Birthday Memories

I'm a little pensive today. Some of it has to do with the fact that it is Missy's birthday. She is 6 years old! Every time one of my kids has a birthday, I naturally think of the day they entered this world. Missy was born in the morning. We went to the hospital at 2am. Ben had to leave shortly after her birth because they had just been attacked by a computer virus at work, and he had to try and clean up the mess. Missy was named after my very talkative grandmother, Gani. We made her come to the hospital before we would tell her the name, and when she heard it, she just opened and closed her mouth a few times before she could even speak.

Gani with Missy

My grandmother passed away when Missy was about 11 months old. I'm glad she lived long enough to witness her namesake since I had always planned on naming my second daughter after her. So I think of my Gani today, too.

Missy, moments after her arrival.

Missy, 2 weeks old

Fang

Buster has acquired a new nickname over the past few weeks. He now has 3 teeth--two on top and one on bottom! The bottom one is in the middle. The two on top are on the sides, hence the nickname: "Fang."

Fire!

We were thinking we would do our home inspection this Saturday. Yesterday, however, something happened to change our plans. I had sent an e-mail to the other agency in the middle of the week mentioning the gas and roof problems. No one called me; no one responded to my e-mail. Our friend/landlord/prospective neighbor called yesterday to tell us someone was working on the roof. Ben stopped by on his way home from lunch to check things out. When he arrived, lo, and behold, fire trucks were there! The silly people who were working on the roof used ice melt to get the snow off so they could fix it. This caused a torrent down the wall behind the electrical panel and zap! a fire!

Luckily, the damage isn't too severe. The stairwell wall around the panel is burned, and the firefighters had to put a hole in the kitchen ceiling to get access to the attic to fight the blaze. It does smell like smoke in there now, though, and the roof still isn't fixed.

The big question, of course, is whether or not we will still buy the house. We don't know yet. We sent a long and detailed e-mail to the other agency yesterday, and we are anxiously awaiting the response. Then we should have enough information about timing and exactly what they will fix to know whether to buy it or walk away.

The worst case scenario is that we just give it up for lost and stay where we are. That wouldn't be too nice to the people who were planning on moving here in March, but they haven't given notice in their current rental. (They're our friends, too.) The best case scenario, of course, is if they have to do new carpet and paint for us to get rid of the smell! I'm not holding my breath though; this is the government.

Home Inspection, take 1

Dave Barry wrote a book called Homes and Other Black Holes. I thought it was a very funny book when I read it in high school, but I'm afraid I might identify with it too much to find it funny now.

Last Saturday, we met Ben's dad at the new house to do our inspection. We had called the utility companies so we could have gas, power, and water to check things out. Upon arriving, Ben's dad went to the gas meter while Ben went to the electrical panel to turn on the power. There was a red tag on the gas meter informing us that the gas had started running immediately upon being turned on. It probably just means the pilot lights were left on. Meanwhile, Ben got a mild shock. It turns out there is a leak between the old house and the kitchen addition. The water was also dripping down behind the electrical panel. Well, we gave it up for lost and came home.

We now need to fix the roof. Thanks, by the way, to all those of our friends and family who have so kindly volunteered to help us do it!!! We will be calling you when we finally close.

I'm just grateful we learned about it now instead of after we move in. I'm really glad it was raining last Saturday for that reason! Really, it's best if you can see a good rainstorm in a prospective house.

Some would call us crazy to buy the home in this condition. We still feel that this is the right home for us.

Well, kids are beckoning. May you all have a lovely weekend!!!

Job Title: Referee

One of my biggest pet peeves in parenting is as follows:

Child A wants Object 1. Child B wants Object 1. Parent (a) introduces Object 2, intending it to distract and mollify Child B. Now Child B wants Object 2. Child A decides that Object 2 is better than Object 1. Object 1 now lies dejectedly in the middle of the floor as the argument continues over Object 2. Parent (a) shakes head, and proceeds to look for Object C.

Have you ever been: 1) Parent (a); 2) Child A; 3) Object 1?