Still settling in around here. We've spent the past couple of days opening boxes and putting our house together. The kitchen is mostly there, and the family room/office on the lower level is beginning to come together. Our dog Maui is having fun - she's not used to being so close to neighbors. We can tell she's still a bit anxious and out of sorts because she has a totally different kind of bark - more of a howl when she sees a person or dog out the front window of the house.

O.k., some observations about our new home area . . .
1. The sun does not like it here during winter. Despite the reputation of rain and such, we've had completely clear blue skies since we arrived. But the sun doesn't come up until 8am, and it starts getting dark by 4pm. Strange.
2. The people of the greater Puget Sound area are apparently uncreative when it comes to naming their streets. They just number all the streets. No problem, until you realize that numbered streets crossing numbered streets gets confusing. About 2 miles from our house, there is an intersection at which NE 124th Ave crosses 124th St NE. No kidding. Fortunately, when Michelle and I purchased a new vehicle a few months back, we got one of those nifty GPS navigation systems in it. It's golden, really.
3. No In-N-Out Burger. So sad.

Well, I'm thinking about my dad right now. He's a big time Oklahoma Sooners football fan, and they're playing tonight for the national championship. We don't have TV hooked up here yet, but I may sneak out to the sports bar down the street to check the score.