Scouting report...

Share

Last week we took a trip to Columbus (by way of Indianapolis to visit family and leave Miss P with grandparents) to check out schools for Mr. B and sniff out potential neighborhoods to move to next summer.  It was an exhausting and busy weekend.  My ass is now a little more spread out width-wise thanks to the amount of time we spent driving around in the car.  Between the travel back and forth from Indy to Columbus, and then neighborhood hunting, I think we spent more time IN the car than out.

However, it was a good trip.  It solidified our decision to rule out Ann Arbor as a contender.  The two schools we toured are both great options, each one with a different philosophy, and I have no idea how we'll make the choice.  Poor Mr. B.  He had to do two hours of assessment at each school that Friday, with a 45-minute break in between for us to grab a snack and head to the second school.  Then we shuffled him off with us to check out a few houses.  By the end of the day, we were all pooped.  A decision was made to order room service and watch DVDs in the room, a much deserved break for our little guy.

Saturday proved to be just as busy, as we followed our real estate agent around the suburbs to look at 26 houses.  Yes, you read that right.  26.  After the 15th house, they all started to blur together.  We were mostly looking to see what kind of house we could get in different neighborhoods at different price ranges.  I had to keep reminding myself that we weren't officially looking for a house to buy just yet. ("Don't fall in love with this house...don't fall in love with this house...)  Still, I couldn't help but drool over two homes that would suit our family just perfectly.  (One was complete with a playground in the backyard, a screened in porch where Mommy can enjoy her wine while the youngins frolic outside, and a room already painted Princess Pink!)  You know when you walk in to a home and the energy of the house speaks to you?  How you can very easily picture your kids running up the stairs or fighting in the den, see you and your partner turning in for the night in the master suite, or envision yourself whipping up something fabulous in the kitchen (or at the very least, having a large pantry for those blue boxes of pasta and a microwave perched above the oven)?  Perhaps the market will hold and these two beauties will still be up for grabs in March.  But I'm not counting on it.

The bonus of the weekend?  Spending quality time with our son, just the three of us.  We hadn't spent that much time one-on-one with Mr B since our daughter was born.  And he relished that time.  Burrowed right in and made himself comfortable.  Without a hint of missing his younger sibling.  And I don't blame him.  I'm amazed at how much quieter having one child is than two.  How easier it is to be completely present.  How fewer tantrums erupt.  And how foreign it feels now.  We've been a Family of Four for over two years.  In that time, my daughter's personality has become so woven in to our family's fabric that the hole left behind when she's not around feels like a meteor crater.  At least, to me it did.  If you asked Mr. B, I'm sure he'd tell you, with hearty exuberance, that he didn't miss her one bit.  And yet, I couldn't help but get a little teary when he gave her a gigantic hug upon our return.

Now I'm tackling the next item on the checklist of finding a preschool for Miss P.  We plan on taking another trip at the end of the winter to revisit schools, and begin to seriously look for a home.  I'm going to try to enjoy this little break during the holidays, because I know once 2012 comes along, this moving train is going to take off at breakneck speed.  Hey, I got an idea!  If you're looking for a Christmas present for me, why not consider a wine of the week club membership?  I'll surely need it...