Top 10

Everyone keeps asking us, "Are you SETTLED yet?" I have been wondering what "settled" really means and how do you know when you are. So today as I was thinking about this, I came up with a top 10 list of ways the O Fam is feeling "settled" this week.

10. We finally have real plates to eat on. My very own....not paper, not paper towels, not the tin bowls we had to use to eat pancakes out of....but real plates......10 plates, 8 cereal bowls, and 8 small plates.

9. We knew enough of the city and the bus system to take the city bus all day, paying a total of $1 for all 4 of us......compared to the $10 we would have paid in taxis.

8. We finally begin a routine next week....language study every day. YEA!!

7. Hannah had a tea party at our house with 2 friends today ....fun times.

6. The 2 karaoke systems that were hooked up in the living room and bedroom of our house have been stored, not displayed. The karaoke has been replaced with a PS2 in one room and slingbox hookups in the other room. We are waiting for our friends to come visit so we can pull out the wireless karaoke microphone.

5. We knew we were settled when we ran out of hot water this morning....meaning the gas was out. (We have a very large gas tank that hooks up in the kitchen providing gas for the range as well as hot water for the whole house) Of course we had just finished washing breakfast dishes and were about to get showers...so we took a quick cold one. I knew I was getting settled when I called the gas company and 1 hour later the gas man delivered a new bottle, hooked it up, and now we have gas again. (I was able to do all of this in another language!!)

4. Every night there are about 10-15 elderly women who walk together around our complex. I have seen them several times, but tonight when I said hello to them they all stopped and began chatting at me for quite a while....I have no idea what they were saying, but at least they no longer just stare as I walk by. Well.....they do stare, but now they are staring and talking!

3. I knew we were getting settled when we went out to our favorite drink stop last night and walked all the way home enjoying our neighborhood and saying hello to all who passed by.

2. This one is big....When we sold our bed in OKC., I was very sad. Rob and I loved that bed, it was sooooooo comfortable, and we knew how hard the beds were here. But now we know we are getting settled because our bed has become very comfortable to us and we sleep all through the night without our appendages falling asleep. *hooray for the egg crate purchased from Wal-Mart.

1. And the number one reason we know we are settled.........today we purchased all 7 seasons of The West Wing.....now we have everything we need to live here.