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National Puppy Adoption Awareness Day
National Puppy Day was yesterday. I was busy being sick and not posting, but I did not want to let the event go by completely unmentioned here. I think the idea is to encourage people to adopt puppies from shelters instead of getting them from a breeder. And I get that. Shelters are overcrowded. But you know what they are not overcrowded with? Puppies. (I also happen to believe that the best way to cut down on dogs in shelters is for families to get the right dog for them, and sometimes that means going to a breeder.) When we first met Junebug in the shelter, she had been placed…
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House Hunting 3/22
Our Reno condo has finally gone on the market. That puts us one step closer to seriously house hunting. Traffic confounded our original plans to look at houses today, but we did go see one place in our neighborhood. $395,000 4 bed / 2 bath / 1,740 square feet / 9,150 square foot lot / 3 car garage + carports The Good: I am ridiculously charmed by the koi pond. Plus there’s a hot tub (under a shelter) and a full fountain, and two outside fireplaces. The garage is huge with a ton or storage. The 2 person garden tub is in its own little sun room off the master…
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The Honeymoon is Over
In foster care, as with many things, the start of a new placement is often referred to as the “honeymoon” period, where the newly placed foster child is on their best behavior. For those kids, I tend not to think of it as “honeymoon”, which has connotations both of choice and happiness (neither of which are often true in a foster placement) and instead think of it as the “scared out of themselves” period, where they are afraid to truly be themselves, for fear they will be sent away. However, “honeymoon” might be the way to describe that period from the foster family’s point of view, especially if they are,…
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3/15 House Hunting: House #4
House 4: $498,000 3 bed / 1.5 bath / (unlisted) square feet / 6,570 square foot lot / garage The Good: Okay, talk about curb appeal. The house look beautiful on the outside and is on a corner lot, but one of those triangle shaped corners, giving it a unique look. Plus, it is in the Seward Park neighborhood, which is definitely upscale. The street it was on was quiet. And as a random bonus, the house across the street had to adorable big dogs. The living room area with two sets of French doors that open to what was probably once a porch, but is now a fully finished…
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3/15 House Hunting: House #3
House 3: $439,000 5 bed / 3 bath / 2,560 square feet / 5,445 square foot lot / garage & carport The Good: When we arrived at the house, a neighbor was walking her dog by. She mentioned she could not believe how great the house looked. It had been bought and flipped, and she was thrilled. And while the house did not have the curb appeal of the previous brick house, it still looked quite nice, and fit in very well with the surrounding neighborhood. It was on a quiet street, Beacon Hill area, and again, seemed like an area where I would be fine with the girls playing…
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3/15 House Hunting: House #2
House 2: $475,000 3 bed / 1.25 bath / 2,140 square feet / 5,432 square foot lot / garage The Good: The house has great curb appeal, and is in a nice Beacon Hill neighborhood. The streets are narrow, but quiet, a place I would have no issues with the girls playing outside. It has a large back and side yard, but without a lot of fancy landscaping the dogs would mess up. I really liked the flow of the public spaces of the house, with the fireplace kind of set between the dining/living areas, and then the French doors from the dining area into the kitchen. The basement area…
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3/15 House Hunting: House 1
House 1: $385,000 4 bed / 2 bath / 2,080 square feet / 4,000 square foot lot / garage The Good: Based on the pictures, the price, and location, this was the house I was most interested in seeing today. It had a nice large kitchen with eat in space, and good sized, fully fenced back yard. The fireplace was lovely, and the two main floor bedrooms were pretty comparable, with a bathroom in between, making them good for the girls. The basement had been nicely finished with a family/entertainment room that was nice, and would allow perhaps for a child play area that wasn’t the main floor. The Bad:…
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Looking for the Good
When Pop Tart first came to live with us, she had a general anxiety disorder diagnosis. Almost two years, lots of hard work, and more coping mechanisms than I can count later, she still has symptoms of anxiety but no longer a disorder. Still, a generalize feeling of fear or anxiety can over take her at just about any time. In addition, she is one of those sensitive souls that FEELS (and yes, all caps) everything. One of the things we have struggled with as parents are school reading assignments that have dealt with death (in 4th grade, 2 classroom books assigned back to back dealt with child death and…
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Houses that are not for us
We are currently in the early stages of house hunting, with a plan to move this summer. I love to look at houses (both in person and online), so I am casting a pretty wide net with the search. Sometimes there are houses that for one reason or another are absolutely not right for us, but that have some kind of space or feature that I love anyway. I thought I would share some of those spaces. Look at these matching built in window seats. I don’t mind the scratches in the finish, that actually just adds to the charm. The house itself was more expensive than I would want…
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9 Things in 9 Months
About a month ago, my friend Jana at JanaSays posted her 40 by 40 list. Jana has a couple of years before she turns 40. I have 9 months. There is no way I am accomplishing 40 things in 9 months, but, I might be able to accomplish 9 things in 9 months, so here are some things I want to do before I turn 40 this coming December. Take kids to Disneyland This is kind of cheating, as the timeshare is booked, the plane tickets are bought, and the rental car is reserved. But I am very much looking forward to it. Complete the first draft of…
