stevenpiziks (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
stevenpiziks) wrote2019-11-11 07:27 pm
stevenpiziks) wrote2019-11-11 07:27 pm
Albion: The City Manager Reception
The following week, the city held a special welcome reception for Darwin, and they wanted me to come, too. It was on a weekday. This meant I had to rush home from work, dive into dress clothes, and zoom out to Albion after work.
The reception took place at the Ismon House. In the 1800s, Mary Ismon built a huge, three-story brick mansion near downtown Albion and meant it to be a civic center as well as her residence. She hosted a number of club meetings, a lending library, and other local events. When Mrs. Ismon died, she deeded the house to the city for 99 years with the provision that local clubs could continue to meet there. In 1999, the lease expired and the city had the option of buying the house from the Ismon estate or selling the place, but an inspection of the place turned up a whole mess of code violations, mostly stuff that weren't issues back when the house was built. No one would buy it, and the city couldn't use it as it was.
Rather than let it go, Albion spent considerable time and money renovating the place. The interior is now a delight--very modern, with a lot of blond wood and stone tile. The reception took up the entire second floor, which is the size of a gymnasium, but divided into spacious rooms.
By the time I arrived, a huge crowd had already shown up. The place was packed! One of the councilors had also set up an enormous buffet of all kinds of foods, from barbecued chicken to pasta salads to an entire table filled with cakes, apple crisps, pies, and more. I learned later that she had made most of it herself! She single-handedly fed at least 150 people. I stand in awe.
The reception was much like the meet-and-greet. The mayor gave a speech, then asked Darwin to say a few words, which caught him off-guard--he hadn't prepared anything. But he acquitted himself very well, thank you! Darwin and I met (and re-met) a ton of people, and long, long line stretched through the rooms to meet him. It was like being in the receiving line of a big wedding. Again, I played the wingman, standing next to Darwin, waiting until the current conversation had gone on long enough and starting conversations with the next person in line to move the current person along. It worked very well, and Darwin was able to meet just about everyone. It was a little overwhelming, to tell the truth, but everyone seemed so happy to have Darwin as the new city manager.
Meanwhile, the offer for the new house was finalized and accepted. We've pretty much figured out how to divide up the furniture and such. We'll have to re-arrange the beds quite a bit. Darwin wants to take our current bed with him. Max is using a king-sized bed in his basement bedroom, so we'll have to move that one upstairs to our bedroom and give him the single bed from the guest room. We have two dining tables--one in the breakfast nook and one in the dining room--so Darwin can take a dining set with him. And we have a ton of dishes.
I'll probably leave a set of clothes and toiletries at the new house so when I want to go over there, all I'll have to do is grab my laptop and go. He'll do the same for our current house.
The interior needs to be repainted. We headed to the hardware store and geared ourselves up for a big fight--the last time we did this, it took forever to agree on colors. To our surprise, we decided quickly and easily. Both of us favor pale yellow walls that make rooms warm and sunny. Darwin likes an accent wall, and we settled on a nice shade of blue for that. The place also needs to be re-floored, and we settled on those choices easily, too. Incredible!
Now we're waiting for final word on the closing date. Once we get the keys, we'll have the place painted and floored and Darwin can move in.
I'm trying to reconcile myself to this new lifestyle. So far, I can't quite comprehend it. The idea that Darwin will be living somewhere else five days a week feels foreign. When we were dating, Darwin would come to my place on weekends if the boys were with me, and I would go to his place on weekends when the boys were with their mother. Many Wednesdays, Darwin spent the evening at my place, then went home. We hated being separated and one of the greatest parts about buying a house together was that we would be together every day. Now, after only five years, we're going back to living apart again.
At the moment, Darwin is commuting to Albion. It takes him about 90 minutes every day. He's up at five in the morning and he gets back home at seven or eight, just enough time to eat supper and get ready for bed. It's exhausting for him!
The reception took place at the Ismon House. In the 1800s, Mary Ismon built a huge, three-story brick mansion near downtown Albion and meant it to be a civic center as well as her residence. She hosted a number of club meetings, a lending library, and other local events. When Mrs. Ismon died, she deeded the house to the city for 99 years with the provision that local clubs could continue to meet there. In 1999, the lease expired and the city had the option of buying the house from the Ismon estate or selling the place, but an inspection of the place turned up a whole mess of code violations, mostly stuff that weren't issues back when the house was built. No one would buy it, and the city couldn't use it as it was.
Rather than let it go, Albion spent considerable time and money renovating the place. The interior is now a delight--very modern, with a lot of blond wood and stone tile. The reception took up the entire second floor, which is the size of a gymnasium, but divided into spacious rooms.
By the time I arrived, a huge crowd had already shown up. The place was packed! One of the councilors had also set up an enormous buffet of all kinds of foods, from barbecued chicken to pasta salads to an entire table filled with cakes, apple crisps, pies, and more. I learned later that she had made most of it herself! She single-handedly fed at least 150 people. I stand in awe.
The reception was much like the meet-and-greet. The mayor gave a speech, then asked Darwin to say a few words, which caught him off-guard--he hadn't prepared anything. But he acquitted himself very well, thank you! Darwin and I met (and re-met) a ton of people, and long, long line stretched through the rooms to meet him. It was like being in the receiving line of a big wedding. Again, I played the wingman, standing next to Darwin, waiting until the current conversation had gone on long enough and starting conversations with the next person in line to move the current person along. It worked very well, and Darwin was able to meet just about everyone. It was a little overwhelming, to tell the truth, but everyone seemed so happy to have Darwin as the new city manager.
Meanwhile, the offer for the new house was finalized and accepted. We've pretty much figured out how to divide up the furniture and such. We'll have to re-arrange the beds quite a bit. Darwin wants to take our current bed with him. Max is using a king-sized bed in his basement bedroom, so we'll have to move that one upstairs to our bedroom and give him the single bed from the guest room. We have two dining tables--one in the breakfast nook and one in the dining room--so Darwin can take a dining set with him. And we have a ton of dishes.
I'll probably leave a set of clothes and toiletries at the new house so when I want to go over there, all I'll have to do is grab my laptop and go. He'll do the same for our current house.
The interior needs to be repainted. We headed to the hardware store and geared ourselves up for a big fight--the last time we did this, it took forever to agree on colors. To our surprise, we decided quickly and easily. Both of us favor pale yellow walls that make rooms warm and sunny. Darwin likes an accent wall, and we settled on a nice shade of blue for that. The place also needs to be re-floored, and we settled on those choices easily, too. Incredible!
Now we're waiting for final word on the closing date. Once we get the keys, we'll have the place painted and floored and Darwin can move in.
I'm trying to reconcile myself to this new lifestyle. So far, I can't quite comprehend it. The idea that Darwin will be living somewhere else five days a week feels foreign. When we were dating, Darwin would come to my place on weekends if the boys were with me, and I would go to his place on weekends when the boys were with their mother. Many Wednesdays, Darwin spent the evening at my place, then went home. We hated being separated and one of the greatest parts about buying a house together was that we would be together every day. Now, after only five years, we're going back to living apart again.
At the moment, Darwin is commuting to Albion. It takes him about 90 minutes every day. He's up at five in the morning and he gets back home at seven or eight, just enough time to eat supper and get ready for bed. It's exhausting for him!