Almost funny

Luke was doing this cute thing for a couple of weeks, where you run your finger horizontally over his lips and he makes a silly sound... then starts laughing like crazy. That trick must have a name. I tried to video it a few of times with no luck. And recently he has stopped doing it, so of course we keep trying to make him. I think he's onto us because now he just sits there with his lips tight. Darn!

However, since I haven't posted a video in a while, I figured you might like to see him giggling anyway.

House Tour, first peek

Here are the first two snapshots of the inside of our house-- the kitchen and the family room off the kitchen. We're painting the living room, dining room and Luke's room, so I'll wait until that is done before sending more pics.

Scavenger

Luke is learning his way around his new kitchen... and apparently he is ready to help himself to snacks. We just returned from the park and he went right to the cupboard, pulled the bag of Cheerios out of the box and dug his whole arm right in the bag. Then, unsatisfied with the cereal, he went back for his favorite--graham crackers. A few seconds later, Keith came into the kitchen to get a drink and Luke, seeing the open fridge, scampered right in. He opened the fruit bin, pulled out a cluster of grapes and started eating them.

I guess we don't have to wonder if he's hungry anymore -- he'll just ransack the kitchen like a bear, helping himself!

New play place

Luke is enjoying the new little kid table that my parents stuffed in the Subaru when it was shipped here from NH. The chairs are a little big so we made a seat belt with some stretchy cord and velcro. Yup, he can get right out of that, but if he has something to entertain him like his new abacus or--even better--my wallet, he'll sit there for a while.

He's not supposed to be playing with my wallet, but sometimes it's the only thing that works. He even has his own wallet, filled with various hotel key cards and expired cards collected from around Vancouver and Alaska... but sadly he can't be fooled.

Three small things that make life easier

1. Neighborhood clean up program.

Twice a year, you can dump almost anything on the street in front of your house and city works will pick it up. It is awesome. It saves us a trip to the dump (which is way far away), plus, we don't even have a vehicle big or dirty enough to haul the stuff that will need dumping. I remember from our last stint here, people had some really impressive piles going. Then of course, there are tons of pick up trucks trolling the neighborhoods looking for treasures and you should see some of the things people fetch out of the heaps. Unfortunately the fall pick up is several weeks away and we already have a pile of stuff started on the side of the house.

2. Cheap parking.

You can park all day in downtown SLC for $3. Or you can valet your bike for free.

3. Hassle-free dealings with public services.

I called the DMV with a question that was not answered on the website. A real person answered 30 seconds after I went on hold and answered my questions politely. Not only did someone actually answer the phone, but he did not rudely tell me to look on the website then hang up, as I have experienced in a bigger city like Chicago.

Dealing with the gas and electric companies is similarly easy.

Even better, when I went to the DMV office this morning, an hour and a half after they opened, I was in and out with new plates for both cars within FIVE MINUTES. I'm not even kidding. I brought snacks and toys and books for Luke, planning for a long wait, but I guess I forgot that this is Utah!

With all the extra time this morning, I let Luke play with the plates, which he thought was cool.

Yard?

Here's a shot of the guys in our backyard. As you can see, it's small, has dead grass, and is adorned with lots of things we don't want, such as part of an old wire fence and metal posts, a laundry line post, overgrown bushes and weeds, etc).

That's why we had a landscaping company come on Friday to give us an estimate on some sprucing up. We're planning to rip out all of the unwanteds, put down new sod and sprinklers, and build a stone patio, which will go behind where I'm standing taking the photo.

Hopefully we will have that work done soon so we can enjoy cooking and eating out, and playing in the grass for the rest of the summer.

When we do have it done, I'll post some before and after shots.

Also, stay tuned for more photos of the inside of the house in the next week.

Favorite ride

Yesterday morning Keith stayed with Luke so I could do my favorite bike ride, for the first time since we moved back.

It's a 20-mile roundtrip ride up Emigration Canyon, with a consistent 5% grade and an elevation gain of 1478 feet. That means it's a hard climb on the way up, and a fast coast back down, which is sublime on a hot Utah summer day.

I went early so there weren't many other riders out yet and the light was beautiful at that time. It was a great ride except for two things:

1. I'm out of shape.

I used to ride Emi several times per week, so I know exactly how long it typically takes (or, took) to reach the top (50 minutes; one crazy day I did it in 48). Yesterday it took me 61 minutes = pitiful. I'd better find a way to get out there more often.

2. I spit a big phlegm ball on my leg... twice.

I've been a bit congested for two weeks now so it wasn't surprising that I had to choke up some phlegm a few times on the ride. I tried spitting to the side, but two times the gooey blob landed right on my leg. Gross.

But all in all, being out on that familiar ride reminded me, again, of why it's nice to be back in Utah.

Here's the view at the top:

Water boy

We just re-joined the club that we belonged to when we lived here last time and I have a feeling that we'll use the pool way more than we ever did before. I've taken Luke a few times now and he loves it. In fact, we went this afternoon... here are a few pics:

Friendly neighbors, for a change

This is, far and away, the friendliest place we've ever lived!

