Home Sweet Home

In my heart, I longed for a mid century fixer upper. Or an early 1900's craftsman that needed to be restored to its full charming woodworking glory. So what did we buy? A vanilla house built in 1999 in a cul de sac. 

So did we take the lame way out? Naah. Our abode with our cranberry door is pretty darn cute.

I'm ecstatic it is perfect for us and our growing family right now. And realistically we won't be there more than five or six years so we had to consider the short term investment plan. There was a larger home available with 2500 square feet but everything was just so spread out (perfect for teenagers!); I happen to enjoy the proximity of my family so this 1900 square footer will work out just dandy. Four bedroom, two and half bath. It backs up to protected forest land. Enter other generic description here.

What ultimately drove our decision in buying the home was the neighborhood, the safety (keeping in mind the hubs is gone on deployments for good chunks of time), and the fact we could put in just enough updates to freshen it up and make it our own without creeping into the territory of rebuilding things and "accidentally" hitting each other with two by fours. [Name that quote: "My shoulder doesn't hurt very much, but my face does. Right here. Not here or here so much. Right here."] We'll save the major renos and marriage tests for a longer term house down the road.

In the week since we have closed, all of the downstairs carpets and tired hardwoods were removed by the hubster and replaced with kid-friendly laminate that looks like hand-scraped hardwood. We painted three of the bedrooms, had the carpets cleaned, Landon tested the stairs (a few hundred times) and I think he is starting to devise blueprints to conquer the new baby gates he has never encountered before. What's left? New appliances and new countertops, but those can wait for months to come. Let's just move in first, shall we?

Arf Arf in the Sky

It is so awfully hard to say goodbye to our pets - they often become much more to us than we could ever imagine. It is with heavy hearts that we say a fantastic duo was reunited today as Pequena was laid to rest and greeted Tiny Dog in the great big backyard in the sky. Actually, pep-in-the-step Tiny was probably like, "Oh, it's...you" as she scurried off to find a b-a-l-l. Presumably, lovable oddball Pequena probably found a corner to chill in right away. 

xoxo.

Yes, I Got a Cheesesteak

Some of you have inquired whether I got my cheesesteak or not. As a matter of fact, I did. My lovely husband planned it for Valentine's Day. There is basically one place to get them in town here, and that's at the gourmet hotdog stand in Old Town, whose storefront is about ten feet wide. There was a slight scare when I placed the order for pick up on the phone when the lady said, "You're calling just in time - I only have enough to make two more cheesesteaks tonight." So I turn to Erik and I says, "She can only make two cheesesteaks - what are you going to eat?" 

*Bada bump* 

 I'll be here all week folks; don't forget to tip your writer. 

Name Change

So I suppose it is time to change the name of the blog. This requires some mental power. Hmm. Hmmmmmmmm. *switch to lean on fist from other side.* Hmmm...

First things first: farewell, Japan. The wonderful gaijin memories are always there and the blog posts are, too. But my life is no longer about trying squid tentacles and walking amongst the cherry blossoms. Time to give it up.

I still have exciting things to write about - like changes in diaper sizes, picking out appliances, how to remove residual spaghetti sauce from a toddler's eyebrow, etc. I mean you, as the reader, must be coming back for some reason. Oh yeah, because you're related to us and you want to see pics of Landon. Well you'll just have to deal with the extra stuff in that case.

I am transitioning to the label Granola because I think it is a fair word to describe life in the Northwest. In our few weeks here, we've already broken out the hiking pack several times and we buy scones and breads from the downtown farmers market. We wear our Marmot jackets full time and don't feel like posers in doing so. Squirrels skip along with us on afternoon walks through tall pines. I wear a wool blend ear warmer head band. Landon eats organic chicken nuggets. So yep, Granola it is!

"Hiking in the woods, laaa laaa la la."

