Some Joy

May 18, 2012 By 2 Comments

Considering the last time I mentioned a house, we were going to wait to look for House #5, this may be surprising to hear, but we’re in escrow on House #6. Mmhmm.

Number 5 came and went and then came 6. This lovely place is down the street from what we’re calling Mold House. It’s also a million times more awesome and the BEST house we’ve seen (in about 60 total). We were more than a little surprised when our offer was accepted. We weren’t surprised at all when the inspection was fabulous. THEN…then the appraisal came back at a bizarrely low amount and the whole thing nearly fell apart with our financing. We challenged the appraisal and after waiting on pins and needles for three and a half days, we finally heard back – the appraisal was revised. The house was once again in our reach if the sellers could meet us half way on bridging the gap in financing. And they DID! Yay!

We’re not out of the woods yet. We need the bank to approve our new financing. But we’re damned close! We should know for sure that everything is a go next week. We assume nothing until then!

Amidst this house drama, Jack lost his first tooth – one on the bottom. For some reason this makes us absurdly happy. I guess because it’s a sign he’s growing up even while fighting cancer. He’s living! And he’s damned cute with a missing tooth. He has a slight lisp and has trouble with S sounds at the moment. It’s adorable.

I also had a wonderful Mother’s Day! David and Jack made me breakfast in bed and then we went out to have fondue for lunch. I loved the pampering. We had our celebration a bit early so that Jack could have fun with his dad the next weekend while David and I took off for Sonoma. I got an incentive trip through a contact at work – two nights in a resort hotel plus wine tasting, dinner, and brunch – all free. We sprung for massages, too. I felt like I got two Mother’s Days!

Life isn’t all bad right now. I’m glad I get some relief, even if it’s hard won!

Filed Under: Cancer Mom, Domesticating, Family Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Combing The Bay (Area)

February 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment

We are looking for a house. I know how that sounds, considering David is unemployed and Jack was just diagnosed with Leukemia but, well, we’ve been diligently saving for it and had the purchase/move in our plan for this summer. The social worker at the hospital told me right off the bat that we shouldn’t set aside all of our life plans. We should carry on with life and keep it as normal as possible. We don’t want Jack to feel like his health is messing up our life or something. Okay…yeah.

So, we’re looking at houses. Our current place is too small for us and has some maintenance issues besides (we have a lackadaisical landlord on one hand…but really cheap rent on the other). We’d like to be in a place that is more accessible to the hospital since we’ll be spending a lot of time there over the next three years. Gas and tolls for crossing t he Bay Bridge are expensive!

We’ve gotten pre-qualified and are pretty much ready to go with a Cal FHA first time homebuyer’s loan (which allows us to get a house with only a 3.5% down payment). We’re lucky enough to be able to qualify for stuff on my income alone, which bodes well for our future once the job market recovers for realsies.

In the mean time, we are looking at houses online every day and setting up showings and attending open houses on the weekends. I know some people find this fun but I am not one of those people. Also, I’m impatient – I just want to find something that works and buy it. Not to mention I’m a sucker for a good deal…it’s a good thing my husband is more level-headed about these things.

Part of what makes this difficult is that we don’t have a particular city in this area that we love. We have friends all over the place here, I work in the city, Jack’s dad lives an hour south of the city, and the hospital is 40 minutes east of us and over a bridge in Oakland. We are central to friends, Jack’s dad, and the hospital right now…but it’s the city – we can’t afford a decent house here (with a yard for our dog) AND guarantee Jack will go to a decent school (enrollment is a lottery system, transferring is a crapshoot, and there is no way I’m driving across the city to take Jack to the school he currently attends).

So, anyway…wish us luck. We hope to find something that we love for a more-than-affordable price that is convenient and takes an adequately lengthy time to complete the buying process (this is where short sales come in handy – we want to find something now but buy months from now so that we don’t have to ask family members for “cash gifts”).

In the mean time I’ll be over here freaking out about growing up…

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By the way, go check out Band Back Together today – Jack and the Monkey In My Chair program are featured.

