Tour Guide Ginger: Welcome to the front digs.

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there  nagging mother, my own mother, Mama Ging, has been not-so-subtle dropping hints that she hasn't seen any pictures of my new digs. Mom, been busy. Between spending the weekends running around trying to spend money (like on the barbeque) and working during the week (last night, I got home an hour after Mr. Wookie), we're closing in on a 100% completed house. 48 hours after move-in, we were 90% settled. It was real. This is "home."

The first night in the new place left me sleeping light. But I do that in new places. I'm not a creature of change (har har, welcome to the Navy). But by Night #3, I was feeling more use to this joint. It could have been the champagne we cracked that night since we were almost done unpacking - probably - but this place had me lounging on the couch with my tie blanket watching a movie.

And today marked the first guest to the new place (Running Buddy - she was nosey and wanted in on the model home), it got the mark of approval. Sweet.

But let's get to the tour....

Declarations:

- Yes, those are white walls. Yes, they'll stay. The whole house is white walls. And that'd be quite the task to paint the whole house. And we've obviously proven that just because you have 1 duty station, doesn't mean you'll stay in the same house for all 3 years. So we're waving any inkling to put color on the walls for now. Instead, we're pretending it's base housing. And when you drink enough, you forget there's no color.

- The landscaping you see in the background is crap. The previous tenants did NOT take care of it and the landlord/owner are ponying up to fix it. So we've gathered estimates from recommended landscaping teams and have turned them over to our landlord to be taken to the High Council of Owner. We gave them our opinion of each team, who slacked in getting bids back to us in time, and who was awesome/had their bid to us in less than 24 hours/we'd prefer. Now it's a waiting game.

- I have a dog that roams into shots. She also plays roadblock. And somehow I love her.

...especially those selling Girl Scout cookies.

Impulse-purchase at World Market while Mr. Wookie was on the boat last year. Cost $20.

Oh, Snatch, did you want to enter or something?

Welcome to the front door. Key rack for...keys. (wow, right?) I'd like to get a rug for the door to cover up the hideous tile (hello, 1980's original tile). My favorite part: the boogy boogy mask.

Sharing the wall with small table is the wood-burning fireplace. Yes, it's completely covered by furniture. Because when you live 3 miles from the beach in Southern California...you won't freeze to death like a Wisconsin blizzard. Plus, it's not gas. And I can't just click a button for heat. So we agree that it's useless to us...until a Wisconsin blizzard hits LA. Then we're all screwed. Plus, the cable line was already run by the previous tenants to the tv's current location. Apparently great military minds think alike. Although we know how to take care of a yard.

All wall decorations were put together by Mr. Wookie. He has a fantastic inner-gay sense of design. The only thing I have credit for is the mantle. That's because it was the first box moved into the place and I didn't want things broken by the house mutt.

And Mom, that silver lamp doesn't work. It's dead. Yeah, thanks for the dead lamp. Glad we drove it down from Oregon. Now to buy a new one. You owe me.

Just kidding.

Just come down and visit then we're even. And bring my bed too for the guest room. We're wanting to have a cocktail party here in a month. And we want the house done. So let's check the Beaver schedule and rent a Uhaul. Because nothing's more fun that ditching work, driving 11 hours and visiting your 2 older daughters. Ready, break?

Who's mantle doesn't have old baseball trophies (mine) and a Darth Vader mask (his)?

Across the wall is our massive Ikea bookshelf I just had to have last year. Have you ever moved one of these whole? It took 2 Junior Officers, a lot of curse words, and a billion stops to re-grip this cumbersome creation. Not my finest choice of furniture. I've now learned. So at least with our next PCS, we'll make other people deal with it.

Oh, I'm sorry dog, was I in your way?

Back door shot. Yes, that torchiere lamp is slightly broken. Not it.

 Another back door shot.

And you may have noticed the complete lack of carpet. We love this, for the most part. Cleaning up dog vomit will be easy peasy on a not-carpet flooring. Although the tracked in dirt is something I didn't realize would be a problem. That's another reason for a completed landscaping design. Because who actually likes mopping?