Langer Loksh

Smallerish, Lighter Blue

Today I went on a house hunting blitz before noon. I tried to go into it with an open mind, but I thought what would happen was that I'd be disappointed with everything compared to Big Blue. I was therefore quite surprised to find that while two were rather awkward, two others have a lot going for them. One was Big Blue II, an absolutely gorgeous antique, more livable than Big Blue I, but still perhaps out of our price range. Then there was Smallerish, Lighter Blue: a somewhat fuddy-duddy 1950s colonial, in move-in condition... on a lake. So, the master bathroom is pink. I say we go with it. Punch it up. Get some wild magenta Indian textiles for curtains.

We are strongly considering Smallerish, Lighter Blue. Or shall I call it, Tadpole City. Our fisherman Pop will be in heaven.  But the best part is that I no longer feel that Big Blue is the only interesting house in town.

Fool!

I have been a fool! My mom is up so I drove her by Big Blue and there were tons of people (OK, three people) looking at the house. Obviously the owners told brokers they could bring clients this weekend. There was one guy, a strapping red haired British fellow, who was measuring windows. He said he'd seen the house three times. Competition! I've a call in to Peggy.

Today we celebrated Charlie's birthday with a brunch for our family and neighbors. Here is the pirate hat cake I made (carried carefully by neighbor Katya) and the cute guest of honor with his dad.

The Coop is Here

It is a chicken palace. The chickens have more square footage per occupant than we do.

Speaking of, here's the latest on Big Blue. The septic system passed with only minor repairs. The owners foolishly told our Peggy that they're away this weekend. This means no showings, since they're selling it themselves, and that we have more days to just let them twist in the wind. Bwah ha haaaaaaaaaaa.

Oh, and LT the chick, who had been attacked by Catchina, has healed up nicely. So all, I suppose, is well.

Patriots Day

Our Own Personal Nature Channel

It has been so gratifying to see Bob and Dandy catch up with their sisters. Now all five chickens are healthy and happy and living on the porch until their coop is ready. Not a moment too soon, either, because my kitchen was starting to smell like a chicken farm.

The four new chicks--I never told you, but we got two Jersey Giants, LT and Jim Burt--are in the laundry basket and were all well until the dramatic events of this morning.

Jeff brought all the chickens out in to the yard for a little fresh air and grass time. When Charlie and I walked Summer over to ballet, Jeff ambled off to the cafe for a cup of coffee. When we returned minutes later, Catchina, the next door neighbor's cat who kills every living creature in our yard, had the chickens cornered. LT sustained a gash.

Now the four chicks are back in their basket. LT will not bear weight on her left leg. I'm hoping we'll have another Bob and Dandy style comeback here.

Ann

This is my friend Ann's obituary. Today at the funeral, two of her friends read some of her poetry. In the first poem, Ann cast herself as Eve getting kicked out of the Garden of Eden. If she'd stayed, the poem said, she'd have a warm place to sleep and plenty of figs to eat. But would she be writing poetry? That poem made me smile. The second, she  must have written two weeks ago at most. She wrote about planting tomatoes that she knew she would not live to pick. That one made me cry.

Even though Ann was a very tiny person she was a giant to me. I'm going to miss her very, very much.

This Ice Water is Starting to Feel Rather Refreshing

This morning I peeked out my bathroom window to see if Alicia's car was there. I thought about last night, how we yelled to each other from my porch to her deck to determine whether we would use my green beans or her asparagus in our shared dinner. I thought about how truly awful it would be to move.

Then I went and checked my email and discovered that Big Blue's owners have dropped their price.

All thoughts of green beans and asparagus flew out the bathroom window. The ice man cometh!

I called Jeff and we hatched a plan to make another offer early next week. I still don't think they'll go as low as we want, but at least we're at the same bargaining table now.

Mind the Gap

A few of you have emailed. Don't worry, nothing is happening. Just haven't had the time to post.

Sunday night Jeff and I went to the Red Sox game. We beat the Yankees. That sentence is getting easier to write every year. Later we heard on the radio that the game was the most attended since World War II. There were really, really long lines--not for beer, but for coffee and hot chocolate. It was freezing!

Monday night I had book club. I am not going to recommend the book. *Spoiler alert.* It was a very frustrating sort of mystery about a painting, and at the end the painting burns and you never find out the answer. I suppose the real story was about the main character imploding, but really, I just wanted to find out if the painting was in fact the missing piece of Breugel's Seasons.

Next we're going to read Candy Girl by Diablo Cody. I have not seen Juno yet. I watched Brokeback Mountain, though. I thought it was excellent. All the more sad that Heath Ledger had to get himself killed. He was  the quintessential laconic Western dude.

Tuesday afternoon our friends the Zs came to visit from Rochester. We went to Drumlin Farm, where the girls held hands and giggled and the boys clutched plasticized trail maps and everyone climbed on fences and had a generally fantastic time.

Today was one of our last days at our Early Intervention play group as Charlie turns three in just two weeks. It feels funny to be the mom on the other side of the IEP meeting. It's nice to think I'll keep in touch with my group, but knowing how overbooked I am already, it's hard to see it happening.

My revered and beloved friend Ann L. has passed away, and the funeral is tomorrow.  With a little bit of babysitting contortionism I think I can pull it off. She deserves the highest respects.

This weekend Uncle Joey comes to visit. We're definitely looking forward to that.

The Magic 8 Ball Does Not Lie

"Mia has a ball and it tells the future. Do you know what it said? It said we are not going to move. Oh--AND, I might be getting a pony. And, it says we're going to see Grandma sometime this year."

Those evil geniuses at Mattel. How do they do it?

Meanwhile, not to spoil the surprise, but I just found the coolest favor for Summer's birthday party.

Various Plagues

You know, I'm not 100% sure that that's ringworm I found on my leg the other day. It seems to be going away much faster than the one I had last fall--though that one was the size of a small Eastern European country. But Alissa now has a new case of pink eye, which I'm quite sure I'll contract since we share phones and computers at the office (though she did wipe everything down with Clorox wipes). Really for me the main plague right now is that house. I think about it as I fall asleep. I think about it when I wake up. Maya says that's good. This way, if we end up getting it, I'll know I really really want it, and I won't get all nauseated and gripped with self doubt like I do about most purchases that are a lot smaller (Julie--remember that ski jacket?).

I wish those people would drop their price.