My last post was on February 22nd, a handful of days before Willow turned 9. A lot has happened since then. The times when I am most prolific with my blog writing always seem to coincide with long stretches of routine, when very little news of excitement or importance occurs.
Jeanine and I, sometimes with Willow and/or Eva in tow, have spent the last month or so looking at open houses. A realtor that we met at the first one we went to has been showing us around. The houses have ranged from dumpy and forlorn to interesting and appealing. Our first actual bid was rejected, mostly because we wanted the owners to take care of a rather sizable termite problem. Our second bid wasn't even in the top 3, despite the fact that we bid $15,000.00 over the asking price. It seems that the low interest rates have encouraged a vast number of people to buy homes. For the third house we bid on, we bid $15,000.00 under the asking price, and the sellers didn't respond by the time the bid expired. The fourth time was the charm. We bid the asking price, and it was accepted. The fourth house is the only one of the four where we actually met the owner, and I think the fact that we're planning to occupy it with our children instead of using it as an investment worked in our favor. The house has been in the seller's family for half a century, so its fate seems important to her. More on the house in future posts.
Needless to say, all of this searching and bidding has taken up a lot of time. Not to mention the fact that I've been working days for the last couple of weeks while Willow's mom has been in the hospital for a planned surgery. While working as the night supervisor at camp, I tend to take for granted my daytime freedom, so now that I'm working days, I'm surprised at how little time I have. I have two more weeks of hiking with kids before returning to my nocturnal schedule - one because my boss asked me to, and one because Sophie's class is coming to camp. Sandwiched between those is a week off which coincides with Willow's Spring Break. Tax day looms as well. In short, much is happening in a short period of time.
We've finally seen a bit of rain too. March had a few rainy days, including yesterday when I led a "reptile safari" along some of the trails near camp. This was for the son of a woman who hired me through Jeanine's website, and despite the rain, the party was a success. Most kids don't mind mud and rain, as long as they don't have to stay out in it too long. The parents were good sports too. The reptiles we found were sluggish due to the chilly temperature, so the kids caught some lizards and I caught a couple of Rattlesnakes. Fun was had, cake was eaten, and I even got a $40.00 tip.
A lot of my childhood literary interests have factored into recent weeks as well. Willow has finally started being interested in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, thanks to the Retro Dome, which has showed the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy on its screens recently. She is currently reading The Hobbit. We saw the Tintin movie too (which was very good), and Willow has started reading the Tintin books. I was so excited by this that I dropped $120.00 for a box set of the entire Tintin series (I reread mine until they were shedding pages). We also saw the John Carter movie (based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs Martian novels, which I happily read and reread as a child) and I quite liked it.
Welcome Spring. This is definitely a Spring during which many things are happening. I feel more or less caught up now.
Currently listening to: Dead Can Dance "A Passage In Time", and looking forward to seeing them play in August.
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