came from China, and the furniture came from St. Louis. For the first time in nearly 4 years, all of our things are together under one roof. And that makes for a pretty crowded little house. And really, a pretty stressful week for everyone.

Dave put the girls to bed tonight. I walked up 30 minutes later, because I heard chattering.

Lilly: I couldn't sleep. I was waiting for you to come and give me a good-night kiss.

Mommy: Oh, I'm sorry, baby.

Lilly (giving me a big hug): Its okay, Mommy. I know you're busy.

Mommy: I'm working really hard, trying to make this house into our home.

Lilly (inside the big hug): Its already out home, Mommy.

Mommy (small smile, and feeling of reassurance): Oh, I'm so glad, Lilly.

Lilly: Its just a really bad one.

Its not actually such a bad house. In fact, its a very cute little house in a well-located and charming neighborhood. I think she's going to like it a lot, once it is no longer overwhelmed by boxes.

The Privilege of Living in Virginia

Goodness gracious - this area is expensive!

We looked into buying a house nearby - the only thing we could afford was a 3-bedroom condo with a small yard, and 950 square feet on the interior. For those of you who don't know their weights and measures - 950 square feet is crazy small. We considered it, because it would be lovely to own. But decided that 4 girls plus a Mom and a Dad living in such a small space with no extra storage would just be no good.

So we rent. We looked at a few comfortable townhomes in Vienna - that's at the very end of the DC metro system. And then we found a house in Arlington - that's the nearest suburb with a distinctly urban feel to it - I'd compare it to the far north neighborhoods in Chiago. Originally, it was part of the District of Columbia until ceded back to Virginia. It completes the District's square footprint. Its pricey - eating up over half of our monthly income. But so were all the rest of the places we looked. People pay a lot of money for the privilege of living in Virginia.

We signed the lease this weekend. Dave and I are landlords in St. Louis, and so we feel that we're familiar with good and bad leases. When we saw that we are responsible for all utilities, including water and trash, we were surprised. When we saw that all appliances are in "as is" condition, we got nervous. But when we realized that we are responsible for every bit of maintenance on the house as well, we became suspicious. So, we don't call the landlord if the toilet explodes in the middle of the night? Nope - that's on us, in a standard Virginia Lease.

We got the keys yesterday and took the girls over to enjoy the house and the yard last night. We ended up meeting our next door neighbors on both sides, which quickly made us feel like we're moving into a neighborhood. In chatting, we learned that the land alone where our house sits is worth at least $500,000. The landlords have owned it for at least 20 years, at best guess. Judging off of the neighbor's original house value, I'd say they paid $200,000 for it. And now that they've probably got it paid off, they're still collecting over half of our salary for the privilege of living there - with no additional monthly costs to them at all.

I tell you where the privilege is - it is a privilege to own rental property in Virginia. Especially if you bought it two decades ago!

For the Love of Bureaucracy

I thought the numerous parties involved this weekend were tough. We worked with our agent, who worked with the landlord's agent, who worked with the agency broker, who worked with the landlord to eventually get a signed lease to our new house. When the landlord went AWOL on Sunday, we had a long train of conversations going back and forth. The silliness of bureaucracy - it seems it would have been easier for us to work directly with the landlord.

But now I see - this was nothing. Now my life is in the hands of the Federal Government, and I begin to learn what bureaucracy really is.

With a DC post, we are required to take possession of all of our things, and to move out of temporary housing by this weekend. Before we even had a signed lease, I began the process of establishing delivery. I sent an email 4 days ago. I made a few phone calls the same day. I waited for them to reply. With no reply, I began making phone calls again today - now that I have a signed lease and keys to the delivery point.

This is where it gets fun.

I called Transportation. They told me that I have no travel orders authorizing release of our stuff.

I called Human Resources. They told me that travel orders only came in this week, and had not yet crossed her desk. She has now forwarded them to Budget.

Budget will sit on them for about 3 days before approving them, and sending them back to Human Resources.

Human Resources will send them to me.

I will send them to Transportation.

Transportation will send them to the warehouse.

