Home Sweet Home

We have been very busy lately, learning the joys of homeownership.
A week after we closed on the house, OKC was hit by the hail-storm-of-the-century (watch this video!). Our roof, along with every other roof in the neighborhood, was totaled. So first order of business as new homeowners: a new roof!

Second order of business: a new AC. Despite the hailstorm-of-the-century in May, June and July have been the hottest on record here. And just our luck, on the very day that the in-laws came all the way from India to stay with us, our AC goes out! (Fortunately, it is currently about 130 degrees there, so our measly 100 seemed like a cold front to them.) Fortunately, the AC guys were able to get out the next day.

Other fun projects: painting the dining room and kitchen; hanging a chair rail; changing the air filters; disassembling and scrubbing the oven and fridge; installing deadbolts (Dad came down to provide adult supervision, don’t worry); painting accurate house numbers on the curb (for some reason, the numbers on the curb previously were wholly unrelated to our address); hanging house numbers on the house; putting together furniture; building and hanging a porch swing; cleaning the light fixtures; etc. It really has been fun to do little things here and there to make the house our own.

We have also been introduced to the joys of yard work. Ankur got to purchase a mower and an edger, which made him oddly happy, and he has been taking good care of the lawn. He claims that he looks forward to mowing the lawn all week. I got to purchase gardening tools, which made me oddly happy too. My mom came out to teach me the ways of gardening, and we planted blueberry bushes (a great housewarming gift from Savta), pulled massive weeds, and laid down mulch. So far, though, Ankur is definitely winning in the yard-work race: while he is still enthusiastic about mowing, I’ve had a very hard time dragging myself out in the hundred degree heat to maintain the garden. I figure that, if the weeds grow tall enough, people will just assume they’re supposed to be there.

In addition to enjoying the house part of home, we have also been very much enjoying being near friends and family. We have seen my parents quite often; both of my brothers have come up to visit; Ankur’s parents have come to visit; and we’ve also been able to reconnect with my old high school gang. Zac and Julie, Kris and Kate, and Jay and Ellen are all in the surrounding area, so it’s been great getting to hang out with them again. I’ve also had lunch with my old high school debate partner, my middle-school “boyfriend,” and my childhood neighbor. Finally, we’ve been able to take a couple of quick trips (to South Bend for the Judge’s 25th reunion and Estes Park for the R family vacation), and to return home to someplace that feels like home. It’s been really neat feeling like we’re part of a community again.

Additionally, we have met a few of our neighbors during our evening walks around the park. One particularly nice couple, Eric and Shauna, made the mistake of telling us that they lived in the only house in the neighborhood with four big trees in the front yard. I say mistake because one night, when we went for an evening walk, we locked ourselves out of our house (another long story involving unfortunate mis-copies of keys). Neither of us had a cell phone with us, and no one else was out walking around at 10:30 pm, so we ended up wandering around the neighborhood looking for a house with four trees in the front yard. We finally found it, held our breath, and rang the doorbell. Eric and Shauna kindly answered the door, even though they were already in their pajamas and headed to bed, and let us use their phone to call a locksmith. They will forever be our favorite neighbors.

Finally, we’ve both finally gotten our work situations sorted out. (And you DC people doubted us!) Ankur is working at an immunobiology and cancer lab, and I am working at a law firm downtown. Ankur has started already and loves it; I start in two weeks. So—I’d say we’re all set!