It is official. Here we are signing the deed. We are homeowners, yippee! Matt has a full account over on Larsenopolis.
30 November 2006
File: Home
File: Home
So, today's the day. As you can tell by the time, I'm not sleeping. I've been up since 3. Hopefully, I won't crash too hard as we're signing papers.
I'm giddy and nervous about being a homeowner. As usual, we've packed an ambitious day: post office, bank if needed, closing, moving estimate, IKEA, prime and paint, celebrate.
Shoot up a little prayer for us that everyone goes without a hitch. Go time is in less than six hours.
I'm giddy and nervous about being a homeowner. As usual, we've packed an ambitious day: post office, bank if needed, closing, moving estimate, IKEA, prime and paint, celebrate.
Shoot up a little prayer for us that everyone goes without a hitch. Go time is in less than six hours.
27 November 2006
File: Holidays
On the Friday before Thanksgiving, I was driving to meet up with friends for a night on the town. I was late. It was dark and cold outside. I got off the expressway and saw a man sitting by the side of the road. That's pretty common in Chicago, so I don't know what about him tugged at my heartstrings.
He had a cup and a sign. The sign read "Vietnam Vet," which I guess in some circles explains why he was sitting in the 32 degree darkness on a milk crate next to the Division St. off- ramp.
I didn't have any money in my wallet, but I knew I wanted to give him what I did have. We keep a pink Hello Kitty change purse in the car for use on tolls. I grabbed the change purse and rolled down my window. He didn't turn to me.
"Excuse me, sir," I said, holding up the change purse. "Do you need some help?"
He said yes, and I dumped all of the change into his cup. A few coins, pennies I think, dropped on the ground, he bent to pick them up, which I felt bad about, seeing this grown man bend on the road for pennies.
"G-d bless you," he said.
"Thanks, you too, sir. Stay warm and safe."
"G-d bless you. Bless you."
I don't know why that exchange made me uncomfortable, but it did. Was it just because that's the cliched dialog?
There's an old Jewish proverb that an angel of light and an angel of darkness go from house to house every Friday night, searching for people celebrating Shabbat together. It's traditionally told with the angels looking in the window onto a family dinner. If the family is celebrating together, then the angel of light gets a point. When the family isn't together, the angel of darkness gets a point. Only when the angel of darkness gets no points will the Messiah come.
I'm not sure how I feel about the Messianic age, but I know that our house isn't always contributing to it. We rarely go to shul together, and with shows, and rehearsals, and friends, and sheer end-of-the-week exhaustion, we don't always have a nice meal. Do you think that mitzvahs, done in the moment, just because should count? I do.
We hosted Thanksgiving this year. It was sad to be away from our families, but we celebrated with friends. I feel triumphant about it. We managed to serve a multi-course meal that was delicious while in the middle of packing up the apartment. We cleaned as we went, so the house was back to normal by Friday afternoon. It was pretty awesome.
At my parents' house, we all go around the table and tell what we're thankful for. I instituted that tradition in our house as well. We played Nok-Hockey, another South Florida Turkey Day tradition.
A few things to kvell about this Thanksgiving:
Our friends Karen and Dave are now the proud parents of a son, Henry John. He joins adorable older sis, Evelyn, in the family household. We're so excited and happy for you guys!
My Aunt Ellen and cousins Wes, Shane, and Barrie marched in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. This link from my old paper, the Sun-Sentinel, has the full story, pics, and video. It was so cool to ssee them on national tv!
It looks like the house is going to happen! We've been packing over the weekend, including the initial bins of essentials. We bought paint yesterday. One quart of lavender, one quart of blue, and one gallon of red later, we're on the way to making this place ours!
Hope your Thanksgiving was as blessed and happy as ours was.
He had a cup and a sign. The sign read "Vietnam Vet," which I guess in some circles explains why he was sitting in the 32 degree darkness on a milk crate next to the Division St. off- ramp.
I didn't have any money in my wallet, but I knew I wanted to give him what I did have. We keep a pink Hello Kitty change purse in the car for use on tolls. I grabbed the change purse and rolled down my window. He didn't turn to me.
"Excuse me, sir," I said, holding up the change purse. "Do you need some help?"
He said yes, and I dumped all of the change into his cup. A few coins, pennies I think, dropped on the ground, he bent to pick them up, which I felt bad about, seeing this grown man bend on the road for pennies.
"G-d bless you," he said.
"Thanks, you too, sir. Stay warm and safe."
"G-d bless you. Bless you."
I don't know why that exchange made me uncomfortable, but it did. Was it just because that's the cliched dialog?
