Keeping Up

Things continue to be busy here. We are still moving forward with House Stuff but it's a long and complicated process. Nonetheless, buying and selling a home has taught us a lot and it will be much, much easier the next time around. Austin, true to his nature, started a spreadsheet that we've filled in with all the random things we've learned from our home owning experience to have handy the next time we're on the market. We have also secured a townhouse in IL after doing much online research, attempting to contact agents and property managers, and finally having Paula do some groundwork. That's a relief; we had no idea how saturated the rental market would be.

Austin's brother, Nick, and wife, Carrie, joined us Sunday evening until Tuesday afternoon for a visit. We we took them out for Salt Lick BBQ and traditional Austin migas. We also went to a screening of "The Big Lebowski" at our favorite theatre. Prior to the event and in keeping with the movie was bowling and White Russians but the lanes were full so we listened to live music instead. At the movie, we were issued props that included purple glow sticks, large inflatable bats, and some lucky folks received men's BVD underwear. At various points during the movie, the props were invoked quite gleefully. It was a fantastic visit and we were all stuffed with good eats and tired at the end.

Austin and I are Puerto Rico-bound in three weeks and my colleague and I are working on our presentation. We submitted our proposal long ago and I'm glad we allowed for our topic to include the research from my dissertation; this will be the first "up-cycling" of all the data I collected. We have several ideas of what we want to do but we will for sure be doing a tour of a bio bay at night. Yes, at night in a clear canoe no less. These bays are unique in that they contain bioluminescent organisms that light up as you paddle through the water. You can see what I'm referring to here; it's sort of hard to imagine without a photo and we're really looking forward to the real experience. Also on the agenda is touring a rum factory, strolling through old San Juan, among other things.

Given the busy-ness lately, a low-key weekend is on deck. As much as we're excited for our next adventure, it's nice to soak up some time in this home that we have carefully personalized and nested in.