Saturday we had Sam's 4th Birthday Party. His birthday fell on Monday the 24th.
We had 8 children under 5, plus a baby girl - I guess that's 9.
We also had a Spiderman pinata, and that was a big hit.
It was chaotic at times, but everyone had fun, and the meltdowns were brief and controlled.
The cake was home made by yours truly to go with the Spiderman theme - red velvet cake with blue frosting (not just any frosting - this was cream cheese, mascarpone cheese, and whipped cream). The whole cake was devoured...which is good news, because as of today, I am officially off the Sugar Train.
While tearing open gifts, Sam screamed, "This is the best birthday EVER!"
So even if he's only had four of them, I'll still take it.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
This summer is gonna suck
This post will be a whining rant. You've been warned.
Aside from the obvious difficulties that come with having our house on the market and trying to purchase another house at the same time, a new and much more aggravating issue has surfaced: Tim's department has gone to a compressed workweek for summer (four 10-hour shifts). While this kind of schedule would be ideal for many, many people in many situations, including me at some earlier point in life, and save energy and gas in many situations, it really stinks when you both work at the same institution and you have a child in preschool at same institution's campus.
Oh, you know I'll explain:
Tim's summer schedule will be 7am-5pm Sunday, Monday, Tuesday Wednesday. This means he has to be on campus for uniform and shift briefing by 6:30. This means he leaves the house at 5:50am to drive the 30 miles between.
Now, my supervisor and many of my responsibilities are generally flexible, and I probably could work out something out-of-the-box to coordinate with Tim's schedule and travel with him, but that's not the problem. The problem is pre-school. They won't be open Sunday, or even at 6:30am the other days, and even if I could have him there at that time, do I really want him there 10.5 hours!? No. No. No.
Next issue is days off - because I'm 11 month, I take a bunch of days off during the summer (I'm not paid for them). I took Sam out of daycare on Fridays for most of the summer because I was required to decide the summer schedule for him like 17 years prior, before any of this went down. Now, normally, if I need to take a day off during the week and not have Sam with me, it works well because Tim will bring him in at the start of his shift, and then pick him up at the end of his day (the normal 8 hour shift). With this new arrangement, we can't do this. If I need to be on my own for the day, like to go to the vagina doctor or something, I would have to make an hour round-trip drop off to campus in the morning, and hope that Tim won't get caught on overtime so I don't have to pick him up again too.
Of course, these are the secondary issues. Now, with this new schedule, Tim and I will be commuting to Delhi and back at least 9 times per week, totaling at least 540miles per week between the 2 of us. That will add up to nearly 6,500 miles over just 12 weeks. We only have 1 efficient vehicle, the other is a truck. I suppose we are fortunate to have 2 vehicles - can any working family get by with less these days? Ugh, that's another post entirely. So happy to be super-supporting the oil companies this summer (EFF you ALL), as we're going to be pretty much doubling our commuting costs.
Aside from the obvious difficulties that come with having our house on the market and trying to purchase another house at the same time, a new and much more aggravating issue has surfaced: Tim's department has gone to a compressed workweek for summer (four 10-hour shifts). While this kind of schedule would be ideal for many, many people in many situations, including me at some earlier point in life, and save energy and gas in many situations, it really stinks when you both work at the same institution and you have a child in preschool at same institution's campus.
Oh, you know I'll explain:
Tim's summer schedule will be 7am-5pm Sunday, Monday, Tuesday Wednesday. This means he has to be on campus for uniform and shift briefing by 6:30. This means he leaves the house at 5:50am to drive the 30 miles between.
Now, my supervisor and many of my responsibilities are generally flexible, and I probably could work out something out-of-the-box to coordinate with Tim's schedule and travel with him, but that's not the problem. The problem is pre-school. They won't be open Sunday, or even at 6:30am the other days, and even if I could have him there at that time, do I really want him there 10.5 hours!? No. No. No.
Next issue is days off - because I'm 11 month, I take a bunch of days off during the summer (I'm not paid for them). I took Sam out of daycare on Fridays for most of the summer because I was required to decide the summer schedule for him like 17 years prior, before any of this went down. Now, normally, if I need to take a day off during the week and not have Sam with me, it works well because Tim will bring him in at the start of his shift, and then pick him up at the end of his day (the normal 8 hour shift). With this new arrangement, we can't do this. If I need to be on my own for the day, like to go to the vagina doctor or something, I would have to make an hour round-trip drop off to campus in the morning, and hope that Tim won't get caught on overtime so I don't have to pick him up again too.
