The Small Family     

Happy October, all! This has been a relatively uneventful week for us, full of just random bits. So, without further ado, I shall launch into them….

House-hunting has been consuming much of our spare time. I think I mentioned that our buyers want a 14-day close. That means when the bank approves everything, we have only 14 days to be out of our house. Now, when the bank will approve everything is anyone’s guess--it could be within the month, or it could be within the next 12 months. But regardless, whenever they sign off on everything, we have only 14 days to get out.

In Sacramento’s cutthroat rental market (more on that in a moment), 14 days isn’t long enough to necessarily find a house that you like, qualify for, can afford, etc. Really, it’s luck of the draw--is there anything good available right when you need it? Maybe…and maybe not. This makes us rather nervous, as we really don’t want to have to move into something we don’t really care for, just because we have a limited time to get out. So, we’re house-hunting ahead of time, and when we find something that works for us, we’ll jump on it.

The complicating factor is Genentech. Chris emailed them Friday, as they had told him they’d have a decision by the end of the month. Alas, they still have no decision--they told him “hopefully in the next few weeks.” Wonderful. So we either sit tight and wait for them before looking--and run the risk of running out of time to find something before the bank closes and/or before I’m so uncomfortably pregnant that moving is a real chore--or we proceed with life here in the Sacramento area, and if Genentech does eventually offer him the job, decide whether we ought to break our new lease and move again. Hmmm. Tough decision. At the moment, we’ve decided to proceed with life here. And so…house-hunting.

Being a research nut at heart, I’ve been doing most of our research. And I’ve discovered that the rental market is a rather nasty place! A friend in a similar situation (had to let their house go due to a relocation--and had to ruin their credit to do it) warned me to be prepared for some unfriendly treatment from rental agents and people renting their homes, and I have to say that I think I’m seeing some of what she means. There seems to be a bit of stigma associated with being renters--to some people. This is not all people--I’ve dealt with nice ones, too. But some rental agents just blow you off when they hear “short sale,” and one has been downright rude to me. Because clearly, if I’m short-selling my house, I must be some sort of deadbeat who doesn’t pay my bills and won't be a good tenant. Sigh…

Anyway, Friday was an interesting day in the rental world. I started out the morning by being scammed by a homeowner I had emailed about his property. The supposed homeowner informed me that he was doing missionary work in Africa, so he couldn’t show me his property--but he was sure I’d like it, and if I’d just send him a money order and all my personal information, he’d be happy to get the keys to me after that. Um…not falling for that, buddy. But you’re the second person who’s tried to get me to fall for that one in the past week. Lovely.

Then, Theo and I went to see a house in Rocklin. Loved the house--it’s not really ideal in terms of size, but it is a bit bigger than our current house, and the neighborhood is great and is close to Theo’s preschool. In fact, I lived in that neighborhood about 10 years ago and really liked it. Lots of mature trees, a few restaurants and a grocery store within walking distance, a nice park close by, etc. However, I did not love the rental agent, who pretty much treated me like dirt. Still, I didn’t rule it out. She can think whatever she wants to think about us--I really don’t much care. But there is another house right next door  to that one for rent as well, so we decided to look at that one, too.

And so, a few hours later, Chris, Theo, and I went to the second house. This was literally three hours after seeing the first one. Chris stayed in the car with Theo while I went in, and then we swapped. (Theo was crabby, and we didn’t want to take him in and deal with him fussing, so we just took turns.) When I walked up to the door, there were three other parties waiting to see the house, too. One was a rather snooty blond woman who announced to all of us, “The house next door is already rented. So is the one down the street. They’re all taken already.”

I said, “Really? I just saw the one next door a few hours ago, and the rental agent told me it was still available--no one had applied yet.”

“Well, it must’ve rented within the last couple of hours. It’s gone,” she said brusquely.

The guy next to me said rather sadly, “And the third one on this street, too? That’s too bad--I was hoping to be able to rent one.”

“They’re all gone,” she repeated, and then strode through the house as if she owned it.

