It's all been done before
April 29, 2007
First a note of how we wish we were in California. That could be said by me most days, but particularly for the Double Trouble™ baby shower and Texas barbeque. We're sad to miss it and the 7th wedding anniversary all in the same day. And of course, if we were in California, we'd be fretting about getting to the airport because of this.
And now for something completely different. Or back to the same old same old.
At the beginning of Mary Poppins, the admiral says "Storm signals are up at number 17. Bit of heavy weather brewing there. " And I think I could peek outside of the window and say the same. The wind has picked up, the trees are shaking, the temperature prediction for tomorrow is 20 degrees lower than it was today. And matching the double-meaning of the admiral's pronouncement, I am in my childhood bedroom, but rather than being a angst-y teen or bookish tween--or the reverse--I am a mother and wife and thirty-something. What a weird path life take us on. We have a hop and skip and a jump until we leap into suburban life. And we've crammed as much of our stuff into my parents' house as can, stored even more and we're settling in. Moving amazes me because I see all of things we keep around for infrequent use. And yet, once you have acquired an infrequently used item, it seems a shame to throw it away. It seems we should have a better way of sharing materials goods. The tragedy of destroying the commons is writ large every time I move.
A digression: in line behind me at Old Navy, a boy about 10 asked his mom--so the pioneers in the olden days didn't waste anything? She agreed. He continued--they used all of everything and found a way to use it all. And I found myself thinking...hmmm...not quite. I think they burned their garbage and put nasty things in rivers and cut down all of the trees and killed the bison for fun. But they might have thought twice before littering. On the other hand, the potsherds, buttons and bottle caps that delight an amateur archaeologist didn't get put on the ground on purpose. I can only take it as a mood indicator that I am feel a bit grumpy and maybe I should read some Howard Zinn to focus my outrage. But at least I didn't say any of this to the child at Old Navy.
Yesterday was a whirlwind and proof that I can survive more than 24 hours without email. And I didn't get spots or twitchy. Other observations: moving men are strong strong guys. If I hadn't moved about most of my furniture in the past ,I would think there was some trick and that Steelcase filing cabinet was made of aluminum foil or something. Or that my king-sized boxsprings and mattress were stuffed with cotton balls. Wow, I say.
And we get to do it all over again. Sigh.
Go Pack
April 26, 2007
That should be a rousing football cheer, but it really is a reminder to myself to stop wasting time on the internet and pack. We're moving Saturday. As in two days from now. It is an intermediate move until we get into the new house.
I meant to post about how stupid I was to get sunburned while working at the rummage sale last Friday. And how the rummage sale was great. It made me love Milwaukee. And people. And getting rid of things I no longer want. But alas, those memories are fading.
Henry keeps saying funny funny things that I swear I am going to write down to post. But I forget. And now I've packed the pens and the paper. So that'll have to wait. The only one I can think of is from this morning
H: "Where is Papa?"
Me: He's going to work. [We can see him getting to the car]
H: But I'm going to miss him!
Best line all week, but it's early
April 23, 2007
There ought to be a law
April 16, 2007
One of the things that bugs me is when there is an emergency vehicle approaching with its lights blazing and everyone pulls over to the side and then the driver at the end of the line decides to pull out more quickly than the drivers in front of him. And then he jumps the line and makes it difficult for the people who were in front of him to resume their drive. Those people deserve to run into a light pole or something. Or at least get a ticket for being a bad driver.
A glass half empty kind of day
April 15, 2007
I suppose it seems appropriate for the Ides of April to be a low day. Swimming started again--Miranda went and Henry refused. We went to KidFest and it was boring. The giveaways were limited to temporary tattoos. The crowd was more manageable than in past years. A large part of the crowd was funneled into the bouncy houses and climbing wall, both of which had an extra cost. In years' past, it has been a crush of people and wider aisles would have helped.The aisles were wide, but it felt like a dashed hope. It is a shame I didn't see more there...I have used KidFest as a way to plan my summer activities.
We went to StoneFire Pizza for an early supper. It seemed like a good idea. It wasn't crazy busy. But it feels like a maze or a race you can't win. Everyone else is earning more tickets, getting bigger prizes, going on more rides, eating better looking food. Or at least Miranda seemed to feel that way. After 2 hours of fun, she was whiny. She then didn't want to go to bed and tried to hold out longer than Henry. She had the hope that if he fell asleep first, I might deem her "unable to sleep" and let her stay awake. With the whine gear seemingly permanently engaged this evening, she was tilting at windmills with that plan: she was going to bed.
