Chris.Derecola

I wrote this a few days ago, but forgot to publish it.

Today marks the 31st and last full day we’ll spend in temporary housing. I am extremely grateful Amazon provided us with the ability to settle in over time, but I am so very ready to get into something more permanent. I feel like we really haven’t been able to “get on with life” before now, mostly because it’s hard not to feel like you’re just on an extended business trip when living in a furnished corporate apartment. As much as I’ve been preaching a simpler life with less stuff lately, I am now keenly aware there are things I’m not ready to live without. Included below is a list of things I’m really looking forward to having back. Is this a bit materialistic? Probably, but it’s just not home without them.

• King size Sleep Number bed
• DirecTV hooked up to a big ass LED LCD TV and a proper universal remote
• Knife set, including the ridiculously sharp ceramic chef’s knife
• Drinking cups/glasses
• Proper cookware and cooking utensils
• HEPA air filter we use at night, mostly for white noise
• French press coffee maker
• Printer/Scanner (I rarely print, but it’s been VERY necessary with everything going on.)
• A “place” for everything; I’m obsessed with order, duh
• A routine

I’ve arrived at a time in my life where I’m ready to move on. I’ve always wanted to be “somewhere different” and dreamed of living overseas, but I’ve finally gotten to a point where I know exactly what I’m looking for and why where we currently live isn’t it. Yes, I am quite aware of my pronoun usage and you’ll be happy to know Melissa and I (more or less) agree on all these points – I just don’t like to speak for others.  Here’s what I know…

I want to live within walking and biking distance to much of the things I like to do. This means walking to our favorite restaurant, being closer to central social activities, riding to the market for produce or heading down to the corner cafe on a beautiful Sunday morning for coffee. This is possible in some planned suburban communities, but the location of our current neighborhood is not one of them. We (currently) can only walk to an Exxon and biking anywhere includes a fairly perilous batch of roads that pose a true safety concern. We’ve actually taken to racking our bikes to Ashburn-proper after work, just to have somewhere decent to ride. Lame.

I want to live in a place where the great outdoors is at our fingertips. Northern Virginia is actually a fairly decent place in this respect with the mountains to the west and beaches to the east. We don’t make a good use of them, but that is partially because you have to drive 2+ hours in both directions to get to the good stuff. To do any of these things, you’re talking about a seriously long day trip or looking for cheap ways to spend the night. I’d much rather be able to enjoy hiking, biking, waterways, parks, trees and nature in my own backyard or with a short car ride.

I want to live in an area with less traffic. I don’t like having to plan my life around certain times of the day and I am most certainly not into sitting at countless lights among a mass of cars every time I want to go somewhere. I don’t mind cars on the road per se, it’s being forced to deal with the sheer volume or getting stuck behind a wall of vehicles I can’t see around that doesn’t agree with me. A lot of this can be remedied by living closer to the places I want to be, but there’s just something about traffic in this area that really gets to me.

I want to live in a climate where I enjoy the weather more than four months of the year. It’s no secret I hate humidity and while it’s true I love the winter, I don’t feel this region makes good use of it. We get a solid level of cold but much like this past winter, we often suffer through it without the pleasantness that is snow. Give me real winters with legitimate winter activities, or give me an area that’s temperate all the time and within a reasonable distance to the mountains.

I want to live in a house with an interesting floor plan and an attention to detail. Don’t get me wrong, I love our house and the home we’ve made out of it. I do, however, find myself drawn to really old places that were gutted and rebuilt or trendy (gasp!) open condos with multi-use rooms. I’ve really gotten into shows like House Hunters & House Hunters International (especially) and after seeing many of the featured places, I’ve realized a big house in the ‘burbs ain’t for me. I’d rather have less space that is highly functional instead of several rooms we heat/cool and never use. Honestly, I’d rather spend time outside enjoying people, places and things than holed up in my house. I’m pretty sure France is to blame.

(Note: I typo’d 3 of 5 paragraphs above as “I want to love…” before catching it. I suspect it was not fortuitous.)

I can hear you asking the questions now.

First, I think there was a confluence of events that led to us living in the suburbs so far from all the things we like doing. After getting married, buying a house just seemed like a natural progression. Unfortunately, we couldn’t afford anything closer than Leesburg, which led to jobs in Loudoun County, which led to another house in Loudoun County. Combine this with a Chris in his 20s who was unhappy and didn’t want to do stuff; you get the perfect recipe for a homebody. Now that I’m more accepting of who I am and know what I like, I feel as though my house should be less of an excuse to keep me busy. Before, I did what I thought was expected because I had no idea what I wanted. Now, I know I want.