When I lived in Cambridge for six years (3rd floor walk-up) my Mom couldn't believe that I didn't know/ regularly socialize with the neighbors. She and my Dad visited often and she definitely knew everyone in the building better than I did.

In Vancouver, the saying goes - everyone is friendly but no one wants to be your friend. And for the most part, we found it to be true. People said hi on the street or in the elevator but it ends there. And that's fine; it's what we're used to.

Even when we lived in SLC last time, a few blocks away, we never met any of the neighbors.

Well, that's not exactly true. We did quickly meet the cranky biddy next door when she left a note explaining that our standard central air conditioning unit was keeping her up at night. The note was followed by a second note, and then she asked us to come over to discuss "the problem". We had the unit serviced, trying to accommodate her, and offered to plant some bushes between it and her fence. We were new to the hood and wanted to keep the peace.

But, unsatisfied, she filed a noise violation, which the police apparently dismissed/ laughed at right away, because our A/C unit was an appropriate size, in an appropriate location.

I think we finally ran her out, because she moved out about a year after we arrived, before A/C season kicked in.

When a new couple moved in, we were determined to start off on the right foot and welcomed the newbies with a pumpkin bread... they seemed annoyed and we sort of felt like idiots.

SO, we have been shocked/ pleasantly surprised/ shocked by the warm welcome we've received here on Harrison Avenue!

The first day here our next door neighbor, Julie stopped by to say hello and offer any help, tools, or babysitting (she has two teenaged kids) we needed. And she must be one of the nicest people I've ever met. She seems like the perfect next door neighbor.

Then there's Mitch from across the street, who is often out working on his beautifully manicured yard. Since our yard needs a little TLC right now, when we met him on our way out to a friend's BBQ we apologized for its appearance. He said we could borrow his lawn mower anytime, to which Keith replied "I just might do that tomorrow." When we returned a few hours later, the lawn was mowed! Another great neighbor.

Sunday morning I was in the front yard greeting the moving truck and several people stopped by to introduce themselves as they walked to the Mormon ward around the corner. Including Kelly, a nice older gentleman who just had Mohs surgery with one of Keith's colleagues and stopped by to tell me about the couple who used to live here and gave me the scoop on other families on the street.

Then there's the nice family from a few doors down, who brought us a huge fresh-picked zucchini from their garden. And Wade from across and a two doors down, who came over to welcome us. And it keeps going - John from across the street just came over with homemade chocolate chip cookies. Honestly, is this a joke?

For the first time, it really feels like we're living in a community, not just a city or a town. I guess this is what it was like years ago, when people were friendly and helpful and involved. It has been a really nice way to start our new life here. When the house is all together we'll have to host a party.

Three weeks later...

Well, I have easily-accessible Internet access for the first time in three weeks!

We've had a busy past three weeks including closing on our house, moving out of our Vancouver apartment, going on a wonderful 10-day Alaskan vacation with my parents, moving into our new home in SLC, receiving all of our belongings, which were scattered around the country, Keith starting his new job, and finally starting to settle in.

I wish I could have filled you in along the way, but since it wasn't possible, first a recap of our Alaska trip.

Our cruise left downtown Vancouver on July 2 and it was a little bittersweet sailing away from our adopted city. It had been rainy and/or very overcast for over a week but the day we sailed out was beautiful. Highlights of the trip (brainstorm list), followed by a few photos, include:

Gorgeous Alaska scenery (when it wasn't raining and clouded in!)... Luke had lots of quality time with his Grammy and Grampa... Luke established himself as prince of the ship-- all of the staffers knew him by name... We had a July 4th visit with Uncle Bill and Aunt Janey at their waterfront home (and to the 4th of July parade) in Ketchikan... We sailed very close to the Hubbard Glacier and saw lots of calving, including a HUGE chunk of ice, which fell into the water and caused a large wave!... Keith and I enjoyed a rainforest hike in Juneau and saw the Mendenhall Glacier... We also enjoyed "the world's longest zipline"-- which was really cool!... Alaskan crab... We learned about the different types of Alaskan salmon... We spent an afternoon at a dog musher camp, where we were pulled by a dog team and learned about the Iditarod... We stayed in a lovely resort in the village of Talkeetna, where we were fortunate to see a perfect view of Denali National Park and the entire Alaskan range, including Mt. McKinley, which is apparently only seen about 10% of the time... We took a flight seeing trip in a small plane over the range, circling McKinley--it was stunning and Luke slept the whole time... We enjoyed a trip through interior Alaska on a glass dome-topped railroad... We wrapped up the trip with a day in Denali.

And one low light -- on the last day of our trip, while in Denali, Luke came down with a high fever. After a trip to the local health clinic, the doctor determined that he likely had an ear infection. We'd never seen him so lifeless, the poor little guy. He has never been sick like that, so we were a bit worried. But after a few days, he started feeling better and now he's back to normal.

So, the trip to Alaska was a really nice way to wrap up this stage of our life before settling down in Salt Lake City. It was a great experience.

Now that I'm back online I'll start posting about the house and settling down in SLC, etc.!