Just Two Things

I was just reading some comments by some lovely people who think the government should be responsible for healthcare and education. Why does my mind go to: the government should provide healthcare, and education. Two things, healthcare, education and housing. The government should provide three things, healthcare, education, housing, and childcare. The government should provide four things....

Knock knock. Who's there? Doctor.

This house has the freakin' Tardis! On the freakin' front porch! I want one.

Stability

Do you know why I actually have some hope that I can accomplish some of my goals for this year? Because for the first time in a long time, we are not planning to move, and we are living somewhere that we have close to enough space. When everyone in your family has some type of hobby or interest, you need more space. Mine is sewing. While I'm going to attempt to cut down my fabric stash, I still need room for my cutting table, my table for my machines, my patterns, my reference books. Sewing makes me happy!

It was only late last year that I actually started to realize, however, how much stability can mean. It's such a nice feeling to unpack, to really settle in, not to have so many of one's possessions packed away in boxes. You can actually use everything you have, not have most of it stored away. It's nice to be able to take a nice long break from living out of boxes, and just concentrate on living for a while.

Time Flies When You're Moving

Wow, the days when I don't blog seem to fly by so fast. At least this time I have a good excuse, and that is because we are moving early next week! We are looking at it as a positive, as I think it will be. One of the only negatives I've found so far is that the Dancer will be picked up by the school bus about half an hour earlier. She seems pretty cool with it, though. She's very good about scheduling her shower, lunch packing, etc. Fortunately, both of the girls are very good about getting themselves up, as I am just awful about it. Getting to sleep and getting up at the right times seems to be an issue for bipolar people. I personally also seem to need a lot more sleep than the normal recommended amount. Not sure why this is, but I just try to arrange to get enough.

Yes, That's a Cute Dog...

In my continued and determined quest to find us someplace to live, I looked over pictures of a condo which is currently priced too high for us, but I was curious to see what you were getting for the asking price. One of the pictures in the listing is a picture of the owner's dog. It's a cute little dog, to be sure, but unless it comes with the condo, I don't quite see the point. Is this like having fresh-baked cookies on the counter when you tour the house?

Also pictured was one of... the floor. Just the floor. Yes, it's a slate floor. Do we need a picture of it to revel in its wonderfulness? Slate floor is listed in the description. You can marvel at its beauty when you take the house tour.

For that matter, I think with the poor economy, interest in things like slate floors and stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops is going to go way down. We currently have stainless steel appliances; I hate them but they came with the house. They are hard to keep clean. I don't know about slate floors, but granite counter tops are apparently also notoriously hard to keep nice. The place we're currently most interested in has granite counter tops; I'm interested in spite of that. As a matter of fact, there are rust-like stains on the counter top around the sink. So why have all these poncy features that jack up the price of the house but add no true value, and may add more work? When the economy was rocking, maybe, but not now.

This house hunting is frustrating, but I'm certainly getting an education!

The Things You See When You're Looking

House hunting has brought out some interesting things that make me go "Hmm." For example, the people describing their listed home as a bungalow. I was pretty sure I knew what a bungalow was, but I went and looked around on the internet a bit to update my knowledge. The only thing I had wrong is that the bungalow terms I saw described them as one or one-and-a-half stories. Although I did see pictures that looked like they were two stories. Still, I had the general idea right. A long, sloping front roof, with a porch at the front of the house. Long lines. What today would be called an open floor plan. Built-in cabinets.

However, when I see somebody list their house as a bungalow, I'm pretty sure by now what I'll see, and it's not a bungalow. It's more akin to what I would describe as a cottage. No front porch. No long lines. No built-ins. Just a small square house. People also seem to have forgotten the description of Cape Cod, a cottage with an extra bedroom or two on the second floor. Even realtors are not immune to not knowing how to describe a house properly, and it's their job, for goodness' sake!

I'm also seeing a huge difference in prices asked for homes. For example, two condos are listed in the same condo development. One is an end unit, with a basement. One is a middle unit, with no basement. Same number of bedrooms and baths. Yet the one without a basement is asking $500 more to rent! The only guess Mr. BTEG and I have is that those whose asking price is high either did not put enough down initially, or took out an extra loan on their property. Still, when housing prices have dropped dramatically, it's difficult to ask someone else to make up for your shortfall, when there are lower priced homes that are about equal. Of course, this also belies the idea that a drop in house values automatically translates into lower prices for the renter. People who bought high, or did something else like I described, may still be trying to make up the difference on their homes. It doesn't mean they'll get it, but it's one less home out there to interest you.

