Creating Our Future

Sure, I still have no idea what we were thinking when we decided to begin the house buying process at the same time as our due date, but the good thing is, we have a big goal to work toward.

Both Aaron and I grew up in the Bronx and as much as we love the borough we call home, we don't want Baby Girl growing up here. The area has changed so much from when we were little, and the school system, well, it just doesn't come close to the area we're most likely going to be moving to. Not to mention, I want her grow up having a back yard.

So yes, we're very close to closing on the house. God willing, we'll be closing in March. We'd like to have it closer to the end of March, but who's to say. At the moment we're waiting for the new contract to be drawn up with all the changes we want, and waiting on the mortgage. We've done the inspection and the appraisal is supposed to happen this coming week.

I have to say though, the whole process is daunting and exciting. Aside from the fact that we're very like to going to be moving into our new home in just a few weeks, we're going to be taking on a whole new set of challenges. As if we didn't have enough on our plates, right? HA! Ah well, it's all for Baby Girl so it's all good.

Luckily, the fun part has been the shopping. We've started looking onto the big items we're going to need. Namely, furniture and the few appliances. I think I may have to see the place one last time before we make a final decision on the items we're going to get.

How Exciting

This is very exciting. Aaron and I found a house we really, really like and we put a bid on it. Unfortunately now, like with anxiety inducing milestones in life, reaching back to SAT scores, to hearing back from a potential employer, we’re holding our breath and waiting to hear back. I’ve no inkling about what we should expect to get back because apparently there are two other bids on the place. Sigh… I’m not sure my nails are long enough for this.

Another big thing that’s been on my mind has been the passing of Aaron’s aunt and my aunt’s current condition. My brothers and I decided to send my parents down to Florida to see her. It was a complete surprise for her and it put her in great spirits. She seemed really lively and beyond ecstatic. She even managed to eat and drink a few things and kept them down. My Mom even said color started coming back to her face.

I’m just excited that my aunt has gotten one of her wishes so far. She told everyone around her that she really wanted two things before passing. The first is to make it to her 70th birthday the second is to make it to see one last Christmas. I’ll be calling her today to wish her a happy 70th. I’m also happy that my parents were still there this morning to spend some time with her on this special day.

And lastly, the baby is still doing her thing. We have about 46 days to go. I’ve been keeping track of my Braxton Hicks contractions since I’ve been getting them fairly often. Not sure what this means, but I was told to keep track of them on a daily basis till my appointment next week. I suspect my doctor is trying to predict if the wee girl will be making an early appearance.

Catch Up Entry

Thanksgiving: I ended up cooking the bulk of the meal, but it was all good. My Mom helped and no one had to lose a digit. It was a much smaller gathering than usual but it’s all good, it made it much easier to speak with everyone.

Baby Shower: It ended up a surprise after all. I knew it was supposed to occur. I figured the most logical time would have been this past weekend. I thought it would have happened on Saturday (and I was right) but Aaron threw me off. His aunt has been up from Florida and I know she was supposed to head back soon. He said we were supposed to have lunch with them. I then figured it was going to happen on Sunday instead. Then we got to Aaron’s sister’s place and I heard the voices. :)

I got a lot of really great things and a few things that I hadn’t expected. It made me really happy and made me realize that the wee girl is going to be here before I know it. I mean, according to the ticker, I have 60 days left to the due date. That’s nothing!

House Keeping: So now I’ve given Aaron the task of making room in our closets during his days off. As it is most of the baby stuff is in our living room. The crazy part is that we have to get creative in putting her stuff out. I think I am going to ask Aaron to pack up our book shelf to make room for a small dresser and the basinet. I don’t think he’s going to be too thrilled with the idea, but we have to pack them up anyway. We’re house hunting and if all goes well, we’ll have a new place by mid-to-late spring and hopefully be set to move by the beginning of the summer.

House Hunt: Speaking of a new place… we’ve hit a milestone! We wanted to have a certain amount socked away in our house fund by the beginning of November. We’re a month behind BUT we made the number. Now Aaron is saying that he’s getting back in full house hunting mode (as if he actually stopped or slowed). I’m pretty excited about this. Granted, yes, it brings up a whole new set of issues, like what is the commute going to be like, what are we going to do about daycare, what are we going to do about his brother, but we can get to those when the time comes. Besides, the whole brother thing is just a big headache and makes us both get really irritated. Quickly touching on it, I have been helping him with cover letters and helping him hunt for full time jobs. BUT what gets to both Aaron and I, is the fact that unless we’re there hounding him about getting a full-time job, he doesn’t do jack to search or to reply to things. YET he says he wants to keep the apartment. Yeah… not bloody likely at this rate. All I know is that he’s NOT moving in with us.

