Long Overdue...

On Day 716...

My writing on this blog is long overdue, but oh well. Several things to update everyone (all three of you:) on.

First, when Leah and I went Christmas tree shopping a few weekends ago...(Which was great by the way, a very nice place, huge number of trees, free cider, and nice people. Though, it does make it a bit strange when there is no snow on the ground when you cut a Christmas tree down, or for that matter, when it is 65 degrees half way through December, like it was this week. But anyway, I digress...) we went to pay for the tree, I used my debit card, and the cashier made some comment along the lines of "credit card machines are a new toy for us around here...," which should have been my first clue. But I continued. Well, paid for the tree, signed the receipt, carried the tree to the truck, and drove over to Target for...well, can't remember what for, but I'm sure there was a reason. We got to the register, and I didn't have my debit card...***Brief history lesson at this point: This is sort of thing usually happens to Leah, NOT to me. I have never lost my wallet, misplaced my debit card, or locked my keys in my car, until this time. I usually make some condescending comment to Leah along the lines of, "you really need to focus and pay more attention to what you're doing," or something like that...*** So, it was with much satisfaction, I'm sure, that as soon as we got to the car Leah commented that "it sure is nice to know that you are human too..." (I got my debit card back the next day, but the damage was done, I am no longer perfect in the eyes of my wife;)

Second, long distance apartment shopping is a bit of a pain. There are only so many internet pictures you can look at, only so many cost comparisons you can do, before you must actually enter the apartment, and walk around it, and drive around the neighborhood, and clock the time to the work site, and make sure our cell phones work in all parts of the apartment, and argue about the rent...etc etc. There is so much to look foreword to. We calculated, however, that with the cost of living reductions, we may be able to afford a nicer place, on less money than we are currently spending, which has the effect of making both Leah and I feel a bit like small children giddy over some new toy. We are excited we might be able to find, and afford, an apartment in Asheville which will have a dishwasher, as well as a washer and a dryer in the unit. Amazing...

Third, for several months Leah and I have been looking for a painting or mirror to cover a rather large blank wall in our apartment. About 6 weeks ago we visited Georgetown to try out a Japanese Tea House. (I would highly recommend the cultural experience to anyone, just don't expect to EAT anything while you are there...by Tea House they mean Tea, and only that!) While in Georgetown we visited one of the better poster shops in the DC area, though I couldn't tell you the name now. We browsed through several thousand posters, everything from nature, to buildings, to comics, to Salvidor Dali paintings, to Pamela Anderson........and beyond. But finally we found something we liked, which was also big enough to not look like a postage stamp on our wall. The name of the painting is Squares with Concentric Circles, and the artist is Wassily Kandinsky, and, if you promise not to judge us, you can see a picture of the painting at http://posters.seindal.dk/p316110_Squares_with_Concentric_Circles.html. Very bright, but then, our living room needed some color.

Please make all comments payable to Andrew Zetterholm...

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