Blue House

Aaaannnddd...this is why I will never be a professional blogger with hundreds of thousands of followers.
It's been quiet around here. I know, too quiet. What's funny is that it's my husband who chirps up every now and then with a "it's been quiet on your blog," to which I mutter something lame about time.

After my last day of work two weeks ago I embarked on my first task as a stay-at-home mom and wife: Task Force Find a Place to Live in New York was launched 3 days after I quit my job. This trip was no joke. I had a job to do and I intended fully to get that shit done. There were lots of "you're crazy" and "poor thing, you should be resting" comments but I wasn't deterred. Without an address it was impossible to get this move on the road.

Of course, the day before I left for New York I spent the entire day in L&D ruling out a deep venous thrombosis. I don't know how Widget is sitting in there but the venous return from my right leg is shit. My whole leg looks like the surface of someones brain with some spider veins sprinkled on top to make it prettier. I'm not a vain girl by any stretch of the imagination but if this doesn't resolve once this kid is out I'm straight to a vein specialist to get it all 'taken care of'. Also, for the record, I'm tired of pulling my pants up. I've decided that pregnancy is just 40 weeks of constantly pulling up your pants.


After too many hours on a plane I touched down in New York. Last time I was there it was with the sole purpose of deciding if I could make this place my home. This time I was there with the sole purpose of signing a lease. It may be naive, but I was just not worried. I know, right? We've always managed to find great places that are way undervalued and being rented out by really nice people. Our current landlords have been by far the very best but honestly, we get lucky every single time.

I drove north of the airport, radio off and listening intently to the staccato directions of the navigator function on my phone. The Manhattan skyline dominated my peripheral vision to my left but I was headed north on a mission. Somewhere around Yonkers you can easily tell that the city is left behind.
Trees! Big, beautiful, green, leafy deciduous trees.
Grass! Rolling knolls of soft, fluffy, cool grass.



There is no doubt in my mind that this is the better place for our kids. As I drove further north I started to wonder... this seemed farther away from Manhattan than I remembered. If the father of our children spends all of his time on a train instead of with them then that's sort of a problem. No amount of grass or trees can replace the sturdy presence of their father. It was my first lesson in location. On a map, which all we've had to work with, everything seems so close. That's before you take into account the maximum speed limit of 55 mph.



There was a job to do but I also had imagined that I would have a lot of down time. When I packed on Saturday night I snuck around quietly in the darkness as everyone else in the house was sleeping. I put my practice crochet in the bag, a yoga DVD, bubble bath and plenty of books. Hehe. Ahem. Uhhhm....yeah.

I spent that week busting my ass, people. The whole week was spent on the computer and phone. I dialed a total of 38 addresses into my phone navigator. I got in and out of cars at least a thousand times. That seriously sucks when you're 7+ months pregnant. I was up late and up early despite this glorious opportunity to sleep as much as I could possibly want! By Wednesday evening I had seen well over 25 rental properties all over Westchester county. I was exhausted and discouraged. I tapped in a familiar URL as a last-ditch effort to scour Craigslist for something worth looking at. That's when I saw it beckoning to me like a brilliant periwinkle blue light. I called immediately. Wouldn't you know, the owner of the house lives in Berkeley. We talked on the phone for over an hour. That was just the beginning of the process.

I didn't want to announce it until the lease was signed and the check was written because God forbid I jinx it. I am proud to say that I did it. Behold, our sweet little blue house:

Our sweet little house is an 8 minute walk to the train station at pregnancy speed. Our cute little town is a quick 30 minute train ride to Grand Central Station. I know. I tried it when I met a new friend for breakfast in Manhattan Tuesday morning. There is a cute town center and a kick ass library. 

Oh, and the easiest part of all of this? You'll never believe it - it was getting Ada into pre-school about a mile from our new house. Staying at home with her is so awesome right now. It's also been an interesting time of unearthing 3 years worth of neglected personal business. 

I'll be back with part II, maybe tomorrow.