15 Months (and a little more)

Right, so documentation of my son's fun little moments has taken a hit these past couple months while we've been living out of suitcases across the holidays and home buying adventures. I can sum it all up easily enough, though: he's still cute. So it may be a blur of what happened when between the one year and 15 month mark, but I do know he acquired the following developmental nuggets:

- Eating better with his own spoon and bowl. And by "better" I mean about 10% of the food makes it into his mouth versus the 3% hit rate he was getting before. [He is still running about a 90% contact rate with eyes, nostrils and hair.]

- Loves wiggling his way into (and thankfully out of) cabinets. The boy can't resist a cabinet door.

- Two front toofies are starting to make their way down. His peers are getting molars now, but at least Landon's teeth are still showing up to the party, albeit fashionably late.

- He is much better at pointing at objects to help communicate. For example, pointing at the coat rack and bringing over shoes to essentially say "Get off yer keysters and take me outside, people!"

- Still really enjoys Jack's Big Music Show and also thoroughly delights in watching Oswald (blue octopus show). We have an Oswald book where Landon will point and say "Aahwohl!"... ummm, we are talking melt-your-heart cuteness here, folks.

- Climbing, climbing, climbing. Chairs, end tables, sofas, boxes. If it has height and a hard surface underneath prime for noggin-knocking, he's on it.

There a million other little changes, but yeah, don't worry: he's still cute.

Matching up objects and slots of different sizes and circumferences. If a pot needs a lid, L's your man.

 

Hanging out by the cabinets to kill time in our temporary digs, waiting for our new home. L obviously has not had a haircut as of 15 months. The time will come, but we like his shaggy little 'do for now!

Craving

I was so insistent on having a cheesesteak the last couple days that I felt like throwing something in frustration each hour that passed without a mammoth beef and cheese and carb-loving-torpedo-white-bread-roll mess in my hand. (California style WITH lettuce and mayo.) Now that I've written that out, it has fed the fuel of the craving even more and it's making me a tad on edge. *mascara running down face, futile punch at nearby wall*

I don't remember having such insane cravings while pregnant with Landon. Or maybe I did but because I was footloose and fancy free sans child, I just took care of them right away. (Whataburger and McDonald's runs could be clocked in under 5 minutes from our South Texas homes.)

So hear this, cheesesteak: I'm coming for you. You. Me. No napkins. Just ugly finger-licking consumption.

The Emotional Range of Mortgages

Erik and I essentially jinxed ourselves last week after ignorantly remarking that buying a home wasn't nearly as stressful as people make it out to be. "This has been a cake walk! Giggle, giggle. Let's buy another one! Put the top down on our imaginary convertible, Erik, so my chiffon scarf can flutter in the breeze!" Within a few days of our rose-colored thoughts, little things - and I involuntarily twitch while I say "little" - started popping up. And of course they all came and went, headaches were had, and then we were back to just good ol' waiting. So that's where we are now: waiting. Fingers crossed to close at the end of next week - maybe we'll have some luck tossed from the sky on my mom's upcoming birthday of February 17th.

Let's just say that I was heartbroken to see how the lending process has become a red tape mess after the backlash of the horrible mortgage years. I was understanding of the paperwork process and we were diligent to dot our i's and cross our t's, but sometimes you just have to take a few lumps and bumps in the process. And blessedly, we have saved our pennies and we were able to roll with the punches. But it makes me think about less fortunate families that are also honest and hardworking - how do they reasonably buy homes in all of this mess? It just makes me want to listen to a lot of Ani DiFranco and carry a picket.

All said and done, the process and closing is on mark to occur within our four-week timeline goal, so in the grand scheme of things, I can still pat ourselves on the back and do a little shuffle while singing, "go us, go us... go, go, go us." That is, of course, hoping that no new blips occur. [Oh blergh, hopefully I didn't just jinx ourselves again with a "go us" shuffle. Please oh please, tell me it's still okay to do a "go us" shuffle!]

Wish us luck for a closing next week!