This Old House

This is the house where I grew up in West Seattle. From ages 5 to 18, this is where I lived. The white tree on the right was planted on the day I started kindergarten. During those thirteen years, my bedroom moved around to four different rooms, finally ending up in the basement with a room a painted lavender (still my favorite color!)

Steve and I were in Seattle this weekend and we took a drive past the old house. I miss it. No, I don't miss the 1920's-era wiring, or the half-remodeled bathroom, or kitchen sans-dishwasher...but I do miss the character of this house...and the memories. I posted this photo on Facebook, and my childhood friend Renee reminded me how we used to throw our dolls down the laundry chute that ran from the main bathroom to the basement...and how we made sun tea on the back porch in the summer. Maybe what I really miss is just the innocence of childhood.

It's for sale right now...with a price tag of a mere $700k for anyone who might be interested... My parents bought this house in 1975 for $28k. They sold it in 1988 and it's been through several owners and several remodels since then. I was kind of hoping for an "Open House" this weekend so I could walk through it one more time. My parents moved out of the house while I was away at college, so I never got to say my final good-byes.

While in Seattle, we also visited the restaurant where I worked as a teen. It's a little fish'n'chip joint down at the beach, owned by two Greek brothers who still run the place 20+ years later. They still treat me like I'm 15...and I let them. I've moved 13 times in the past 15 years, and I've held ten jobs in the same time period. But when I go down there to the beach, I feel like I am "home".

In adoption news, it was announced today that March 2007 families are now out of the "Review Room" - which means April 2007 families (like me!) are now IN the Review Room. For those not familiar with Chinese adoption lingo...the "Review Room" is where the Chinese government officials go over your application documents (a.k.a. "dossier") and review it for any red flags or problems before it gets moved on to the "Match Room". Yes, my dossier has been in China for nearly 22 months and it is just now going into the Review Room. It took several months for all of the March 2007 families dossiers to be reviewed, and I anticipate it may take awhile for them to review all the April 2007 families as well. Regardless, it is one step further in the entire process, so I welcome the review. Congrats to all my March '07 friends who are now one step closer to their children!