Today: Photos of the New House (Tomorrow: The Story of How We Got It)



Yes, this is it. It's less than a block away from the place we had been living in -- the basement of Amanda's boss's house. As you can see, it's a beautiful little place (only on story and, we think, a crawl space above it, though we can't figure out how to get into it). And, with a great deal of help from Amanda's Mom, who visited this weekend, we've decorated it pretty well.

The neigborhood is nice, with only one local loon up the street who keeps his lawn strewn with garbage and likes to sit in it. No, seriously. He's apparently a grouch ... like Oscar, not like Rumsfeld.

The Living Room








So the new place has those tsochke shelves and we were shocked to discover we didn't have enough tsochkes to fill them. So, yes, Amanda and Doyne actually went shopping for tsochkes. Don't judge them.





(Yes, I occasionally TiFaux Leno, mostly to see how his writers are doing jokes about the news)





See how sheepish I look, 'cause Amanda caught me watching Leno.

The Dining Room



I've always wanted a bowlful of gourds.



This is the first time we've ever had a real dining room, and the first time in a while that we've needed to supply our own furniture. But we happened upon a 50% off sale at Salvation Army the weekend we moved in and got some great stuff. Look at that table ... not too shabby for, y'know ... charity. It came with six chairs, which were nice, but the upholstery was stained and ugly, so Amanda grabbed some great fabric and ...



TLC would be proud (the cable network, not the defunct pop group).

The Kitchen

Doyne was most helpful here. We had no idea how to bang this thing into shape. But now it's a real functioning space ... almost makes me wish we cooked, occasionally.







My study is behind the blue shower curtain. Sorry, no photos. It's too awesome.

Seriously, yes, now my desk computer, and most of our books are stuffed in a smallish breakfast nook. That's okay, though there's no room to put up that giant poster of my head from the JERRY FINNEGAN production.

The Guest Room





As I think we mentioned, our futon frame didn't survive the trip, so we had to find a cheap new one. Let's just say it's sort of the "put-it-together-yourself-project that never ends."



And just follow through that door to ...

The Bathroom






Can we adjust to a bathroom that doesn't have an elevator-repair ladder on the wall? Only time will tell.

The Bedroom







Yes, that is a water pistol on Amanda's bedside table ... in case the cats get naughty.





That's my knee, people!

Seriously, I only include this to show that we can't put anything on the wall behind the bed. This is earthquake country, and nobody wants to get woken up like the way DiCaprio introuduces that guy to Jesus in The Departed.

Tomorrow: the saga