There's an old Jewish proverb that an angel of light and an angel of darkness go from house to house every Friday night, searching for people celebrating Shabbat together. It's traditionally told with the angels looking in the window onto a family dinner. If the family is celebrating together, then the angel of light gets a point. When the family isn't together, the angel of darkness gets a point. Only when the angel of darkness gets no points will the Messiah come.
I'm not sure how I feel about the Messianic age, but I know that our house isn't always contributing to it. We rarely go to shul together, and with shows, and rehearsals, and friends, and sheer end-of-the-week exhaustion, we don't always have a nice meal. Do you think that mitzvahs, done in the moment, just because should count? I do.
We hosted Thanksgiving this year. It was sad to be away from our families, but we celebrated with friends. I feel triumphant about it. We managed to serve a multi-course meal that was delicious while in the middle of packing up the apartment. We cleaned as we went, so the house was back to normal by Friday afternoon. It was pretty awesome.
At my parents' house, we all go around the table and tell what we're thankful for. I instituted that tradition in our house as well. We played Nok-Hockey, another South Florida Turkey Day tradition.
A few things to kvell about this Thanksgiving:
Our friends Karen and Dave are now the proud parents of a son, Henry John. He joins adorable older sis, Evelyn, in the family household. We're so excited and happy for you guys!
My Aunt Ellen and cousins Wes, Shane, and Barrie marched in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. This link from my old paper, the Sun-Sentinel, has the full story, pics, and video. It was so cool to ssee them on national tv!
It looks like the house is going to happen! We've been packing over the weekend, including the initial bins of essentials. We bought paint yesterday. One quart of lavender, one quart of blue, and one gallon of red later, we're on the way to making this place ours!
Hope your Thanksgiving was as blessed and happy as ours was.
22 November 2006
File: The Past
Matt and I were in the car yesterday and somehow started talking about 5th grade courses. Part of my health offering was "Me-ology," the study of YOU. (From my recollection, that phrase and capitalization is how they introduced the course to us.)
Essentially, the course was a prep for when they separated the boys and the girls and talked to us about sex. Not sure what kind of souvenirs the boys got, but volunteer moms (thank G-d not mine) threw tampons at us. It was traumatizing, or at the very least, very very strange. The girl cafeteria experience, not necessarily Me-ology.
Me-ology was kind of fun. We had this little packet with a hand-drawn kid on the front. I can't remember most of the course (is that why I'm still trying to figure myself out?), but one of the things that sticks in my mind is the Me-Doll. They had us lie down on butcher paper and then traced our fronts and our backs. We decorated them to look like us, and then we stuffed and stapled them. They were life-size* and were pretty cool.
Although, the bus was pretty crowded the day we took them home. (How strange would that have been to a passing car? A busload of kids with kids that looked like them on their laps. Very odd.) I wonder what ever happened to my "me."
*Matt reminded me that they would be slightly smaller than life-size, as they would lose yardage when stuffed and stapled.
Essentially, the course was a prep for when they separated the boys and the girls and talked to us about sex. Not sure what kind of souvenirs the boys got, but volunteer moms (thank G-d not mine) threw tampons at us. It was traumatizing, or at the very least, very very strange. The girl cafeteria experience, not necessarily Me-ology.
Me-ology was kind of fun. We had this little packet with a hand-drawn kid on the front. I can't remember most of the course (is that why I'm still trying to figure myself out?), but one of the things that sticks in my mind is the Me-Doll. They had us lie down on butcher paper and then traced our fronts and our backs. We decorated them to look like us, and then we stuffed and stapled them. They were life-size* and were pretty cool.
Although, the bus was pretty crowded the day we took them home. (How strange would that have been to a passing car? A busload of kids with kids that looked like them on their laps. Very odd.) I wonder what ever happened to my "me."
*Matt reminded me that they would be slightly smaller than life-size, as they would lose yardage when stuffed and stapled.
18 November 2006
File: Home
So, things are better. The home inspection for the new place came back very favorable. (Yay!) So, now we just continue marching forward, getting all of our ducks in a row (as my tenth grade history teacher would say). We close on the 30th, twelve short days until we are homeowners.
I'm excited. I've held back my excitement due to my disappointment with the last place but I'm really starting to picture this place as ours. I bought my first items exclusively for the new home: chocolate brown towels.
Here's what the bathroom looks like now. Here's my idea to transform it. Hence, the chocolate brown towels.
Packing is going well. I hope to finish more rooms today.
I'm excited. I've held back my excitement due to my disappointment with the last place but I'm really starting to picture this place as ours. I bought my first items exclusively for the new home: chocolate brown towels.
