UPSTAIRS MYSTERY SOLVED

Yes, I am crazy. But in one of my posts I mentioned that the neighbor above us occasionally drops something very loud that rolls. For the past few weeks I've started yelling up at the ceiling about it. Tonight - Mystery Solved. Ian and I were sitting in the office.. and we heard the same kind of crack but no real roll... And Ian turned to me and said "I wonder if they have a pool table..." GENIUS. We listened a little closer and sure enough, we could hear them make a shot at the pool table. Mystery Solved - Case Closed - Brittany can go back to not being crazy now. /sighofrelief

The Good Stuff: Our New House

Enough with the con talk. Let's talk about the good stuff! There are the obvious ones... a bigger space than our apartment, a personal garage space for my car, less beige walls, more counter space in the bathrooms, and more storage in general. There are things though... that Ian and I discuss at least weekly.

I am really looking forward to living in a neighborhood. The area we currently live in is... okay? Behind our apartment building is a mix of houses and townhouses. In front of our building is a grocery store and then a small indoor mall. We live close to Hesperler Road which is a row of retail and fast food. I really don't consider this a neighborhood. I really just want to go for a walk in my neighborhood without much fear!

Every Sunday we go grocery shopping. And every Sunday since we signed our house contract (Ian would probably say before then...) we have grumbled about carrying the groceries up to the apartment. We have to pack our cart and try to make it all in one trip. It's especially fun during any kind of weather and during the winter when we are trying to sprint upstairs and out of the cold. With our house... park in the garage, pop the trunk, carry the bags straight to the kitchen. No muss, no fuss. Ian won't have to repack the bags when the baggers do a crappy job either.

Oh the elevator rides... /sigh... The uncomfortable elevator rides. We live on the 5th floor. That's 4 floors too many to stand awkwardly with a bunch of strangers, wondering if you should make small talk... or hoping the elevator would just go faster. I can't count the number of times Ian and I have SPRINTED down the hallway... just to get on the elevator quicker to avoid riding with someone else. Yes, we are socially awkward and we like it that way.

Garbage Day. In a house, you have one. In an apartment, every day is garbage day. Actually, ANY day can be garbage day. In OUR apartment, it seems to never be garbage day. Our building has issues. People were throwing their trash away too late down the chute so they put locks on the doors. Do the locks always open on time? Of course not! Does a regular bag of garbage fit through the chute? Of course not! I am weird and I am looking forward to having a garbage day.

One of my favorite pros... is that we will be out of this concrete block. We have big windows at the apartment that I can watch storms roll in... but I barely notice the rain because I can't hear it. I am really looking forward to having an actual roof over our heads. Right now we have an upstairs neighbor that drops something on regular basis that rolls away. Lately, I've taken to shouting up at the ceiling "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?". Fortunately or unfortunately, they can't hear me. The mystery may never be solved. Anyway, my last pro is that I will get to see the storms come through AND hear them. If you know me, you know I love any kind of weather. It will be so wonderful to fully enjoy the climate I live in. (Minus the shoveling of a million mile sidewalk in the winter!).

There are a lot more pros... but too many to list all in one post!

The Bad Stuff: Our New House

At least once a day, Ian and I discuss the pros and cons of owning a house. We go back and forth... Ian usually gets upset that it is so far away... I usually have a panic attack that it is so close. It's exciting and scary... and it's going to happen one way or the other. [Contracts are legally binding. =P] I am going to list out the cons first. We considered most of them... I think.

I knew that buying a house we would have to start to deal with more outdoor-related chores. I knew... as unfortunate as it is... that at one point in my life I would need to shovel snow. But the one thing that Ian and I did not think about, we picked a corner lot. Meaning twice as much sidewalk to shovel/snowblow. Yay... corner lot. /eyeroll.

Speaking of outdoor-related chores, I haven't mowed a lawn in... 15 years? Ian... yeah, he's never mowed a lawn before. He's "looking forward" to getting his hands dirty.

A minor fear of mine is dealing with bad neighbors. The term bad could mean many different things. They could be loud... or say we are loud. In our apartment, we're basically in a concrete box. The worst we have had to deal with is an occasional dropped ball above us (next post will explain this) or a washing machine on at 4am. Another level of bad is the neighbors who won't mow their lawn or paints their garage pink. At least we know that our neighbors 4 doors down are somewhat normal. =]

My last concern is the day we mar the surface of our newly minted house. The day we dent a wall... or scratch the granite... or chip the paint. It's going to happen of course. Ian's only human and I'm a complete klutz. But the day that it is happens, probably on moving day, Ian is going to go seriously lose it. It will most likely be me who does it and this will be Ian:

Overall, this list isn't that bad. There are way more pros to moving out of this apartment into our new house.

Second Guessing: Hardwood Colors

This is what we picked - Ash Chelsea (dark brown with a slight tinge of red in it).

And this is what we saw today that made us second guess - Ash Forest Moss (a straight dark brown color - the picture makes it look very light... bad picture ftl). The reason is that we have black furniture going on it... and maybe it won't work with the tinge of red? I don't know!!

Max Quacks - Help!

"Hey Mom... can you put down the camera and pull me out of here?" Apparently, Max gets stuck in reverse when crawling and ended up being eaten by the couch.

These Kids Are Awesome

It's so great to see kids being engaged and encouraged to be creative. Even the shy ones look like they are having fun. And the song is cool. =P

Coop Scoop - The Next Jackson Pollack

Dirt Update

This weekend was the "Dry Run Thanksgiving" or the "Fake Thanksgiving". I was unfortunately sick and couldn't taste the stuffing... but it was enjoyable nonetheless. The most exciting thing we did was swing by the dirt. Here is an updated shot:

A picture of the corner... complete with stop sign!!

Across the street is the house that faces the side of our house. It had people starting to work on the framing for the second story.

This is looking down our street. One house has framing up and two others just have their foundation in... including Alicia's!

Ian in front of our dirt.

Me in front of our dirt.

The farm field just north? of our house.

Geese in the pond!!!

That's it for now... I have to go back to getting over my cold. Blegh.