BLEARGH

Phillip is upstairs attempting to put the kids to bed. I am sitting on the couch contemplating the half of a French Silk pie in my refrigerator. 

I don't know if Molly was already awake when we went to move her out of the pack and play and into her crib last night, or if we woke her up by doing so. Either way, that was about eleven o'clock and Molly didn't really fully go back to sleep until sometime between five and six. And then guess who was up at six thirty. 

It's been a long time since we've had one of THOSE nights. And usually we're just as mad at each other as we are with whichever kid is keeping us up, but last night the culprit was obvious (damn you, Curse Of The Dripping Nostrils!) and we mostly just felt pathetic and helpless. When Molly's crazy tired or just plain upset she yells. Like, YELLS. It's sort of like crying, but it's really just yelling and she'll do this until you figure out the exact right position to hold her, or the one single thing in the refrigerator she wants. Last night she yelled until we found the right chair to sit in, and it wasn't until Phillip rocked her in front of the stove with the fan turned on - the same trick we were using LAST year at this time - that she quit this dozing on and off stuff and really fell asleep. Poor baby. Poor US. We feel wrecked. 

They took decent naps, which is good because Phillip and I needed that time to be despairing about things other than sleep and the speed with which we are running out of Kleenex. The house we saw this morning was kind of gross. Not TOTALLY gross. Not "Ew, this is OBVIOUSLY not for us" gross, but just enough gross that you're sitting in the car afterwards thinking, "Maybe we could just have it cleaned before we move in? Maybe we're being too picky? Maybe?" It had a decent layout and enough space, but the bathrooms were icky and the floors were sketchy and I don't understand why people can't wipe down the front of a refrigerator before they show it to strangers. (Says the girl whose bathroom window screens are so dusty you can't see out of them OMG I am STILL mortified.) 

Then we went to see The House We Thought Was A Scam But Isn't Except It Still Seems Too Good To Be True and YOU GUYS. This house. It's... well, it's totally the kind of house we cannot afford, ever, not in our lifetimes. But apparently we can afford to RENT it. It's huge. It's completely remodeled. It has an amazing deck in an amazing backyard. It is HUGE. The master bedroom is nearly the size of the entire main floor of my house. We were peeking through the windows when some guy came out of a house across the street and asked us if we wanted to go inside. And we were all, "Uh yeah?" because, I don't know, maybe everyone on the block gets a key to the vacant house? 

Actually he was a real estate agent (convenient!) and since the house is for sale it has a keybox and maybe we shouldn't have gone inside because now I am suffering from a case of The Wants. SIGH. I mean, it's 1) HUGE and 2) SHINY AND NEW. Phillip and I are total suckers for new. But we are also wary of the whole selling now renting situation (and the fact that the guy was supposed to call me tonight and he hasn't and obviously I am blogging about this FOR NO REASON). We don't want to rent it only to have the guy decide to try and sell it again six months later. We don't want to rent it and then have our rent jacked up the minute the guy realizes he could get WAY more money for this house. 

And then say we DID rent the house... I would never want to leave. I mean, it's not my perfect dream house, not at all, but we can't buy anything as big or new, not if we want to stay reasonably close to downtown. It seems... extravagant. It seems... unnecessary. It's within our means, but only technically.

Again, this worrying is mostly likely All For Naught, seeing as how this guy is never going to call me back ANYWAY. Probably because I sent him a passive aggressive Hey, Are You A Scammer email before I found out he wasn't. I'd be offended too. 

Okay, but THAT SAID. We haven't seen any other houses we like. We crossed a bunch off our list today and I plan to drive by a few more tomorrow and make some more appointments. We're supposed to find out how the inspection went no later than Monday night, which means we should know by Tuesday if we're really moving or not. And we hope to have The House or at least Some Decent Houses To Choose From lined up by the weekend, and then we'd like to sign a lease sometime next week. WE THINK. I am hopped up on Nyquil so it's entirely possible I am not thinking straight. 

Comments

[HereWeGoAJen]

I looked at what seemed like hundreds of terrible rental houses before walking into the PERFECT one and knowing it was perfect as soon as I hit the front door. Just ask for a long rental contract and then they can't kick you out (I believe, you should check on that).

Ick. That is not enough sleep. Poor you guys.

[C @ Kid Things]

Rocking in front of the stove with the fan on? How in the heck did you guys figure that one out?

[craftyashley]

To comment on the housey goodness. I say GO FOR THE AWESOME house! Extravagant, unnecessary, technically... all in vocabulary for fun house!

But for the gross house- you'd be surprised at how little it costs to hire a cleaning lady/maid service. It's a must for me to hire someone to come in and clean before moving in anywhere. Cleaning before arranging furniture wrecks the only fun part of moving. Give yourself that luxury- no matter where you move. You will thank me later.

[Christiana]

In theory, at least, if you have a contract (12-months or something) you should be protected, providing you keep up your end of the bargain. If you go month-to-month, you're screwed if he changes his mind in 30 days. :) But yeah, get a signed lease and you SHOULD be golden.

Ashley mentioned this already, but maybe the cleaning service for a one-time truly thorough cleaning might be worth it? If it's just the grime, well...

Good luck!

[Elsha]

For our next house I want pretty much the opposite of shiny and new. I want shiny and new (okay, doesn't have to be new, just nice) NEIGHBORHOOD with a house that needs LOADS of work. Because we can do the work. And by "we" of course I mean my husband. Mostly. What I never want to do again is have to sell a house that I love for less than we paid.

[Ashley]

I third the motion to pay someone to deep-down clean whatever house you move into before you move into it. The last rental we lived in was downright grimy when we moved in and it made the stress of moving three times worse.

[Mike]

However you choose, I know you'd have great memories in them.

Mike
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[Jess]

This post made me tired. I AM tired. But also excited about this potential rental! My personal feeling is that having Your Own House makes up for its shortcoming compared to a former rental. But I don't know!