Of course, these are the secondary issues. Now, with this new schedule, Tim and I will be commuting to Delhi and back at least 9 times per week, totaling at least 540miles per week between the 2 of us. That will add up to nearly 6,500 miles over just 12 weeks. We only have 1 efficient vehicle, the other is a truck. I suppose we are fortunate to have 2 vehicles - can any working family get by with less these days? Ugh, that's another post entirely. So happy to be super-supporting the oil companies this summer (EFF you ALL), as we're going to be pretty much doubling our commuting costs.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Encouraged
Our house was shown to a prospective buyer this morning, on its 12th day on the market, and the feedback from our realtor (as well the buyer's) was very good. They would like to come back next week to see it again! We're feeling optimistic for now, so we'll try to enjoy it.
It has been a tough and exhausting week, but the house is spotless and in the most perfect condition it has ever been. We'll have to continue living in museum-like perfection for a while, but I don't mind.
Today was a slow work day - a welcome break as the Spring semester closes. Tomorrow is Commencement, so I do have to come to work on a Saturday, which always sucks. So I thought I might take advantage of the slow day and take a long lunch w/ pedicure. My poor footsies have really taken a beating lately, and I've neglected them. I thought the pedi would be relaxing and rewarding. I called four salons in this dinky little town, and there were no appointments available - not because they're booked, but because apparently they all share a traveling manicurist that rotates through every other week or something insanely inadequate like that. Maybe I'll try my luck this weekend in O-town. They really are a mess.
But back to the house - send positive vibes this direction that these buyers put in a sound offer, and very soon - the quicker we can secure this, the quicker we can solidify the contract we have on the dream home....
xoxo to my peeps
It has been a tough and exhausting week, but the house is spotless and in the most perfect condition it has ever been. We'll have to continue living in museum-like perfection for a while, but I don't mind.
Today was a slow work day - a welcome break as the Spring semester closes. Tomorrow is Commencement, so I do have to come to work on a Saturday, which always sucks. So I thought I might take advantage of the slow day and take a long lunch w/ pedicure. My poor footsies have really taken a beating lately, and I've neglected them. I thought the pedi would be relaxing and rewarding. I called four salons in this dinky little town, and there were no appointments available - not because they're booked, but because apparently they all share a traveling manicurist that rotates through every other week or something insanely inadequate like that. Maybe I'll try my luck this weekend in O-town. They really are a mess.
But back to the house - send positive vibes this direction that these buyers put in a sound offer, and very soon - the quicker we can secure this, the quicker we can solidify the contract we have on the dream home....
xoxo to my peeps
Saturday, May 8, 2010
It all changes
Much has changed since we bought our first home nearly 7 years ago. Not only has the physical appearance of our house changed, but we've changed too - we're clearly older, but also wiser (we hope), and stronger - as individuals, as a couple, and as parents. Oh, yea we added a whole new human being to the mix in that time too. We both got promotions, and have worked hard to lead the life we envisioned.
It's no secret that my chief complaint about our lifestyle has been the location of our home - of course back then we didn't know we'd feel this way, but I suppose that's where that hindsight thing comes from, right?
While I have generally been more dissatisifed than Tim, recently he has started to consider my position very seriously. We work on the same campus - about a 35 minute drive from our house. Because of his 2 overnight shifts on Saturday and Sunday, we can only commute in together 3 days a week, and it totals that between the 2 of us, we are traveling back and forth 6 out of 7 days in the week. This equals 7+ hours a week in the car (and 6 for Sam), and you can do the math on the mileage. The commute is vast and winding with a big mountain in between - pretty, yes...however the winter is treacherous. Tim is tired of it now too.
As far as our son goes, I think it's better for him to grow up connected to a community than off of a 55mph state highway. Sidewalks, neighborhoods, proximity to other children, parks, talking walks - these are all things that come to mind when I think of the ideal childhood. It's not necessarily city vs. country, but more like community vs. isolation. I'm all about community, but Tim has also felt strongly about privacy and a little bit of land. Best of both worlds requested, please.
So we decided that we'd open ourselves up to the scary real estate market and see what was out there in our budget, but with firm conditions: If we couldn't substantially cut or eliminate the commute, then we'd stay put...again, we love our home, so it had to be right. If the house wasn't newer and in great condition, then we'd stay put...we've worked our butts off to get this old farmhouse in shape, and we are reluctant to do it allover again. Been there, done that...ha ha ha.