Second, a lot of people raise kids in smaller houses located in more urban areas. No, I’m not saying we’re going to have kids. I am saying that it would be silly to discuss our future living situation and not at least consider the possibility that we’d be raising a family at some point. I think the suburbs are the right fit for a lot of families, and we might end up there eventually should we have one, but I don’t think it’s an automatic. For the time being, and at least the first five years of any yet-to-be-planned-kid’s lives, I want my family to be city dwellers.

So what does this all mean? Absolutely nothing… until Melissa finishes grad school.

It just isn’t officially summer until you’ve heard DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince’s Summertime.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I thought I’d bring you up to speed on what’s been keeping me busy.

Past

• I finally finished physical therapy for my shoulder. It’s not completely pain free, but mobility and strength are improving every week. I sometimes forget I’m not 100% and will do something, like try and start the lawn mower, that sharply reminds me. I look forward to when I can do things like throw a Frisbee and fire a shotgun.
• I attended George Washington University’s Commencement ceremony on the National Mall, marking the final piece of my time in grad school. A lot of planning went into the week of graduation, including buying myself a tuxedo, so I was glad when it was over. I don’t remember so much effort going into the time surrounding my undergrad ceremony, but that’s probably because all I did was show up.
• I spent the last month working to refinance our house. Usually a simple process, it becomes much more complicated when you have to bring a significant amount of money to the table. We got a great rate, about 2% lower than our previous one, but there were far too many hoops to jump through for it. I can’t tell you how many statements I had to fax and phone calls I had to make so the lenders felt comfortable that we weren’t getting our down payment via another loan. Hopefully it will all be said and done by the time you read this.
• I seriously considered selling my car to buy something either more sporty or more utilitarian. My car is perfectly capable, but it is neither of those things, so I was debating a change. After recent $0 out-of-pocket warranty work (that I was pleasantly surprised Subaru covered) and the aforementioned house refinance, I decided it makes a lot more sense to hold on to it for awhile.

Present

• I celebrated my three month anniversary today at Neustar. Learning has come at quite the accelerated pace and things are really starting to fall into place. I actually feel like I’ve been there far longer, which can be a bad thing, but I see it as mostly good. My days there can be stressful, sometimes lasting into the evening, but on the whole they’re pleasantly busy 8.5 hour days. The great part is I’m free to not only oversee my day-to-day work, but also have a significant say in how I impact the bigger picture. I am only really limited by my own imagination, which is not something I take for granted.
• We planted our garden a few weeks ago and have been tending to it. I am really looking forward to fresh fruit and veggies; it’s hard to believe the difference in taste. We’ve been visiting a local farmer’s market in the meantime and found some really great products doing so. Even things like pork chops and eggs are amazingly more delicious when they’re sourced locally.
• I’ve kept up with riding my bike as much as my schedule has permitted… averaging 2-3 times a week. This probably isn’t surprising, but I’ve found that being able to track every aspect of it has kept me motivated. I don’t think I’m going to make it to a charity ride this year, but I’d like to participate in one next year.
• We spent (roughly) the last week without Internet at home. I’ve been enjoying the freedom it’s offered, even if it’s meant we haven’t been able to use things like Netflix’s Watch Now and XBox Live. It’s definitely eye opening to see how much of our lives are touched by the Internet… although I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. How did I post this? I’d previously won a copy of Tether from BGR, allowing me to tether (go figure!) my laptop to my blackberry. I wouldn’t rely on it, but it’s really awesome in a pinch.

Future

• My fifth annual canoe trip with the guys is coming up this weekend. It’s something I start to look forward to as early as January, so suffice to say I’m excited. It’s a great way to catch up with guys I haven’t seen in months and do some outdoorsy stuff in the process. I hope the weather and the river levels cooperate, but I’m sure we’ll make do regardless. Hopefully my shoulder doesn’t give me too much trouble.
• The next 944 Cup race takes place at Hyperfest and is just a few short weeks away. Racing is much better without the pressure; it should be good times.
• We’re less than 75 days away from our backpacking trip to Europe. It’s about 2/3 the length and half the countries originally planned, but I’m excited about it. The details aren’t completely finalized, but will probably include three stops in France, time in Belgium and a short stay in Netherlands. This is the first real traveling we’ve done in a few years and it will help me scratch quite a few things off my Life List, so it can’t come soon enough.
• Woof?