Fond of rumpots, crackpots, and how are you, Mr. Wilson?

After much cussing and many post-box-lugging ibuprofen tablets, the move from Worcester to Providence took place this Saturday just passed, and as per usual there are too many things to write about. So pardon me while I spitball my feelings about the new place and its surrounding environs:

1) Let's start with the important stuff: we now have a dishwasher.
2) And a gas stove.
3) And a claw-foot tub. People, I can't even.
4) Tangential to bullet point 3: shower curtain feng shui for a clawfoot tub is an interesting challenge. If you're not careful about side-blow, you can end up feeling like you're trapped within the nethers of a vinyl she-giant.
5) Man, Rhode Island weather doesn't kid around.
6) I still work in Lexington, so everyone asks about the commute first and the house second. To answer your questions, yes, it's a long drive, but not that much longer than it was from Worcester, unless there's weather (see #5).
7) From a two-room quasi-efficiency with a kitchen the size of an ironing board to the first floor of a house with three bedrooms and basement storage for the same rent and no extra parking fees, and we found it on the first try. I feel like we spent all our good karma at once.
8) Big Tony's: "Home of the Gangster Wrap." Yup.
9) #8 not to be confused with Uncle Tony's, which is "Home of the Plumpy." A good rule of thumb is never order a menu item that sounds like an Urban Dictionary sex practice.
10) I don't think I'll ever reach a point where turning a corner and seeing a gigantic dome doesn't freak me out a little.
11) Not only is there a Whole Foods, it's the local grocery. Never have blessing and curse fallen so closely together.
12) Totally gonna host a game night. Or a song circle. Or best yet, both.
13) We got in just before the late snow, so we now know well the Song of the Steam Radiators. I shall sing it for you now: FFFSHHHKXCHFFRXX SCREEEEEEE FWRRRSHHHHH
14) We've named the place Intermezzo, because we found the utterly perfect name for a home but because it's a little too perfect we don't want to use it until we buy a house someday. Intermezzo is a good name for Home for Now.
15) No, I'm not going to tell you the perfect name. I don't want to get fingerprints on it.
16) Because of #14, our first in-house entertainment was 1939's Intermezzo: A Love Story. It has one fantastic scene, cinematography by Gregg Toland, a very young Ingrid Bergman, and a lot of moments where you wish they'd just get over themselves.
17) We finally got a better mattress, and now need a footstool to get into bed.
18) We've also instituted a new "no electronics in the bedroom" rule in an attempt to unfuck our sleep cycles. This includes phones, so if you intend to call us up at two in the a.m., tough noogies.
19) The rule mentioned in #18 means we can't use our phone alarms, so we tried out the windup alarm clock we've had around, and promptly became so traumatized by its apocalyptic death knell that we started waking up 45 minutes early and refusing to go back to sleep because the alarm bell was going to pounce on us and devour our flesh. (We've rectified the situation.)
20) Found a can of St. Jude Thaddeus Spray in the basement. I'm guessing it's there to give your laundry that fresh Aramaic scent.
21) One of the three bedrooms is the master bedroom, one is the guest room, and one is going to be a yoga studio because we're tired of positions like Sparrow Slamming Knuckles into Coffee Table.
22) When Rhode Island's interstate highways want you to turn, by gods they will frickin' tell you.
23) Three packages claimed to have been delivered, and no sign of any of them. So much for leaving stuff on the porch.
24) Well, no, correction, the spice rack rain_herself's mom got us will be arriving on Saturday.
25) Already looked up the two best open mics in town, and they're both on Tuesdays. COORDINATE, people.
26) This will be the first weekend I've had off in roughly two months. I shall join the ranks of the Proud, the Unpantsed, and the Gratuitously Horizontal!

So! Come visit us! Seriously! An hour from Boston! Near many fine eating establishments! We're fun to be around!

Also? It's home. Grace be unto us all, it's home.

I'm sitting at a window seat at the Thirsty Mind coffeehouse across from the Mount Holyoke campus. This week I've been looking after the kids and Duncan the Grandmonkey in Easthampton while Kristi is away at a conference. I normally view these times with no small amount of dread, largely because of my kids' penchant for attempting to murder each other, but this time around hasn't been bad at all. Nik in particular has grown by leaps and bounds in terms of managing stress and his temper and setting boundaries, while Abbey has done her part by respecting the above. (And Duncan is Duncan which is to say OMIGOD TOO CUTE TO STAY MAD AT, even when his sleep patterns don't include his crib, but do include punting me in the ribs at five-minute intervals.) It also helps that I've had days at leisure to sip hot chocolate and hang out with Patrick Rothfuss in the sort of autumn that New England does so well.

When I'm not here, I'm generally hoarding my precious free time. My job is still unrepentantly beige-flavored, the commute still frustratingly long, and my evenings even more frustratingly short. I've been doing the whole self-prioritization deal and trying to remain creative, but by the time I get home and finish dinner my brain is down to the consistency of thin porridge most nights, and then off to bed early enough to survive the inevitable 5:30 a.m. alarm. At least this season of Dancing With the Stars is above average.

What else has been going on? rain_herself recently celebrated our five-year anniversary as a couple (just realized that we started a two-minute walk from where I am right now) by driving down to Providence to exploit the hell out of their restaurant selection. There were pre-dinner cocktails and roasted bone marrow and scallops that they threw in because they had a half-order left over, then we crossed the street to Chez Pascal for the pork special (italics mine) and paprika custard, which should not work as well as it did. We're seriously considering moving to Rhode Island when our lease is up in spring; will keep you posted.

Oh! And Murder Ballads has been named Musical Guests of Honor at this year's Philcon, which is exciting and humbling and also freaking us the fuck out because it's only three weeks away at this point. A bazillion thank-yous to collacentaur and hughcasey and Lynati-who I'd -totally-link-to-if-I-knew-her-LJ-handle! We're also doing a house concert that Sunday in the Philly area, for anyone who can't make the con. Details to follow.

Sadly, in my paucity of time I haven't been keeping up on the social mediases as fully as I'd like. What has everyone been up to?