We Will Trade With You

The twins are at the stage where they probably still need to nap sometimes, but generally won't. And I mean this in the sense that it seems like a conscious choice on their part. I don't know exactly when this comes full circle, but there are many days when we say to them (either internally or actually out loud), "wow, I'd love to take a nap right now."

When we ask them if they are going to go "sleepy" or "night-night," their response is often a simple "no." It's not a problem to keep them in their room for a supposed quiet hour. (This is really in principle only. Since they still share a bedroom, they are often bouncing around for this faux nap period.) The problem comes toward the end of the day when they basically start to lose it because they are so tired.

This cycle manifested itself when we took a quick trip to Portland for some family holiday celebrations this weekend. By the time we left Portland for the 3-hour trip back to Seattle yesterday, the kids were wiped out. But did they sleep like KLC and I so desperately wanted to ourselves? Of course not. If not for audio books from the library, I think the last 30 minutes of the trip would have been ugly. It seems to be futile to explain that in a certain number of years, they would pay someone for the opportunity to fall asleep during a dark car ride.

Christmas? Already?

I'm struggling a bit to understand where time is going. Somehow, Christmas is a week and a half away. It hasn't snuck up on me entirely. I have managed to get gifts, attend a holiday concert, and, of course, watch Rudolph and Frosty several times. (It was for the children. I would never watch those things for their awesomeness, er, I mean, for myself.)

Maybe some of the time-warp effect comes from the newness of virtually every aspect of the holidays. This is the first time that I won't be spending Thanksgiving and Christmas with my family and friends in Massachusetts. It's strange -- and rather nice -- that I managed to spend the first 36 sets of holidays there. It's just a bit odd having the first one away in my mid (ok, late?) thirties.

I'm very excited to spend Christmas with KLC and the kids in the new house. I think we've had more fun shopping for the kids than they will have getting the toys. (FYI, the kids are mildly obsessed with Santa.) My only wish is that I was able to import my friends and family to Seattle for part of the season as well. I will make do with Skype and email and cell phones, but everyone is welcome to come visit us here in the Pacific Northwest during any time of the year. We will even let you watch Rudolph or Frosty.

(PS I noticed it was 27 degrees in Boston today. I have no idea if that mammoth storm raging across the country will hit New England eventually, but they often do. Let me just say that it is in the 40s today here in Seattle with some off-and-on rain, but *no snow or ice.* I'm just saying ...)

Storm '10 in Seattle

I moved to Seattle under the guise that "it doesn't really snow" there. I heard this from multiple people so I thought it must be true.

Well, here we are on November 22nd, and there are several inches of snow on the ground. And the temperature tomorrow is supposed to be about 26 degrees. Now, this would be a slightly-earlier-than-usual experience in Boston, but apparently constitutes a big deal around here where -- wait for it -- it doesn't really snow.

Needless to say, schools have been closed, spinning classes have been cancelled (most importantly, the one I was planning on going to at 6:30am tomorrow), and cars have practically stopped driving on the road by our house. For those of you not in the snow-castrophy here in the Pacific Northwest, I assure you, we are all fine. Just barely.

Inside, Outside

It's been a few weeks since we moved into the house, and there are many things we are proud of. First, there are no lethal objects sitting around for the kids to find. Likewise, all electrical, heating, and other dangerous systems are not accessible. We are still working on getting everything in the right place, but at least we can generally relax knowing that the twins can't get into too much trouble and/or cause bodily harm to themselves or each other.

Unless, of course, they go in the yard. We've got a very cute space in the back of the house, a side yard with raised boxes for gardening, and some nice mature landscaping in front. There is a fence on three sides of the property -- but not in the front. The problem is that it is apparently a law of nature that if one twin goes in a certain direction, the other will go in an equal and opposite direction and, if humanly possible, find the one unblocked access point to the street (ok, maybe that's a mutated physics law, but I swear it's true).

The bottom line is: we need to call the fence people. If we have to worry about a twin squirting out of the yard unattended, I don't think we'll ever let them out there without multiple adults until they're in high school. This is an option, but I think we'll try the fence thing first.

Never a Bad Time to Wear Your Costume

Needless to say from the photos, the twins have gotten their Halloween costumes. Of course, there really is no bad time or place to wear them if you are three years old. A couple of days ago, it was in the yard (for one of them). Yesterday, they both wore them -- the one not seen here is a panda outfit -- to story hour at the library. Apparently, the twins were a big hit with the other kids in attendance who failed to seize the opportunity to show their Halloween spirit on a random Wednesday morning.

More Pics of the House

Here are some shots that actually show the inside of the house. The interesting part for me is that the previous owners actually *raised* the whole house to make the basement an actual useful and comfortable space.

A lot of the houses we looked at had nice main floors, but then a "finished" basement that they counted as living space. The problem was the ceilings were often low, or there were sections with cement floors, or there were only a few small windows -- or all three. In other words, it's not the kind of place you would actually want to spend time unless you had nocturnal tendencies. Plus, having children run free around exposed wires or heating ducts might be a little dicey.

So, while the square footage of this house is relatively low, it feels big to us because every inch of the house is useable and has a purpose after the renovation that the previous owners did around 2006. (Plus, after living in dorms, apartments, and condos for much of the past 20 years, anything might seem spacious to me.)

Brief layout description:

Main floor: open area that includes kitchen, two bedrooms, full bathroom. The kids will start out sharing one bedroom (which they do now here), and the other bedroom will be a playroom. When they are ready to separate, we'll split the kids and toys up into the two bedrooms.

Ground floor (my term to act like it is not basement living): master bedroom with bathroom, family room, office, another 1/2 bath, and then laundry area.

The House-Buying Process

So far, so good with the whole house business. The inspection happened and there were just a few minor issues that were found. The sellers agreed to address (that is, pay for) the small things we did want taken care of. The closing is set for October 20th, barring any surprises between now and then.

Just a few words for those of you who haven't bought property since the Great Housing Slide of the past couple of years. Basically, be prepared to fork over lots and lots of documentation. This house is the third piece of property I've bought (actually, this is the first one that includes dirt and ground as opposed to a room or two in a condo building). Anyhow, when I bought my first condo in 2001 or so, I think I had to provide a social security number and a pulse and I was approved for a mortgage payment I could never afford. OK, the first part of that sentence isn't true, but the last part absolutely is. (And, no I did not take the mortgage company on its generous offer to bankrupt myself or else I wouldn't be buying something right now.) Essentially the same story in 2005 when I bought the second condo.

This time around? Well, let's just say I've had to justify "unusual" deposits in my account -- that is, a couple of relatively modest amounts that didn't come from my employer. Not only did I have to write a letter, I had to provide back-up documentation when I explained the source. Of course, it has taken the banking industry millions of foreclosures and short sales to realize that giving out mortgages like candy might not actually work in the long run.