We are part of history this week. It’s the hottest it’s been in Seattle since 1891. Wednesday’s high was around 109. As you’ve probably heard from us, AC is very rarely installed in homes here. Normally, it’s much cooler during the summers and there’s only a few weeks when you’d miss the air conditioning. It’s been very interesting to see how people react to this heat. Everyone is talking about it, tweeting it, and updating Facebook statuses about it. We’re all a little obsessed.

Even as I write, our computers are having a hard time. I am on Josh’s work computer (shh, don’t tell) because my laptop’s space bar is off duty and the desktop keeps crashing. The technology can’t take it.

So our challenge and priority this week is to keep cool. On Monday, a friend invited us over to her condo’s pool and we stayed there for almost four hours. On Tuesday, Nora and I went to a lakeside beach with some ladies, then wandered around some of the local stores.

Wednesday was the projected peak of the heat, so we had a full day planned. A big chunk of time was devoted to shopping venues, since retail places do have air conditioning. Costco was the recipient of about an hour of our time and all I really needed to do was return a pillow. Once you braved the heat to get in, you want to stay for awhile.

Then we headed over to the library. There was gridlock in the parking lot as people fought for spaces. I say “fought,” but it was more like just waiting in line because hey, the cars have AC, too. So after 30 minutes of circling and stalking people who were heading back to their cars, we headed inside. One of the librarians announced that they were opening up another area to accommodate the growing crowds.

After two hours or so, Nora was getting a little antsy so we went to the biggest, coolest place I could imagine. Da da da daaaa- the mall! More craziness. The parking deck was almost completely full. We were able to get a covered space (victory! victory!) and followed the lines inside. All the chairs and waiting areas were packed with people trying to recover and regroup. The food court and all the coffee places were overflowing. And so many strollers! These poor kids were just so done and sleeping in all sorts of crazy positions. One lady was even pushing her dog around in one of those rented strollers. (I am so serious.)

We meandered and browsed and bought very little, just like most of the people there. Afterward, we met Josh at his air conditioned office building so Nora could take a break from the car seat and stretch out on the floor. All of us came home, checked on Remy to make sure he was alive (he was and is), refilled his water bowl, and went right back out to the nice, cool coffee shop downstairs.

Later, after we returned home, it happened.  Our huge fan that has been going almost nonstop, the fan that we move with us from room to room, the fan that has been so trusted… for no discernible reason whatsoever, fell off its perch and lost a blade. It still works, though it’s louder and moves across the floor if you don’t put it next to a wall. But it works!

The good news is that the worst is supposed to be over and it will begin to cool off starting today. I’m really proud of Nora. She hasn’t been having decent naps at all but still finds a way to smile and be sweet for us. We’ve also had some really thoughtful people include us in their plans to go to pools and beaches. Our community group even encouraged us to bring Remy along with us so he could roam in their shaded yard. We’re so grateful for these friends and the fact that we live in a country where being this uncomfortable isn’t the norm.

For now, the entire city is eagerly looking forward to our next rainfall. Isn’t it ironic?

First off, for those of you who asked, Ta da! Here I am. Six months as of last week.

As you can see, baby’s growing. I’m still feeling great! Everything is going very well. Lots of baby movement, which is still fun and exciting. A consistently active period includes Sunday morning worship. Last week, I almost had to sit down during one song that had a loud drumbeat. Baby was either terrified or praising God with all his/her strength.

Meanwhile, Josh and I have been blessed to meet more people, especially fellow Mars Hill attenders. And as we interact with local Seattleites, we’ve come across some interesting differences. We present…

Cultural Differences Between the Southeast and the Pacific Northwest.

1) The Unspoken Shoe Rule. In most households, you remove your shoes before walking inside. We figured this out after we were some of the first people to arrive for community group. As the others trailed in, everyone paused in the foyer to take off their shoes. I’ve never been so embarrassed to be sitting in a circle of chairs. It was like Duck, Duck, Goose, only it was Socks, Socks, Socks, Socks, Socks, Socks, RUDE SHOES!
The next week, I learned my lesson and kicked off my slip on shoes as soon as I walked in the door.
And was the only one with bare feet (and embarrassingly chipped toenail polish.)
Exception to the rule- if you’re not wearing socks, you keep the shoes on. (There were two other girls who kept their slip on shoes on the whole time. Where were they the previous week??)
And yes, it’s due to the rain. Since it’s so common to have rain and mud on your shoes, people are in the habit of taking them off regardless of the current weather conditions.

