And the waiting comes in waves

Everyday this week, I have gone in to work and taught my classes; each day I rewrite my lesson plans under the auspices that I will not be there the next day.  As a result, my desk has stayed superbly clean.  While I sense that the birth is coming soon, each afternoon my gut feeling switches as I come to believe that tomorrow will not be the day.  But at any time those lesson plans could go into effect...Too bad, because we are in the biochemistry unit right now.  But enough about my issues - I have no reason to complain, right?

Rachel is having some irregular contractions, but nothing to get too hopeful about yet.  The doctor has an induction scheduled for Monday in the EARLY morning.  Will she last until then??  (she hopes not!)

In other news, I have been going up to the house after school to deal with our contractors.  Today, the flooring guys came to sand.  It came out really well!  They will be working to finish it over the next couple of days.

And the electricians finished today.  They rewired 2/3 of the house, replaced all kinds of outlets, installed new fixtures, and replaced our electrical panel.  Expensive, but worth it.

And so we keep waiting.

-alan

Electricity, electricity...

Today our electrical work officially started on the new house.  We have an old fuse box and some old wiring but we hired a father-son duo to help us make the house safe and more in line with code.  As Alan had to go to work, I had the pleasure of letting them in and reviewing what they were going to do.  I hadn't been a part of this process earlier so I mostly read off the cheat sheet Alan made for me :-)

I left shortly after but it seems like they got a lot of work done today.  They were still there when Alan and I returned to the house after I picked him up from work.  I know they did a lot of important things, but the new fixtures looked so good!

Today we also hit the baby's official due date and celebrated by eating dinner in our new dining room.  I made the food back in Bridgeport and then heated it in our new oven.  It will be nice when all our stuff is under one roof!

Pictures to come...I keep getting a "server rejected" error message.

-rachel

Still waiting!

Spring break is rapidly coming to a conclusion, but this baby is nowhere to be found. 

We were over at the Weddles' house on Thursday, and they planted the idea in our heads that the baby was coming.  I went home and finalized my sub plans, downloaded a contraction timer app for the ipod, and settled in to be interrupted by the onset of labor.  However, the only labor I heard was the labored snoring of Rachel as she sawed logs all night.  Between the 2 cups of gourmet coffee served by Eric and the thoughts of the baby, I was in for an anxious, restless night.

But thankfully after that false non-alarm, I settled down and slumbered away for a good 10 hours on Friday night. 

And I needed the sleep - it has been a tough week, physically.  My white collar body is not used to this physical labor.  I enjoy it, but the body protests each morning and evening with the various aches and pains of the day.  It reminds me of spring break service trips of the past - wake up, work, eat, work, eat, rest, sleep, and repeat.  Except this time, I get to enjoy the fruits of my labor personally!

Thanks to Dave, Sarah, and Tom for their help on getting the floors ready for refinishing!

I finished digging a trench today, to run electricity (safely) to the garage.  I also spent a good 3 hours pulling staples from the stairs.  (there were only FIVE stairs with hardwood, but each had easily 100+ staples.)  The floors are looking better prepared, but there is still more to do.  I need to walk through the whole house and look closely for more staples and nails.  With the floor looking like swiss cheese, and the gaps between boards in the hallway, I am nervous about what the final product will be like.  I need to live with this floor for years!

Tomorrow we will celebrate Easter.  I always enjoy the festive mood that Easter brings - a time to celebrate Jesus' victory over death.  Rachel and I will sing in a special Easter choir in the morning - we were thinking the baby would be coming around now and we could get out of it.  But with only a few hours left until service, I doubt that will happen!  Then back to the Weddles for Easter dinner.  Since we have been living in limbo all week waiting for the baby, we have not gone grocery shopping, and done very little cooking.  It is nice to have friends who are willing to take care of us!

-alan

Home sweet home!

Here are a few shots of us in front of our new home!  Of course I took the opportunity to get a 39 week picture in.  Look that that baby!!!!

 This is the worst shot, but I had to include it.  Alan looks like a total dweeb and I look like a wanna be Vanna White.

 I like this shot!!!!!

