In With the New House

Today is the last day of the "40 Days of Writing" project. It is also the first day I'm completely out of Greyhouse and into...what are we calling this place? Yet to be determined. So far Liam has just called it "house", but he's got to come up with something better than that. My vote is "Chateau Chaton".

We're home!

I've done a lot of moves over the years, but none quite like this. This time the Universe lent a hand. Too bad the Universe didn't have a truck.

The big way in which the unseen forces of the Universe were clearly working their magic was the miracle of just getting this house. A couple of months back, when Jodee and I began toying with the idea of cohabitation, we put out some feelers (started checking Craigslist). Everyone talks about the abysmal renter's market in our area but we weren't too particular and found a number of potential candidates. None were ideal. Most were too expensive, and those that were reasonable were way too far from town. Like Windsor far! I know, right?! Eww. But we applied for them. We wrote cover letters, donned our Sunday bests for walk throughs, used enticing self-descriptors like "painstakingly tidy" "treat the place like it's our own" and "looking for a place to settle down", and even went so far as to downplay the existence of my own kids (sorry boys, means to an end). Regardless we were rejected by each one flat out. It was depressing.

Then, the Universe came in, snapped it's fingers and exclaimed "Bitch! I told you don't sweat this shit!" (in my mind the Universe is super sassy). Right when we wanted to throw in the towel we found our gem. It is four short blocks from downtown, 100 YARDS from the Giorgi Park, and literally a stones throw from a number of close friends' houses. It's true, I checked and now my arm is sore, my friends are pissed, and I'm all out of stones.

Oh! AND it's CHEAPER than everything else we'd looked at. That means that every rejection we got was a dodged bullet. Thank you UNIVERSE, you sassy, punking, sadistic bitch! I love you!!

But the Universe didn't stop there, oh no. Weird things have been continuing to happen. Minor things, but spooky great. For example, I tried to sell my couch on Craigslist but not surprisingly there was zero interest in an 8-year-old wonky sofa stained with formula and toddler crust. I scheduled to have it picked up by the Salivation Army, but those drying out sad sacks didn't bother to call or show for the three hour window they'd given me. I was livid. But lo, the very next morning my forgotten Craigslist ad gets some action. Jodee wakes me up to tell me that the local theater wants it for their upcoming production of "Noises Off". Cash the next day plus two free tickets to see my baby in the show. Boom.

Crazy right? Wait there's more!

Yesterday I was setting up speakers and heard some objects rattling around inside my sub-woofer. The thing has a hole in the side that apparently leads to a parallel universe in which I spotted three hot wheels, a cordless phone (???), and the remote control I'd given up searching for a week earlier. Stop it Universe, you're freaking me out! After watching me spend a good hour of precious moving time with a coat hanger and a flashlight, cursing at my remote that was so close and yet so far away, Liam walked over and did this.

 Kind of a dick move on his part, but I was grateful nonetheless.

"Grateful" explains my mood best. Or maybe "completely and totally mentally and physically exhausted". Yeah, that too. I want to wax poetic about this stage of my life, but mentally and physically I'm spent. This is all I've got for now, but after a nap and a trip to the chiropractor I'll be back to blogging full time and exploring the greater meaning of life, love, and parenting. I have a feeling there's going to be plenty of material from here on out.