Complicated Clarification.

I live in a lovely home in Falls Church, VA. Very close to the beltway on the end of a cul-de-sac, it is generally pretty quiet. Ambulances rushing to the nearby hospital and the hum of the highway are white noise now. Sort of like the large train that used to run by apartment 404 in KC. Never even heard 'em.

I used to think telling about our house was really complicated. I would launch into elaborate explanations using my hands and clarifying the specifications of our house. People would look at me confused, and I would try to explain it a little bit differently. It was painful to watch me describe.

And then finally, in Chicago, my friend Brian said, "It's like duplexes top and bottom instead of side by side." It clicked! That made it so much easier to explain. Everyone sitting at the dinner table said, "Ohhhhhh!" nodding their heads in understanding.

In my top-and-bottom duplex, I live on the first floor. Because it has two bedrooms and two baths, I have a roommate. MANY many people assumed I lived by myself with Rach, Sol, Finley and Copper upstairs. Nope.

We're a regular live action animal adventure. Belle, Victoria, Karilee and her cat, Gatica (Tica is what we usually call her.) Karilee also teaches middle school at our rival school, Twain. I found her online through the message board at her church, and it's nice living with another teacher. We keep similar hours and snow days.

She and her kitty are kind to me and the crazy dog. Karilee reports that Tica is more tolerant of Belle than any other dog. For good reason: Belle doesn't try to eat her, lets her eat scraps of deli meat too and gives her sweet, unsolicited kisses.

Belle loves to give unsolicited kisses. She's just plain generous about it.