Into week four

There's been a lot going on, and every day I think of something that I want to write about, but then just don't get time to sit down and do it. Henry has been sick, so has needed a lot of my attention. Poor guy, with a cough that woke him up, neither of us were getting much sleep for a few days. Last night was MUCH better and he's napping comfortably now. Lots of mama love and milk, vitamin C and D, and some eucalyptus salve to the chest must have helped while his immune system took care of the problem. He was back to being a rascal last night...such a silly boy.



We looked at more houses this weekend, and have decided to put an offer on the Case Street house. Whoop! We actually started yesterday, and offered 98K. They came back this morning with 112K, so Paul asked Fran to counter that with 105K. Hopefully, they'll take this offer. We really are excited about this house. Here are a few pictures:
Front view (ignore the snowmachine):

Front door:

Fireplace:

Kitchen:

Rear of the house, and garage:


Of course, we're fantasizing about everything we'd want to do there, and mentally arranging our stuff in the house! We'd love to make a modest garden in the back yard, and keep the side with the patio as a play area. Paint colors are springing to mind, and I absolutely cannot wait to start thrifting and rummage-sale-ing this spring once we have a house to outfit. Oooh, so excited, and I really hope this works out for us. Kind of crazy to be buying another "starter" home, but we've really come to terms with the fact that we'll have work to do, and are really excited for this to be manageable on one income so we can live the lifestyle we've been wanting for SOOO long. Thinking so much about this philosophy has really made me, in particular, kick myself around for being so irresponsible with our relatively huge previous income. But, that ship has sailed, and we have to start fresh from where we are NOW. I'm eager to learn more about living frugally, and doing things for ourselves. I'm also really excited to get our own place so I can have my kitchen back! Grandma's comfort level is something I'm trying really hard to respect, so I'm not doing a lot that I'd normally do. I'm looking forward to making kombucha again, and all my other fermenting projects like carrots, ketchup, sourdough etc. Henry seems to love fermented foods, and begs for kombucha whenever he sees me having it. So cute! I let him have small amounts, and I think it's good for him.

Things have been okay here with Grandma. She's seeming more relaxed, and we are all feeling more comfortable. We're still anxious to get into our own place, though. When her mood seems strange, or she's irritated with us, I just try to remember the Grandma of my childhood, and our relationship's foundation.


Certain things are still hard here: not recycling gives me physical pain! However, I'm going to try to take some of my new habits with me: cleaning up immediately after making a mess, getting more stuff done while Henry naps (like prepping dinner or doing laundry), making my bed every day, keeping up with the cat boxes daily, and taking a daily long walk with kid and dog.

Negaunee is a cool little town! The high school has solar power on the roof, most everything is walkable, several thrift/antique stores, a summer farmer's market, a lake to swim in, an awesome "enrichment" program of classes through the schools, friendly, quiet, and very close to Marquette's attractions. I am SO GLAD that we moved here; we really feel "at home." Being in our own home will really seal the deal for me!

We have our tenants in our old house, and are hoping that it goes smoothly. Their rent will cover the mortgage, taxes and insurance for the house, and so, we'll be able to hang onto it as long as they keep paying. They signed an 18 month lease, so we're hopeful that they're committed and responsible.

Starting week 3

So, things are starting to settle down around here a bit...
Henry's molar came through, so he's happier (finally). I had a terrible cold last week, which really laid me low, but I'm feeling much better now and almost normal. I'm attributing that immune system blip to all the stress and some bad food with moving, traveling and just plain not making an effort.

Grandma initiated a talk with us to let us know that she's happy with us here, and is worried that we're unhappy. We all sat down before supper last night to discuss it, and we're all happy to move forward from here. I hope we can continue communicating and being a healthy household. I do love her so much, and have hated feeling so uncomfortable with each other.

Aunt Cindy and Uncle Tim have insisted that they notice personality changes in Grandma. I am not so sure it isn't just stress and being somewhat uncomfortable with all the changes. At any rate, Aunt Cindy is taking Grandma to the doctor today to rule out anything physical, although Grandma feels fine. I'm sure that no matter what, we'll continue to have some bumps and issues to discuss, but we aren't going to rush into a home purchase or rental at this point, as we had feared might become necessary.

