I Love My House

I'm working from home today—my home, the one in the mountains—and it feels great. How do I love it up here? Let me count the ways: (1) The air is fresh and crisp and filled with pine tree scent (though it can also, occasionally, be filled with smoke and debris from forest fires, as the dusting of ash on my kitchen counter will attest). (2) There's light pouring in from a two-story wall of windows in the living room and kitchen. Ah, light. (3) When I look outside, I see mountains, trees, and blue sky. (4) It's mine! It's mine! (er, and Bank of America's). Anyway, the point is that being her just makes me darn happy.

The drive up last night was even bearable for a change; three weeks ago, it was excrutiating. Lots of annoying stop and go traffic. This time it was a little heavy leaving the Bay Area, but fine once we got to Vacaville. One of the benefits of leaving on a Thursday night rather than on Friday, I suppose. Al drove the first leg so I could sleep, and then we switched places. He was kind enough to stay awake and talk to me as I drove; I find it hard to stay awake at the wheel if he's sleeping.

Now that we're here, we're both sharing the pitiful dialup connection via an Airport Base Station to check e-mail, and, in my case, download files from the source control system. I'm writing in the blog while Perforce does its thing because typing doesn't use any precious bandwidth. :) Al is dressed, but I've opted to work in my pajamas (one of the main benefits of working at home, IMHO). Very soothing. I'm excited about killing off the last few bugs in my feature before signing off, and then getting to work taping off more rooms for painting. I hope to do the main level bedroom and the larger downstairs bedroom this weekend. (I did the smaller downstairs bedroom last time I was here.) Note to self: Remember to take "before" photos *before* you start painting! I'd also like to get some boxes unpacked and stuff put away so the living room looks more liveable.