Love Jane Austen’s books?  Have a little time to spare this weekend?  Try this quiz that determines which Jane Austen character you are most like:  link

Lisa sent me the link to this quiz as she was preparing for her Teen Book Group’s discussion of Sense and Sensibility.  Both Lisa and I were quite surprised at how accurate our results were.  I’ll share who I’m most like if any of you, dear readers, do the same!  For the moment, suffice it to say that I’m most like my favorite Austen character, which felt like some kind of small victory to me…

Last Saturday, on a whim after visiting Guitar Center, Jim and I went to the Natick Mall.  It was the first time there for both of us, and we were stunned by how beautiful the mall is.

Before I say any more, I need to explain that Jim and I aren’t mall rats, not by any stretch.  Not our thing, really. 

But the Natick Mall – wow.  How to describe it?  Thriving, well-thought out, lovely artistic touches here and there, warm and welcoming.  My favorite part is the sculptural birch trees that line the newer section, with the mobiles of green leaves cascading down from the ceiling towards the trunks.  And the blobs of dark wooden flooring that break up the white tile floors, lending an almost yellow-brick-road sensibility to something that could otherwise be cold and antiseptic. 

And the people watching was supreme.  Loads of families, not too many angst-ridden teenagers.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t find it much fun to people-watch the gangs of teens who tend to prowl malls.  Much more amusing to observe marital discord and harmony, good and bad parenting, and cute kids.

As for the shopping – well, among other things, we came away with two great Crate and Barrel serving bowls that were priced at $5.95 each.  What could be better?

We’re getting a dishwasher, my dad’s Christmas gift to us, and I couldn’t be more excited.  For the past almost four years, Jim and I have been grumpily washing our dishes by hand, often procrastinating until there’s a large stack of dirty dishes on the counter.  On those hot and humid summer days (we don’t really use our air conditioner), washing dishes becomes just plain nasty.  And it can even be pretty unpleasant in the winter, when the woodstove is cranked up high.  But not much longer, because the dishwasher has been paid for and ordered, and Jim is busy reconfiguring the cabinets to make room for that lovely beast.

We gained new respect for another bit of automation recently, when our washing machine needed repairs and we were without it for three weeks (including the week that my sister was visiting us).  It’s not that laundromats are so bad, because there are actually some advantages of going to the laundromat, most notably that you can get your laundry done in one fell swoop.  But when your towels get smelly mid-week, and you can’t take the time to go to the laundromat, there’s nothing more lovely than being able to pop down to the basement and run a load.  When our machine was finally fixed last Friday, I was so inspired by its renewed presence in our lives that I actually tackled all those laundry odds and ends that accumulate in a stack by the washer:  the random red items that will stain everything else, and so get put to the side – the old curtains that we used as dropcloths during a project – the pesky woolen washables.  All clean now.

Automation rocks.

Construction has begun on the affordable housing units next to our house.  Very exciting.  Jim and I took an exploratory trip through the unit closest to us today (being Sunday, there were no construction workers on site, and, since there are no “No Trespassing” signs, we figured it was ok to take a walk around).  All of the first floor walls are up, the window and door openings clearly designated, so we could really get a sense of how the house will be to live in.  Nice and bright, lots and lots of big windows, a well-planned floor layout that makes good use of the limited square footage, and a pleasant central staircase.  We climbed half-way up the stairs and took a peek at the second floor: it’s hard to guess how big the second floor will be, since the walls are not up, but from the pre-assembled walls that are resting on the floor deck, we’re guessing that there will be one bedroom and a bathroom up there.

The best part of our walk-around was seeing that our house, that we’ve spent so many hours working on, looks pretty ok from the next lot over.  Good thing, since many of the biggest windows at the new house look directly out at our house.  (We’ll be installing some new window shades on that side…).

I doubt we can ever have neighbors as great as those who lived in the dilapidated garage (Chuck the Woodchuck and family, and the family of skunks), but hopefully our human neighbors-to-be will be nice people, and hopefully they’ll enjoy their new home.  It’s a good one, for sure.