Filed Under: Domesticating Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Princesses on Ice

September 22, 2009 By 1 Comment

Jack and a little girl at daycare love to play princesses together (well, until she went to preschool).  I would arrive at daycare after work to Jack dressed in a princess costume and an announcement of, “Mama, I’m a princess!”  It was just about the cutest and most hilarious thing I’ve ever seen.  (I got a picture, of course.  If you’re good I’ll post it…)

I was recently contacted by MomCentral.com with an opportunity to promote the Disney Princesses on Ice show that is coming to the Bay Area.  You’d better believe I jumped at the opportunity (I love free and discounted stuff)!  I am a fan of ice skating and Jack loves princesses, so what better way to spend a night out together?  As part of this promotion, I get to pass along a discount code to my readers.  So here is your special offer, folks!

The coupon code will is MOM and you get four tickets for $44 for Monday through Friday matinee shows, or $4 off Friday night and weekend shows. The code is good for shows in both Oakland and San Jose, and can be entered in the MC Promotions box on www.Ticketmaster.com.  At least four tickets need to be purchased for the code to be valid.

Oakland dates run October 14-18 and San Jose shows run October 21-25.  I hope to see you there on opening night!

Filed Under: Adventures Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Moving to the city

January 20, 2009 By 5 Comments

We are moving and moving means changing daycares…  Yeah, I know; you don’t have to say it.  I know I’m crazy!  But, really, this is going to be an awesome change for us.  It will mean that I won’t be spending time on commuting an hour to get to the daycare before it closes (at 5!) when I should be working a full 8 hour day.  Also, a shorter commute (half of what it is now) means more time with Jack.  Our rent will be less and we’ll have a washer and dryer in the house.  We will have a backyard where Jack can run around!  We’ll have lots of families for neighbors.  We’ll live about a block from a park.  Best of all, I think, is that the time we spend driving to San Rafael to get Jack to Joe will be 15 minutes each way instead of 45-60!  Woo hoo!

I looked at daycares last week and hit the freaking jackpot.  The first place I visited was decent, but it didn’t feel like THE PLACE.  It was small, a bit pricey, and brand new (meaning Jack would be the first kid enrolled).   The provider was sweet and the place would have worked, but I didn’t like it as much as I like his current daycare.  I went into the second place with low expectations because all I know about the place was that it was extremely affordable and a little further than I thought I’d want to go.  But the drive to the place was a breeze and as soon as I walked in I felt at ease.  The provider is Brazilian, just as his current providers are.  She also has a similar menu and schedule as the current daycare.  Jack will get to continue his Portuguese education!  The number of kids in her care is small and she has a helper doing dishes and cooking meals, so the attention factor is high.  The vibe was perfect, so I took the spot and we went back Saturday to introduce Jack to the provider.  That went well, so the deal was sealed!

So far this move is coming together nicely.  This is the easiest time I’ve ever had finding a place we will love to live and also a daycare that we will be happy with (I am of course hoping that a similar environment and a warm-up period will make for an easier transition).  I think the most amazing part is that we are moving into the CITY and yet our rent and daycare costs will decrease.

I’m excited!

Filed Under: Adventures, Daycare, Working Mamahood Tagged With: , , ,

Black Diamond Mines

March 18, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Sunday we ventured out to Black Diamond Mines in Antioch to hike and see the wildflowers in bloom.  The day was absolutely gorgeous – sunny with enough wind to create waves in the bright green grass.  We generally hate driving, especially in the bay area, but it was a really pleasant trip flanked by hills and trees.

melissa.jpg  We ate a picnic lunch with our friends Melissa and Nick, then Joe strapped Jack into the Ergo and we started our hike.  Jack fell asleep about 1/3 of the way into our trek, right as we made our way along a sheer precipice.  I made sure not to look (as I get nasty vertigo in these situations) and made it through just fine.  Altogether we hiked about two miles and Jack awoke as we were descending the last third of the hike, which is when he insisted on walking.  He actually agreed to hold my hand while making his way down, although the adults frequently had to act as bumpers on either side of him to keep him confined to the trail.  He was very helpful in identifying trees, clouds, and “tall hills.”

hiking.jpg

I passed out in the car while Joe drove us home (literally, I closed my eyes and don’t remember anything until we parked in the garage) and apparently Jack chatted the entire way back.  It was a great day and I think all of the activity helped Jack sleep wonderfully that night.  I’m still sore, though!

Pictures from all of our recent adventures are uploaded to shutterfly if you’d like to see ‘em.

Filed Under: Adventures, Family, Photos Tagged With: , , , ,