Hmm. I was very suspicious--especially since the “For Rent” sign had gone up on the house next door after I saw it. It wasn’t there in the morning, and supposedly no one had applied for the house yet--three hours later, someone has taken the house, but then they put a sign up??? It was very fishy to me. So when it was Chris’s turn to go in the house, I called the number on the For Rent sign and talked to the same snotty rental agent I had met that morning. “The house is still available--it’s not rented yet,” she informed me. Well. Surprise, surprise… The snotty blond woman lied to all of us, presumably because she is interested in the house and wanted to keep anyone from competing with her. Lovely. Do we need to be so cutthroat, people?? Ugh, I was disgusted. Pregnancy hormones have not left me overly tolerant of things that irritate me, and dishonest people who look out for only themselves really irritate me.

Anyway, Chris and I ended up submitting an application for the second house. I actually preferred the first one in terms of layout (slightly bigger kitchen and easier to gate off part of the living area for an “office” so the kiddos can’t get to our work computers), but the second one had some bonuses: The owner pays water and garbage and pays for a weekly gardener. And actually, the first house didn’t even have a backyard, other than gravel--the second one has a nice little lawn. Given how much we enjoy being outdoors when it’s not too hot, we figured we’d like the small yard. And given how hard it was to keep our yard up when Theo was a baby, we figured we’d really like the gardener.

So, fingers crossed. We should hear by Tues or Weds whether we were approved for it. Here’s a link, in case anyone is interested: http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3451-Stoney-Rd-Rocklin-CA-95765/17718669_zpid/. If they don’t approve us, there’s another one in Rocklin we’re interested in, as well as two in Antelope. The two in Antelope are much bigger, which would be wonderful, but it’d be quite a haul to Theo’s preschool three times a week, so we’d prefer to stay closer if we could. Obviously, we could switch preschools, but we’ve just been so happy with ours so far that we’d love to stick with it if we’re anywhere in the area.

So that was a little aggravating on Friday--rude rental agents and cutthroat competition. But something wonderful came out of Friday, and I am still thanking my lucky stars for Chickpea’s guardian angel/luck/my protective mother! You’ve probably all heard about the cantaloupe listeria outbreak, right? I had heard about it but not paid too much attention, since I really don’t like cantaloupe anyway. But Friday morning my Mom called to tell me that the listeria outbreak had spread to romaine lettuce and tomatoes, too. Hmmm, we had eaten romaine for two nights previous, and we had some tomatoes in the refrigerator, so I went downstairs to check it out. Turns out our romaine was fine…but our tomatoes weren’t! They were from the exact batch that was recalled! Now what are the chances of that?? Of all the tomatoes out there, we happened to buy from the tainted batch!

But there’s more: Chris actually bought those tomatoes Thursday, because we were going to eat them with dinner Thursday night. But we were both so darn tired by the time Theo went to bed on Thursday (thank you, Theo, for exhausting your parents that much!) that we decided we were too tired to cut up the tomatoes, and we’d just save them for Friday instead. Now, listeria isn’t very dangerous for most people--they get mildly ill and then get better. But it is quite dangerous for pregnant women, because it passes easily through to the unborn fetus. And it can cause stillbirth. So if we had eaten those tomatoes Thursday night, as planned, Chickpea could’ve gotten very sick--or worse. And if my Mom hadn’t called Friday morning to pass on the news, we probably would’ve eaten them Friday night--and again, that would not have been good for Chickpea. So I’m eternally grateful for whatever combination of luck/fate/divine intervention/overprotective grandmother protected our little Chickpea! I’m feeling pretty darn lucky right about now….

As for events, we did enjoy the nice, cooler weather this weekend. On Saturday, we went to Davis to have lunch and walk around the Arboretum. Theo has been asking for “shooshi” (translate: sushi) for some time, so we went to Mikuni for lunch. I wasn’t entirely convinced he could chew sushi (the seaweed wraps can be tough to navigate), nor am I certain at what age sushi is safe for kids, so we just ordered him some cooked items and told him they were “shooshi.” :-) He seemed to really enjoy the edamame (steamed soybeans) and rice, and he ate a bit of the gyoza (chicken dumpling) too. Chris and I split three small plates of cooked items (because I can’t have raw fish while pregnant), and it was all delicious. Oh, how I have missed “shooshi!”

