Application, smapplication

So, at the dawn of our new blogging, we have entries weeks apart! I blame the holidays and MBA applications. John submitted his applications to Harvard and Wharton (U Penn) last week, and it was right down to the wire. He hit the go button for Wharton a mere 2 minutes before it was due, 5 p.m. on Thursday. An hour or two later, Roy, Carma, and Sarah were in town to see our new place and for Sarah to soak up a bit of the city for her first time. We hope everyone else had fun. We certainly did!

We spent Christmas with the Barretts this year, and it was a laugh and a half as always. A classic was when Cindi tried to tell a joke, and Laurel, still in a bit of a mission fog even though she'll deny it to her death, TOTALLY missed it. All the rest of us had already heard it, but I guess the joke didn't make it to Laie.

C: "Hey, Laurel, did you hear that the Pope has bird flu?"

L: "Sorry, but that is really funny to me."

C: "He got it from the Cardinals."

L: "Ha ha. You are just bitter because the Braves didn't win."

Everyone else thinking: What do the Braves have to do with the Pope?

I finally pointed out that Cindi was talking about the cardinals of the Catholic church, not the sports team.

Towards the end of the week, we decided to end our circumstances-necessitated clothing fast and actually went shopping. Mom seemed particularly interested in making sure I got clothes I needed for work, after seeing the state of my clothes when I did laundry while she was here helping us move earlier in December. Usually, when I shop in the week after Christmas, I don't find anything. Nothing cute is left in my size by the time I hit the stores. For some reason, every store I went into this had cute stuff in my size, and awesome deals! It was such a rush.

Mom had been looking for a kitten before we all came home and found the perfect one only to have it taken by someone else a few hours before she went in to buy it. So, we were on the hunt. While we were at the outlets on Friday, we got a call from Charles. He said the kids had found the perfect kitten outside, a stray. Mom was skeptical because she has numerous requirements for a cat. Must be a boy, must not claw things, must purr easily, must like to be held and play with people instead of running around, etc. She told Charles to put their other cat, Misty, in another, room, get a little bit of litter for the kitten, and put him through his paces. She hung up the phone and said, well, I'm giving the kitten from the street a chance, we'll see. I could tell she was a little excited.

A few minutes later, Charles called back. "Your children are brats! They stole the cat."

"Well, tell them I told you to take care of it and they have to give it back."

"No, I mean they STOLE the cat. They took it out of the neighbor's yard."

Luckily, the neighbors got their cat back, and Mom called a couple of days ago taking votes for a cat they found at the humane society, which I think they took home Friday or Saturday. I voted for George or Ralph. I still don't know what they finally picked. I think Checkers and Oreo were also somewhere in the mix, which I don't like as well, but any of the four is better than the name on its tag . . . Flava Flav.

Barretts and Pretes on Christmas Eve

Charles the Grinch

John models his stocking

And as an aside, if anyone knows how to get pictures to post somewhere other than at the VERY beginning, I'd be interested to hear about it.

A New Home

I know some of you have been waiting with bated breath (well, perhaps not that intently) for pictures of our new apartment. We believe these pictures do not do the place justice, since it's difficult to get a good angle for most of the rooms. You'll have to ask Mom, Dad, Charles, and Lawrence for confirmation, but it really is MUCH bigger than the old place, for those who were ever there. The bedroom is about the same size, but the living area and kitchen are considerably bigger (as a whole, the new apartment is 50% bigger). Our plans include eventually putting in a wall around where the tree is to split off a second bedroom in the back, hopefully with French doors and internal windows to preserve some of the light.

As far as what we've done so far, we completely redid the bathroom (which was done in "vintage" pink tile with "vintage" 1960s fixtures and medicine cabinet). We also refinished the floors (which were stained so dark they looked black, not a good choice for a small apartment that doesn't get much natural light). When I say we, I of course mean people we paid who knew what they were doing.

Personally, I repainted the front area to yellow from "linen white" and replaced all the light fixtures, light switches, and outlets. I think it made a big difference on a micro scale. Additionally, we put in a dishwasher. The fridge and stove you see were already there, and since they look new to us, we're not going to replace them when we eventually redo the kitchen (think maple cabinets with granite countertops, stone floors, and an undermount porcelain sink). The kitchen will likely wait until after business school, but the blinds, doors (especially those hideous, broken brown closet doors by the kitchen, doorways, and baseboards are on our list for sometime in the next 6 months or so.

Special thanks, at this time, should go to the movers: Charles and Lawrence, and to Mom, who miraculously managed to whip the place into shape before she left, prompting stunned exclamations from all our friends when we told them we were completely unpacked only a day or two after moving our stuff in. She even gave us the ideas for the arrangments of pictures over the TV and over the couch. We think her ideas are much better than the strategy we employed in our old apartment: that is, hang pictures wherever there was already a nail.

So, questions, comments, concerns? You know where to reach us. And keep checking back. Our hope is to actually update this thing instead of writing in journals, since we both hate writing in journals. Oh, and the descriptions are BELOW the pictures.

Welcome! (view from end of entry hall)

Kitchen 1

Kitchen 2

Dining area and front hall

Living Area 1

Living Area 2

Bathroom

Bathtub

Bedroom 1

Bedroom 2

Bedroom 3

Doorman

Lobby

Building

Culdisac

View from culdisac looking south

Welcome

Welcome to our blog. No time to write a long message now, but check back soon for pictures of the new apartment.