So I've been here a month.
Its hard to imagine but I arrived around midnight on the 18th in January. It feels more like a home now, but still not fully. There are still boxes to unpack. Our closets are impossible fortresses of equipment and other things that you own, can't seem to part with, yet have no where to store. Im thinking of just putting some tupperwares out on the patio. If someone seriously wants to run behind our apt complex, pick them up, trudge through the mud to get back around to their car, then they must need the crap more than I. Of course I wont be putting my snowboard there...and I have NO idea where my dbl person kayak will go. I might have to consider selling it and buying two smaller singles...
My cat is currently meowing in the bathtub for no reason....
At least my pets seem happy here. They love looking out the glass patio doors and out into the woods. I'd like to buy one or two birdfeeders to stick out there and encourage more feathered friends. The ecosystem behind my house is nothing short of amazing! We have cardinals, red wing blackbirds, and other sm random birds I can't identify. Geese, various ducks, turkey vultures, and the other day we were only a few yards from a bald eagle. There are also at least two beavers who we've been able to get very close to, and I've seen deer tracks in the mud. All within this tiny strip of forest tucked between the government center and my complex.
Still not much on the job front, though I'm not going after anything in an aggressive manner. Somehow I feel like caring for this home and the various cooking, cleaning, and so on are very important to this families quality of life and I don't know how I can do that and keep a job. Maybe I'm just lazy? Though the job market down here sucks royally. the other day I noticed the local Safeway grocery store had a Help Wanted sign, but when I asked the asst manager he told me they were only accepting applications due to high turn around. well that turn around may be from the fact that they only pay 6.50 per hour. They actually make that silly salon receptionist position look better! Who the fuck wants to get up for a part time job that you'll bring home less than $5 an hour. And the government is wondering why our economy is struggling?
As a side project I'm offering my services as a dog walker/pet sitter. I have one M-F client I walk twice a day and another whom I will pet sit for this coming weekend. There is another possible client in the works. Right now I just want to keep it basic. The get insured will cost $200 upfront and its money I just don't have right now. I wonder, do baby sitters have to be insured? Why do pet sitters?? Society is a bit scewed these days. Overall at least I have a small dribble of income coming in so I can purchase little sillies like stickers or splurge on random grocery things that Pax finds impractical.
Pax's family was down this weekend. Mom, Sister, Brother in Law, 4 yr old Warren and 2 yr old Laura. Mom stayed with us and the rest stayed at a nearby hotel, with pool, which is most important to toddlers. It was a lot of loudness and chaos but the pets and I survived the onslaught (though I fear my sore throat is from toddler contact). We attempted to go to the Smithsonian Museum of Native American art for it's chocolate festival, but Pax's mom couldn't handle the walking, so we left after a brief hour. I only got to sample some old school traditional unsweetened cocoa with spices. :(
The day was not lost though because we stopped for a very late lunch at this nearby persian restaurant and had an absolutely fantastic meal! I nattered about it here on Yelp http://www.yelp.com/biz/bistro-pasargad-fairfax?rpp=40&sort_by=date_desc
Still haven't connected with anyone here, which is a drag. Sometime this week I hope to go hit up the local barnes and noble to see if they have a book club or something. The people I see day to day while dog walking seem frightened by greatings. Maybe it's a city thing...