out of touch

Hey y'all. Another brief update from our temporary digs in Memphis. We bought a house. We bought two cars. It's dizzying how quickly you become an American. We're finally connected to the internet, but the catch is that it's not wireless and the place in the temporary apartment that holds the modem is in a cramped corner where no modifying makes it possible for me to sit in a chair and be online--so I'm limited by my really big belly to five minutes at the most of hunching over a laptop on the floor before this baby and my body protest me swiftly off-line. But we're doing fine. We close on the house on June 20th and hope to quickly settle in before the babe arrives. This shouldn't be too difficult as our stuff, once scattered around this continent and in-transit from Europe, is starting to collect here in Memphis, and family and friends have plans to pitch in as soon as we get the keys to our place. Other than becoming frustrated with not being able to do e-mail (my inbox is burgeoning, I'm sorry to anyone who wrote in the past few weeks and I'm also you missing friends in far corners), we like where we're staying temporarily--there's a pool and a small lake with a path around it that is home to ducks, geese, turtles, fish and even the occasional raccoon visitor. Memphis is absolutely sweltering--scorching sun, incredible temperatures (upper 90's, for Celsius friends we're nearing 40) and oppressive humidity that wilts everything by mid-morning. I woke up around 6:30 and walked around the lake a couple times to get some exercise, but it was almost too hot to be outside by the time I finished. Maybe some of my heat intolerance is due to the pregnancy--I could see the shadow I cast this morning as I walked and it there was a definite likeness to those waddling ducks all around me. But the weather is supposed to break this week, we've loved re-connecting with friends in Memphis, Ellie's doing fine, Ryan's really enjoying his job and all is well. Miss those of you who are far away and know that even if I'm not e-mailing these days I'm thinking about you a whole lot.
Cheers!