Christmas and Chanukah: I can’t believe he’s already ahead of me. I thought I had a jump start on him but no. Aaron is just about finished. Ah well. The good news is that we should be pretty much done by this weekend. I have a few more items to pick up and voila! And I’ll have a Chanukah gift for him for whenever he decides he wants to exchange gifts. I know he’s really anxious to give me a gift. He even said last night that he hates buying me things and then having to wait to give them to me. He doesn’t really care that I got him anything since I’m already giving him a very big gift.

The sad thing is that I really think I have to skip decorating after all. I looked into our hall closet and there is NO WAY I can actually get to any of my decorations— at least, not with all the new baby stuff in the way. Boo… but it’s all good. I’ll just have to make up for it once we’re in our new home and get to throw a big Christmas party.

Sad News: I haven’t spoken about this but I think it’s time… Aaron and I have two aunts who are coming to the end of their days. As a matter of fact, one is in hospice care and the other elected to remain at home, rather than be moved into a hospice. I can’t say exactly why I haven’t mentioned it sooner, I just haven’t. Now of course, with the new baby, house and all the other good stuff happening, I can’t help but think that my two aunts are going to be missed. These are the kinds of things they would love being there for. The aunt on my Dad’s side, while she has had her issues, has always been pretty great with me growing up. She used to take care of me when we first moved to NYC, and was the one who encouraged me to break the rules every now and then, much to my Dad’s chagrin. But she’s also the one who made me realize that you simply can’t take things so seriously all the damn time. And the scarier part is that, as I get older, I am starting to look a lot more like her. Aaron’s aunt (on his Dad’s side) is just about one of the happiest, sweetest people I have ever encountered. She’s a kook and he grandchildren even call her “Cuckoo” rather than grandma. Apparently, she and Aaron’s Mom used be pretty tight when they were younger, which doesn’t surprise me. We’re not sure how long either one of them has. But unfortunately, doctors have told them their cancer treatments have gone as far as possible, and that it is now in God’s hands. It’s odd; while thinking about them makes me sad, I really think I’m still in denial about both their cases. I’m just thankful for the nurses they have caring for them. These people really are doing God’s work here on earth. God bless them.

Obsessed?

The more I thin about this, the scarier it is; Aaron and I are not that different. That right there scares the beejeezus out of me.

I love him dearly, mind you, but he is a bit of a loony. He tends to find things to obsess over and once he gets on them, it's pretty much impossible to distract him for more than a millisecond. For example. His to-do lists: He will sit there for hours and hours shuffling things around and figuring out the order of things as he goes along, checking things off. House hunting: He knows every house on sale in the areas that we're interested in and knows when they drop in price or have new photos uploaded.

Where do the similarities come in? Ah-ha... For the last week I have been looking into anything and everything out there on the whole baby planning thing. I've even restarted putting entries on The Bump. I noticed I still have the blog that I started on The Knot. It's connected to The Nest as well. I'm apparently in the TTC segment. Yeah you'd think it'd figure out what TTC stands for sooner, right. Not so much. It took me till today to realize it means Trying To Conceive. Duh.

But, I digress. So yeah, I've been reading over dozens upon dozens of articles on WebMD (By the way, I'm now convinced I may have every ailment out there including an enlarged prostate and possibly rickets, thanks to all the damn scary-ass articles on there). I've also made my way through Fit Pregnancy, Pregnancy, Women's Health and yes, The Bump. And I've started expanding on my original to-do list. (Ta-dah) This was once a shortish list. No longer. The thing now runs into a third page. I've crossed things off already, mind you.

Ah well. I suppose it was bound to happen. I mean, you spend enough time with a person and some of their quirks are bound to rub off on you, right?

Lord, I still say that's a scary thought.

Oh yes, so here's where we stand on the whole house hunting thing; when we get home from Bermuda (we're taking off at the end of the month. Woo!), we're opening a new savings account and piling as much as possible in there. We've narrowed the search down to a handful of towns based on school systems and we've created a list of things we want and things we do not want in a house. Hopefully by the time summer rolls around, we'll be able to actually check out potential homes.

