"Normalcy"

In high school, I wrote a paper for one of my AP classes on Warren Harding and the Teapot Dome scandal.  One of the Harding pieces of trivia - other than the fact he was one of the more corrupt and inept presidents in history - is that he coined the term normalcy during his presidency.  I feel that Stephen Colbert's penchant for making up words has its roots in that rather sad period in American history.

It comes to mind, because I feel that some regular routines are returning to our lives.  For the first time in awhile, I was able to read the Sunday paper.  We watched some TV on Saturday night.  We have spent time socially with friends and volunteered our services to babysit for others.  These are all things that during the "Great Allmen House Hunt 2011" did not happen with regularity.

Which is good.  We have a baby coming and still have more to prepare.  There is schoolwork to catch up on - we both have some grading piled up that needs to be dealt with before maternity / paternity begins.

That being said, we are going to be negotiating this week about repairs that need to be made to the house. We had our inspection on Friday afternoon, and have a list of repair requests ready to send to the sellers.

Our inspector patiently walked through each part of the house and pointed out various trouble areas to me.  We have a 34 page document now that I am sure will be useful for the next year, at least.  Major areas of concern are updating the electrical and some of the appliances - some things in use that are now obsolete.  We did not really negotiate with the sellers on the price of the house, so I am interested to know how this process will go.

Next step will be deciding when to move, and what work to do before we do.  We may paint, and tear up some of the carpeting before anything else.  And take down the aluminum window coverings.

A big question - what to do with our pink bathroom??

Anybody in the market for a pink toilet??

-alan

Little guy update

35 weeks, and all is well!  Though Rachel has discovered the magic of Tums (she did not know what heartburn was until recently) she is still spry and relatively energetic.  And oh yeah, we think we have the name picked out.  More or less.  Ever since Rachel vetoed Zerubbabel.  

Here is the latest shot of my wife and the little parasite baby-to-be:

She made her 35 week sign with some extra artwork this week.  I am only the photographer; I do what I am told.  My best guess is that she drew that as a subliminal message to us all: she wants us to say she looks as big as a house!  I will let you try it on her first; let me know how it goes.

Rachel's 34 week picture was under special circumstances - we were super booked all week, so she decided to have her profile taken following Northwestern's win in the first round of the NIT.

The win was big, and we actually had decent seats (unlike our season tickets this year).  The men's team takes on Washington State in the NIT quarterfinals tonight; the game is on very late so I will likely watch it tomorrow.  

A few funny lines from students, unsolicited, as of late:

"Mr. Allmen, remember how before I told you that you look small for your age?  Well, I wanted to give you this tiny pen because it reminds me of you."

"You should wear the lab coat more often.  You actually look smart!"

"Will any of the people near the nuclear plant in Japan get super powers?"

"Woah, you mean there is actually some logic to drawing molecular structures?  I thought you were just making it up as you go along."

Oh kids.

-alan

Accepted!

After an experience like this, it makes me understand all those stories people have about finding "the one."  For some, it might be a romantic love interest, for others a hip coffee shop down that street that has not been "discovered" yet.  For us, I think it was this house.

We first saw the house listed last Thursday - it just went on the market last week!  We had a whole list of houses scheduled to view, and asked Violet, our Realtor, to add this one to the end of our schedule.  So we saw it on Saturday, and loved it.  I thought it might be "too good to be true" at that price, but the place was in great shape (if needing some updates though).

So we traveled back on Sunday for a second viewing, and fell in love with the surrounding neighborhood.  The selling agent lives two doors down, and did a good job convincing us to consider the area.  We drove around, and were reminded of Evanston (a place we loved but probably would never / will never actually live).  Rachel had visions of taking walks up and down the sidewalks, and of planting her garden in the backyard.

Thus the crushing disappointment when we found out we were bidding against other people.  Rachel cried.  And we moped.  We were thinking they would counter, but going up against other people it seemed like we were toast with our limited budget.  However, we gave the bid our best shot, and it was enough money to entice them to accept.  (Well, that and a letter we wrote to the seller detailing how deserving we were of the house.  Our Realtor's idea.  And Rachel says it is in the line of the "Miller Way" of using circumstance to get what you want when you want it.)

