Hop, skip and jump

Five weeks ago we moved compounds as part of a housing consolidation.  The new compound is just a hop, skip and jump down the road (2 roundabouts), but the differences are miles (kilometers) apart.

First, notice anything different? 

COLOR!  Our previous neighborhood was bland and beige and our new compound feels like a Tuscan/Miami retirement village, complete with GRASS!  Our little tuft of green gets watered every day and mowed and maintained by people other than us, which is joyous.  While I loved having a beautiful yard in the Woodlands, I loathed maintaining it (as did Kevin, I surmise).

The new villa is a 3 story, 5 bedroom, 5 1/2 bath monstrosity.  The kitchen is quite spacious and I'm already looking forward to next year's chili cook-off, as I think we can fit quite a few more folks in this one.  Kev was most excited that the villa has two 42" LCD TVs, since we have yet to jump on that train ourselves (our previous TX house had a built-in TV nook that could only fit a 32" CRT, or so I kept telling him).  We have a nice patio and backyard for Mr. Pico, which is a big upgrade to our previous dirt/brick pit backyard from the old compound.  The bushes outside will eventually grow to 2.5 meters so we'll have a bit more privacy.  Though the villa came mostly furnished, lamps were apparently not essential, so the floor and table lamps you see were part of the 8 we brought over from IKEA Dubai.  Also on the ground floor is our dining room.

There are three bedrooms on the second floor, including the master (bottom left).  There's also a second living room (not too much reality TV here, so Kev and I are typically watching the same TV).  On the third floor are 2 more bedrooms, the laundry and an office landing.  One of my favorite features of the new place is this gigantic built-in bookcase.  I had no idea we had enough books for 2 traditional bookcases + 16 nooks in a built-in, but apparently so!  We have a ton of books in storage, too, so I shudder to think what'll happen when we reunite with our storage items.

The move went without a hitch and fortunately no casualties.  All the folks from our previous compound are moved in and the next compound that's consolidating is slowly moving in.  We're really enjoying our new neighborhood.  Only a few minor quirks so far, and our first power outage, but we are full steam ahead in our new villa!  More photos are in the Doha 2011 folder over on Facebook.