2) Clothing. It can be 50 degrees out, raining, and you’ll see guys walking around in short sleeved shirts and girls wearing flip flops. As I’m wearing a sweater and coat and carrying an umbrella.

3) Political conversations. At first we thought it was due to the election, but that’s over and there’s still a lot of politics being discussed. Most recently, a group of about 15 people launched into a spontaneous debate over the merits of public and private schools.

4) Less sports, more technology. Let’s say there’s a group of 5 guys. Three of them will work for Microsoft. 1 will work for IBM or Expedia. And Josh, the Googler, is the other guy. Most likely, they’re not talking about college football, which is just NOT as big a deal here. I don’t even know the names of University of Washington’s Big Rival. Or if they have one.
Here, if I overhear a group of guys talking, it’s a given that the words, “iPhone,” “app,” and “launched” are going to be in there somewhere.

5) Straight talk. Seattlelites tend to speak their mind more. It’s not offensive, just very straightforward. Hence the political discussions. (If you’ve heard the Mars Hill podcasts, you get an idea based on the preaching style.)
Similarly, I never realized how often I’ll make a general invitation that I don’t follow through on, though I plan to. “Let’s have lunch sometime,” or “We should go out for coffee,” and it never happens. Or it happens weeks later after an email exchange.
Here, it’s more “Let’s have lunch on Thursday. Does noon work for you?” and that’s that.

6) Communal umbrellas. There’s Forum/Avenue style outdoor malls here. How does that work with the massive amounts of rainfall? How about yellow golf umbrellas that magically appear outside your store? Each mall has these umbrellas that you take from the parking lots and leave outside the store. The only downside is that you have to really consider if it’s worth going inside each store, because there’s a chance your umbrella will be gone by the time you come out. Then you have to find an umbrella to steal from a shopper in the next store. I tend to feel pretty guilty participating in “Musical Umbrellas.”

7) Dogs. We’ve already kinda covered this one, if you remember Doogler Day. But wow, people love their dogs here. There’s just so many of them. Remy’s actually a great conversation starter. People on the sidewalk and in the elevator love asking about him and then telling me about their dog. And it’s really common to see dogs tied up outside a Starbucks or restaurant. It’s hard to know who the owner is because everyone smiles and stops to pet them.

So there you have some of the differences we’ve learned so far. Granted, nothing too drastic. =) Hopefully, after things are a bit more settled in the spring, some of our Southern folks can come visit! We’ve been keeping a list of “Places We’d Like to Take People” and then you can experience Seattle for yourself.

It’s time for the first month recap. Ta da!

Pictures to hopefully follow- still looking for the cord that inputs the pictures from the digital camera to the computer.

The first week actually went by pretty fast. Josh being Josh made sure we had internet access four days after we arrived, and me being me (and newly addicted to Jon and Kate plus 8) begged for a new tv and cable access. Missions accomplished. We could email, twitter, keep in touch with everyone and enjoy watching the twins and sextuplets. 

We attempted to buy some cheap camping chairs or bean bags to use as temporary furniture until our stuff arrived. Four hours and five stores later, we had discovered the world’s most crowded Walmart (seriously, it was so insane we walked in the door and right back out when we saw the lines.) But we did not find any chairs. Josh had a brilliant solution and moved the air mattress (which we brought on the road trip with us) into the living room. Our bed/couch.

The second week was when Josh went to California for training. Since we didn’t have any of our kitchen supplies, I spent that week eating microwaved meals from Trader Joe’s. I recommend the potstickers and chicken/bean burritos. 

Oh, another thing that stands out from that week was when I was watching a late night movie on T.V. All the sudden, as the credits were still rolling, it cut to a preview of the next show. Which was about children who claim to be psychic. One kid was saying how he could see shadowy figures around him that no one else could see. The t.v.  showed their version of hooded figures  standing in a room. I was fumbling in the dark hitting every button on the remote except the one that could change the channel. I wasn’t fast enough and the words/images made their way into my brain, officially creeping me out.

It took everything I had in me not to move Remy’s bed right next to the air mattress. I was thanking God for not only his protection, but for providing us with a Jack Russell who yaps and barks if he hears anything that sounds remotely like someone trying to come into his territory. Including shadowy figures, I presume. All in all, that was a fairly slow, relaxed week.