We've looked at quite a few houses in the last week. So far, everything in our price range needs work. The market here is very different than in SE Michigan, and most sellers are getting near what they list their homes for. The UP economy has been relatively stable, and improving while the Lower Peninsula was getting worse. So, bottom line, we're going to need to get a house that we'll do some improvements to, especially if we're sticking to our one-income plan, which we're committed to.

Here's the front runner, 215 Case Street in Negaunee.

The pictures on the realtor's website are quite bad, so I won't post them, but I will definitely take some if/when we go back to it.
We've actually had our eyes on this house since the fall, when this whole process started. We were DYING to look at it, but tried to prepare ourselves that it might be a dump, given it's age and just the fact that we were so hyped about it. It was built in 1890, and has had an addition to the rear since then. It's about 2100 square feet, has 3 large bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms. The main floor has refinished wood floors, original wood trim, lovely pocket doors between the parlor and dining room and the original (?) radiators in perfect condition. Lots of bright sunshine through big windows, and an inlaid design in the foyer wood floor. The living room/parlor is right inside the front door, to the left. It has a gorgeous fireplace with green pewabic tiles...the stinker is that it's just decorative, so we'd like to look into making it functional if we owned the house. The dining room is much larger and has a smaller room jutting off it that could be used as a huge playroom, or an office, or even a guest room if you added a door. The kitchen has wood floors and marble countertops, backsplash and toe kicks that came from the old Negaunee High School (very cool). There's a tiny laundry with good shelving and a window off the kitchen (yay for main floor laundry!), and a butler's staircase off the kitchen. The half bath is also off the kitchen, inside a finished off staircase...very unique! You take three steps down into the bath. It needs some freshening and updating, but that would be simple.

Upstairs, there's a huge bedroom with a walk-in closet; it's at the front of the house, at the head of the stairs and has south facing windows. Next, a huge bedroom that's currently occupied by two boys; it has some cracks in the drywall ceiling and would need work eventually, but big bright west windows and a big closet. Across the hall from this room is an updated full bath with new laminate floor, and a huge linen closet. Next to the bath is a small room, about 6 feet by 12 feet that has a window, and a ladder to the attic, which is not finished by has planked floors and would be awesome for storage. It could definitely be finished one day. At the north end of the hall, past the butler's stair, is another large bedroom that has a door opening onto the roof of the addition, which doesn't appear to be used at all. It has no railing, and could be unstable, but wouldn't that be an awesome patio/rooftop garden/whatever?? There's only that door for light there, and it faces north, so the room felt a bit dim. It had a big closet, though, and could be a great guest room.

Back downstairs, off the rear of the kitchen, the back door opens into a huge mudroom/shed with tons of shelves for storage, and room for all our gear and the deep freeze. The basement is accessed through this shed, but I didn't go down there because it was a steep narrow stair, and Henry was asleep on my back with his head sagging. Paul said it was just a plain utilitarian small basement, but would have room for "root cellar" type use. The backyard is fenced with wood privacy fencing, and there's a garage with alley access. Plenty of space for a modest veggie garden, or a few raised beds. The front porch is L shaped, and beautifully deep with a swing!
It's a decent, family-oriented neighborhood, although Henry probably couldn't walk to elementary school (there's a highway to cross). The middle school and high school are safe walking distance.
Those are all the pros.
The cons? Majorly gross carpet upstairs and bad doggy smell there too...there's hardwood that would need to be refinished under those gross carpets. There's wallpaper galore, and need to update paint in all the painted areas. It wasn't especially clean (lots of dusty/grimy nooks, and lots of dog and/or cat hairballs). Old windows, and an older roof. While the wood siding is okay right now, it will need regular painting. There's no park within short walking distance, that I know of.
They're asking $118K, but we don't think we'd offer more than$105K based on all the updating that needs to be done. Our realtor feels that would be reasonable. But, we're pressing on to keep looking, although we are strongly interested in this house!