Here's what the bathroom looks like now. Here's my idea to transform it. Hence, the chocolate brown towels.
Packing is going well. I hope to finish more rooms today.
31 October 2006
File: Life
Been kind of quiet on here recently. It's gotten a bit rough for me in Chi-town. The routine has been some variation on: get up, obsessively look for houses (more of that in a moment), work, come home, go to bed and obsessively look for houses, come downstairs for edamame and rice, go back to bed, obsessively look for houses, then sleep, exhausted.
The condo purchase fell through. I haven't wanted to blog about it. There's so much going on in the world and I'm sad because buying the condo I wanted is a bad idea, oh, boo for me. But, I am sad.
We lost some money on the deal. ($270 for home inspection, the best cash I've ever spent in my life; $80 for the lawyer.) Turns out that the great big condo had some issues. Examples: faulty electricity, possible plumbing corrosion, insulation installed incorrectly, furnace installed incorrectly, dangerous space heaters/no furnace, ponding water in the basement, mold, weird bugs, either no money in the reserves or no idea where they put the money in the reserves and the big finish of the flaking asbestos pipe.
Grr.
**Update** I realize I never posted the initial ramblings above, written 10/31. Things have gotten better. We found another place that we like a lot. It has central air, central heat, a washer/dryer, (Matt was practically doing cartwheels at this point), a working fireplace, and two secret squirrel rooms in the basement better known as the bat cave. It was completely redone at the turn of this century (2000 -- tee, hee), and it's huge. It's growing on me. It initially lacks the charm of the other places we really liked, but as Matt's dad, the architect, says, you can create charm. Structure is harder. The more we're in the space (and we've been in it the last two weekends), the more I like it. I've been dreaming about wall colors and furniture arranging. We'll have the awesome problem of not having enough furniture for the space, Yay! We had the inspection on Saturday and it went very well. Now, it's just waiting. I think we're going to close on Nov. 30 so a December move is in our future.
We decided not to go to Florida for Thanksgiving. The fare was insane ($800 each!) and we really need the time to get organized and pack. We started packing seriously over the weekend -- one run to the Brown Elephant and 5 boxes and one trunk packed so far. I plan to pack my office in a moment before I leave for work. I love packing. I don't even mind unpacking. It makes me feel in control and organized and I love being organized. It also allows me a chance to go through everything and filter what I have from what I need.
My mom's having surgery at the end of November and my dad is getting shots in his hips in early December. The schedules didn't work, so we're going down in mid January, timeshifting Hanukkah, my birthday, and my dad's birthday all at once.
Okay, I need to pack before work.
The condo purchase fell through. I haven't wanted to blog about it. There's so much going on in the world and I'm sad because buying the condo I wanted is a bad idea, oh, boo for me. But, I am sad.
We lost some money on the deal. ($270 for home inspection, the best cash I've ever spent in my life; $80 for the lawyer.) Turns out that the great big condo had some issues. Examples: faulty electricity, possible plumbing corrosion, insulation installed incorrectly, furnace installed incorrectly, dangerous space heaters/no furnace, ponding water in the basement, mold, weird bugs, either no money in the reserves or no idea where they put the money in the reserves and the big finish of the flaking asbestos pipe.
Grr.
**Update** I realize I never posted the initial ramblings above, written 10/31. Things have gotten better. We found another place that we like a lot. It has central air, central heat, a washer/dryer, (Matt was practically doing cartwheels at this point), a working fireplace, and two secret squirrel rooms in the basement better known as the bat cave. It was completely redone at the turn of this century (2000 -- tee, hee), and it's huge. It's growing on me. It initially lacks the charm of the other places we really liked, but as Matt's dad, the architect, says, you can create charm. Structure is harder. The more we're in the space (and we've been in it the last two weekends), the more I like it. I've been dreaming about wall colors and furniture arranging. We'll have the awesome problem of not having enough furniture for the space, Yay! We had the inspection on Saturday and it went very well. Now, it's just waiting. I think we're going to close on Nov. 30 so a December move is in our future.
We decided not to go to Florida for Thanksgiving. The fare was insane ($800 each!) and we really need the time to get organized and pack. We started packing seriously over the weekend -- one run to the Brown Elephant and 5 boxes and one trunk packed so far. I plan to pack my office in a moment before I leave for work. I love packing. I don't even mind unpacking. It makes me feel in control and organized and I love being organized. It also allows me a chance to go through everything and filter what I have from what I need.
My mom's having surgery at the end of November and my dad is getting shots in his hips in early December. The schedules didn't work, so we're going down in mid January, timeshifting Hanukkah, my birthday, and my dad's birthday all at once.
