Home Search

My time is consumed with our home search. We haven't sold our house, but feel that we really need to reunite the family as much as possible (obviously Smarty is going her own way). We are only a few weeks out from the start of school, so we won't get moved before then, no matter what. Stress, stress, stress!
Here are a few of the (MANY) houses we have looked at lately.

This house is in our very favorite neighborhood. It is in its 30s and there is obvious settling as well as cosmetic issues. Neighborhood pool is a plus for us. Top of our price range though, which doesn't leave room for us to do much improving. But there is over an acre of yard, mostly wooded. And it backs up to no-mans-land with a creek, so plenty of room for Mr. C to explore!

This house has too much space, but Hubby likes it. There are possible structural issues so an engineer would have to inspect it. There are three (THREE!) family rooms with fireplaces. There is a game room area that would fit a pool table. There are six bedrooms and four bathrooms. I don't think I could keep up with the cleaning. Out the back windows there are mountain views. Mountain views are incredible!

This house is our perfect house. It is brand-new and seems custom-built for our family. All the spaces are usable and practical. There is a neighborhood pool. Once again this is at the top of our price range. It is in my second-choice school district and is outside of town. I like the idea of being downtown in 15 minutes, not 25.

So if I don't write on here very often you'll know it is because I'm burning up the interstate, house-hunting. I hope we make the right choice and I hope this is the very last house we ever buy. As a matter of fact, I have been making comments at all the houses like, "There's room here for all the kids and grandkids at Christmas." And, "The grandkids will love to explore in those woods." And, "We could put a small pool out here for the grandkids."

My Life as an Astronaut

Catchy title for this post, huh? I never actually made it into space, or the space program for that matter. But when I was in elementary school I was sure that I was going to be an astronaut. I studied star charts and memorized all the constellations, I subscribed to a kids' magazine that was just about space, I got a 2nd place in a regional competition with a project about the space shuttle (which included a 4 foot tall paper mache Columbia), and my mom would regularly take me up to the observatory at ISU to star gaze.

I remember what a big deal the first space shuttle flight was. In the past, the rockets just crashed back to Earth. But now we would be able to use the shuttle over and over again, like a plane. For me it was the landing that stands out more than the launch, because it was the novelty of a space craft being able to land. I was in 3rd grade and I made a banner to hang in our front window to welcome the astronauts home. To commemorate that I made a hasty sign to welcome home the last shuttle astronauts, and I hung it in the front window. (The kids call me a weirdy--oh well.)

Probably the most exciting experience I had with the space program was when I went to see the launch of Sally Ride, the first American woman in space. I don't know if my parents or grandparents have any pictures from that day but I can remember it vividly. We stood on the mainland, not out at Cape Canaveral. There were tons of people. I remember people climbed up on the traffic lights to get a good view. I saw the shuttle and the blazing trail it left in the sky as it quickly disappeared. But the part that impressed me the most was the sound, which came later. It was so loud it shook the ground, and made my heart race.

I got out my newspaper from the Sally Ride mission to show Mr. C. His response, "Cool. I never saw a space shuttle launch." Now I feel like a crappy parent for all the missed opportunities I had to take the kids to Florida to see/experience the shuttle and I didn't. Of course none of them are passionate about space, so it's probably not that big of a screw up on my part. I won't beat myself up over it.

Nature at Home

Here are a few of the things I saw outside today. I wish I had a better camera so I could take better pictures of the dew. It is so humid that the dew doesn't evaporate until late in the day, or not at all. I guess that keeps the grass green.

Dew on the grass at lunchtime

We have at least two chipmunks that live around the house. I know they are pests, but they are too cute to try to kill. I have no idea why they come up onto the porch the eat. It drives the cats crazy.

Snack time--for the chipmunk, not the cats!

I really don't like these wasps that have been flying around the back deck. I looked them up on the internet to see how to best get rid of them. Well, I found out that they are beneficial--eating large insects and pollinating flowers--and rarely aggressive towards people. So for now they stay. But they are a little intimidating when they fly by unexpectedly.

Black wasp on the jasmine--measures about 1 1/2 inches

Our Newest Vehicle

Due to the great deal we now get on leasing vehicles, we will be going through several in the next few years. This is our third Volkswagen, a Routan. We traded the Jetta for it. All I can say is that we needed something with enough room to get Smarty moved into college, and this fits the bill. But when I have my choice, I drive the CC. We are all going to miss that car when we trade it in.