Henry had a rough day as well. Starting with his refusal to even try to swim with his class, he stayed home. He wanted to sit on me, getting between me and the Sunday newspaper at every moment. He did not want to use the potty. He did not want to play with his toys. He would have been happier, I think, if we were monkeys and he could just cling to my back all day. He cried several times over trivial things. I'd say that he was as whiny as his sister, but he seemed to be reverting to the "as little speech as possible" mode.
Blissfully, now both children are asleep. May the second half of the month be calmer, happier, steadier. But that plan may just be unusual optimism showing.
And we're off!
April 13, 2007
The sellers signed our counter offer yesterday. We are buying a house, a sweet house in Cedarburg. Fantabulous. Dude.
What did Julia Sweeney say about god. Yeah, that.
April 12, 2007
We received a counter offer from the first house in the mail yesterday. It was about $3K less than asking. (or $25K more than our bid) Wha?
In other news, it is Spring break. We have survived 3 days. Two to go. Plus a weekend. And all the fun that KidFest will provide. Who can say no to a convention about kid things. And just enough things to do to make kids happy. And the giveaways. The crowds are terrible and Rob will hate the crush, so home he stays.
Does it always feel this good to be vindicated or is it just the glow from the press?
April 11, 2007
No, we didn't get the last house. We have moved on. Back to the first house we liked, but were swayed by the infatuation of the bigger house. Today's JS made me feel a lot better though. I was beginning to think my year of watching the real estate market, my studying of prices, mortgage rates and personal anecdotes were all for naught. But today, I feel better having read the Business section story headlined: House Buyers Driving Discounts. It opens with:
Milwaukeeans' love of discounts is on full display in this year's housing market.
"With flooding inventory out there, it's not uncommon to see offers at 10 percent below asking price," said Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors President Dave Schmidt Jr.
So there. Because really all the best you can hope for on the morning of an April "blizzard" is not to feel completely crazy.
The baddest day of my life
April 7, 2007
OK, not really. But Miranda says that every time something doesn't go her way. Yesterday, we got the call. the offer on the house was rejected. And to use a legal term I only partly understand, rejected with prejudice. She is not countering. She is not interested. La-la-la. I can imagine someone putting fingers in her ears. 10% under asking for a house on the market more than a year. How insulting!
We now have the memo and are moving on to plans B, C, and D. Please don't let it be plan d.
And in the thought of the baddest day of my life, we are missing an awesome birthday party. Sorry we're not there. And I didn't even get his gift mailed. Happy Birthday L! (really a day early, but its not like USPS is going to help me by tomorrow)
Happy Easter. Happy Passover. Happy Spring!
Surely you can't be serious
April 4, 2007
Yesterday, we had the local general election. I was voter number 88! Woohoo. If I lived in a ward of 200 people that might be good. As it was, I don't think enough like-minded people voted...I think nearly all of my candidates lost. Boohoo.
My mom wanted to take Henry with her when she planned to vote:
My mom: Henry, let's go vote!
Henry (sadly): But, I don't have a boat.
My mom: vote, Henry
Henry: I don't have a boat!
I can't help but think about SCSI cables
April 3, 2007
The weather is just weird--it may need a small animal sacrifice to get back on track. The weather has been handy to have as an easy topic of conversion for small talk. I can only imagine how hard it to to meet new people in San Diego. Nice weather we're having. Yeah. It was sure sunny. Yep, not a cloud.
Except maybe they wouldn't be using Green Acres accents as imagined in my head.
It might SNOW tomorrow. I am not pleased. I am trying to pack up my house in convenient boxes, packing away in layers--the things we need staying until they fit in our luggage. The things we merely like will be boxed within days. And winter boots, I had thought they could be boxed. We'll see.
And now we twiddle our thumbs until something happens with the offer, like it gets accepted. Gotta think positively, right?
The Later is getting a lot Closer to Now
April 2, 2007
When you hatch a plan, or at least when I hatch a plan, it is usually a long way until fruition. it is not that I can't change gears quickly or make quick decisions, but my nature and tendency is to plot. To stew. To plan. To rethink. To reconsider. And to keep an escape hatch. But the plan is moving along swimmingly.
We put an offer on a house today. I hope it works out. But with as much planning as we have done, there is always a backup.