I still feel very much in the 'settling in' phase of our time here. I spend all day every day doing things I have to do, rather than would necessarily like to do - like unpacking and shopping for general supplies.
Which is by no means to suggest I'm not having a good time. I get a disproportionate amount of enjoyment from sorting out cupboards, tidying up and seeing our flat come together. And any trip to the shops is always a voyage of discovery in the sunny sunshine and a summer dress. But I do look forward to the time when I can do all the things I was hoping to spend my time doing here, like volunteering and going to museums and editing my home movies and stuff.
Having said that, I would say that I've definitely found my DC groove and am so much happier than last week, feeling settled and like I have some foundations here on which to build a very exciting year. I think Max feels the same, as he's handling all the challenges thrown at him at the Bureau, and we're both finally in the reality of what we've been anticipating during all the buildup.
Today, I mostly battled with the washing machine, as I have now completely unpacked (woo!) and, after my Target-fest, the apartment is looking great and I love spending time here. So the disgustingly enormous mountain of washing that's been sitting in the hallway had to go. I'm not sure that the washing machine is actually washing our clothes and am quite sure I'm not using it right. But each load takes 10mins and I'm very much enjoying becoming acquainted with the first tumble dryer of my life, so Max now has the fluffiest pants EVER!
The soundtrack for this domesticity was supplied by two amazing compilation CDs made for us by Matt and by Danny before we left the UK. Both are a relentless onslaught of sonic gems, all of which sound even better when delivered by two of surely the most beautiful speakers you've ever seen, which recently arrived from Amazon:
mmmm
Offering lovely punctuation to my day of laundry and sorting out the kitchen (the final frontier of moving in. I've been re-organising cupboards
and throwing away spices that expired two years ago. I'm a little bit in my element), was a lunch date in Dupont Circle with Maxy. He's been working on a story about the Texas sect hearings, but things have been slightly quieter today, so he was allowed a lunch break. I like it. We talked about last night's debate between Obama and Hillary, and how Obama is trying to do that thing that we're taught when we're little, of not retaliating and taking insults on the chin. Hillary's way lucky that Obama doesn't just hit back at all her Republican-y jibes with the myriad things she's getting wrong and 'misspeaking'. I just hope it works for him. Surely if George Clooney and Bruce Springsteen like him AND his favourite TV show is 'The Wire', he must be the right man for the job! (it's probably a good thing I don't have a vote, with criteria like that...)It was so crazy hot on my way back to the apartment that I became the anti-Max. Whereas he, at the slightest sign of sun, makes a bee-line for areas in the heat and will lie out in cloud, insisting you can tan through it, I found myself hugging any shade-casting buildings, desperately trying to keep my pasty white skin out of the blistering heat. I haven't managed to track down any sunscreen that looks like it might work. Even at Target and BB&B, I could only find distinctly dodgy-looking Banana Boat stuff and cheapy-looking ones that look like they'd baste me rather than protect me. But at least this is nice, holiday-ish heat. I gather that from June to September, it's a bit like a swamp here and the humidity goes crazy.
With everything unpacked and the flat in shipshape condition, I finally got to call home for the first time since we got here and had a great chat with Mum and Dad. Then when Max came home, I even managed to cook him supper! I worked the oven and everything! We had a really lovely evening over a bottle of wine and both felt like it was the culmination of the past few days, when we've felt increasingly settled here. Don't get me wrong - we still haven't managed to stay awake for the late-night chatshows, but all else is good in the world.
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