oh so glorious...

i think we found a house! i'm not over my head with joy because this house has been on the market for a while and the original listing expired and it was reactivated by the same listing agent, almost immediately, with no drop in price. there's also been a lot of activity since there was a stack of business cards on the counter from all the realtors who have recently shown the place....so it might be that the sellers are not willing to come down in price at all, but based on comps and the overall condition of the house, they really should.

so *squeeee* we're starting the process - our realtor is talking to our lender and the seller's agent and within a few days we could have an offer on the table. i guess i am a little excited (okay, a lot) even though the house isn't perfect. it's about 15 years old, has enough space for everything we could possibly want - including studio and preschool space for me, an eat-in kitchen that my husband adores (so he'll still be doing the majority of the cooking), a living room with a fireplace, a huge, very well maintained backyard, large, mature trees in the front and back, real wood floors and tiles throughout the downstairs, a small section of built-in bookshelves (in my preschool/craft studio side of the house), a covered porch and back patio with a lovely covered deck off of the master bedroom. it also has something things i don't like but nothing major. there is a jet tub and a fully tiled shower in the master. my husband loathes tiles in the shower because of the constant upkeep and potential for mold growth. as it is, this one isn't in the best of shape so if he ever makes the case for going with an acrylic surround from re-bath or something, i'm totally getting a claw-foot tub!

also, there is no dedicated laundry space. there is a laundry closet. in the hallway upstairs. which i see as a future bottleneck in the day to day operations of running a house that size. in fact, i know it - this house happens to be the exact model that a highschool friend of mine lived in and i vaguely remember seeing laundry often piled up in that hallway - but we have nothing more than a laundry closet (except, without closet doors) right now and yeah, sometimes i do throw laundry in the hallway but i get it done. it never sits longer than it takes to free the washer. i'm not crazy about this, i do like the feeling of a laundry room but i also like the size and space downstairs so i don't think i'd trade the square footage down there for a bigger place to house the washer and dryer. there is only one linen closet but there's also a vacuum closet and downstairs there is a harry potter closet, afterall...all in all, it serves our purposes.

so being that patience is not my strong suit, i'm done talking house for now...

how about a general, all-around update?

my oldest started highschool last week. he also thinks that making fun of people or being mean, in general, is "funny."  i'm at a near loss for how to talk to him or get him to understand that really? it doesn't hurt to be nice. it doesn't. not in the privacy of your own home, not in front of your friends. take the high road, dude. however, i understand that a lot of how he behaves is how i used to behave. i can relate to him and i also grew up in a home where that sort of banter was encouraged and despite being a sensitive individual, i often related to others by picking them apart and making fun of them or just being an out and out sarcastic asshole. despite my general knowledge and understanding of the psychology behind this, he keeps using the excuse that he just wants to be funny and why can't he be funny? my only answer is, "you can be funny without being hurtful." but that gets me nowhere. my husband suggests i say something like, "if you're so funny, please take a look around and tell me who's laughing?"

on my journey to be a more authentic, genuine person i have torn down the walls of sarcasm. i've even toned down A LOT, the things i say that i quickly follow with "i'm just kidding" because it's not an authentic statement if more often than not i'm not really kidding, just too scared to own my own words. i know my son is on his own journey and i am not completely responsible for his behavior or actions but it's difficult to see him on the same, or a similar, path. it's difficult to know that there's nothing i can do but teach by example, which is a challenge because i am still learning. i hope that he can be motivated to find his way sooner than i did, without too many tough life experiences. in some ways, i suppose that's what every parent wants for their child - but not every parent was sixteen when their first child was born and made as many mistakes as i did.

but moving on, and on a lighter note in the world of mistakes...

so that silver stamped disc with sprout's name and date of birth ? yeah, well i've been wearing it for weeks and only two days ago did it occur to me that i ordered it with the wrong year. he was born in 2009, not 2008, for the record. but since i don't love these discs more than other name pendants out there and since the price nearly doubled since i ordered the ones for my older two, i'm just going to have live with my error.

mommy brain at it's finest.

now, to get the little ones breakfast and continue on with this glorious day that shall include some packing because no matter what, whether this is the house for us or not, we're moving soon!