Okay, I need to pack before work.
22 October 2006
File: Sports
This is Matt yesterday when he picked up his number. We saw him at mile 7.5 and he was looking great. I just got an email from his tracker. He hit the half.
He finished. Lots of emotion from me, lots of tiredness from him. He's recovering. He tells the tale better on his blog. Had lots of fun with Matt's dad and Deb taking the train and skipping all over town. We only saw Matt twice; he only saw us once (at a half mile from the finish).I'm so proud of him, I could just kvell.
13 October 2006
12 October 2006
11 October 2006
09 October 2006
File: Life
Here we are with Iliana, our awesome realtor, with our offer to purchase. After a little negotiation, our offer was accepted. We are on the way to owning!
Yes, this took the cake in terms of excitement.We are buying a house! By house, I mean pretty duplex condo on the northside of the city (Edgewater). It's large and has a lot of potential. And is pretty! And a fireplace! And places for the bookshelves. Oh, so much happiness a girl could burst. Who knew the bank would approve us for a mortgage? It feels so grown-up, but yet at the same time, perfectly normal. Very strange indeed. Yippee!
08 October 2006
File: Life
My photogrqpher.
This is from a moment when he was photographing me and I was photographing him before we went apple picking. Apple picking was a blast, but surprisingly not the highlight of our weekend...01 October 2006
File: Life
Cubs game with Travis. Cubs are down, Trav and I are up. He says We are having fun. He is also worried about his double chin.
He doesn't have one.It was nice for the Cubs to finally win one. We both got pictures of the last pitch.
15 September 2006
File: Life
So, we're back from New York. It was a great place to visit, but we've taken it off the table as a place to live. Well, until we start making $200K. We realized that we have everything we need in Chicago -- why switch it up for a harder life? Hooray.
Karen (who is adorably pregnant) had a Personal DNA Test at her blog. She's a generous idealist, which I think is accurate. I took the test. I'm
Nice to hear some words of encouragement. Things here are a changing.
We went to look at a condo last night. (We figured that since we're going to settle in Chi-town, we might as well own a piece of it.) It had a great living room, and the owner who was selling it was so nice. We wanted to love it. It had nice kitchen cabinets, stainless steel appliances, and a living room with a beautiful view and ivy-covered deocrative wrought iron out front. Unfortunately, it had tiny bedrooms, no place for a kitchen table, and the most depressing alley views I'd ever seen. Had the moment when we were in the condo of thinking to myself, well, we could knock down that wall... Always a bad sign. Matt set up four more appointments for Saturday. We bought a bunch of books and our friend Kevin, who has a background in construction, has offered to come look at a place with us when we find "the one" to check it for structural soundness. Yay.
So, that's the weekend plan.
Happy Friday!
Karen (who is adorably pregnant) had a Personal DNA Test at her blog. She's a generous idealist, which I think is accurate. I took the test. I'm
Nice to hear some words of encouragement. Things here are a changing.
We went to look at a condo last night. (We figured that since we're going to settle in Chi-town, we might as well own a piece of it.) It had a great living room, and the owner who was selling it was so nice. We wanted to love it. It had nice kitchen cabinets, stainless steel appliances, and a living room with a beautiful view and ivy-covered deocrative wrought iron out front. Unfortunately, it had tiny bedrooms, no place for a kitchen table, and the most depressing alley views I'd ever seen. Had the moment when we were in the condo of thinking to myself, well, we could knock down that wall... Always a bad sign. Matt set up four more appointments for Saturday. We bought a bunch of books and our friend Kevin, who has a background in construction, has offered to come look at a place with us when we find "the one" to check it for structural soundness. Yay.
So, that's the weekend plan.
Happy Friday!
05 September 2006
File: Vacation
Some dinosaur history. The Apatosaurus, which means deceptive reptile, used to be the Brontesaurus. They replaced the head with the right one and here it is. My dad was excited about us seeing the dinosaurs because he saw the same ones (although in different poses) as a kid.
04 September 2006
File: Vacation
Nathan's hot dog + beer + no reason not to drink beer at 2 pm on a Monday + free Staten Island Ferry = happy Brandi and Matt.
File: Vacation
I think I like NY the best as I leave it behind. We still have another day here, and I am enjoying our vacation, but I miss Chicago. Home sweet home.
31 August 2006
File: Vacation
Look, Mom, Radio Center Music Hall! We passed this just as the MTV Video Music Awards let out. Pretty crazy fun. We didn't see anyone other than a producer and thousands of excited yellow-shirted kids.
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