Just in case you're wondering: If you wait until Easter Day to check the supermarket for chocolate bunnies in a moment of caving (because, after all, there will be Easter baskets at Daddy's this year, and you were FULLY PLANNING to skip the whole deal, but then a certain child with big hopeful eyes and a quivering lower lip informed you that SANTA comes to both houses, so SURELY the Easter Bunny will do the same!), you will find row upon row of empty shelves where the bunnies used to be. Also, if you were wondering: The only Easter candy left which is orthodontia-approved is then a 5-pound...
Gosh, I sure am going to miss New England. Spring here is absolutely gorgeous, you know. Why, just this morning I awoke to the sounds of birds singing... and then peeked out the window to behold this wondrous tableau. I can't believe I'm giving up all of this just to move south where this never happens. Of course, I'm also really going to miss losing electricity for hours at a time. And snow days. Nothing warms my heart like being without electricity and heat but having two bored children here with me. Yep, I really must love Otto to leave all of this behind. How can sunshine and the ability...
My levels of cheapskatery are legendary. It causes me pain to part with my money ("Ouch! My caution!") and I would probably benefit from a 12-step program dedicated to admitting that I am powerless over my bank statements. Barring any such program, do you know what's the best way to get over your aversion to spending? That's right! Getting married! Because anyone who tells you that getting married is about finding your one special someone and uniting with them in holy matrimony has NEVER GOTTEN MARRIED BEFORE. There's no reason to do it UNLESS you've found that special someone, of course,...
So far I am surviving in New York City despite the apparent neon sign on my forehead which is flashing CLUELESS TOURIST. And we have been carefully feeding and watering Chris with hypoallergenic substances so that I don't have to either jab her with her EpiPen or administer CPR while we call 911. Walking around in a city of---what, eighty gazillion people?---made me realize in a whole new way that I require a certain amount of personal space to feel sane. Being pressed in by throngs of people very much makes me want to scream. Loudly. Not that anyone would notice, here. Since meeting up with...
Would you like to buy a house? I know of a lovely one that happens to be RILLY RILLY CLEAN on the outside. And on the inside, well. Um. Actually, it's much cleaner on the inside than it's been in a looooong time. I spent most of the weekend and half the night making it ready for listing photos and also so that people walking through will be able to visualize THEIR stuff in MY house rather than thinking things like "Wow, that is a really big stack of yogurt containers." Not that people wouldn't be moved to buy my house on account of my children's love of yogurt and my penchant for recycling,...
Are you missing anything that might be located up high? Or is there perhaps going to be a meteor shower tonight? No? Pity. I just finished painting my ceilings and may never be able to look down (or even just forward) again. I'm getting old. Also, I would like to decide that I'm one of those people who is far too regal and privileged to do menial tasks like painting ceilings. Then I could just avoid the whole thing with a sense of righteousness. As it is, I spent the entire time wondering why I hadn't batted my eyelashes a little harder at Otto and gotten it done when he was last here. Oh...
I go into this sort of preparing-for-my-death mode before I take a trip. Normal people, they're about to go somewhere, they think, "Hmmmm. I should finish packing." (Or if they're Otto, they'll be on the phone with you at 11 at night when they're leaving the next morning at dawn and saying "I should start packing.") Me, I'm going somewhere, I need to Get My Affairs In Order. Because you just never know. I need to have everything I'd need so that if I'm stranded somewhere en route I have clean underwear and reading material and perhaps q-tips. I need to have the house clean because if the...
Periodically Otto and I discuss the things which we feel will be important to us, as a couple and as a new family, once we're all living in the same house. For example: Otto feels it a crucial matter of family unity that we all enjoy watching Mythbusters, whereas I am mostly trying to impress upon him the mileage that can be gotten out of regular foot rubs. One of the things we quickly reached agreement on was our mutual desire to attain a healthier lifestyle, despite the fact that both of us are generally happier sitting on the couch eating pie than jogging. Now, Otto and I both really love...
So I've talked to a few realtors, and today I had the great big Measure Things And Sit Down And Talk About It meeting with the person who I'll probably have list the house next year. I like him. I get a friendly, honest, capable vibe off of him. And really, how many realtors can you say that about? (Now twenty people will be enraged in the comments. "I'm a realtor! My father is a realtor! We are good people!") Also: Vibe? Is that how I'm deciding these things? Well, I examined his aura and deemed him appropriate. That's true, if by aura I actually mean the various awards he's won. Bottom...
