Sumner Rolls On

In keeping with the poetic and unstoppable circle of life, the Sumner House rolls on...

As of January 1, 2007, all of the "original" Sumnerites have moved on to new adventures, passing the baton to Chad, Athena, Chris and Maggie who have already made the house their own and are beginning to create a new identity for Sumner.

You might be wondering: "But what about the old Sumnerites? Where are they now? Will we ever see them again?" Well here it is, in alphabetical order -- a roll call of previous Sumner residents and their current whereabouts.

Charlie just migrated a hop, skip and a jump up the street to the MANsion -- where he joins some of our very favorite mammals with XY chromosomes. The MANsion has become Party Central for the NE community, and sometimes they just leave the balloons and crepe paper up in between parties to alleviate the need for constant decorating.

Gladdy, in all her newly engaged glory, has moved in to the Casa -- a community house inhabited by some of the most wonderful women -- which is just a few blocks away. She' s busy working at the hospital, doing outdoor medicine work from time to time, planning a wedding, and spending time with her favorite human, Scott.

Justin and his bride, Sarah, live in a sweet little apartment conveniently located a few blocks from La Bonita and the gang. Justin can often be seen around the Sumner House giving some much needed TLC to the garden, working in the garage woodshop, or using the driveway to change the oil in the car.

Sarah (that's me!) and Jonathan, the newest newlyweds, are settling into their little house on Ainsworth, just a 4 minute drive from their Sumner family. They are enjoying the peace and quiet, and simultaneously missing the spontaneous "pop in" visits of their friends.

Scott has rented a little house just a few blocks away from the Sumner House, and is using his organizational prowess to make it a lovely and efficient dwelling. Glad will move in there after they get married in April.

Zeke is still rocking the suburbs, I mean downtown, where he bought a sweet condo overlooking the park blocks. He frequently taunts us with his amazing photos from his travels far and wide.

And now...maybe it's time for the newer Sumnerites to introduce themselves?

Official documents

This week has been a veritable cornucopia of official documents. Yes, that's right folks, a CORNUCOPIA! In the past few days, I have:

• Stood in line at the DMV to renew my car's registration and get new tags.
• Visited the Multnomah County building to obtain a Marriage License.
• While there, I picked up paperwork to start the process of changing my last name.
• Sat at Fidelity Title Company and signed, initialed and dated a three inch stack of mysterious paperwork: disclosures, agreements, notes, blah blah blah.

Not that I'm complaining...

All of those activities point to blessings in my life:

• I have a reliable vehicle that passed the emissions test at the DEQ.
• There is someone who loves me and is just crazy enough that in ten days, he plans to promise never to leave me.
• We are now the official owners of a pretty darn cute little house in northeast Portland.

Woohoo!

I have a feeling that after this month, the rest of my life is going to feel anti-climactic.

Thankful #5

Sarah's Blog Postings
Without her plethora of postings and poetic prose, this page would be paltry and pathetic. Instead, a wonderland of witty words and winsome writing welcome weary ones with arms open wide. Thank you, Sarah. You will be dearly missed.

Thankful #4

MethodTM.
This new brand of bio-friendly cleaning products has ushered in a new era of harmonious laundry-making at the Sumner House. Scotty is happy that it's bio-friendly, Chad and Sarah are happy that it's liquid and has a light fresh scent. And the people rejoice!

Thankful #3

Joaquin.
Our favorite neighborhood burrito merchant -- because he has a great smile, and because it feels great to be a "regular" at the local joint and have someone remember your usual order.

Thankful #2

Pillows.
The number of overnight guests you can accommodate at any one time is directly proportional to the number of pillows you have available. I'm thankful we have a lot of pillows. I'm fairly certain there have been nights where there was at least one head resting on every pillow we own...

Thankful #1

Differentness.
Wouldn't community be boring if we all went to bed at the same time and liked the same breakfast cereal?

Thankfulness

With 39 days until my wedding (and thus 39 days left in my Sumner House adventure), it seems like a good time to ponder the many blessings that have been wrapped up in this community living journey of the past 18 months.

So I'll attempt for the next couple of weeks to post very brief thoughts on what I'm thankful for.

(My fellow Sumnerites, current and former, should consider this an open invitation to contribute to the list!)

Census

Have I mentioned lately that I am living with four (absolutely wonderful) men?

Dudes: 4
Chicks: 1

Where is my Gladdy? I miss her.

Wherever you are, sister, send some estrogen-infused brainwaves my direction!

Sabbatical

As of late, I've taken an unplanned sabbatical from this here blog. So many reasons. Chief among them is the fact that I've been squeezing wedding preparations into every empty minute.

[Wedding Watch 2006: 54 days and counting!]

Following what Jonathan has dubbed our "high octane courtship" in which we saw each other pretty much every day for a few months, we careening throug a full-throttle engagement adventure. Fourteen weeks from the popping of the question, will be the tying of the knot!

So I suppose it suffices to say that I've been focusing on other things...but that's not the only reason.

To be completely honest, the Sumner House doesn't really feel like the Sumner House these days. Justin is living the life of a newlywed just a few blocks away, and Glad is in Patagonia for a few more weeks...the "we" that was built over the past year or more among Glad, Justin, Scott and me is morphing. I, for one, haven't fully recalibrated yet.

Scotty is temporarily back, Charlie and Chad are moved in, and Steve has been inhabiting the Trollery (his affectionate term for the basement rec room) and contributing to the household for about six weeks now...so the house is busy, and rowdy and full of life...

But it still doesn't feel "normal." I'm sure we will all find a new equilibrium soon; after all, these are good days. But sometimes, I must admit, I feel the tiniest bit homesick for *last* October. (Which is pretty funny, if you know anything about what October 2005 was like for this girl.)