Without even having a chance to talk to the bank about a pre-qualification (so we could run around viewing properties with credibility as serious buyers), a true gem came up. A custom-built cape in the village limits, about 15 miles from campus (18 minute drive, which cuts the commute almost in half...oh, and it's a straight shot with no mountain) on 1.18 acres of gated property, built in 2007. Yea. There's more. It has amenitites around every corner. Seriously. Open floor plan, slate floors with radiant heat, gourmet kitchen, maintenance free wrap around porch, copper gutters, amazingly well appointed interior (move-in ready is an understatement, if that's possible). There's a back story as to why it's available, and why it is now at an affordable price, but that's another post. It's amazing in person and we love it. It just feels right, so we're going for it.
We suspect that we will only pre-qualify for the mortgage contingent on selling our home. We have some equity, and have poured a lot of money into it, and it looks like we might be able to recoop most of it on sale. After paying the bank what we owe, we'd have a good chunk of change to put down on the dream.
Tonight we officially signed with a realtor to put our house on the market and wrote out a solid offer for the other home. They have until 8pm Tuesday to get back to us.
I'm nervous and excited, but also realistic in that there is a chance that it won't happen. If that's the case, we will keep a look out, but we won't rush. We're only jumping on this because essentially, it's a home that seems to be built for us....not to mention there's over 400K put into building the home, and it has dropped to almost half that price. It's like you were going out to buy a gently used Honda, and you noticed that they're selling a brand new Lexus, fully equipped, for half price. What do you do?
Well, I'll let you know how it turns out. Our listing should be up and running tomorrow, so stay tuned.
If nothing else, this is the kick in the pants we needed to finally button up some of those 98% of the way finished projects, and that's always a good thing!
It's no secret that my chief complaint about our lifestyle has been the location of our home - of course back then we didn't know we'd feel this way, but I suppose that's where that hindsight thing comes from, right?
While I have generally been more dissatisifed than Tim, recently he has started to consider my position very seriously. We work on the same campus - about a 35 minute drive from our house. Because of his 2 overnight shifts on Saturday and Sunday, we can only commute in together 3 days a week, and it totals that between the 2 of us, we are traveling back and forth 6 out of 7 days in the week. This equals 7+ hours a week in the car (and 6 for Sam), and you can do the math on the mileage. The commute is vast and winding with a big mountain in between - pretty, yes...however the winter is treacherous. Tim is tired of it now too.
As far as our son goes, I think it's better for him to grow up connected to a community than off of a 55mph state highway. Sidewalks, neighborhoods, proximity to other children, parks, talking walks - these are all things that come to mind when I think of the ideal childhood. It's not necessarily city vs. country, but more like community vs. isolation. I'm all about community, but Tim has also felt strongly about privacy and a little bit of land. Best of both worlds requested, please.
So we decided that we'd open ourselves up to the scary real estate market and see what was out there in our budget, but with firm conditions: If we couldn't substantially cut or eliminate the commute, then we'd stay put...again, we love our home, so it had to be right. If the house wasn't newer and in great condition, then we'd stay put...we've worked our butts off to get this old farmhouse in shape, and we are reluctant to do it allover again. Been there, done that...ha ha ha.
Without even having a chance to talk to the bank about a pre-qualification (so we could run around viewing properties with credibility as serious buyers), a true gem came up. A custom-built cape in the village limits, about 15 miles from campus (18 minute drive, which cuts the commute almost in half...oh, and it's a straight shot with no mountain) on 1.18 acres of gated property, built in 2007. Yea. There's more. It has amenitites around every corner. Seriously. Open floor plan, slate floors with radiant heat, gourmet kitchen, maintenance free wrap around porch, copper gutters, amazingly well appointed interior (move-in ready is an understatement, if that's possible). There's a back story as to why it's available, and why it is now at an affordable price, but that's another post. It's amazing in person and we love it. It just feels right, so we're going for it.
We suspect that we will only pre-qualify for the mortgage contingent on selling our home. We have some equity, and have poured a lot of money into it, and it looks like we might be able to recoop most of it on sale. After paying the bank what we owe, we'd have a good chunk of change to put down on the dream.
Tonight we officially signed with a realtor to put our house on the market and wrote out a solid offer for the other home. They have until 8pm Tuesday to get back to us.
I'm nervous and excited, but also realistic in that there is a chance that it won't happen. If that's the case, we will keep a look out, but we won't rush. We're only jumping on this because essentially, it's a home that seems to be built for us....not to mention there's over 400K put into building the home, and it has dropped to almost half that price. It's like you were going out to buy a gently used Honda, and you noticed that they're selling a brand new Lexus, fully equipped, for half price. What do you do?
Well, I'll let you know how it turns out. Our listing should be up and running tomorrow, so stay tuned.
If nothing else, this is the kick in the pants we needed to finally button up some of those 98% of the way finished projects, and that's always a good thing!
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