A Preview of Things to Come?
We’ve been having what local news stations are referring to as “nor’easter.” Loosely translated, this appears to mean a major storm affecting the entire North Eastern part of the United States. Had I not read this in the local newspapers, I’d of thought we were brushed by a hurricane even larger than Katrina.
I just wanted to wish all Christians a Happy Easter celebration. Although raised in a household with a Catholic Dad and Lutheran Mom, I’m not much of a practicing Christian of any flavor now-a-days (neither Protestant or Catholic). Winnie, as a Buddhist with essentially no exposure to Christianity before meeting me, doesn’t really understand the significance of today’s celebration.
For us, today has been a quiet day dedicated to unpacking boxes and arranging the house. But I do remember some of my Bible teachings, and want to reflect on them briefly.
On this Easter Sunday, 2007, I’d like to share a few neighborhood pictures of what spring looks like in our new home.
But you’ll need to click the “More” link to see them… Consider this news post is several thousand words long!
Last night we took the final step of moving. We closed out the lease on our apartment and turned in the keys. What a great feeling it was!
All we wanted to do was return a vacuum cleaner. We had purchased it 5 days earlier, broken it after 20 minutes total use, and decided to get a different model. By the time we were successful we had involved most of the Wal-Mart’s night shift, provided entertainment for other shoppers, yelled at the store manager and received personal guidance on choosing a vacuum cleaner from the housewares department manager.
All of this only took about one hour. What a night.
We’re still moving stuff into our new house, but now we’re actually living there. Last Friday we had the cable guy hook up our television and Internet service. We moved our venerable futon bed, set it up in the downstairs bedroom, and that was it.
Time to move in!
Winnie and I have been spending the past week cleaning, fixing, and repainting our new house. You’d think that after a year’s worth of rebuilding our Mississippi house, a little painting would be simple.
But I must say, the painting and relatively minor repairs we’re doing feels like “Deja Vou all over again.”
We took a big step towards settling down in Virginia. Wednesday morning, Feb 28, 2007, we closed on the purchase of a house here in Dale City.
For me, the closing was a typical event of crossed signals, missed connections and general confusion. For our realtor and the other professionals it was an embarrassment of chaos. So I’d have to guess they’re just not used to doing business the “Charest way.”
It’s taken 39 long months, but yesterday it finally happened. Yesterday, Winnie received her letter from the INS (USCIS) welcoming her to America.
Today is Chinese New Year, the main holiday of the year for more than one quarter of the world’s population. This is the start of family gatherings, fireworks, the Reunion dinner, dancing lions, and fifteen days of celebration. In the Chinese zodiac this is the Year of the Pig (or Boar).
So to all the millions of people around the world celebrating today, I wish you 新年快樂 (Xīnnián kuàilè) and 恭喜發財 (Gōngxǐ fācái) !
Follow below to find out what you may expect from people born during the Year of The Pig past, present, and future.