Breakfast at Charly’s

Not my house This week has been a busy one. Jeff’s hours have picked up so it’s been all me all the time. I’m not complaining in the least, though. Extra hours mean extra money in the bank to offset the weeks when OT is scarce.

Wednesday Izzie’s class had an adorable Mother’s Day party for the moms. Nothing like getting a decoupaged baby food jar with a votive candle and ice cream sundaes before 10:30 a.m. I’m telling you, nothing says “I love you!” more.

We found a house we were interested in looking at that I visited with Iz on Thursday. They were offering land contract so it was worth a look considering owning is still better than renting if you’re not upside down in your investment. I looked it over and on first pass it showed potential. I did find things that would require our bidding quite a bit less than they were asking. You could tell there had been water issues at one point and there was some mold and efflorescence on the basement walls. Aside from that, lots of cosmetic updates were in order but cosmetic touches aren’t deal breakers.

I made an appointment to return to the house the next evening so Jeff could take a look. With flashlight and tape measure in hand, Jeff nosed around checking cracks and crevaces that I didn’t seek out on first pass. I was more interested in the general condition of the home and checking that out before dragging Jeff in to take a look.

The flashlight tells all. It’s no coincidence that you see them whipped out on every show that has any variation of CSI in the title. We came away disappointed but were better off not getting mixed up in that property. We found a part of a wall that was soft and coincidentally both above and below we found problems on the outside as well as the basement foundation. I’m not builder but being able to push my thumb into plaster doesn’t seem like a good thing.

Friday was the day that I became the director of the special needs division of the AYSO in my area and it’s been a baptism by fire. I was supposed to take over in the Fall and learn as I went this Spring with the former director showing me the ropes. It didn’t end up happening that way. Friday she gave me all the stuff and Saturday I was taking registrations and trying to find uniforms that fit the kids that started this weekend. The problem was that I only had youth small or extra smalls and the kids are a touch larger than that. I have to get a hold of the former director and get some things straightened out. We need larger uniforms including one for Iain since I’m pretty sure we turned his in last Fall. I also need to order trophies and organize an end-of-year banquet. I need to figure out how many kids are signed up and make sure I have enough hard liquor on hand to get me through it. It’ll be fine in the end but I wasn’t expecting to have to take over so quickly and with no training whatsoever. This seems to be a theme in my life. Just about every job I’ve ever had has offered me little training with high expectations. I’m a quick study but damn, people.

Yesterday was a very long day. It started with the soccer game and people approaching me as if I knew my ass from a hole in the ground to getting my hair done to my father-in-law’s 70th birthday party. The party was fun and the food was good. I reminisced with my high school boyfriend’s aunt and caught up with how she and the family were doing. I really liked her when I was dating my boyfriend and she’s still the same as she was 17 years ago. In fact, I more than liked her; I think she’s pretty damn terrific and remember wishing she would have been my boyfriend’s mother rather than the less-than-pleasant woman I had to deal with years ago. But? That’s how it goes. I’ve actually known her since I was in first grade since she was my lunch lady in my grade 1-8 school career. I went to school with a couple of her sons and they were nice kids. I got to be buddies with her daughter-in-law back in the day and I guess she had been asking about me recently. It’s nice to be missed and loved.

Iain started losing it at one point in the party so he and I decided to leave. I had arrived separately because I had to go to the salon so we had a car with which to escape. By the time we got home I think we were both ready to decompress and even go to bed. I sat down in the big chair and cuddled up with my beloved laptop to catch up with my pretend life. I have a saved search on Realtor.com and a sub to the RSS feed to that search so if any new properties pop up for rent, I know about them right away. Guess what? Yup. New property to check out.

By the time I saw the new property online, I had changed out of my clothes and thought I was settling in for the night. I called the office with which the property was listed on the off chance that an agent might be there. The last rental I called about I called nine at night and I was only expecting either a recording with the office hours or the chance to leave a message. An agent picked up and actually startled me. This time I was able to leave a message. I wanted to see the place in person so I got dressed and Iain and I took a little drive.

Pulling up I thought it looked good and the yard was a nice size. I also noticed that along with the realty sign there was a generic “For Rent” sign with a number different than the one I called earlier. I called and bingo — Realtor.

We saw the house today at five and once we submit the required paperwork and whatnot, we’ll be enjoying the luxury of a roof over our heads that isn’t the icing on a shithole cake. It’s the second oldest house in the city (take that, Kelly and Mike!) and very cute. There’s a master suite in the basement with its own entrance and two and a half baths. The counter space in the kitchen is probably three times what we have now and I don’t think I’ll know what to do with it all. I know this sounds stupid but the fact that we’ll have a bathroom on every floor makes me giddy like a little school girl. The owner used to live in the home but has moved a couple blocks over so this isn’t a serial rental and you can tell. I also did right by calling right away because the Realtor had a few other calls after us; we got first dibs. So, for now we have the next step figured out and we move on in our adventure. The kids gave it their seal of approval so if everything goes smoothly, we’ll have the keys on June 1st.

Oh, and if you’re reading, Krystn — if you walk out your front door, cross the street, walk down the alley and stop at the sidewalk, you’ll be at our house. In fact, our address is almost identical to yours. Scared yet?

P.S. The above, while near me, is not my house. We can pretend it is, though.