IKEA to the Rescue!

Feeling much better tonight, as Susan was kind enough to drive me to IKEA today and I loaded up her car with goodies for the house. It was hard to decide where to begin and what to purchase, given that we'll only be using it all for a year; but we do want to feel comfortable and cozy here, so we needed some stuff. We're going with the museum cafe look: lots of white (won't stay that way for long) and stainless steel. Found some cool chairs, basic dishes and glasses, extra pillows, a desk, curtains, cork boards, storage units, kitchenware, and perhaps most importantly, 10 hanging lampshades. I can't tell you what a difference it makes to have lanterns, as opposed to bare light-bulbs!

We've met the next door neighbors, who are super nice. They've got two young kids, and they have lived on the street for quite a while. They gave us more scoop on the house, and it seems that the estate agents that Susan and Robert had hired just didn't do their job at all, and the house really got run down without anyone informing them. They were shocked, too, to learn of all the work that will be necessary to get it back in shape. That reminds me, we need to find a plumber asap for the upstairs bathroom. :)

Today was also good because we had a visit from Susan and David, Grandma, and Uncle Alan. We're already getting to spend some nice family time, which is one of the reasons that we wanted to do this trip. We served a buffet lunch of fresh breads, salad, and cold cuts, and everyone went to the park for a while while Susan and I shopped. Last night we all tried a local Indian restaurant, of which there are many, for a lovely curry dinner (I realize that I'll be saying "lovely" much more often).

Thanks for the nice comments and emails, it's great to hear from folks. And I know that I need to post some pix of the house...not quite ready, but will do very soon.