See, the obsession is contagious.

I RULE!

I got a new job!

I'm now a Director of Communications for a fantastic non profit organization. And yes, this is the place the turned me down a few weeks ago.

Apparently the other person they went with was really trying to wheel and deal on the salary then took forever to give them an answer. Then the CEO decided that he would go with me because my writing is a lot stronger and I am was the more aggressive and better connected person in terms of media, which is what they want anyway. Soooo, woohoo!

I will be starting work on Monday. Awesoooome. I am so excited. Not only did I get a nice raise, I got a great title to add to my career. How awesome is that?!

Aaron and I already started figuring out our new budget and worked out how much we want to sock away per month to save up for a down payment on a house. With what we worked out, we should be able to have more than enough to get a house by the new year. So hopefully by this time next year, we'll be closing on a house.

Sigh... that's really the most exciting part. Finally being able to get back to building our lives. For the last year, although we've been able to accomplish a lot, like pay off our school loans, paying off his car and eliminating the balances on our credit cards, we had to put off the house hunting and starting a family. Now we can actually get on those. Woohoo! I feel like doing a tap dance.

First House Hunting Trip

Aaron and I took a very exciting step this afternoon. We went on our first adventure, house hunting. We went to the Greenwood Lakes area of NY (about 45 minutes out from where we live). We saw saw two houses today. NONE of them work for us.

The first house was what I called the house on the hill. It was a really pretty looking house at the top of a hill with a beautiful view of the lake and the surrounding area. The exterior of the house itself was great. The back yard was a mess, but it was to be expected since it hasn't been "lived " in since it was built. The problem is that a few people seem to have broken into the house since it was built. The inside was not entirely finished, the ceilings were low as hell on the second and third floor. And what the seller listed as, "some cosmetic work needed," was a total lie. The place had to be finished in some parts, one of the windows needed to be repaired and just about all the hanging fixtures needed to be replaced entirely or we'd run the risk of knocking ourselves out. Aaron and I are not tall people. We're both around 5'7" tall. Oh yes and did I mention that the entire layout of the place is awkward at best? I mean there were rooms around the entire place that made no sense whatsoever, which made the necessary rooms ridiculously small. I mean, some of the "bedrooms" were the size of what you'd think of as an office. The master bedroom is a joke. Really. All the bathtubs are spa tubs BUT you'd have to have your knees out of the water to get your feet in the water. They were teeny. Oh yes, the hills to get to the house, terrified me. On the way up, the real estate agent questioned if her car would make it up the hills and she has an older Mercedes and knowing the car, I know the thing has power to it. We'd really both have to get 4x4's to be able to get to the house in the event of any weather other than a dry day. If we lived there, I would have to forbid any children from going out to the front. The angle was just that severe.

The second house we looked at is much smaller but the layout was great and made it look a lot more welcoming. It was really nicely done and staged. We really had no problems with the interior despite some cosmetic work (this time it there were just some scratches to door frames and some of the paint needed retouching in corners) the rooms were a good size, the kitchen was a great size and the bathrooms were great and in good condition. Had we actually seen this house in another area, we would really consider it as a contender. The problem, however, was the neighborhood and the land it's on. There essentially is no land to speak of. The house is right on the road, but the road itself is a one lane road that serves as a two way street. The "back yard," is a small covered concrete block and leads to a rock wall that is the back end of the back neighbor's house. The side yard is a small concrete block that is open to the street. What's left as "land," is dirt. No grass covering, just dirt (today it was mud). The other houses on the street right on top of each other. But the house on the left of it has some space in front of it but it's filled with two car carcases an old boat and a few boat engines strewn around (some covered over with what would be plant growth in the summer). The place itself, really nice. The street, the "back yard" and the neighborhood, terrible.

The real estate agent boiled it down to, this is not the area for us. She immediately deduced that we really want a more family friendly area. Getting a better sense of the town, she's right. She then ran down a few questions to get an idea of what we want in a house and neighborhood. She got the idea really quickly. We also showed her a house that we have seen before to giver her an even better idea. She agreed. So now we're going to hold off a bit before we go out again. She said she'd look around to find homes that are more suitable for us and then get back to us with them.

The cool thing is that we're now officially house hunting! Woohoo!