Having survived evening distractions of the World Series and the election, I decided to finally give an update on "life on PA" for all our well-suffering family and friends who must, by now, figured we did move to Mars.
A few anecdotes from making our acquaintance with PA:
On our first Saturday in the county, we observed what Dain assures me need happen no more than once a year: we visited the Green Dragon - part flea market, part farmer's market, mass of humanity. Since we arrived at lunch time, we zoned in on a food stand to purchase a sub. The menu board was about as tightly configured as you can get: "Cherry Coke, Sprite, Diet Coke, Jesus Never Fails, Mountain Dew, Cream Soda". I asked Dain what kind of flavor that was? What can I say - I'm new to the area. Another shocker? The entire meatball (homemade) sub cost about $3.50.
While we anticipated some adjustments, others we didn't - like how bored Sabine gets on walks! Seems endless fields, a barn, and the occasional car are not quite as entertaining as the people watching in Harvard Square. Fortunately for her, parks here come with ducks! Well, at least one does.
Honestly though, as grateful as we are for the opportunity to live with Dain's family, it makes for a bit of a surreal transition. We've moved, but not yet. Consequently, we feel pretty disconnected from the city we are looking forward to living in - since we are about 20 minutes away. That is, 20 miles away.
We are embarking on finding a church home and inadvertently went to the "old folks" service at the first Presbyterian church we attended. They arrived by schoolbus from surrounding retirement communities. Apparently, most young families attend the earlier morning service and poor Sabine was all by herself for the nursery. Last Sunday was much better as we attended an interesting Episcopalian church. I'm sure we'll write more about our journey to find a church home.
Halloween was our only
socializing yet, and Dain won best male costume! More about that in a minute, but first to relay Sabine's first Halloween experience. The night before (procrastinating, yes) we went to Old NAvy in a desperate bid to find a costume - and we were in luck! Sabine's cheeks made for the perfect accompaniment to her little pink mousy belly. When we tried it on her in the store, she kinda toppled (LOL), but didn't seem to mind it at all on Halloween. After dinner, we heard the doorbell ring and scrambled to stuff her in her outfit for her first "trick or treat" offering. After the 2 little pirates promptly took off after the obligatory "thanks", we took up residence on the front stoop awaiting the next visitors...and waited and waited as they went up the street before coming back down. Sabine loved it, since she got to take all the candy out and put it back in (sometimes).
But back to us - we went to a party hosted by Dain's cousin. Dain had the brilliant idea to go as Tobias Funke from Arrested Development; I attempted Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, but thought too little, too late about it and came off more as a scary dead bride. Fortunately, Sabine was already in bed. But the party was fun and terrifically organized - they even had a 4 part scavenger hunt.
And so goes the adventure. Dain is wrapping up his final seminary correspondance course and I'm in my third week at work. But those I'll save for later posts...
Today, we went to a local favorite: the Lebanon Farmers Market. Sabine wasn't feeling well and managed to forego naps all together until 5:00 PM today!! 
Playing with Daddy in the Ball Pit (excuse me, "Dora the Explorer Butterfly Garden")
Looking all kinds of cute in the alpaca hat from Aunt Nicolette and Uncle Edgar.
Everything was exquisite, save for one venison interpretation that I (Kristen) didn't care for - but Dain thought was "minerally". This is the best shot I got of one of the plates (ocean trout) and, admittedly, it does not do justice!
While we anticipated some adjustments, others we didn't - like how bored Sabine gets on walks! Seems endless fields, a barn, and the occasional car are not quite as entertaining as the people watching in Harvard Square. Fortunately for her, parks here come with ducks! Well, at least one does.
socializing yet, and Dain won best male costume! More about that in a minute, but first to relay Sabine's first Halloween experience. The night before (procrastinating, yes) we went to Old NAvy in a desperate bid to find a costume - and we were in luck! Sabine's cheeks made for the perfect accompaniment to her little pink mousy belly. When we tried it on her in the store, she kinda toppled (LOL), but didn't seem to mind it at all on Halloween. After dinner, we heard the doorbell ring and scrambled to stuff her in her outfit for her first "trick or treat" offering. After the 2 little pirates promptly took off after the obligatory "thanks", we took up residence on the front stoop awaiting the next visitors...and waited and waited as they went up the street before coming back down. Sabine loved it, since she got to take all the candy out and put it back in (sometimes).
But back to us - we went to a party hosted by Dain's cousin. Dain had the brilliant idea to go as Tobias Funke from Arrested Development; I attempted Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, but thought too little, too late about it and came off more as a scary dead bride. Fortunately, Sabine was already in bed. But the party was fun and terrifically organized - they even had a 4 part scavenger hunt.
requisite nap (read: mommy access closet time), but finally went down around 9:20am. Here I am at 10:30am, realizing my window for a carefree shower is quickly expiring, and I've dug out and re-stacked the closet only to discover that the target items are not in the box I maneuvered to the front - but may very well be in the box that I relocated to the far rear of the closet, thinking "I won't need to access this until we move". At this point, I'm taking a break to contemplate my options: cut my losses; move everything again without assurance that the objects are actually in that box; wait for Sabine to wake up to double-check that what I was looking for all along is not, actually, already in some hidden corner of my DRESSER! I think I'll choose option #3.
