in case i failed to mention my stats from my last ob-gyn appointment, i'm at 164 lbs with a blood pressure of 116 over 69. 30 weeks, and the Peanut should be at 3 lbs. i'm on track for "perfect" weight gain. it sure doesn't seem that way.
El Jefe' flew in Wednesday night. he had a couple meetings as an excuse for the trip, when in reality he was helping me fly with Punkin for a house hunting trip up North. my excuse(s) for the trip were a dinner where a major client was the featured speaker, and the Northern celebration of our company awards program on Friday. Punkin was thrilled to see his Daddy, and kept talking about going North (even to his teachers at school). despite the hustle and bustle, a missed nap, and a soaked diaper, we accomplished our goals without going to the emergency room ... which is not part of the plan.
we met our Northern realtor, Linda, on Friday afternoon and looked at 5 houses. it wasn't quite as easy as it sounds when you consider transferring Punkin's car seat into another vehicle, and chasing Punkin around unfamiliar homes and yards. maybe a misplaced nick-nack, and a destroyed Lego creation, but nobody got hurt. Saturday included 7 houses. more in store today.
the first house was built in the 50's. some of the original fixtures were retained. it was a 3-bedroom with an office with the laundry room in the closet of said office. still, it stayed high on the list for quite sometime. we ended the day in a hilly area, which charmed el Jefe' and me. we both agreed we liked the location, but the houses started to melt together, and no one property had everything we were looking for.
el Jefe' wants a fireplace (or two). sounds trivial to some, but our house in the South where temperatures can exceed triple digits from the end of May through September has two fireplaces. we enjoy them in the winter months. that's just who we are. Linda won his heart on Saturday when she said, "You're paying $489,000. You should have a fireplace if you want one." well put.
i say i want four bedrooms. Master, Punkin, Peanut and guest. i guess at this stage of the game, not knowing Peanut's sex is highly influencing my request. if she's a girl, she can bunk with Punkin for awhile; if he's a boy, perhaps much much longer. or the boys might need their own spot. and you've gotta have a room for grandma (although i'd like to stick each and every one of the grandparents on the futon since they have the uncanny ability of visiting at their convenience, and never when i need their help). it doesn't rule out a house with three bedrooms and an office, but we still want an office, too. so i can quit my job as an engineer and pursue my career in writing by blogging (ha ha ha).
then i realized i'd like a formal dining room. arghhh! what's wrong with me? basically, we have a nice, large (massive) southwestern-style dining room table with six chairs. we maybe use it for one dinner a year, and for parties (it comes in handy when you lay out a buffet), and a place to drop our bags of shit and mail at the end of a day. it's a nice table. and a good place to spread out and do our taxes (this year, we're filing for an extension, prolonging the agony, hurray!)
el Jefe's number 1 from day one was a rambling 3100 square foot beast in a hilly area. oh, it had plenty of rooms. one official bedroom was downstairs. there was an awesome hot tub room, but not off the master. there were stairs and stairs and stairs ... whether you came in the garage or through the front door, you were humping groceries a full level.
my number 1 from day two was a vintage 60's ranch in an awesome neighborhood. the only reason the house is in our price range (which yes, any banker will tell us we can afford more, but we just aren't going to go there) is because nearly everything in the house was original (and needs updating). it has gorgeous wood floors, a formal dining room, an office behind the garage, storage galore, and three large bedrooms. it reminds me a little of the house i grew up in. it has a "grandma's house" feel to it.
el Jefe's number 1 from day two was atleast 20 years newer. again, three bedrooms with an office. no formal dining room. and a laundry room on the second floor. yuck. another humping groceries house, but it did not seem as high. and all the bedrooms were upstairs. not a bad choice, but not my first choice.
we saw several homes that had one very nice level and one very scarey level ... think "monsters in the basement", but we didn't see any monsters. so the 60's house needed updating. it didn't need some gasoline and a match to start all over from scratch. and really, we haven't found a perfect backyard. even though we're looking at yards two or three or more times bigger than the one we have in the South, we haven't fallen in love. they may have a hot tub, or place for a hot tub, but they might have some major slopes, retaining walls, separate levels ... or they might just be paved.
we appreciate our house (in the South) so much more.
and we're trying to get Punkin to understand this one bedroom apartment is our home up North. it really is home, because we're all together.
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