Before, After, Before

We had a lot of good help moving out of our old place.
HQ of multiple Mardi Gras, house of so many big dinners, guests and semi-permanent residents, garden work-parties, backyard film nights, amateur pop-up restaurantiness, and studio for various choreographed dances...
It was really hard to leave.
It made it a bit easier that the majority of the Compound had dispersed in the month preceding the purchase of our new home. Like a, "Well, no one's here anymore anyway, so let's go nest somewhere else" kind of thing. But that wasn't totally true either. Some older neighbors- Compound members by proxy- were hard to leave as well. Not to mention the constant vivacity of that little corner of the Marigny. Aside from some neighbors who like to blast bounce music on weekend nights, our new street is pretty quiet. Our soundtrack here is largely made up of the wind through the oaks and the hum of power tools (from the work being done in our house, and on the house across the street).

AHHHHH can't believe we are here now!

A before picture of the backyard. Aeli pointed out toward the back one day and said, "Is that our garden out there?" I said, "No, it's not a garden yet." He said, "Then what is it?" I love that. What is outside if not a garden? Sweet, spoiled kid.

"Doing concrete" is one of Aeli's new favorite games. "Can we do concrete today?" It's a regular request.

In the fog of having so many huge projects to do and not feeling equipped to make a move on any of them, I bought a cabinet and managed to cut a few stencils (rom-com-y ones of me and Stef) to add some flair. I was especially proud of carrying the heavy thing from the car to the porch by hoisting it up on my knees and scooting forward while remaining in a pretty good chair pose the whole way.

 Before now, I always judged people harshly (who, me?) when, talking about remodeling, they said things like "We redid the bathroom," when they had definitely hired someone to redo the bathroom. I thought that was not giving credit where credit was due, and inaccurately involving yourself in something you were not involved in.
I hereby renounce all those judgments.
It is certainly not the same as doing all the work yourselves, but having people in your house, plaster dust and scaffolding everywhere, is more involved than I initially imagined. Not to mention borrowing more money right after signing your life away on a mortgage. Blyuck.

Plaster walls (on the side of the house that we will be living in- shortly?) and ceiling being repaired

Water + termite damage. Termites like water, I have learned. We got a termite contract as part of the term of our purchase, so we're set with support on that.

 It is so great to have everyone congratulating us and expressing their excitement. But it has been hard to consistently respond with ebullience. An era of living across the street and next door to some of the best people in town has ended. (Hopefully this is only temporary.) There is much I could say on this subject, but I don't want to dwell. (Ha! Dwellings! Get it? I promise that one was an accident.)

We are so glad to be here.
It will start feeling more and more like ours each day, I know.

I'm excited for the day we install a shower.

We'll miss you, Dauphine.