 Aren't we just the cutest?!?

Anyway it is past my bedtime and I need to rest up for bringing little Allmen into the world.  I hope he will appreciate all the work his daddy is putting into getting the house ready for his arrival!

-rachel

Homeownership, day 3 - contractors?

Another day, no baby.  Rachel was convinced that the baby would have been born by this time.  Last night, she predicted that labor was imminent.  I was never so sure - she has not had any contractions, after all!  That being said, the doctor suggested it could be this week, so I should not be surprised when it happens.

Rachel is a little nervous about our baby's above-average-sized head.  The overall weight is offset by his smallish limbs, but in terms of childbirth, you are never too concerned about how big the legs are!

So because the baby is taking his time, we spent that day at the house.  Rachel was on the phone a lot, calling contractors to set up appointments and dealing with our utilities.  (The gas company needs Rachel to bring 2 forms of ID to a currency exchange in Pilsen to verify her identity.  Why?  She just wants to be able to pay our gas bill at the house, after all!)  I was busy getting estimates from electricians and removing the drop ceilings from the bedrooms.

Which begs the question - how to choose a contractor?  Sure there are lots of tips online - referrals, estimates, contracts, licenses, etc.  But I strangely feel a little awkward when it comes to actually choosing.  I do not want to say no - but obviously, I can only choose one guy.  I can pick the one with the best price, but in all likelihood, the one with the best price will not give you the best work.  Hmmmmm...

Considering we have several thousand dollars worth of electrical upgrades to do, I should consider this carefully!

Next step - estimates from floor refinishers (pending a potential trip to the hospital, of course!)

-alan

First day of years work

Today was our first day working at the house.  We are in demo mode, but on a small scale - the doctor said Rachel could go into labor any day now.  We have prioritized; the floors and electrical upgrades are being contracted out prior to our moving in.  Most everything else will wait.

The lovely carpet (pictured above) was the first thing to go.  We picked up Sarah and headed to the house to rip it all out.

It came out easily - and is now rolled up on our back porch.  The oak floors have been revealed, but could use some sanding and refinishing.  Tomorrow...assuming there is no disruption to the day's scheduled events....I will have contractors over for estimates. 

-alan

Parasitic belly

Rachel's belly was known at various times in the past as "the menace."  Well, pregnancy proves that name to be true.  Above you can see the life inside her fighting to get out...


-alan

Closing!

Monday started with strange sights.  Snow.  Not much, but for sure there was snow.  Rachel made sure to get a shot of the white stuff on our car when she got up in the morning.

However, my disdain for this lingering winter was not enough to distract my excitement for Closing Day. In a scant 4 weeks after our offer on the house was accepted, we were headed to the far, far, far northwest side to sign papers at the title company for our new house.

Proof of homeowners insurance?  Check.  Certified check for the balance of our down payment?  Check.  State IDs?  Check.  Hospital bags in case Rachel pops while signing her financial future away?  Check.

We took a quick walk-through of the now-empty house, and finding everything in order, traveled up to Devon and Milwaukee to sign. 

We met our lawyer, Ziggy "I'm a great lawyer" Kois, who along with our real estate agent, Violet, made quite the Polish dream team.  We signed all the necessary documents, and waited.  And waited.  And waited.  Apparently, no one sent us the memo that we should have brought our smart phone and ipad to pass the time.  Thankfully, the players at the table indulged us in a little conversation to pass the time.

Two and a half hours later, the keys were passed and we were officially homeowners.

With that, the process was all over.  A few months of looking on the internet and a few weeks of looking at houses.  Sure, we persevered through the distractions of a coming baby; overcame the time constraints of new jobs.  But we have to acknowledge how blessed we were through this process.  Blessed to have a lender who rushed our loan application through so that we could close ON SCHEDULE, before the baby came.  Blessed that our offer was accepted ahead of two others.  Blessed that the seller was willing to compromise on changes in our financing.  Blessed to qualify for grants from CPS and from the city, to help make this house affordable for us.  Blessed to find a house priced just right in a great neighborhood that we had neglected.  Blessed to have jobs to buy a house in the first place! 

