The Top 5 Things I Will Miss

Even with all the excitement of buying a new house, and the upcoming move, I am still very aware of all the things I will miss about our current house. Yes, we're movin' on up (not to the east side), so we will be leaving behind our kitchen which fits 1.2 people comfortably, our bathroom which fits 0.7 people comfortably, our windows and the lovely icy breezes they let in (when closed), our interior doors--none of which close (but get stuck if you do manage to close them) and our cold, damp basement room, complete with the slight aroma of sewage. These are not the things I will miss. In fact, all the things I will miss lie outside of the house:

#5: Our cherry trees:

Pie cherries last summer

We have two pretty prolific cherry trees in our front yard--one pie cherry (sour cherry), the other is a variety of Rainier cherry. Last summer I discovered that pie cherries not only are great for pies (duh!), but they are delicious dried! Without a cherry pitter, it was a bit of a laborious task, but well worth it! And of course the Rainiers are delicious right off the tree. We just might need to sneak back some night in July to grab a few ;-)

#4: Our view of Mount Rainier: 
Sure, we can only see a piece of it from one of the little windows on the side of our house (damn giant house down the street that blocks the view!), but I love being able to stand in my living room and see this beautiful, majestic mountain. It's the most beautiful around the time the sun sets, and it's all pink like the photo below...

Note: This photo was NOT taken from our tiny window!

#3: The proximity to the library:
The library around the corner from our house was actually the first destination Zora ever walked to (at around 10 or 11 months). At the time, it was a good 45-minute walk, with all the flowers to pick (but not at the house on the corner--I'm scared to pick flowers there!), rocks to inspect and steps to walk up and down at each and every house along the way. Now we can make it there in about 5 minutes, and it's great being able to hang out there reading books, and visiting with all the familiar faces we see there. Our new house is also walkable from a library (15-20 minutes), and I'm sure we will meet new friendly faces, but I will miss being just around the corner.

#2: The proximity to the PCC:
The PCC is definitely our grocery store of choice, and that will not change. I have enjoyed being able to walk there (with my granny cart) to buy groceries, though we do get lazy about it in the rain. With the increased distance, we will just have to be more strategic about our grocery shopping.

and, the thing I will miss most about our old 'hood...

#1 Our Wonderful Neighbors:

Zora and Phineas

To the left, are Phoebe & Steve, who we have been friends with from the moment we moved in. Phoebe and I are kindred spirits, and I love how enchanted she and Zora are with each other. Last fall they adopted two adorable little bunnies--Never Never and Molly (who turned out to be a boy, so is now named Phineas). Phoebe included us in almost the entire process (including briefly searching for guinea pigs when we thought that would be a better idea than bunnies). Zora and I have been the official bunny-sitters when Phoebe and Steve are out of town, and I'm hoping that this won't change. We will both miss strolling next door to the bunny-compound with handfuls of greens for the anxiously awaiting bunnies--who, by the way, are no longer little. Most of all though, I'll miss strolling over with Zora to sit with Phoebe in her living room and just chat. I'm committed to this still happening, it will just take a little more planning.

To our right, we have the lovely Y family. We met A, E, I and N about a year and a half ago when they moved into our landladies' former house. We had a bit of a rocky period last spring, but since then, we have become friends, and our girls love playing together. I and N are both adorable, free-spirits and can often be seen dressed in pinks, purples and sparkles (and of course, a tutu for N), and elbow-deep in mud. I will miss our front yard (the two yards together form super-yard) double-trampoline sessions, as well as impromptu playdates. This is another connection that I hope will sustain the move--with a little more planning needed.

There are lots of other neighbors we will miss seeing on a regular basis, so I might end up going from stalking our new neighborhood, to stalking our old neighborhood. This said, we are only moving 3.6 miles away from our current house, but it is a change of neighborhood, and it will be a bit of an adjustment for all three of us.