Now, the inspection and all the details of preparing for closing, assuming everything goes as planned.  (if everything goes as planned??)

I will take some more pictures on Friday, which is when I hope to have the inspection.

Time to celebrate!  Hey, I guess I will have to keep all the champagne for myself :)

-alan

Housing troubles?

After visiting a dozen houses late last week, we went back on Sunday to get a second look at 2 houses we really loved. After further thought and he second opinions of friends, we decided to place an offer on one of the houses.

The decision to make the offer was easy because the house was too good to be true; it is well-maintained, reasonably historic in its Chicago bungalo-ness, has plenty of finished living space, and is priced fairly low for the neighborhood. We did think we could get into this neighborhood, price-wise. But this house came open and so we felt it was right to go for it.

It had been on the market only 4 days when we submitted an offer. We thought we we were fast enough to beat others to the punch, but alas we are now in a bidding war with 2 other prospective buyers. We raised our price up to the top of my comfort level, and will know more by tomorrow night.

The optimism of this morning has melted to big disappointment, but with the new offer there is still a glimmer of hope. Realistically, though, it was and remains a long shot. The problem is that our emotional investment is higher now!

-alan

No luck in Bridgeport

Today we not the day to find our house. It was however a great day to house hunt. Sunny and warm, for really the first time all year. A student told me to watch out, because warm weather brings out the crazy in people.

We saw 5 houses in all. All were smaller than I would hope; only 1 had a garage, and none had basements that would be useful for anything but storage. The house with the most potential is way overpriced, and the owners are fairly stubborn on price. There is still another in the neighborhood that we want to see - perhaps an open house this weekend.

Yet, with quality vs value in houses we saw today, I am beginning to think hat if we want to stay in Bridgeport, then renting long term might be the best option.

Tomorrow we head to the northwest side.

-alan

Busy times!

This week is a full schedule at the Allmen house. 

After a weekend spent in Michigan trying to not completely wreck Mom's new condo, we came back without our toiletries.  As a result, this morning, Rachel spent a few extra minutes staring at the mirror wondering what to do with herself sans hair straightener.  Meanwhile, I had to grab a pink razor to give myself a shave.  Ouch!  Those things are cheap.

This afternoon we will see some houses in Bridgeport (our current neighborhood) though there are only 2 in the Bridgeport school district that we want to live in. 

Tonight we will travel to Evanston to see NU play in the [sigh] NIT tournament.  A season that could have been.  Oh well, I hope they win.

-alan

Ok, Sharon...

I have been chastised for not giving a thorough update of round 2 of house hunting.  To be honest, the visit was so lackluster that a blog post seemed unwarranted.

We planned to visit 5 houses, but only saw 2.  The first was a small ranch with a sinking foundation in a great neighborhood.  Other than the location, it is a definite NO.  And considering the condition, it is not a place we should really consider.  No dining room, no family room, and it needs some sprucing up.  AND it is a short sale.  A real winner, right?

The second house was a large house inhabited by an older family.  They showed us around - it was big but oddly configured.  The basement was chocked full of bonus rooms, but the ceiling seeemed less than 7 feet.  I hit my head on the door frame down there!  And they kept birds on their heated porch, so there was birdseed (and who knows what else) everywhere.  Plus some significant water damage.  Yuck.  No go.

The 3rd house was on a busy street, but we managed to park without trouble.  We walked up, and the homeowner refused to let us in.  Despite our Realtor's appointment, he said the house was not in condition to be viewed and turned us away.  Our agent was pissed, and we will not be going back to try again anytime soon.  Well, maybe not anytime, ever. 

The other houses could not be scheduled.  C'est la vie.  We will go out again next Monday.  We have some legitimate contenders in our sights for that day, so hopefully it will be encouraging to go out and see.

Tonight we are going to a fancy club downtown to attend a UofD Chicago Alumni reception.  Not sure what to expect... schmoozing all night with lots of gray-hairs?  Listening to the UofD president and other talk about the school?  Being asked for money over and over?  We shall see.

