House Hunters Indiana

Finding a place to live in Lafayette, Indiana was not as easy as all of us thought.
The kids went armed with dozens of promising listings, and appointments to view properties, so it sounded like a piece of cake. Unfortunately, sounding good on paper doesn't necessarily mean its all that in person. Stephen has been keeping me updated on the hunt and those poor kids were exhausted and discouraged by mid-week.

They ran into all kinds of obstacles. Apartments that rent "by the bedroom" for college roommates. Places that sounded great but turned out to be a dirty hovel. They met one agent at a house that the guy didn't realize was still occupied. He apologized and asked if the kids wanted to reschedule a viewing later. The place was so run down and the yard filled with trash...real trash and old tires and stuff, so they politely declined. One Craigslist internet scam that the kids didn't fall for, but still, that was one more strike off the potential list. One place that seemed promising, had great space, a good location and decent price but turned out to have such a foul stench on the 2nd floor that Hannia practically ran out of the house gagging. The agent assured them that it would be cleaned and the odor removed before they could move in, but the kids didn't think it was even possible.

When I talked to Stephen on Wed. night I wasn't sure that he wasn't going to change his mind about moving at all. But then they found a place that suits them.
It's a 3 bedroom townhouse, completely new, and won't be finished until August 10th (which is pushing it because school starts on the 23rd, but it will work). Its smaller than they would have liked. There are 3 bedrooms, but they are really tiny. The kitchen and living room are also pretty small. Storage space is limited. There is no outside space to speak of. And its near the top of their budget.

But...on the UP side...being new, it is completely immaculate, up to date, and mercifully stink-free (LOL). It is in a great location downtown just a short stroll away from the Main St. shopping/restaurant area and a Farmer's Market. Its also on the trolley line that runs straight to campus. That's a big plus. And there is designated parking. Apparently that is not necessarily a given there as the kids ran up on places where you had to park wherever you could out on the street. They have decided that they can work with the space....and actually seemed to be excited now that the brutal search is over. Stephen said that this was the only place they saw that Hannia could actually picture them in. I think they are both satisfied with it.

And more great news...Hannia's bosses were so sorry to see her leave that they have agreed to let her keep her job thanks to all of these new-fangledy things like faxes and video conferencing and stuff. The kids are feeling relieved as not having any foreseeable income while job hunting was a little bit scary. It looks like things are all coming together, and they should be on their way around the 10th. I am going to miss them, but its going to be alright. I know in my heart that the kids need to figure out the right path for them.

'Member This?

Remember this song: I can see clearly now the rain has gone. I can see all obstacles in my way........

I loved that song as a kid. What's not to love? Catchy tune, insanely optimistic lyrics. It's a feel good kind of song. But for some reason, up until I was way more than old enough to know better, I thought it said:

I can see all ICICLES in my way.....

LOL! What the heck kind of song would that be? hahahahahahahaha...................
I heard it on the radio a couple of days ago, when we were on our way down to New Bern for the 4th of July actually and that little lyric mishap STILL makes me laugh every single time.

Nana....please SHUT UP!!!

Our 4th of July in New Bern was good. We got there early enough to tour through the gardens at Tryon Palace, something I have never done. Then we made it over to Union Point Park in time to catch the air show. That was pretty impressive. One act had a woman who hung upside down, by her legs, off of the wing of a bi-plane that was flying over the river. And her EX husband was the pilot. At some point he rolls the plane and she ends up sitting upright on the wing. Scared me to death!!! But oh my Lord we were so HUNGRY!! We just figured we would eat there for the celebration so we didn't eat before we left, but.....it was Sunday and none of the downtown restaurants were open. And....there were only a couple of vendors at the park and those lines were sooooooo long. Around 7:30ish Bruce and I decided to leave the park in search of food. The crowd had grown so large there that we could already see that getting back to the other side of the river was going to be a nightmare on that one bridge after the fireworks anyway. There is only one way out, and its an active drawbridge that opens periodically and stalls traffic to a standstill.

