Laila Lalami

Of even the most dedicated bloggers. Expect more of the same for at least a couple of days. The unpacking should be finished, the house cleaned, the laptop fixed, and the blog on track by Monday. The decorating will have to wait a while.

I’ve got a chapter to write, a new book to read, kitchen floors to clean, and it’s a slow news day. Be back soon.

It rains in Portland. A lot. We knew that. We were prepared for that. But nothing could have prepared us for the bleeping blizzard we’ve been experiencing since our arrival here on Sunday. We haven’t been able to leave the house since then, due to the snow, or ice, or both. We’ve depended on the kindness of our neighbors who’ve provided us with food when our pantry turned up only two packs of mac and cheese and a can of guava paste. Fortunately, we’ve been supremely busy with the unpacking and therefore memories of warm winters in California haven’t quite resurfaced yet.

The last two days have been incredibly busy with unpacking. We’ve been working round the clock and still it feels like we’ve barely made a dent in the mountains of boxes around us. I hope things will settle down by next Monday. Till then, postings might be more sparse. And if you’ve sent me mail, please bear with me.

Number of miles travelled: 1,050.
Number of “Vote Yes on Arnold” signs: 1, seen outside the city of Red Bluff, California.
Number of “Get Us Out of The United Nations” signs: 2, both seen in Oregon.
Cost of lunch for two (including tip) at Topsie’s in Maxwell: 20.
Number of execrable but necessary cups of coffee: 5.
Speed at which we passed the Oregon Highway Patrol officer with a radar gun pointed at the freeway: 70.
Cost of a Rand McNally Road Atlas: 12.95.
Number of times we got lost: 1, when relying on Yahoo Maps for in-town driving.
Temperature when we left Los Angeles: 64.
Temperature when we arrived in Portland: 31.
Number of neighbors who came to say hello within half an hour of our arrival: 3.
Length of time (in minutes) it took to install the internet connection: 30.
Calls from the moving company: 1.
Likelihood of my blogging anything on Monday: 0.

*Read Harper’s Index here.

So we leave town tomorrow and, after a brief stopover in the Bay Area to spend New Year’s Eve at my sister’s (and help her celebrate her birthday), we arrive in Portland by the weekend. If you have a book group or a writers’ group and wouldn’t mind an extra member, I’d love to join.

We spent the Christmas holiday eating Chinese, watching movies, and making the final few arrangements for the impending move. I’m drowning in lists: To-do list, contact list, shopping list, etc. Might be time for a list of lists.

I’ve just about had it with PagePanopticon. It’s just too unreliable. If you’re happy with the aggregator you use, email me.

The movers walked in, their T-shirt sleeves rolled up, biker chains hanging from their belts, tattoos on their arms. They took their coffee black, in quick sips, leaning against the kitchen counter as they handed us the paperwork. They ate the croissants, but left the bagels untouched. After a quick walk-through, they made it clear that, despite the moving company rep.

Okay, so I think we’re getting the hang of this packing thing. We’re essentially done, with just a few random items left. The move is scheduled for Tuesday, after which we will be have what we euphemistically call a “transition” period, and then on to Portland. I will probably continue to blog sporadically through this, but since everyone else is busy with end-of-year amusements, things should work out nicely.