…..That’s where I want to be. This time zone shift (along with a frenetic week) is really slowing me down. I’m sure I’ll recover sufficiently by tomorrow to tell you interesting tales. For now, I must be pleased that we made it home, have unpacked, and have caught up the laundry. Only 632 items left on my ‘to-do’ list now…
Can I just say how nice it is to be back in a place where everybody knows my name? I’ve really missed having a community in the past year. We’ve met some lovely people in the Bay Area, and some have become really wonderful friends, but all the same, I’ve missed my day-to-day network. I feel like George Bailey, I really did have a wonderful life in pretty little Cowtown (not that I ever doubted it). As I watched Elliott settle in to the familiar routine of homeschool gym and ice-skating, I saw Astrid pilfer M’s banana after crawling all over the hall to watch the big kids have fun–Elliott caught up with kids, Astrid made friends with everybody, and I had to work hard, very hard not to cry at the good fortune of it all…
Oh right, so we will be the proud new owners of Mary Poppins. I signed the final paperwork tonight (solo, Albert is already in Manhattan) and we will close on December 17th. Holy Toledo, Batman—-that is SO soon. Now we need to schedule all of the work that should be done before we move in–some carpet removal, a little painting and some wallpaper removal. I also need to find movers, do a little packing, find car transport, pick up a few items at IKEA, and hey, let’s not forget about the holidays. It’s a little stressful, but ultimately do-able—-we want the movers to pack on December 27th, so the Christmas season will be a bit abbreviated. On the plus side though, I won’t be scrambling to get the tree down prior to Elliott’s b-day on January 7th, so really, this is a good thing.
Our home inspection is Friday—-I’ll be there with Astrid on my hip—-should be fun times!
Email me if you’d like the password to the last post. Don’t be shy!
Okay, curious onlookers. Here are the MLS#s for the three houses we were most interested in:
House A: 2748275 this was the house with more curb appeal. Check out the 2nd kitchen in the in-law suite
House B: 2723979 the mansard-roofed manor–excellent kitchen
House C: 2750682 practically perfect in every way. We’re still waiting to hear from the realtor about our offer.
If you look on realtor.com, these listings are in Ohio. Sometimes more than one house has the same MLS number, don’t look at anything in North Dakota!
So who knew I’d get so much helpful advice that I would ultimately ignore? House C really is the Mary Poppins of houses—-just a little carpet to remove, and much later (once we’re back to three meals a day in the budget) some minor bathroom updates. We’ve already made an offer on House C, even though it is a good bit more than the mansard-roofed manor. I’d be happy to post MLS #s, but feel awkward parading our financial plans across the web. Maybe I’ll figure out how to password protect the listings, and you can see them for yourself, although I don’t think the exterior pictures do House A or B any favors—-they are both much better looking in the real world.
Let’s see what I can do—-maybe I’ll actually post twice in one day!
The final four quickly became three and then finally two, and then a decision was reached—or was it? As we sat to write the contract, we looked through the comps and noticed a house we all (Albert, Paige & the realtor) liked a great deal. We’re scheduled to see it tomorrow, but honestly, unless it’s a Mary Poppins venture (practically perfect in every way) we’ll pass, because it does cost a good bit more. In the meantime, Albert & I looked at all of the costs associated with making either of the last two houses our Barbie Dream Home. Originally planning to make an offer on House A, we’ve now switched allegiances and have decided to make an offer on House B (unless House C is of the Mary Poppins variety—-then I guess we’ll have to stew some more…
I just want to make a choice already—-I have friends to see and places to go. Oh, and Albert leaves at 6 Wednesday morning, so including him in the decision-making would be nice too! Hmmm, maybe some advice is in order–tell me dear internets friends, is more curb appeal worth another 3–4 hundred dollars per month? Specifically, we’re looking at a brick facade 2-story home with lovely dentil trim (house A)—-it’s very staid and traditional—-and it looks absolutely current in its present setting versus a more dated looking home (house B), built around the same time, but this house has a mansard roof and the whole thing has been painted an attractive chocolate brown (in an attempt to minimize its outdated qualities). This house is a good deal cheaper and also backs to a ravine—-there are two decks and a patio to maximize the exposure to the lovely woods. The house is a bit more updated inside (i.e. more in keeping with our taste) than the traditional brick home. On many levels, the mansard-roofed home seems better. There are plenty of other mansard-roofed homes in the community, so we wouldn’t be the only ones with such an ‘atrocity.’ We aren’t planning to sell anytime soon, in fact we’ve pledged (to ourselves and the boy) that this would be the last move, so we aren’t terribly worried about the resale market, I’m just not sure this all brown cottage in the woods is the best choice—-help me, oh wise ones!
Um, so we’ve arrived. Tomorrow we will start house-hunting with some seriously sleep-deprived children–wish us luck. I’ll post more fascinating updates tomorrow, but for now, bed. Thank goodness for daylight savings time–the tots need every extra minute, and truthfully, so do I. Flying with a snake Astrid on the plane, makes for an exhausting day.
Okay, let’s pretend that last post got to you on the first. Somehow, I missed the ‘publish’ button and saved the post instead. But here we are for post two of November.
Um, the big news……..we are moving back to beloved Cowtown almost immediately. Albert’s role here ended today and rather than pick him up for the balance of our lease, his BIG! 5! company chose to ship him off to another company–he starts next week—in Manhattan. Manhattan is a 10-hour commute from the East Bay which doesn’t actually work for any of us in the family, so we’ll be moving closer to the big apple without actually moving to the big apple orchard itself (NJ/NY–if you must know). So here’s a timeline:
October 29–Albert returns to work after our trip to Southern CA. A partner tells him they are eager to keep him on after his 11/2 roll-off. In the meantime, lots of helpful suitors (other partners at other client sites) were calling, eager to pick up the available superstar.
October 30–The Manhattan Project (see, a cultural reference for you, dear readers) begins to stalk Albert. The current SF project cannot commit to a role, but is still eager to keep Albert–they ask for patience.
October 31–after a long day of suspenseful waiting, the SF project gives him away to NYC.
November 1-we call our Cowtown realtor, eager to schedule some Cowtown time, preferably for the weekend of 11/10. Our trusty realtor is away for realtor training then, so we attempt to find another option (there were few).
November 2–Albert delays his start with Manhattan until Wednesday so that we can fly to Cowtown tomorrow. There is much to be accomplished between now and then.
Kind of a crazy week. We are eager to find something in Cowtown during this trip so that we can close prior to the end of the year. If all goes well, we’ll leave the East Bay before January 1.
A mixed bag of emotions accompanies these decisions. I’m absolutely delighted to return to Cowtown, but desperately unhappy about the loss of the daily coparent. I had hoped to have at least one more year in the same city before Albert began traveling again. We’ve done this travel-thing before, with mixed results. It will be different this time, I know, but honestly, is it so wrong to want to kiss my husband on a Tuesday now and then?
I know I’ve made a commitment to blog daily, but I can’t promise anything scintillating. We’re trying to pack a lot into a tiny fragment of time, so let’s be generous with the notion of day length (like we all were about November 1).
So, um….some big news coming down the pike. I want to make a few phone calls first, before I share, but many people I know will be pleased by this turn of events.
More details to follow, and I will, as threatened, post (in excruciating detail) about vacations, birthdays, Halloween-the whole shebang (because really, I need to share something over the next 30 days).
Life is about to get VERY busy soon.
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