relocation observations

oh yeah, I remember that

• people smoke
• not everyone drives a late model BMW, Mercedes, Audi, or Porsche
• people actually have car problems sometimes
• people actually walk around
• trash exists
• smelly locations exist
• there are homeless people

I knew all these things, of course. However, we all tend to live in our little bubbles. Mine has been in a big house in a nice, wealthy neighborhood. Houses are required to have three car garages by our HOA. They must be at least 2,500 sq. ft. Most exceed 4,000. Seeing Porsches, Mercedes, Audis, BMWs and other luxury cars was the norm, not the exception. Everyone parked in their (required) 3-car garages, so most cars were pretty clean. And most cars, being late model cars, started with one turn of the key. 

Here, many cars have only street parking (like me). Many cars are bumped and bruised. Some cars have ripped upholstery (gasp!) It's funny how we reside in our bubbles, even though we're aware of the world outside it. I hear cars having trouble starting and I think, "oh yeah - that happens a lot." This is not to say I live in a bad neighborhood because I do not. It's still a relatively pricey place to live. However, it has a lot of renters and young people. 

I never once saw a person smoking in our old neighborhood. Not once. I see smoking on every walk out of my front gate. 

I never saw trash in my old neighborhood. People still litter. Bastards. 

smaller space

• I don't need a cleaning person! I thought for sure I'd hire the (wonderful) woman who cleaned for us at our old house. I got here and have realized that it takes me no time, relatively speaking, to fully clean the top two floors. I forgot that a smaller space means much less space to clean. It's sooooooo nice. (Note: it's not like I didn't have TIME to clean a large house before, but it held absolutely no interest for me and the time it took to do it made it even more boring. In a small place, you see results immediately and it takes so much less time). 
• A smaller kitchen is particularly fast to clean, even with having to wash dishes by hand. It's also allows faster preparation of lunches and non-complicated cooking. You don't have to walk all over the place. 

walking is just plain awesome

This afternoon, Avery and I walked to a local pet store to get a brush for Abbie. I have at least four pet shops within a very short walking distance - this is a dog town. One is a chain, the other three are local. 

Next I decided to see if I could find succulent plants at a local flower shop. Strike out. Entered "plants" into map app on my phone to see if there were any other options around. 1/3 mile away was a shop, Hammer & Vine, that specializes in air plants and succulents and all sorts of very Portlandy things. It was so awesome to be able to get such specific items just by walking around. 

Early this evening, we took Abbie to the park. It was a bust (weekend visits usually are) for Abbie due to lack of dogs. Avery wanted me to watch her play on the equipment (as in sit there and watch her vs watch both her and Abbie). Abbie does not allow this as she starts to get frustrated and starts yipping or chewing up her leash. If I just sit down someplace where kids aren't running in front of her, she's typically fine. But NOT in this situation. Anyway, we dropped Abbie back home, went to dinner, then walked to the other park for Avery to play in that one. Two parks in one evening. Having a park within walking distance is so much better than I realized it would be. And I thought it would be good.