Oh, and if your home is "just listed," your realtor really ought to have a picture up that doesn't show snow on the front lawn. That just screams, "We tried to sell the house earlier this year, and didn't get any takers." Which in turn smells of desperation.

Self Improvement

In conjunction with my previous post, I am on a quest to shake up my life a little. I get this way periodically. This time, it's because Mr. Evil Genius was ill for so long, and since then we have been going through a period of not much cash flow. Plus just when Mr. Evil Genius got a new job and things were looking up, we found that we have to move. That was a serious blow which took me a while to overcome.

I will also bring up here, that though my bipolar medicine has done a good job of taking out the bad parts, or the bottom of my moods, it also seems to have taken out the top part of my moods as well. Was the most active and productive part of me the manic part? Can I achieve without that high? Time will tell.

I'm starting to feel like I'm ready to tackle life head-on again, instead of just going through the motions. I hope it will last, even if where we end up moving is not ideal. I miss the old me.

Awkward Me

I'd like to make more friends, especially friends nearby. While online friends are great, real-life friends are nice also. I went out to lunch a few weeks ago with an old friend. We attended college together, and later on we worked at the same place and even lived in the same apartment development. Unfortunately, we live a couple of hours apart, so getting together is not an easy task, especially since she works full-time. But it was so much fun, and so rejuvenating, that I think it would be good for me if I could get together with friends often.

The big problem is how to meet people. The easiest way seems to be to join organizations. The problem (and of course there always is one) is that I dislike organizations! Or maybe I have never been in one I enjoyed enough. I generally don't like outside influences on my time, like appointments or set meeting dates. I also don't work well in large group settings. Is it a matter of leaving my "comfort zone" or is this just the way I am? I think the large group thing absolutely relates to my introversion. I find it hard to put myself out there to get noticed. But if I found some group where I really enjoyed the activities and the people, my other issues might not be a big deal.

I'm going to at least try the Parent/Teacher's Association this year. Last year, we didn't even move into the area until just after the girls had started school, and we didn't know until the last minute where we would even be moving to. With all the unpacking and stress, I was not interested in joining anything. This year, we're moving again, which I never would have expected, but the girls are staying in the same schools, so that uncertainty is gone. Once the stress of having to leave this house, which I had really come to feel at home in, is better, perhaps I will have the interest and energy to find more places to meet people.

House Hunting

The Musician has always been very sensitive to smells. For the longest time she couldn't even walk down the shampoo aisle or the laundry detergent aisle without getting ill, and of course she is very sensitive to what kind of shampoo and soap she uses, and what kind her sister uses since they share a bathroom. She once threw up when my sister with no sense of boundaries forced smelly hand lotion on her (one of the reasons I don't speak to my sister much.)

She must get it from me, because while house hunting I have been frustrated with how badly some of these houses smell to me because of some kind of air freshener or cleaner. As we were driving away from the last house we looked at, I remarked to Mr. BTEG how badly it smelled and he replied that he hadn't really noticed anything. So perhaps I am extra sensitive, but I would think a person would be careful about that sort of thing when trying to interest a prospective buyer or renter in a property. Easier said than done if you are not sensitive to it, I guess. Oh, and don't leave the dustpan on the stove. That squicked me out as well.

Mind's Eye

A commenter on my blog once noted that people are open about suffering from mental issues--when things are going well. It's true that it is difficult to share things with the outside world when one is in a chemical imbalance state of depression. Even without seeing pink elephants or purple spiders, you know when you are "off" and you don't want to scare people away. I have really been grappling with the issue of having to move, especially when we thought we were settled in where we were. The ground was pulled out from under our feet, and I spent a lot of time getting through the shock. Now I am putting a lot of energy into packing and finding a place to live that I would rather be putting into other areas, like relationships. Such is life, really. This too shall pass, and I hope we will come out better for it.

