Greek Fest & New House!

Sorry my postings have become irregular…I tried to post on Sunday, but either the computer froze, or blogger did, and I pretty much lost everything. So, here I am, trying to recreate the wonderful, insightful, witty entry that I had—and I’m sure I won’t quite be able to match the genius that flowed from my fingertips to the keyboard, but I’ll try.

I also promise to post a couple belly photos in the next day or so—in the past month I haven’t really felt, well, photogenic (unless you call feeling like a beached whale “photogenic”). But, I do think it’s important to document these stages, so I’ll get Patrick to take few snaps in the next day or so—if he can fit my belly in the frame, that is.

We went to Greek Fest on Saturday—it was a lot of fun, and I never knew you could play the Holy Trinity of Rock –n- Roll (for those of you who don’t know “Kids in the Hall,” that refers to the opening chords of “Smoke on the Water”) on a bazouki. Heck, I don’t even know how to spell “bazouki”—it’s basically a Greek mandolin. But, play “Smoke on the Water” you can, and I’m not sure if that thrills me or terrifies me. We also saw some children doing some native dancing, which as far as I can tell just involves walking around in circles to some really bad music. I DID hear a couple people yell “OPA!” which made the dancing bearable. My blood sugar levels have been low—maybe a bit TOO low—but it enabled me to enjoy a wonderful lunch of Greek meatballs, spanikopita, a bite of Patrick’s lamb, and the piece de resistance—Greek doughnuts. I just love that it seems like every culture has fried dough. And they were yummy.

We’re buying a house…no, the one in Finger hasn’t sold yet, but we figured we can get into a house for less than we’re paying for rent and the storage unit…we’re trying to close on June 9, a couple weeks before the Bean’s scheduled entrance into the world, and I’ve promised Patrick that I’ll keep my knees together as long as I can until we get moved in.

The house is really great—it was 3 bedrooms, but they took down a wall and opened up the living room, and so it’s just 2 bedrooms; 2 full baths. The house is old, and the current homeowners have redone some of the hardwood floors. We’ve talked about refinishing the hardwoods in the living room/what used to be the 3^rd bedroom and is now the dining room—but that can wait. The home is pretty much move-in ready—anything that we’d like to do would be cosmetic (changing out some of the light fixtures, for example). In the main bath there’s only a bathtub, but it’s a nice cast iron tub that just needs a little refinishing & an overflow cover…and the home inspector said that the overflow cover wouldn’t be an issue until the Bean gets older—and then that’s where he/she would be putting things. Like keys and maybe small animals. The homeowners have done a lot of updating—it’s got a nice, open kitchen, and the bedrooms are a really great size—the master bedroom is really big, there’s a nice master bath that they’ve redone with a nice vanity (and it does have a tub/shower) and there’s a nice deck out back. They also have an outbuilding that’s wired for cable, has heat & air, and we’re thinking it would not be hard to turn it into a guest cottage. There’s also a “dollhouse” that they bought for their little girls—one of those really cute playhouses, and Patrick said that it could be turned into a fort if we have a boy without a problem. There’s also a storage shed, too! The back yard is fenced, and has a swing set (that I’m pretty sure is staying). The house is on a corner lot, so the front yard is a good size, too, and the homeowners have done a good job of landscaping. There’s a wood-burning fireplace and a gorgeous mantle (so I don’t need to lay claim to yours anymore, Janet!). It feels like home to us…and we can’t wait to move in! Lots of windows, so it’s bright and airy. The front porch is big enough to put, say, a glider or double rocker on one side of the front door, and maybe a small table and a couple chairs on the other side.

Here are some pictures of the outside; we swung by on Saturday—we missed the yardsale, so all the furniture (including some nice antique pieces) were already gone, and I didn’t want to intrude by going inside (I know how I’d feel if we threw a yard sale, people bought the furniture my underwear was stored in, and then someone wanted to take pictures!), but we did get some outside shots.

Can’t wait to have y’all visit!!!

(Looking at the front of the house from the road)

(From the left of the house)

(From the right of the front yard)

(Patrick, wondering where he’ll put the new Smoker he plans on buying—this is on the back deck…it has recessed lighting that comes on at dusk!)

(Looking at the back deck from where Patrick was standing in the previous picture)

(This is in the corner of the back yard, looking towards the house; the “Guest Cottage” is the larger building next to the Sheriff’s car, the dollhouse is just to the left of that.)

(View of dollhouse)

(Patrick, walking the back property line)

(Big tree—oak? hickory? maple?—in front yard; Patrick is there for scale. If you’re standing on the front porch, it’s in the right corner of the front yard. Nice, big & shady…perfect for putting a blankie down & letting the Bean have some outside time in a nice, cool spot!)