It's nice to have the wireless back

My internet was down yesterday. I KNOW. But I want you all to know that I survived this horrible gut-wrenching ordeal and have lived to tell the tale. Next time I won't gaily send tech support off to work with a, "Oh, I'll just wait till you get home to check my email!" because- and this should have been very clear- I NEED THE INTERNET TO SURVIVE. Seriously. It's like water. Or chocolate.

But you know, my productivity goes through the roof when the internet is down. I fixed that annoying browser compatibility issue, I made more baby food, I dusted, I read a truly depressing article in the Atlantic and I wrote an actual honest-to-God LETTER. Albeit a letter I was supposed to send before Christmas, but still. I wrote! With a pen! In longhand! Cursive, even!

(Okay, not cursive. My cursive is atrocious.)

This is even all the more fascinating since yesterday was a study in Seasonal Affective Disorder Insanity. The sun pretty much did not come up yesterday. AT ALL. It rained all day (and then it snowed) and we had every single light on in the house and I did not change out of my sweatpants. I didn't even bother to go out of the house to check the mail. Miserable!

But this morning is glorious! And bright and sunny and the forecast has actual consistent days of SUN and yes, my heart is bursting.

(Not that we can really do much outside since it is ICY and I have the driving skills of a 90-year-old woman.)

The only really new thing I have to tell you today is that the boy has started army crawling. I know I said he was doing this before, but I was lying. Or, at least, very much mistaken. What he is doing NOW is army crawling. No more of this scooching backwards across the living room stuff. We put the car keys on the floor a few yards away from him and WELL. There is nothing like a jangly set of car keys to make that child's heart go pitter pat. And though I call it army crawling it looks a lot more like Inch Worming. He uses his right arm to drag himself along and his left arm to reach out in vain for his presssshhhhhuuuussss. And then we just grab the keys away and throw them across the room, starting the entire process over. It's amazing how entertaining this is for one eight-month-old baby and two googly-eyed parents. the only thing is that now he can get places. Woe! Like today, I was sitting on the floor eating a granola bar and WHAT WAS I DOING EATING IN FRONT OF HIM and he inch wormed over to me and put his hands on my lap and pulled himself up so that his poor pathetic granola bar-less face was inches from the forbidden treat. I swear, it's like having a puppy.

Also, I think this means I have to start cleaning my floors.

Can I just say that hardwood floors? I mean, I know they are pretty and all, but WHAT A PAIN. I sound like such a brat saying this because hello, I live in a brand new house with fancy everything and we will never be able to afford a house as nice as this one again, but sign me up for carpet and white appliances and countertops that do not show my reflection. This hardwood/stainless/granite thing is for people who clean. I AM NOT THOSE PEOPLE.

If you could build your own house, what would you pick? I think I would pick my parents' old 3-story Italian farmhouse with the unforgivably hard tile floors and pretty bathrooms and wooden beams, but I would rip out the entire kitchen because the sink was set into a RIGHT CORNER and you had to go to the chiropractor every time you washed the dishes and Italians may make pretty houses but they are terrible in the practicality department.

This is a very bad picture of the side house, but the only one I have. You can kind of see the tiled front porch and the big balcony off the second floor bedroom.

And now I have given my mother a complex for the rest of the day because her china cabinet doesn't fit in the new house and would it have been so hard to just pick this house up and ship it stateside? REALLY?

Comments

[Lisa]

I would pick new construction, definitely. As much as I enjoy old homes and the character and beauty, I am spoiled after living in our first and only house so far which was brand new construction and oh-so efficient. But I would not pick our house. No, I would pick my friend, Sara's house because she has the best house in the world. New, with LOTS of windows (LIGHT, PEOPLE), and a finished full basement and a kitchen that is TO DIE FOR. Plus, all three bedrooms have their own attached bath and, AND the Master bath is as big as my current bedroom, with a jet tub and one of those showers that is fully enclosed with about six different showerheads positioned all around you and it is just HEAVEN. AMAZING.

[Jen]

I am designing my dream house in my head. We will build it eventually, I think.

Absolutely do not start cleaning the floors. Simply tie dust clothes around the baby, squirt him with pledge, and start throwing those car keys. He's going to be crawling around down there anyway, he might as well earn his keep. Maybe put the keys on some kind of fishing pole set up so that you can remain in one location?

I don't know how I survive without Internet now. When it goes down, I scare myself.

[Dooneybug]

You know, we have carpet and laminate flooring and there is not a single day that goes by that I don't wish it was all laminate. I HATE carpet. Mostly I hate it because it is a PITA to clean when someone spills juice or, heaven forbid, has a stomach virus and throws up all over the place in the middle of the night. I am so glad we decided to do laminate flooring in my son's room when we remodeled. Wiping dried puke off a hard floor vs. carpet in the middle of the night is one billion times easier. Plus, I think hard flooring is prettier.

[Christina]

Living the weather with you! And am rather put out that the rest of the world doesn't stop when it's icy out! I have to take R to a birthday party this afternoon - what is with that?! Nevermind that the roads are probably clear, I just know there's a patch of ice with my name on it...
As for houses, we didn't get granite countertops because I heard you have to wipe them dry or they'll stain. Please, my counters are lucky to get sponged off!

[Lindsay]

Sadly, the cost of my college education could probably buy two of my houses. Either way, I could get a pretty nice house for the cost accrued during my years at college. Over $50,000 a year for three undergrad years and (hopefully) one graduate year... people are starving in the world. My university should be more considerate and charge less so that I can donate money to the starving children. Somebody, please, think of the children!

Also, you need to get pictures of him doing the wiggle worm/army crawl. Or a video, I'm not picky. :o) I do have to say that Jen's idea has quite a bit of merit.

[Jess]

This question has stymied me, seriously. I want so many houses. I look at real estate sections and drool. I want a house with big windows (and window seats) and skylights and nooks. And beautiful hardwood floors and high ceilings and open spaces. And a big balcony or deck and a nice yard that I don't have to take care of. Mmm. Houses. I would love to have one.

[Sarah]

Oh, I LOVE your parent's house! My hubs thinks I'm nuts because he's always pestering me about building, and even though I sure as heck want a bigger house, I honestly DO NOT want to build a brand new one. I love the character in homes that have been lived in. But one then trades practicality and convenience for character and charm (your parents' sink being a case in point.) My dream house would be old and unique and have wainscotting and crown molding and built-ins AND would have central air and new plumbing and electric. That's gonna happen any day now.