The warehouse will contract with a delivery company.

I've been advised that under the best of circumstances, this will take about 5 business days. Yet we move out of temporary housing on Saturday. Into an empty house. No furniture. No towels. No dishes. No sleeping bags. No extension on the temporary housing - even though this is clearly how long the process takes to work.

It seems that someone either in heaven or in the federal government believes that I need to work on my patience and flexibility.

Moving Once More

Every so often, I post something about how I'm too busy to form a coherent thought, and how you're going to have to forgive my absence for the next while. Well, here it is again. I've had a few nicely thought out posts written in my head. They simmer for a while in my brain, getting better as the day goes on, even marinating into the next day sometimes. But after sitting overnight, the ideas begin to go bad and I eventually have to throw them out. Without time to write, I'm losing any interesting thoughts I derive these days.

However, I am receiving complaints that I've not updated you on our housing. Without further ado, we have a house! That is, we will have a house tomorrow morning. We considered buying a house in Falls Church City, renting it out while we're gone and having a place to come back to whenever posted in DC. But the options were in our price range were few, and they were really pushing the top of the range. So, we're renters. We're renting a lovely house with a yard and a sunroom. We're an easy walk to the Metro that'll take Dave straight to work downtown. Lilly has to change schools, but not until next fall - by then, she won't remember any of her classmates from this year anyway.

We get the keys tomorrow morning, and we're all looking forward to exploring the house and the neighborhood. But even more exciting - we also receive all of our stuff from storage sometime this week. For the first time in four years, we will have nothing sitting in storage. Our entire household will be in one place.

So, the to do list for this week includes all of the regular moving stuff:

• Cleaning the new house;
• Cleaning the old house;
• Moving stuff from this place to that place;
• Buy a bed for Dave and I, and finding dressers for each of us;
• Setting up license plates, renters insurance, and school registration
• Unpacking and generally moving in

And I'll admit - I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to feeling at home, and having everything we need with us. I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, with bedding I chose myself. I'm looking forward to every bit of it! If only I had an ayi who could help with the cleaning and the kids. Maybe at our next post.

Settling Slowly

Dave began his new job today. He is no longer in training, but a sworn in officer of the federal government with a desk and everything. He felt pretty good about the vibe in the office, and about reporting in to work daily for the next year. He told me that Secretary Clinton came to his desk to personally welcome him to the department this morning; and he thought it was awfully funny that I believed him.

Lilly is settling into her school and class. She has her first playdate tomorrow afternoon, and talks about a few of her friends regularly. She doesn't have quite the comfort level she had in Mrs B's class in Shenzhen, but she still seems confident and happy.

Sophia is in a Montessori classroom, which I think is the perfect place for her right now. She has plenty of choices she can make, and a wonderful teacher paying close attention to her needs and her strengths. I see her growing in this school, and I'm so glad she's there.

I'm still feeling unsettled, though. Keeping 3 kids on different school and sleep schedules, and all within a small apartment without a yard is exhausting. The lack of social interaction is depressing. And being homeless is unsettling.

One Year

Oh goodness sakes - what our lives looked like one year ago!

We lived in a charming little lane house in the French Concession of Shanghai. Our neighbors were entirely Chinese, and very few of them spoke any English at all. We could walk to some of the best restaurants in a restaurant city, as well as to the Metro, a little import grocery, and a fantastic vegetable lady. We went for walks through the lanes and under the plane trees. We spent a lot of time on our rooftop terrace. Dave and I shared a small bedroom across the house and up a spiral staircase from the girl's bedroom. They went to preschool right across the street, and came home right after lunch every day. Dave worked long hours, but his office was a simple 15 minute bike ride from the house so it all felt manageable. The old house was falling apart, with chunks of plaster sometimes dropping from the ceiling and onto the dinner table. But it was lovely. And it felt like home immediately.