You may be wondering if all Routans come with a rear garbage bag. No, this is a special feature exclusive to our van. Hubby added it by chucking a rock through the window, less than two weeks into our lease. He used the lawnmower to achieve this distinctive look. Not to worry, our lease includes insurance so the window is getting fixed. Of course this means we now get to pay a bigger deductible the next time Hubby gets enthusiastic while mowing.

Weekend Entertainment

Random photo of Mr. Creativity, contemplating a pocket knife

The weekend started with Harry Potter, of course. Marvelous went to the midnight premier, but the rest of us went Friday night. If you haven't seen it yet, GO! It was great. They managed to repair the damage done during the horrible 6th (which didn't resemble the book at all) and brought everything off perfectly. Hallows or Horcruxes, Mothers Love or Pure Evil, Good or Bad. Which do you think won in the end?

Saturday was the annual City Fest. It was completely uneventful. We walked over and looked at the booths selling homemade jewelry, funnel cakes, and the like. There were free concerts from 2-10 pm. We didn't have to stay for the music because we could hear it at the house. We waited for the fireworks and they never happened. I guess the town cut back on spending this year.

Today Smarty is off to Six Flags. She only told me about 20 times that she was going. Last night before she went to bed I was going through the weekly "Who's going to which church service in the morning?" when she just rolled her eyes, laughed, and said, "I AM GOING TO SIX FLAGS!" I feel like the mom on The Middle sometimes: What am I doing with this ball of twine?

Smarty's Off to Camp War Eagle

She packed her bags, gathered all pertinent paperwork, and left for Camp War Eagle today. She will only be gone for three days for orientation and registration, but it finally feels real. She's going away to college. Sigh (and tears).

The American Dream

I caught part of Obama's press conference today and one of the things he brought up was people struggling to achieve "The American Dream." I started wondering what the American Dream is nowadays. Decades ago the American Dream was to own your own home and car, and have 2.5 kids--I guess you shared the .5 with the neighbor.

The house where I grew up

Now everyone seems to think they are entitled to not only the home and car, but more and more stuff. So much stuff that you have to have a bigger house and maybe even an off-site storage shed.

stuff, Stuff, and more STUFF!

I struggle with this. I am so focused right now on selling our house. I am not trying to "get ahead" but rather "get it together". I really hope that my intentions are not selfish when it comes to choosing our new home. But I look at people who have so much less than I do, and I have to wonder why I "need" what I do. Maybe I have a bad attitude and need to just accept that we are not the people we think we are, and we should just buy a cheap house in any old neighborhood.

Right now I would just be happy with an offer on our house. School starts in three weeks and M's junior year is going to be screwed up now. Hopefully her credits will all come together so she can graduate on time. Stressful.

Marvelous in love--ha, ha!

Something we can never have too much of. (Love, not Marvelous) Plus it doesn't need it's own room. I guess that's my American Dream: to have a family that loves each other (even if they won't always admit it). The house and cars are icing.

Happy Fourth of July

We had BBQ for lunch and cooked out for supper. We have had watermelon, corn-on-the-cob, slaw, potato salad, baked beans, potato chips with dip, hot dogs, sausage, pulled pork, ice cream, and cupcakes today. Smarty says it's like a summer-time Thanksgiving. I say it's better because the weather is hot and the trees are green. I could do with a little less humidity though.

We didn't have a parade around here. That's hard to believe, considering how patriotic everyone is. We will go see the fireworks tonight and come home to set off some of our own.

I miss going to the Fourth of July Festival in the park by Granny and Grandpa's house. Fun times!

Vacation Time

It's that time of year again. Only this year we have decided not to take a vacation. It would be financially irresponsible of us to go any where this year, at least until after our house sells. Until that happens we're supporting two households, so you can see why we are making the heart-wrenching choice to stay home. I thought now would be a good time to look back at the last ten years of family vacations, so I don't feel too deprived.

2010 Cape Hatteras with extended family

2009 Savannah, Georgia

2008 Rafting the Nantahala in North Carolina

2007 Camping in Watkins Glen, New York

2006 Hunting Island, South Carolina

2005 Yosemite National Park, California

2004 St. Augustine, Florida

2003 Hubby and I, alone, in Paris, France

2002 Washington, DC for the Fourth of July

2001 Grand Canyon, Arizona

So we have had some good times and shouldn't be too upset to miss out for a year. Of course the house could sell in the next month and then we would be off to here. Not that I've made any plans or anything.