On other fronts, we've been enjoying getting to know the area, and I feel like Henry and I are getting our routine down. We wake up early (around 7), play and have breakfast. By 8:30 or 9, we're ready to run an errand or two, and by 10 or so, Henry is ready for a nap. That's when I do some chores! When he wakes up, we have lunch and then head out with Blaze for our stroll. We walk til around 2, then come back and play some more. Paul is home by 3:15, and he takes over for an hour or so while I get to do some yoga. Then I get supper ready, and we all eat together. Grandma usually cleans up the kitchen after supper, then we all do some variety of relaxing. We've been loving a having access to a sauna in the basement. We take a family sauna once or twice a week, at least. Henry sits on the floor in a basin, where it's not too hot. It's terribly cute!


On Friday, Henry woke up super early around 5, and got crabby and sleepy around 7:30. I decided to bundle him into the car (where he fell asleep instantly), get myself some coffee and park by Lake Superior to read while the sun rose. It was really nice!



Then, around 9, he popped his eyes open and we headed for the Marquette Food Co-op, which is gorgeous.

We're going there a lot, and only using the Econo Foods or Super 1 grocery for some things Grandma wants. I think she's enjoying my cookery, and I am liking having more of a routine for myself. I'm still menu planning and trying to stick with that. I'm looking forward to getting to know the Negaunee and Marquette farmer's markets this spring (they start in May). I don't know if we'll be able to have a garden this year, but definitely next year and then I'll be rock solid and serious about our food production and storage. That's the goal! Happily, there are several local sources for pastured meat and eggs, although no local dairy source that I've discovered yet. I think there may be a farm or two that has dairy cows, but due to all the laws, can't say they sell milk. In the meantime, we're buying milk from Minnesota. It's grass-fed and unhomogenized, but has been pasteurized. I'm using it sparingly for drinking, but mostly to make yogurt; Grandma had an old Salton yogurt maker stashed, so I tried it.

The yogurt turned out to be sort of mucous-y, so I think I'm going to try the crockpot method next.

Anyway, if you made it to the end of this massive post, thanks! I'll try to update more frequently. Brevity is the soul of wit, right?

We're here!

So, long hiatus...I've been without internet access until last night. And, I just found the cable to upload photos. So, I think this is going to be a big, fat post about the move. And maybe about settling in.

We packed up the house. It was kind of sad, but not as sad as I was afraid it would be. I'll really miss my fabulous kitchen...it was especially special because Paul built it for me. But, I won't really miss the house, and definitely won't miss the neighborhood and all the barking dogs, trash and loud music. It's a little sad that our first child was born there and will likely never see where he was born, but...




Paul came to Negaunee on 2/26 with his dad Clyde, his brother Andrew, and Andrew's wife Sarah. Paul drove the big moving truck, and Clyde drove our pickup with a load. Andrew and Sarah drove their pickup with a trailer attached. Whew, we had a lot of stuff, even after mega-purge.
Before:

After:


They made it to Negaunee from Brighton in about 10 hours, which was really good for all those heavy trucks in bad weather. Henry and I settled in to spend the week at Paul's parents, which went well. It felt like a nice, albeit bittersweet, way to say goodbye. We had fun hanging out with cousin Layne, and playing a lot. I hated living out of a suitcase, but it was fine.

Paul started work on March 1, and I worked two days that week to finish up. I also was given a really nice going-away party by my birth center friends. I'm really going to miss them! It was sad to have my last day at the birth center; as aggravating as that place could be, it's been a big part of my life for the last 8 years.

On March 5th, Henry, my mom, sister Holly, her son Theo and I all came up to Negaunee together. It was a pretty painless trip, as it was, and the babies rode pretty well. Henry livened things up with a major blowout poop...thank goodness for heated rest areas because he had to be stripped naked and washed from chest to knees. Ugh. I wished I hadn't buried my camera in my suitcase!
Sadly, we got a phone call en route that my Grandma's brother Jim had been taken to the hospital in Marquette after being found down at home. He'd had an aortic dissection, and was on life support. Grandma didn't seem to have much reaction when Mom talked to her, but that's kind of how she is these days. I let Paul know, just in case Grandma wanted to go to the hospital. We weren't sure what to expect when we arrived, but I was really glad that Paul was going to be home from work.