And here we are with our Realtor and our mortgage broker.  Good job team!  Thanks!

Having worked up a nice appetite, we celebrated in style with a visit to Superdawg - an iconic hot dog drive-up a couple blocks away.

So even though we should have seen our last snow for the year, I am happy to say we never have to worry about snow on the car again ;-)

-alan

Mission accomplished!

We attended the closing this afternoon, and successfully signed all the required paperwork to transfer ownership of that little red brick bungalow into our names. The keys are in our possession; the garage door opener is in our car. The house is really ours now!

More to follow tomorrow - we will head back to the house to tear up carpet. I told Rachel she cannot help, and so she is not too happy with me.

-alan

Spring break!!

School is out for the week...and the waiting game for the baby can officially begin.  Rachel has a few loose ends to tie up at work, but she turned in her computer and said her goodbye's to her colleagues and students.  She is anticipating having the baby by the time spring break is done - but who knows?

But just because we are waiting does not mean we will be bored.  Tomorrow afternoon, we close on our new house.  All the paperwork on our loan, our insurance, etc. has gone through; we are just waiting on the final numbers on how much more cash is needed for the closing.

Our final walk-through at the house will be at 1:30, and then we meet to sign papers at 2.  The we get our keys! 

So the balance of the week will likely be spent surveying the new house and making decisions about what work to do before we move in May.

-alan

On the move...

Good news all around.
1) Our loan has been approved.  We are ready to close on the 18th.
2) Rachel's doctor did not say, "looks like we need to schedule an induction for the 17th."
3) The Redwings beat Chicago in what turned out to be a meaningless hockey game to close out the regular season.
4) I have only 2 days of classes left until spring break!
5) We won $25 off a tub reglazing service at the Bungalow Expo.

Time to finish working on my lab instructions for tomorrow!

-alan

Bungalow Expo!

Today was an eventful day, from start to finish. 

First, we spruced up the house.  The landlord was letting some potential tenants in to view the apartment.  We are asking to get out of our lease a month early, so we figure we should make the place as hospitable as possible to attract tenants.  The landlord did not raise rent, and with our paint job adding value I think this place is a darn good deal.  There has already been a lot of interest so I am optimistic that the place will go for June 1.

The bulk of the day was spent downtown at the Merchandise Mart, a giant art-deco building bordering the Chicago River.  We attended the Chicago Bungalow and Green Home Expo, which is more or less a priceless opportunity for contractors to get their business cards out to the yuppies of Chicago.  We did pick up a few flyers - we will be in the market for hardwood floor restoration and electrical work in the coming month - but spent more time listening in on a variety of interesting seminars.  Splitting up to maximize our information gathering, we learned about grants for energy improvements, plastering, redesigning our second floor, and that vinyl windows are universally despised by home preservationists.  It was a good place for us to begin thinking about the material aspects to our new home; both the good - upgrading, restoring, and personalizing our first place - and the bad - permits, bills, and never ending "to do" lists. 

This evening, we attended a college performance of Hairspray.  A friend from church is in a production, and we ventured out to go support his endeavors.  He said he was nervous when he saw us in the audience.  So cute!  And I have never actually seen the musical (other than snippets of the movie), so that was a plus. 

We close on the house in a week; and the baby is due in two.  Oh my!

-alan

Fattening me up

While I have been busy getting things ready for baby, Alan has been relishing in the opportunity to be lighter than me.  Yes, I think I officially surpassed him a week or so ago but he isn't letting up.  Look at the goodies he made this week!

 Homemade cinnamon rolls with delicious cream cheese icing!!!!

Chocolate chip muffins that I've been eating at a 2 to his 1 ratio....


Keep them coming Alan, I'm eating for two!!!!


-rachel

A little bit of China right here at Target

When in China, we developed a hypersensitivity to anything "Western."  Language, food, cultural icons - you name it.  When walking through the night market, our eyes would feast on illegal copies of second rate American movies and T-shirts with non-sensical English phrases.  In our neighborhood, there was very little that we could legitimately call Western, because most imported items would be found in the fancy shopping centers downtown.

