Babka Baking Bliss: I had to break the brand new oven.

So I know it's not Easter, but I went on a Babka baking frenzy. You know, as an effort to break in the new kitchen, because what's a better first use of a kitchen than making a variety of Babka?





Also, I thought that since as a couple of months ago I went on a photo frenzy with this page, and the out of the blue haven't posted a picture in months, I supply a little bit of visual decadence to go along with the post.

Oh, and by the way, John and I are still sleeping at the new house on the air mattress in the living room. Thankfully, we'll be moving the bed and some actual furniture out here tomorrow night.

Monday Spent Moving Fish Tanks; Tuesday Spent Reflecting the Move; Wednesday has yet to come.

Oh my. Home renovations are complete. Actually they were complete Monday. The hardwood floors are done, on both floors, and on a last minute decision, we pulled out the carpet in the bedrooms and replaced it, as well, with new carpet. Also the kitchen and bathroom(s) tile jobs turned out quite well. They both look definitely snazzier than before, and with the new appliances it gives this old country house a kind of modern edge. Plus, I just love the fact that the refrigerator is so . . . new . . . and clean, as mine isn't. It shares the grime of a decade, from myself and all the previous tenants . . . ugh.

I must say I am excited. Yesterday we put the trim up, and I must say that with a fresh coat of paint and new floors the interior is just . . . lit up. It's refreshing. I've never lived in a place that was so bright and . . . new looking. I'm also, quite ecstatic about the fact that the hardest part of the move is over, as I took the day off of work yesterday and moved the fish tanks out there. They made it fine . . . it was just a pain to do. I had a friend with a truck come and help me, and even with both of us loading the truck and my Subaru Outback station wagon completely full each time we finally made it in three trips . . . three very tense trips. Each time we got to the house, we immediately unloaded and began set-up . . . reestablished the tanks, and then left to restart the process again. They look good in the house, though. But I suppose anything would against the bare space, since they're the only furniture in there.

Because of this, the moving of fish tanks, John and I slept in the house last night. We stayed because it a critical point in reestablishing the tanks, and I wanted to be there if one of them happened to crash in sometime between that afternoon and the next morning. We're staying again tonight, for the fish for the same reason. Right now, we have a blow up mattress set-up in the living room, covered with the usual of blankets and sleeping bags and pillows. And, well, it seems that there is more foodstuffs in this house than back at the flat . . . John, produced blueberries, strawberries, kiwi, mangoes, and a variety of breads this morning for breakfast . . . all of which have been absent at the flat for weeks. I mustn't lie and say it wasn't delicious though.

Well. I must stop. John and I are going out to grab a bite to eat for dinner. Ta-Ta.

We Took the Home Buying Plunge: Why I Have Been Lacking the Past Couple of Weeks with My Post Writing.

It's been awhile. BUT! I have good reason for staying away so long (at least I think it's a good reason.) We're moving, John and I. We finally found us that perfect house in the suburbs, where we can have a white picket fence, tire swing and if we're lucky due to the close proximity of each house, a nice peek into the neighbors living quarters . . . I'm actually joking, if you can't tell, about the house in the suburbs, because I kind of loathe the 'burbs. We will actually be moving out of our flat in the city, to a humble abode in the country. We got a great deal on the house (which was to die form, and was actually the only reason we bought the property, the 15 acres that came with it was just a bonus . . . And yes, I do realize that 15 acres isn't much, but its more than the 5 or less that you get in the 'burbs.)

We're moving in next weekend . . . well kind of. We're going to wait until the end of the month, to "officially" leave the flat. Actually we could be moving in this weekend, but there are a few minor repairs that we're going to do before the "move." The first thing is to paint the walls . . . all of the walls. It's quite a big place, 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, two-story with an attic . . . So, we have quite a bit a space, and quite a bit of walls, that need a fresh coat of paint, as they are currently this fading shade of yellowish white.

The next tasks after that, which should be finished tomorrow (started painting on Thursday, and tomorrow I'll be touching everything up,) is that we're going to gut out the shag carpet and replace it with hardwood flooring and then also we're going to gut out the kitchen, lay some new tile for the floors and counter tops and replace all the appliances. We're also re-tiling the bathroom floors and counters.

All these "repairs" are going to cost a bit but, the way we figured it is, that we might as well do them now, while we can afford it, than wait until later, or never, when we might not have an opportunity to do such extensive repairs. We're paying for this mostly with my mother's life insurance money that I received after her death, which I think she would appreciate. I haven't spent any of it, since receiving it more than a year ago, and she would appreciate it, being spent on something tactful rather than frivolous. The way we calculated all of our expenses, we'll actually still have quite a bit of money left over to go towards paying off the home loan. John and his friends, are going to be doing the repairs themselves, as he and some of his buddies used to work in the "home repair" industry. I trust them enough to know what they're doing. But, I'm going to be tiling, because I can actually do this, as I have before.

Anyways, I better go. They want to finish by the weekend (which isn't going to happen . . . as I keep telling them) so they're making me wake up early early, to get started. They went and bought/picked up all the supplies (the flooring, the tiles, the grout, the nails (as we opt for the real-hardwood, rather than the fake stuff) last night and tonight and took them out to the property already.

Ah, gee. I suppose I should say now that I can't wait until the morning? Really.