Where does the time go??

Day by day we are getting more settled into our cozy green house here in southeast Portland, and it is feeling more and more like home. The folks at Peace COB have been so incredibly welcoming and generous with their time and donations to our house. After sharing with them a list of some items that we still needed for the house, the list has been whittled down to barely a handful of items now. Some exciting additions to the decor this week were some matching night stands, and a loveseat and a chair for our "sitting room" (all freebies on Craig's list). It's amazing what you can find for free if you have the time to look for it (thanks, Ben) and a truck to transport it (thanks, Lou). The walls were feeling a bit bare, so after the gift of some Blue-Tack, we got right to work and posted up some maps. I'm particularly loving the massive city map of Portland on the kitchen wall, as I reference it multiple times daily.

So, what I'm realizing is that despite working/volunteering a reasonable 35-40 hours a week, there still doesn't seem to be enough time in the day or the week to do all of those things that I'd like to do....I'm still trying to figure out why that is, but I think I'm realizing that living with other folks and being intentional about it just takes more time than I anticipated. The other thing that takes time is getting from one place to another. I've discovered that the sheer nature of public transportation slows down the pace of life, and it is definitely to your advantage to have some degree of patience. For example, it can be a 45 minute commute to travel three miles to work via a combination of walking and bus. And on Friday to visit the credit union to open an account (not so easy when you don't have a lease or utilities in your name I discovered) and then the drug store, literally took me 2 and a half hours from start to finish, whereas with a car, both events could have been completed in less than an hour. So, it's easy to see why a lot of people have cars in the suburbs. There is definitely a convenience factor there. Even so, the public transportation system seems much better in Portland than most places I've visited in the US, and I am pretty excited about the prospect of expanding my transportation options with a bike.

Personal highlights for me last week: our first attempt at dinner conversation in Spanish only (thank goodness for Jon!), expanding our "house family" to six while Jon's friends visited, an entertaining evening at "The Seussification of Romeo and Juliet", a fabulous homemade Ethiopian meal, and love feast after church today (complete with vegetarian sop)...life is good.
So, what's in store for us this week??? A three day work week for Chelsea and I, two birthdays in the house, and some day trips on our days off. Stay tuned! - Heather