We got in around 5:30, and Henry was soooo happy to see his papa (another moment of wishing for the damn camera). Grandma had gotten some supper together, and we all ate and talked. She seemed pretty unreactive to her brother's terminal diagnosis, and hadn't gotten much info from his wife. It was hard to tell how to act, so we just started settling a few of our things in our room. Saturday, Uncle Tim came in the morning to check in. We visited for a while, had some coffee, then Aunt Cindy and Uncle John brought over some awesome cinnamon rolls; more coffee, more visit.
Paul and I settled more stuff, and organized our stuff in the basement while my Mom looked after Henry for us. Grandma really didn't want us to move anything of hers around, so we were getting creative. We put some slider locks on the cabinets with fragile or dangerous stuff, and tried to surreptitiously move a few breakables. It seemed like the day flew by...then we headed over to my Dad and Sandi's for pizza and a beer.
Grandma's house, 934 Oak Street


Sunday was hard; I felt very emotional about Mom, Holly and Theo leaving. I also felt a sense of "what have we gotten ourselves into?" with our current living situation. They left after breakfast and I had a big cry. Paul was with Henry while I was washing my face and getting myself together. When he came upstairs with a look on his face, I knew something bad had happened. Henry had broken my Grandma's mother's vase which she had in the living room. Sigh. I had another cry, and apologized profusely to Grandma. She seemed really uncomfortable and didn't make much eye contact. Paul took the vase down to the basement for a repair attempt, although she told him to throw it away. Whew. After lunch, we took Henry over to Dad and Sandi's again, so I could use the computer and pay some bills. I think we all needed some respite and some breathing space. It was nice to just zone out a bit.

Meanwhile, the weather was GORGEOUS. 50's, sunny and spring-y. We soaked up some sun and headed back to Grandma's.
Monday, Paul headed to work

and Henry and I got ready to spend our first day here with Grandma alone. It went okay. Henry and I took a long walk with Blaze and checked out our new neighborhood. Henry is working on a molar or two, so has been extra crabby, but we're working it out.

Day Two: Grandma kicks it off by asking when we'll be leaving, and saying that she doesn't like all of our things around and the barriers on the cabinets. Gulp. Panic. Phone calls. Aunt Cindy came over in the afternoon and we all talked about the situation. Basically, it seems that Grandma doesn't really have a grasp on what it's like to live with a 1 year old, and Paul and I are feeling like we need to tiptoe around. I really want to remain respectful of Grandma, but it's hard to live like we're not here. I'm trying, and we're cleaning up obsessively, putting things where they belong, and keeping to ourselves as much as possible. However, it's starting to seem that perhaps Grandma doesn't like us too much!
We're going to start house-hunting this weekend with looking at a for-sale-by-owner home near here. We have an appointment with a realtor on Monday to see a bunch of other local homes. I am hoping that financing isn't an issue, but if it is, or we can't find a proper home, then we'll have to consider renting a place for a while. We can't stay here with the situation as it is. I knew this would be bumpy for everyone, but I had really hoped that the mutual beneficence involved would carry us through, and hoped we'd be good company for Grandma. In my wildest fantasy, we were here for 6 months or so while we took our time finding a house while paying off credit card and auto loan debt to free up cash. It is not to be!
I'm a little scared of readjusting our budget, and how this is all going to work out, but we'll be okay. Our family is supportive and I know that we'll make this work. I may end up working again, sooner than I thought, but that's still up in the air at this point. It would have to be night shift on the weekend, so Paul could be with Henry, and neither of us want that if we can help it.
To be continued...

We're going to an NMU hockey game tomorrow night; it will feel really good to be out and together. We'll see Dad and Sandi on Saturday, then looking at that house on Sunday. Looking forward to the weekend, and glad we survived week one!