Then a whole bunch happened all at once. Josh came home on Friday. Yay! The movers called Saturday morning and said they were downstairs WITH OUR STUFF. Yay! OUR STUFF ARRIVED! The first boxes I unpacked were anything marked “kitchen.” I missed home cooked food so much. It was beautiful when I made that first meal. I could have wept with joy. The joy of cooking- I finally get that title now.

And just as our third week was about to get underway- da da  da da daaa !!! We had our first guest! Beau was in town due to a work related trip and we got to hang out with a family member! Then- ta da!!! Jeanne came the next day. We got to go out to MEALS with PEOPLE we KNEW. It was awesome. And we felt our first pride in our new town as we got to show it off.

The rest of that third week we were able to have a few more meals with Beau and Jeanine. Jeanine was even nice enough to spend a whole day helping me unpack and organize our new closet.  Josh started working at the Seattle branch and of course, loved it. I continued to unpack and organize. Which is pretty much how we spent the next two weeks. Josh going to work, me unpacking, cooking, (Hooray!) and exploring the area.

Then…this past week…the Heat Wave hit. The good people of Seattle don’t believe in installing air conditioning. “It’s so cool here, you’d only miss it a few weeks out of the year.” Well, this past week was one of those weeks. We’re on the fifth and top floor of our apartment complex and it was like an endurance test every day from about 11 am until 6 pm. Yesterday, which was a Sunday, Josh and I left the apartment to go for a long drive just to feel the AC in his car. By the evening, half the traffic lights were out in the city due to power outages as every store in the area cranked its AC up. The city is not prepared for hot times such as these.

A big part of the heat wave is the fact that despite my expectations, it’s barely rained here at all. The rainy months aren’t expected until October or so. I’ve been watching the weather reports like a hawk. And today, wonderful today, the predictions came true- it rained this morning and the temperature dropped into the low seventies. I am so happy I wanted to write and let everyone know. Everyone- I am so very comfortable right now.

So that’s about it. We really like our new city and all the parks here. We’ve met some amazingly nice and friendly people through the church.  All in all, it’s been a great month and we’re really close to being settled.

But we’re not ready for pictures of the apartment yet. They are coming. =)

Had another interesting thing happen in transit the other day. Since I was away on business travel, Google offers various ways to get around town. One of the methods I used in the earlier part of the week was my trusty 3 mile town car ride to and from work. It’s pretty simple: You call this number, ten minutes later you get a phone call confirming the impending arrival of the driver, driver rolls up, and you hop in. For particular trips like this, Google fits the bill and there’s no transaction on your end. Nice, simple, convenient.

However. There are those that game the system. Not Googlers, as it turns out, but other taxi drivers. Rogue taxi drivers–that in my case posed as the car service Google has arraignments with. Here’s what happened…

Leaving my desk for the day, I received a phone call that a driver was rolling up in a white town car. I walk downstairs, see a car of that description driving up, approach the window, confirm my name, the driver confirms, and I hop in. Moments after settling in, I realize through a very confusing, and twisted discussion with the driver, that I’m in the wrong car — not the one that I had called. The quickest way to realize this was to ask if at the end of the drive I’d have to pay. “Yes, yes, yes. YOU WILL PAY.” I told him that in prior rides I didn’t have to pay, but he nodded and insisted again: YOU WILL PAY — 3 DOLLARS A MILE. He went on to lecture to me that I should “never ever” call the other people, that they only do local drives, but he will go anywhere in the Bay Area, and offered me his phone number multiple times.

At this point, we weren’t quite off the campus but we were still driving and, at this point, far from where he’d picked me up. I suggested that he should take me back. He refused. Really. He did. A quick glance at my door I noticed it was locked, and briefly went into MacGyver mode thinking I might bail out anyway. I decided to stay the course and just be driven home. Shortly after crossing the freeway, I received a phone call from the original town car service, “Josh, the driver is waiting outside, can you give us an idea how much longer you’ll be?” After a quick explanation, they expressed their sympathy and told me not to worry.

Moments later I arrived at the curb of my hotel, and paid the driver sans tip.

Today, a week later, I took the local bus system to the campus up here in Kirkland. No issues as of this morning!