Home Sweet Home (sort of)

The big news is that we found a place to live! [Pause for cheering and applause here.] It's a two-bedroom unit within a larger house that has two or three other units in it as well. It's smaller and doesn't have as many snazzy details as our old place in Somerville, but it is cute and sunny and you can see the ocean from the front windows and the deck. There is a good-sized deck where we can put a grill and a table and chairs, and I'd like to try to grow some flowers and herbs out there if I can figure out what to plant. What we really liked was the location. It's about four blocks to the train station that I will use to commute into the city, and about ten blocks to Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. It's also a short walk to the 101, which has lots of fun restaurants, bars, and shops. It will be a bit of a commute for me to downtown (for those of you who know the greater Boston area, this would be, distance-wise, the equivalent of living around Framingham and taking the commuter rail to Boston every day), but we figured if we are only here for a year, we might as well live by the beach. Plus, the commute will be about 45 minutes on a nice, uncrowded commuter train that runs along the ocean for a good chunk of the trip. Not bad. I've been living in cities for 12 years, and I'm looking forward to being in a smaller town for a change.

We don't have any pictures to post yet, but we will put them up as soon as we do. We can't move in until August 1, so we are in two back-to-back temporary vacation rentals until then. We've been feeling a bit antsy to just get in there and get settled, but are mostly trying to be patient and enjoy the next week and a half for what it is... a continuation of our vacation. We made a list of fun things we'd like to check out and explore during that time, and hope to work our way through it. We'll keep you all posted-- and will let you know when we're ready for house guests!

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that we drove by today and noticed something we hadn't noticed before. We have a real lemon tree in our yard! Yay!