So, we drove out of the chaos and crossed the bridge back to our side of the river.
We found a Hardee's. Ok, I realize this is NOT fine dining, but at that point we were too hungry to care. It was food. It tasted fabulous. LOL. And we also realized that just behind the Hardee's people were heading down to the river, just a block or so away, and setting up to watch the fireworks. That ended up being fantastic. We had a spectacular view, and the color blasts over the water were really pretty. Also? No traffic getting back on the main road to drive home. That was particularly great.

But there was a dark spot. Of course. We were sitting there on this point on the bank of the river with a hundred or so other people who had the same idea. And this woman....who was clearly Nana, and who apparently was babysitting her grandchild almost ruined it for me. She had this really hoarse, scary cigarette voice. I never actually saw her because it was too dark out there, but she sat right behind us and this woman NEVER! SHUT! UP! the entire time. In a crowd of people with firework explosions going off, her voice still bored into my brain until I almost had to turn around and beat Nana into a bloody pulp. She was talking to the baby. And ok, that's cool. Fine, really. But the baby wasn't even responding to her because clearly the baby wanted her to shut up too. She was so God-awfully LOUD! She was doing this non-stop string of baby-talk to the baby. "Say Nana! Naaaaa Naaaaa! Are you Nana's pretty girl? Naaaa Naaaaa!" (If you ever had the opportunity to hear my goats nay and bellow, that's kind of what it sounded like). And in between screaming nonsense at the top of her lungs, she took the opportunity to call every single person that she has ever known in her life to wish them a Happy 4th. Loudly. Why even bother to go to the fireworks? Those people she was calling were probably trying to have their own celebration. Oh my Lord. The fireworks were beautiful but I watched them with a clinched jaw and white knuckled fists as Nana grated on the last nerve that I had. Even Bruce mentioned it later. I was thinking I was just being ultra-sensitive, which happens sometimes as I have a low tolerance for irritating people. But if he noticed it, it was really BAD. Nana barely paused long enough to draw a breath between her babbling of stupid crap. Ok.....breathe......I am almost over it. Seriously. Too bad I didn't see what Nana looked like so I could be sure to avoid her like the plague if I ever run into her again. But I would still recognize that annoying voice.

Indiana, kittens and stuff

Stephen and Hannia made it to Lafayette safely. It took about 14 and a half straight hours, give or take a break or two for lunch, gas, and stuff. OMG. What a long roadtrip! They have spent the day house/apartment hunting. Apparently they haven't hit on anything that they absolutely LOVE yet. Stephen said at least 2 of the places were ok....certainly doable. But they have a bunch of places lined up to see tomorrow, too, so hopefully something will materialize that feels like home to them. They like the town. Apparently parts of it are lovely and quaint. Other parts are a bit run-down. But again, its doable. Wish them lots of luck with this!

Also? I adopted out the first kitten today. It was hard for me. Harder than I imagined it would be. I have had 4 responses to the ad I placed on Craigs List. 3 of them apparently backed out. But this one couple....they are young and recently re-located from Kentucky to New Bern. They don't know the area at all. I had given them directions and they somehow ended up on 43 North, way up around Falkland. Thats about 45 minutes further than they needed to go. We finally managed to talk them back into Greenville and to our house on 43 South....and a part of me wanted to not answer the door and keep all of these beautiful kitties for myself. But the sane part of me felt so bad that they got so lost that I just had to let them have a kitten for all of their trouble. At least they were persistent. Maybe that means they will really love him...? I hope so. I just want these babies to find good loving homes so badly. They deserve that. Erica is still coming down to take the little calico one back to one of her friends. They have asked for updated emailed pics all along the way so I feel like she is going to be good where she is going. The other 2? Well, no real prospects at the moment. I still need to post pictures at the vet. Right now Mama seems to be meowing a lot. I think she realizes one is missing. Its sad, but I KNOW its necessary.

A piece of cake....

Happy 4th of July!!!