It'll Be Great If I Can Get Through

So, we've found a new place to live. Great, except we can't move in until a few days before the lease on our current place expires. We really were hoping for more time, but there's not much we can do about it. I just keep reminding myself of how wonderful it will be after we move to keep myself going.

On top of this, the girls will be going to public school this year, and we're trying to finish up the paperwork/school supplies/new clothes issues. I'm finding it very stressful, not to mention how early the girls will have to get up to get to school, plus the packing lunches issue. I hope this truly is a break for me this year like Mr. BTEG wants.

I'm having health issues that need additional testing to decide how bad they are. At this point, I may be anemic, which is a wonderful state to be in when you need to pack up all your belongings and move. I'm not exactly worried about the health issues because they aren't deadly, but the additional distraction and possible fatigue are unnecessary!

I'd like to think I can keep blogging through all this but I probably won't. Hopefully if I don't blog soon I will be able to come back when things calm down to let you know I've survived!

I Iz Edumacated

My good friend Elephant's Child suggested I post this on my blog, after I shared it on Facebook. It's got a limited shelf life, since it is a house for sale, but I decided it was indeed good enough to pass on to you, my readers.

First of all, I must tell you that the realtor's page where you will see this is NOT the realtor who has this lovely home up for sale. However, I can't find the house yet on the actual realtor's webpage. If it shows up, I will pass it along. Anyway, go here and search for this MLS: 3055743. You should see the house in question. Click on the link, then read the description. Yes, it has a beautiful finished basement, complete with "naughty pine." We are becoming a nation of semi-illiterates. I see so many mistakes like this everywhere! It's humorous and sad at the same time. Also of note is the HUGE number of abbreviations used in this text. Yes, realtors use abbreviations all the time, but I think there is an extra-large (or should I say xtra-lg) number here. Non-homeschooling parents, please pay attention to what your kids are learning in school and shore up their education when needed! At least, parents who *aren't* semi-illiterate.

Stress

It only occurred to me yesterday that the fact that we are planning a move might make a difference in my mood and view of life. That seems rather silly of me considering that moving is one of the big life changes, although not up there with death or divorce. I think the fact that this will be a *good* move (we're not moving until we find some place we're really happy with and that is larger) helped me forget about the stress part of it. After all, I've been looking forward to this move almost since right after when we moved into where we are now, since we had to make do with the best we could last time. But there is still stress in packing, deciding what is worth taking and what isn't, finding a new place, balancing our wants with our budget, and encouraging our daughters to sort through their messy bedroom. I need to be aware of externals to make sure I'm not just beating up on myself as I so often do.

Snowed In

Road conditions are probably not at their best. The snow is falling fairly heavily and staying inside is looking a lot nicer than going outside and braving the weather. I really wish we had garage space to keep our car in at the moment. Our car, the one that's currently drivable, hates the cold. And I'm not enjoying watching it get buried under the snow. We do have a two-car garage, but it's currently full of stuff, both woodworking stuff and things packed away from our last move.

People talk about McMansions and how bad it is that the garage is featured so front and center in many homes. My take on the garage thing is that the closer the garage is to the road, the shorter the driveway and the less snow to shovel! Seriously, I don't mind the garage-next-to-the-house plan, although the garage-behind-the-house might be nice to have. The garage must be attached, however, in my mind. I'm starting to wish we could enter our home through the garage, to avoid coats and shoes piling up at the front door. I used to completely dislike the idea of coming in through the garage, as some people dislike the garage-shoved-to-the-front of a house plan. But if you're using the garage as your everyday entryway you may prefer it that way.

Mr. BTEG is snowed in here with us. He stayed home from work today, because he is still getting his Crohn's medication sorted out, and he was not feeling at all well last night and most of today. I offered to teach him to knit to give him something to do, but he declined. The gastroenterology office adjusted his meds this afternoon, so hopefully this will improve things.

Speaking of knitting, I am working on a cell phone sock for myself. I'm using wool, for the first time, and I'm noticing the yarn seems to be thinning itself out as I pull it off the skein and use it. It's noticeably thicker on the tail than what I'm putting on my needles. Does this "stretching out" happen with wool, or is the wool I'm using just not up to the highest standard or what? I don't think I'm pulling on it overly hard.