Work was long this week.  We had a crazy schedule because the middle schoolers were taking standardized tests, so there were random double periods and classes repeating.  Terrible for continuity.  But I started a new unit on smells.  I must say - that despite the trials of the work week, I can take joy from watching the faces of students contort like prunes as they sniff a foul-smelling chemical.  A perverse joy, but joy nonetheless.  It's the little things, right?

Off to Michigan this weekend.  We already have our bag packed!

-alan 

House Hunting, Round 1

Today, we traveled up to the north side to look at 6 houses in the North Park community area - a stretch on the far north side that is bisected by Lincoln Avenue.  Our wedding reception was held at a restaurant in this area, but other than that experience we are drawn only by the excellent schools, Korean and Middle Eastern restaurants, and affordable streets of single family homes.  All were 1950's era ranch and Georgian homes, and all were in need of some serious updating.  3 we immediately ruled out - a ranch that reeked of dog pee and sported a shoddy rehab; a ranch in terrible shape needing to be completely gutted; and a split level on a busy street at the very edge of the city. 

The other 3 houses are still in play, pending further visits to other houses.  None of these are spectacular, just the better of what we saw today.  One is a split level, 3 bed, 2 bath home with a mural of Paris on the wall.  It is a bit too expensive for the condition of the house, but the local elementary school teaches Chinese!  Another is a Georgian, built in 1950, and until quite recently was occupied by its original owners.  The house is a time capsule to the '50s, but is in good condition.  However, the kitchen is about 25% of the size we would like, with little room to expand.  The final house is a slightly larger Georgian down the street which is cheaper but also needs some work. 

The weather was terrible for looking at houses - windy, cold, with some snow.  Even still, it was fun to look.  We will look at some more houses on the north side on Monday, in North Center and in Edgewater.  I am not holding my breath.  The nicer houses in our price range are further west.

-alan

Week's-end round-up

After leaving only a tease last week, I took another hiatus from the blog as I juggled a busy week.

To wrap up those loose ends...

Why do I feel like a true Chicagoan?  Well, last week I "earned" my first parking ticket.  I am not allowed to park in my school's lot, because there are limited spaces and my name was not on the "list" at the beginning of the year.  I have a nice usual spot, just outside the door on a stretch of Elizabeth St. that is mostly permit parking.  It is legal, but I parked too close to the stop sign at the end of the block and received (deservedly) a $60 ticket.  This makes me all the more nervous about parking around school - between the unplowed snow blocking the street, my car being broken into, and now the ticket, I routinely think twice as I approach the school in the morning.  Once this week, I parked in the lot because I needed to duck out quickly after school.  Rachel said I crossed the line into a slippery slope...

And why do I feel like a true chemistry teacher?  Well, I wanted to show a demo of gas collection to my classes, which is usually done through a simple water displacement apparatus.  Because I did not have any rubber tubing of the correct size, I decided to use the long glass tubes I had in my stockroom.  So after consulting the internet, I fired up my bunsen burner and bent the glass like a pro.  The class even clapped for me when I was done.  Since then, it has been a mixed bag.  I am trying out a new project, which is doing a good job of separating the students: those that are creatively solving the problem, and those that are giving up before they start.  I also realized that my attempts to teach balancing equations have been largely futile.  Humbled back to reality, right?

We had a fun weekend with Phil, Karen, and Bailey.  We never actually confirmed with our landlord that it was ok to have the dog here, but she never made a sound and I swept up the hair before even Rachel had a chance to complain.  We visited a local bar for the first time, and returned to the Garfield Park Conservatory for the first time in 3ish years.  They left town with...."Next time we see you, your family will be bigger!"

While that is not necessarily true (we may be taking another visit to Michigan this month) it does bring up the baby issue.  Rachel had her 32 week ultrasound this Tuesday, and there is thankfully little news to note.  The baby is of average size, but Rachel's belly is undersized.  (After all the people she stuck that belly out to in college, who would have thought?)  The baby's name is still undecided, but we are inching closer.  There are 2 names left under consideration, but there is no consensus favorite.

Finally, we are beginning our house search this coming Saturday.  We had a constructive meeting with our realtor on Monday, and she is geared up to take us out and visit available properties.  We have plenty of places we are interested in, but are unsure if "the one" is out there.  Time will tell....

-alan