The Arboretum was a hit, though rather than stopping to see the flowers (which he usually likes to do), Theo preferred to just run like a madman down the paths. But it was perfect, because there was plenty of shade and room for him to run with no cars around. All in all, he walked/ran almost two miles--and would you believe he still didn’t take a nap after all that?? I, however, was exhausted….

On Sunday morning, we met my sister and her family at the State Capitol for the annual JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) Walk. My sister’s youngest daughter was diagnosed with insulin diabetes at age 8, so we do this walk every year to support research for juvenile diabetes. Stevie’s now a teenager, but hopefully someday they’ll find a cure, so kids like her won’t have to go through that wretched illness. She’s a tough cookie--I can’t even imagine how she’s endured so many needle sticks and injections and tests over the last five years, and she’s got a lifetime of it to come. Luckily, she has a naturally happy, positive attitude, so I guess if anyone can deal with it, she can.

After the walk, Theo, Chris, Grandma Diane, and I went out for brunch. I indulged in Eggs Benedict (heaven!), while my Mom had French toast, Chris had bacon and eggs, and Theo had mass quantities of berries and some bacon. Delicious!

And when we got home, I spent the rest of the day making large batches of plum and peach jam to can. I think we have enough jams to get us through to next year now!

A fun Theo bit: He must be working on more language-arts jobs at preschool now, because he’s sounding out words a lot more all of a sudden. He’s long been able to tell you the first letter of fairly common words, but now he can tell you the first letter of pretty much any word, as long as you speak it clearly. And he’s tried a couple of times to sound out a word he sees printed. Montessori actually teaches letter sounds instead of letter names (that is, they say, “This is the letter /buh/” instead of “This is the letter B”) because they feel it facilitates reading when the child is ready--and I think they may be right. Maybe Theo’s just at the right age to start sounding out words, but I can honestly say that he’s doing it much more since starting preschool, and I can’t help but wonder if it’s because of the way they teach letter sounds. Fun stuff!

And now, Chickpea: I’m officially 20 weeks now--halfway to the finish line! Maybe even more than halfway, if Chickpea follows her brother’s lead and arrives at 38.5 weeks instead of the “standard” 40 weeks. (Theo was considered completely full-term--he just came a week and a half before his due date.) She is now about 6.5 inches long, weighs about 10 ounces, and is the size of a small cantaloupe (hopefully not a listeria-contaminated one!). And she is a mover, just like her brother! Just in the past week, she seems to have established a pattern of moving like crazy after I eat and then sit down. In fact, one night she moved so much that Chris felt her kick when he put his hand on my belly! I think I was 21 or 22 weeks pregnant with Theo before Chris could feel him through my belly, so methinks this one is a strong little baby!

And Thursday is the big day: If Chickpea cooperates, we get to find out whether we’ve got a girl or a boy! The ultrasound is primarily to check the baby’s growth and all manner of stuff (this is when they can tell whether the baby appears to have any birth defects or serious problems--we opted out of the tests earlier in pregnancy because they can have a high rate of false positives and we didn't want the stress of worrying about it, but at the 20-week ultrasound, they can really tell a lot more), but a nice bonus is that if the baby doesn’t decide to be modest, you can usually find out the gender. So, I’ll do a special blog post on Thursday to let you all know what gender the baby is--and heck, if I’m feeling nice, I might even share the top names from whatever gender the baby isn’t. The gender-appropriate names will of course remain under wraps. ;-) So tune in Thursday--and keep your fingers crossed for a healthy, happy baby in the ultrasound!

***Oct 3rd update: We got approved for the house in Rocklin! Evidently our credit scores are still really high because we've only missed one mortgage payment for our short sale so far, and they were able to approve us really quickly. RELIEF!! We'll probably move in early November so we'll be settled before the holiday madness starts.***