Deep Breaths

Not going to lie, it’s been a week.

Might possibly have sold the house.  We had a buyer come through twice in one day, last minute on both occasions.  They are shopping our neighborhood, and our house has the most amenities and square footage.  It’s the best of the bunch.  We aren’t making any plans yet, but signs are pointing up.

We found daycare.  I cannot stress to you how much we hated giving up our daycare provider in Topeka.  She was wonderful.  Structured activity, plenty of physical exercise, a great policy on physical discipline (as in, never use it, because it’s atrocious), and all around wonderfulness for our baby boy.  It’s been hard not having her over the summer, but we had to give up our spots because of moving and because she has other offers to consider.  Surprise.  Shock.  So, we’ve been without her services during a summer we could desperately use them.

The Montessori we found in KC, however, is beyond amazing.  It’s within striking distance of the new housing (that’s next) on either my drive to work (more in a sec) or the wife’s drive to work.  However that shakes out schedule-wise.  They are open fantastic hours, have a great facility (old, but definitely not ramshackle), have tons of great assistance with tons of years of training, and again have a child-rearing policy that is very akin to our own.  No physical discipline, adherence to schedules and expectations, demands on sharing and cleaning up after playtime is over, and a great menu / cafeteria area where the children all eat together.  It’s… god it was wonderful.  The children are so well behaved.  We hung out when they went outside to recess.  All of them were so excited to talk to us and share with us.  They wanted to play and generally be around us.  That’s a sign of good work.  That’s what I want for my Riley.  Oh, and it’s 85 dollars a week.  So yeah, winning.

We have secured an apartment as well.  Normally, I hate apartments.  They are never quiet, hardly ever well kept, inconvenient to move into / out of due to stairs, and the parking lots tend to be a nightmare.  Well, because my wife is freakin awesome, throw all those complaints out the window.  Trouble with the parking lot?  Oh, it’s in a cul-de-sac.  Problems with moving up and down stairs?  Nay nay, ground floor.  No washer-dryer hookups?  Wrongo.  Available and perfectly sized.  Dirty, ill-kempt dwelling?  Wrong again, this is a nice neighborhood and a well established area.  The apartments are as good as, if not better, than my home.  Finally, noise might normally be an issue.  But these apartments only have one neighbor.  That’s right.  One.  As in, not the usual eight.  It’s that number, minus seven potentially noisy groups of people.  Yup.  Winning again.

So, couldn’t get much better right?  WRONG AGAIN BUCKAROO.  This apartment complex?  A handful of blocks down the street from the amazing Dr. Matt Scrivner and Amy Imparato.  Yeah.  Two of my favorite humans within spitting distance.  It’s also close to something else which is truly amazing: JOBS.  Good ones too.  Aldi’s is hiring (I’m on my way there today for an interview!), and it turns out they pay very well.  ~ 12.50 / hour.  For reference, minimum wage in both Kansas and Missouri is 7.50 / hour.  That’s what I would be making at any non-office job, and quite frankly, I’m done with those.  Adli’s is a good fit for a lot of reasons.  No bagging (they have a bring your own bag / box policy), no real crazy stocking (the stores are small, and stocking is an overnight gig).  So basically I just have to be friendly with people for eight hours at a stretch and do variations on math to one hundred.  It’s in the bag.  Unsure on benefits, but maybe the GOP controlled government won’t take a huge Cleveland Steamer right on my health.  50/50 at this stage.

So, all in all, it’s been a fantastic if hectic fortnight.  I know I haven’t been as on point with story writing, what with house stuff, job stuff, unemployment stuff, and various other stuffs (see, Stars, Temple in the) and that does bug me.  However, this blog makes me zero dollars.  It’s a chance for me to try and engage with readers (still can’t get comments to save my soul) and for me to flex my brain with consistent creation exercise.  That having been said, if it lays fallow for a few days, it isn’t going to torpedo my career.  Again, I feel a great sense of obligation and desire to fill the pages and the hours here, but I have to put food on the table.  I have a baby, and my life isn’t all about me anymore.  So yeah.

Love,
Justin