Thursday, April 12, 2007
Re Lease
Signed a lease today. This means two things (sung to any tune you like). One: we have a place to live for next year. Two: all of the people who were mobilized to variations of sympathy ("poor dears"), rage ("why I oughta") and generosity ("we'll keep an eye/ear open for rents") can accept our heartfelt thanks and go back to whatever they were doing.
Pictured: A lovely property similar to one of the houses we
looked at in recent weeks.
It's quite a relief to have this settled. In the chaos of the last two and a half weeks we looked at as many as thirteen or fourteen places. The one we selected is a first-time rental in a non-student neighborhood close to a P&C grocery store, the bus line (to campus and to Ph.'s H.S., which will remain the same), Y.'s veterinarian, and Barry Park (which has a duck pond, outdoor hoops courts, and fields where Ph.'s soccer team practices). The house has a 1/2 acre fenced yard, bordered on the West by SU's practice fields for soccer and lacrosse. Yes, unobstructed sunsets, even if we have only three cloud-free days in central New York each year. And the inside is cozy. It's in amazing shape compared to most rental properties in the University neighborhoods.
The only other thing to be said about it right now is that the house number combines the first three numbers from the Hugo's winning lottery ticket on Lost. Those numbers on the hatch? The values Locke kept punching into the computer? Yeah, those. We're moving into a house with a few of those numbers boldly marking the front porch. 15-8-4. D. and Ph. think I'm making something out of nothing, but if I've learned anything from two-plus seasons of acute attention to Lost it's that the numbers are nothing to kid about.
Continuing the subject of trepidation inducers, Ph. passed the test for his NY driver's permit this morning. The person administering the tests at the DMV gave Ph. a wink of encouragement and said "Maybe your dad will let you drive home." Trouble is, the Element is the only set of wheels we have right now, and Ph. isn't especially practiced yet (enthusiastic though he is about getting behind the controls). Might be my ultimate and irreparable shortcoming as a parent, but I've got some serious meditation (therapy?) to do before I'll be ready to give driving lessons. So, even with the housing fiasco of '07 happily resolved, if I continue to seem anxious, remember that Ph.'s carefree self will soon be motoring around these parts with me as his nerve-wracked passenger.
Posted by Derek Mueller at April 12, 2007 10:55 PM
to Ground Swell
Congratulations! sounds like you got a good one.
The offer of boxes still stands. If you need some, let me know.
Remember trip to Gulf Shores, AL? You, Mom & yours truly drove straight through from Mt. Pleasant. I think that was your first and only year at CMU. At one part of the adventure, you were at the wheel. I remember waking up, and to my DISTRESS, discovered you had taken us on an unnecessary detour towards Memphis, TN.
I remember an incident on the way back home as if it were yesterday. You were driving when I glanced over at the gas gauge and observed the needle on EMPTY! We were about 10 miles from the nearest gas station. Thank God for lots of gas fumes.
Just small stuff when looking at the big picture.
Speaking of the pic, isn’t that Bigfoot peering out from behind the brush in the background? Ya gotta look real hard.
Happy to hear that you found a place. Moving is the worst, especially when you're already comfortable where you are. Re: Ph driving-buy the kid a beater and let him really learn how to drive. A couple a hundred bucks should do it, and I can have Mark keep an eye out for one. My girls didn't really learn to drive until I got the Camry and passed the Accord DX down to them. I am happy to report that neither of them have had a accident yet (2 years and going strong), and if they did? Well, the Accord is as old as Amanda, so no harm no foul. Tell Ph I said congrats!
Posted by: denise at April 14, 2007 7:36 PMThanks for offering the boxes, Chris. I'll let you know if we can use some of them.
Funny thing, Dad, is that I remember being the one who woke up from a long car-ride's nap to find that *you*, in fact, were the one who'd made a wrong turn toward Memphis during that trip to the Gulf Coast. Perhaps you were reading the map by the dim orange light of the low-fuel warning signal? ;)
I think you're right about us needing to grab a cheap set of wheels, Denise. If you hear of anything, let me know. It might be six or eight months before we do it, but a second car, much as I hate to think about it, is most likely on the horizon.
Posted by: Derek at April 14, 2007 9:18 PMDid I tell you that we taught the kids to drive by letting them practice driving in the cemetary? If you can find a big one, it's the safest place to begin driving lessons...Good Luck PH
Posted by: Sybel at April 15, 2007 9:06 PMCemetery? I hadn't heard about that before. I'm beginning to think that I can avoid the inevitable driving lessons by picking him up Test Drive Unlimited or some other sort of driving video game. Might work, yeah?
Posted by: Derek at April 15, 2007 10:06 PMMight NOT work...OMG!...Take him driving in the cemetery. If he crashes there...hey...he can't hurt much...Make sure it's a cemetery with no upright grave markers. See you soon!
Posted by: Sybel at April 17, 2007 8:27 PM