However, one guilty pleasure that was in the local convenience stores (during the winter months only) was the Magnum Bar - a surprisingly high quality ice cream bar, akin to the Dove bar in the US.  I never paid too much attention to where it came from, until last week at Target, I saw it:

A whole freezer case full of the ice cream bars on display.  Turns out they are made by Nestle, which obviously has a huge international footprint.  But it is kind of funny that we ate this in China before it was ever available in the US!

I have also been wondering how our taste buds have changed since returning.  If I were able to transport myself to one of the Western restaurants in Chengdu, would I still think the food there was good?  Or did my tastes simply adjust with time? 

Last night, I ate some awesome Tiramisu at Franco's; while the version we ate at Ikea's cafeteria in Chengdu certainly would not compare.  Every couple of weeks at lunch, my taste buds would tingle for a McDonald's double cheeseburger meal, while nowadays the Golden Arches are the furthest thing from my mind.  On the other hand, the peanut butter oreo blizzard at Peter's (made by special request only) would probably kick the pants off the cookies and cream ice cream from Target in our freezer.  So in some cases I think my likes were legit.  But it simply is too hard to objectively verify if my mental inklings are correct...

And about those Magnum bars?  We did not buy any.  Granted it is still in the 40s here, and Rachel is more of an ice cream person than me anyway!

-alan

Welcome to April!

April - what a month this should be!

As this solidly spring month rolls in with uncharacteristically chilly weather, we naturally look ahead at events to come.

This is HUGE month for the Allmens, because we are likely to become first time parents before April is done.  At the doctor last week, Rachel heard that her OB/GYN would not let her go more than a week past her due date of April 25th.  So, the chance of a May delivery is slim. 

 

Today Rachel spent a lot of energy getting the baby's clothes washed.  We packed up a few things (6 month old clothes, heavy blankets) that we will not need immediately, which has cleared up some space in the nursery.  We have gotten some criticism from others for not fully decorating our nursery, and for not putting the crib together yet.  But with a move likely in the next two months, I feel that energy would be better spent in prepping the baby's room in our permanent home.  The baby will be sleeping with us until that point anyway!!

We also got the car seat out today, and tried it out.  The LATCH system works much easier than using the seat belts, which is what Rachel remembers using with her siblings.  The base was secured with little trouble in a few minutes.  We just need to get Rachel's hospital bag packed, and we will be all set in case the baby decided to come a little early!

Because dates will be harder to come by in few weeks, we went out to Franco's, the nice little Italian place on the corner, for dinner.  I had veal and Rachel had the stuffed manicotti.  Of course we had the giagantic slice of extra creamy homemade Tiramisu to top it off.  I like this place (and its Tiramisu) but there is a well known Italian place down the street from our new digs as well. 

The other big transition for April will be the pending close on our new house.  We have told some more people, but honestly the excitement has waned somewhat.  After last week's flurry of activity - viewing the house, putting in an offer, submitting documents to the lender, having the inspection - this week has been peaceful and quiet.  The seller's Realtor and lawyer are both out of town, and our Realtor is sick so the lines of communication have been off.  Hopefully this does not impact the closing date.  We have still not heard back about out list of repair items.

I am also having trouble getting us signed up for TaxSmart.  This is a city of Chicago program that offers federal income tax credits for 20% of the interest paid on a mortgage - for the life of the loan, up to $2000 in credits per year.  That could make for some nice tex refunds year after year.  Problem is, eligibility for the program is based on household income.  And though our income will be well under the limit in a few weeks, right now we are classified as a DINK home (double income no kids) and our eligibility is questionable.  We are perfect for this program in principle, but the timing might have thrown things off just enough.  Sigh. 

In other news, last Friday I was out of school on college visits with our sophomores.  We visited the Illinois Institute of Technology (we passed by our house on the bus ride there), Northeastern Illinois (I did not travel with the group that went there) and to Depaul.  I took a few pictures, but will not post them here (a Chicago teacher got in big trouble for questionable taste in this area last week).  However, you can check them out on my modest class website if you are curious. 

-alan