For Real

It looks like we really are moving!

Our buyers got their mortgage commitment, the closing on their house in Fishkill has been scheduled, and our sellers are ready to go. All that remains is for us to move out, schedule the closings, and move in (and have our daughter's birthday party, attend a Weezer concert, get all four of us to the dentist, pack and go on vacation, and start school). Woohooo! Let the panic and craziness begin!

Summer Days

Summer has arrived in all of its steamy, sticky glory and we are glad for it!  After nearly two solid months of rain, days spent poolside and frolicking in fountains seem extra sweet, and our little ones drift off to sleep at night with bodies that are bone tired and happy smiles on their faces.  Ahh, summer days...we've missed you.

Why are you moving? - Part 3

We like old houses. We like the look, the style, the charm, the details that you just don't find in most modern day homes, and the history that goes along with an older home. Sara and I both attended Universities in Potsdam, NY (Sara went to SUNY Potsdam and I attended Clarkson University) where we each spent some time living in an older home. Sara rented a place with several other students and I lived in a fraternity house. I think these houses, particularly the fraternity house, are what sparked us with such an interest in older homes.

This is a picture of the fraternity house that I lived in at Potsdam. My room had the two dormer windows in the upper left. This house had a lot of charm - great fireplaces, the cherry wood work was amazing, and full wrap around porches on the first and second floors. It's been a while since I've been there but, I've heard the current brothers have brought the wood floors back to life as well. This house had quite a bit of history to it. It boasts being part of the underground railroad and has been said to have several hauntings (although I didn't witness any of that). In a bit of irony, the original owner, George Wing Sisson (married to Sara Hamilton Sisson), was born in Glens Falls.

We know it'll be a lot of work (and as such a drain on the wallet) but, all that weighed in on the decision to buy this particular house. Like most people, we didn't buy the first house we looked at. Here are a couple that we didn't buy and why.



This house is the first one that really sparked our interest. Sara saw this one in the local paper. The price was right but, it was obviously in need of some repair....or rather a lot of repair. I thought she was crazy for even wanting to look at it. She called one of her real estate agent friends and we went for a look. I originally had no interest in this house but when I saw the wood work, the stained glass, the multiple fire places, the pocket doors, the marble wash sinks in all the bedrooms. I thought it was great. Unfortunately, it was just way to much of a project for us. That much work would not have made for a good environment for our kids and it was just going to cost to much. We were very glad to see that someone else has taken the challenge with this one. I hope they do it justice.



This house was very grand and seemingly well maintained. The most unfortunate part of this house (which is why I'm guessing it's still on the market) are the cats that live there. Not one or two cats but rather twenty of them. We attended an open house here where, in a very nicely done bathroom mind you, our feet stuck to the floor because of the cat urine that was all over it which appeared to have been there awhile. Oh yes, and there was cat vomit on one of the dressers. Forget going in the basement - our noses just couldn't take it. I was very upset to see such an amazing home being 'let go' in such a manner. Beyond that, we didn't like the kitchen and it's on a busy road in town. The price (once you add in taxes and utilities) would have been a real stretch for us too on one income.



They just don't make homes like these anymore. This type of craftsmanship is lost on so many modern homes. So, I guess what it all really boils down to here is that reason number three for moving is ...history.

Buyer No. 4

So this whole blog may seem a bit silly since we've been talking about a house we don't actually own but rather have been trying to purchase since early March of this year. Is this move actually going to happen? We just don't know and we wonder about that ourselves on a daily basis. Currently, we are working with the 4th person to make an offer on our house. It seems pretty solid this time but, we are skeptical. Our buyer has a mortgage commitment due on the 20th of this month. Once we have that piece, we'll then consider actually packing up the rest of this place. As the school year approaches and the colder months are getting nearer, I have to say if this one doesn't work out - we're done.

Forget Have-a-Heart

We have-a-hawk!



Actually, we have a hawk family.  They seem to reside in one of our old oak trees and they have pretty much eradicated our chipmunk population, which we estimated to be in the hundreds, if not thousands (lots of dead wood in these woods, left by the builder).  We've also noticed that our flying squirrels have either relocated or worse and our garage doesn't seem to have any mice this summer.  All good things in my book.



Now, if only we could teach the hawks not to scream at each other all morning we might get to sleep past 7am!

Mobile

When mom and I went to Korea to bring Emma home we had the opportunity to rock the babies at the intake hospital at Eastern.  The baby boy that we rocked the most was a bit older than the other babies because he bad been quite ill when he was first born, and as such had been held and loved by the nannies for months instead of the typical days or weeks.  Most of the other babies in the room were days old, tiny and sweet, but this boy was plump and cute and better able to demand out attention.  We took turns rocking him until we needed to put ourselves to bed, and then he was placed back into his bassinet.  Hanging over his tiny little bed was a mobile, light and delicate and perfect.  It was so simple, just yellow origami paper folded into cranes and strung on thread, but I never forgot it, nor the baby whose early life was spent sleeping beneath it.  I still wonder where he is.

On Saturday I had a Mommy Date with Emma and we wanted to find something to keep us busy during these looooong rainy days.  We were looking for lino block printing supplies, but instead we came home with origami paper.  We made our own crane mobile:



Ours is certainly not as dainty or refined as the one in Korea, but I love its color.  What you cannot tell from the picture is that it is constantly in motion...it softly twirls and sways on the slightest of breezes.  The top of the mobile is a branch from our maple tree.

You can see another crane mobile here (scroll down to see photos).