The day that Annika was born, Lilly and Sophia spent with Erin and her daughter Jill. They went home from school the next day with Miriam and her daughter Amelie. Amelie and Jill were some of Lilly's favorite friends, and she still talks about them regularly. The girls loved baby Annika immediately. She was the peaceful baby we had all prayed for, and she fit into our family perfectly. She spent her first weeks walking around in the lovely Shanghai spring, and rarely leaving the baby carrier. We vacationed on the beaches of Sanya, and otherwise spent the summer at the pool a block away and enjoyed a simple life.

When she was about 10 weeks old, we learned of the possibility of moving to Shenzhen in south China. Only a few weeks later, we did move. She handled the transition gracefully - we wrapped her bassinet in old plastic bags and checked it as luggage so she could bring her bed with us to the hotel where we spent our first month. A flexible and happy girl, she walked her sisters to school and then napped in the gym while I burned off that extra weight.

Soon we moved into our house. Only a few minutes away from the school and now with an ayi who loved our little baby, little Annika fell into a routine and spent her mornings at home. She didn't have to wake up for the walk to school and she could eat and sleep when she liked, because an adult was always at home. Lilly and I found friends quickly and Annika's fan club grew

She came to the states for Christmas, and landed on American soil for the first time at 7 months old. Only 6 weeks later, spending the day at Disneyland in Hong Kong, we learned that we'd be coming back to the US with Daddy as a diplomat. She spent the next few weeks with ayi a lot - and ayi cried when she finally had to say good-bye. At 10 months old, our baby left her 2nd home and spent the next few months in transition.

One her 1st birthday today, she's living in a hotel in her 6th city. She's spending a lot of time in the car, ferrying her sister to preschool. She's loving playing in the grass and eating with her fingers. She's starting to walk, but has no need for talking. She's still that peaceful baby we prayed for, and she still fits perfectly into our family.

A Blessing and a Curse

Our family's first post in the Foreign Service will be to the State Department in Washington, D.C. Dave's seen a small blurb of a job description, and feels pretty excited about the kind of work he expects to do. He's having dinner with a future co-worker tonight, checking into the office on Thursday afternoon, and reports to work bright and early Monday morning. He gets sworn in on Friday afternoon, and will be an official diplomat within a week.

The job is certainly a blessing.

A number of other blessings come along with this DC posting.

Blessing #1: We have lived in China for the past 4 years, and I love the opportunity for our family to live in the states for a bit. Lilly and Sophia feel fully American, but have no memory of living here. All three girls have spent more of their lives in China than in America. We've been far away from family, and the easy bits of American life have been difficult. We're looking forward to living in America for a while.

Blessing #2: Sophia had a rough year in school last year. After less than 2 weeks in her new school here in Virginia, we're seeing confidence return and a happier child than I saw the entire time we lived in Shenzhen. Her teachers love her. She's making friends. She learning and growing, and feels at home. She's in a wonderful place.

Blessing #3: Before we arrived in D.C., we already had good friends here. Dave's cousin lives in town, and his girls are nearly the same ages as ours. They hit it off right away. Friends from Shanghai live in town, and our kids played together at The Wonder Center. Sparks reignited as if they've never been apart - and certainly not been apart for nearly two years. Dave's classmate and our neighbor has girls nearly the same age as ours, and they all get along smashingly. And where girls play together happily, there the mothers and fathers are able to talk and enjoy each other. We have friends in town - all of us.

Blessing #4: On his first Sunday here, Dave popped into the church across the street. Since then, we've gone every weekend. We frequently see people we know. We enjoy the preaching and the worship. And best of all - the girls love the Sunday School, so much that they ask to go back each week. Finally, we are in a family friendly church.

Blessing #5: Our temporary housing is lovely. We've landed in a new complex, in a 2 bedroom apartment with a den and a large, new kitchen. The space is great, and the location couldn't be better. Across the street from the church, in an amazing school district, and within walking distance of most of the city's selling points - the library, the restaurants, the toy store, the farmer's market, the parks.

But the blessings come complete with a curse.

Housing here is stinking expensive. And not only expensive, but it also moves quickly. Things available at the beginning of the week have already disappeared. We lose our temporary housing in 17 days. That is, we need to be entirely moved into our new home in less than 3 weeks.

Its overwhelming.