June 14, 2011

THE DATE WE CLOSE ON OUR NEW HOUSE!!!

To give you some perspective on why we're so excited, I think I only need to show some pictures.

These are some lovely pictures of our current kitchen, taken during our house hunt several years ago.

The reason you can't see the whole kitchen is that there's no place to stand to take in the whole kitchen.  It looks a little different now, mostly just messier, but certainly no bigger.

Our future kitchen will be this:

The rest of the house is lovely too, but this is my dream kitchen.  We thought about trying to renovate a kitchen in our current house or some other house, but the expected expense and possibility for marital destruction loomed large.  I am going to have to become a much better cook to live up to this kitchen.

Other reasons we're in love?  We're going from ~800 square feet to ~2200 square feet. We will be a block from a lovely park.  And so many windows.  The current owners renovated the house in 1992, adding this kitchen, an attached garage, and lots and lots of big windows.  There is so much natural light and space. 

There are a couple things we will need to learn to live with.  Notably, those black slate floors.  I love natural stone, but I suspect these are going to be a bear to keep clean.  Also, the kitchen is so big that it echoes, and our not-quiet-toddler is amplified.  I think there will be a need for some carpet on the floor to combat both of these.

A rough calculation suggests that I saw on the order of 70 houses.  I think DH saw about half that; MJ and I went to many open houses while he was at work, which turns out to be a great toddler activity.  What will we do with our free Sundays now? 

Riling up the internet.

I'm feeling feisty today.  I know I have a tendency towards "feisty" at times, and probably less kind descriptions as well.  Usually I don't realize it, but sometimes I do. 

Anyone tend to pick fights when they're feeling this way?  Maybe I'm the only one.  In the spirit of redirecting my energy, I found myself picking fights with the internet today.  With unknown strangers.  Just to get my feistiness out.  I used to view my blog as a place to vent, but with so many of my friends and family now reading it, it leaves me little space to just let out words.  Things that don't make sense.  Things that shouldn't be said but which one still feels the need to say. 

So I ask, where do you get your feistiness out?  Although some of you are probably too kind for this sort of behavior, I know many of you, and you must have your moments.  What is your favorite place, virtual or real, to let loose your inner b!tch?

Wild Child.

We just returned from a week in Florida visiting grandparents.  Although the Floridians thought it was cold, it was a Minnesotan's dream.  Highs of 70, lows of 50.  No fear of sweat.  Pure bliss.

Following is a video we took of MJ at a local outdoor mall.  She managed to draw a small crowd with her antics.  This child never stops making me smile.

**If you're not a grandparent and therefore don't intend to watch the whole thing, just skip to ~1:10 seconds.  It might make you smile.

A girl and her dog*

I told you the cuteness was indescribable.

* Ignore that uncovered light socket about 6 inches from MJ's hand.

Life and other stories.

The cuteness that is currently residing on my camera is indescribable. But that is in the other room, so you'll just have to wait. To answer some of your other questions...

1) We have not yet bought a house. The house we made an offer on... we and the sellers didn't see eye to eye. My mom visited last week, so i drug her to ~15 open houses. I didn't actually count them, I wouldn't be surprised if it was more. I remain unconvinced that the combination of features we're looking for isn't a pipe dream. But I'm not yet willing to give up the dream, and the amount of money we save every month we stay in our house is significant. As long as we have a bigger space before next winter, I think i can survive.

2) I like my kid better than you. This is a new realization for me. But MJ is so fun, that, most of the time, I would far rather hang out with her than anyone else. I used to think that parents who didn't make a point to still spend time with friends were lame. More and more, though, if I cant spend time with her, too, its just not worth it.

3). Seriously, MJ is so fun. As long as shes gotten enough sleep. I mean, there's no one else in my life I can make laugh uncontrollably simply by crawling around on the floor.

4) this didn't start out as an ode to MJ post, but being as she is 18 months old in 2 days, here you go.

5) At 18 months old, your favorite things in the world are books and animals. Everything else is secondary.

Books: last weekend we took you to the eagles nest, a super awesome indoor playground with tunnels, slides and pure plastic joy. But, you were too enamored with the bookcase in the corner to care. Eventually, the screams of happiness from the children around you broke through your reverie, and you went down slides like a... Sailor? But it took a while. The first thing you want to do in the morning is read, and the last thing before you go to bed. I won't deny that i love it. But it would seem you're destined to be a nerd.

Animals: Sesame street? Kind of okay. Nature (the PBS show)? Pure toddler joy. Grizzly bears, tigers, anything with fur or feathers, apparently. You will find the single cat in any picture book and shriek with joy. I'm clinging to this fascination of yours with hopes that it will ward off princess lust. 7 months ago we took you to the zoo and you much preferred to stare at the people. I think things would go differently now.

Words: You talk an awful lot, though you sometimes seem indifferent to the actual sounds. You try to repeat things we say but don't come close. But you don't care. I'm thinking this will prove to be a problem as you get older. My favorite of your new words is "help". Much better than the shriek that used to indicate you wanted help. Others that you have added: bath, cup, tail, row, water, shoe, dirty. Everyone in your circle of trust is "mama", even dada. Except doggy, who sounds an awful lot like "dada".

Tidy: speaking of dirty... Any slight spill MUST be cleaned up. You don't get this from us. You love to wash your hands, brush your teeth, pick up toys... Im guessing this one will be a good thong as you get older.

Most of all, you are joyous. Mischievous. I think I use these words to describe you every month. In some ways, you've mellowed. You'll sit still for (slightly) longer periods of time. You'll allow us to read to you. We even successfully took you grocery shopping AND to a restaurant, two things I thought might never happen. You make every day worth waking up for, even when it's at 4 am.