Cherry Blossoms

David was able to get a rare mid-week day off so we could see the cherry blossoms in Washington, DC.  It was a lovely trip!  Our only complaint was that it was cold (in the 40s with a chilly wind), but seeing as it was the warmest and driest day predicted this week (except for the weekend, which we really wanted to avoid since we know the crowds will be crazy), we went ahead and braved the cold.

The cherry blossoms were really beautiful.  We went to the Tidal Basin area near the Jefferson Memorial, and the walkways all around were lined with cherry trees in bloom.  There were a fair number of people out taking pictures, attempting chilly picnics, and enjoying the scenery.  They were also setting up tents and tables and bike racks for the main part of the Cherry Blossom Festival which I think is happening later this week.  The metro was pleasantly uncrowded, and we had a good trip.  The boys' legs, especially Thomas and Peter (we forgot his stroller!) tuckered out pretty quickly, so it was an effort to keep them walking and cheerful.  Thomas is a wanderer and dawdler on his best of days, but when his little legs get tired he really tends to trip on his own feet, not look where he's going, swerve into oncoming walkers/joggers, etc.  Peter needed to be carried for a good bit of the way, although he actually did better than I expected.  Walking on busy sidewalks next to cars whizzing by on even busier roads meant that David and I really had to work hard to herd the boys away from danger.  We were all exhausted when we got home, but it was definitely a good adventure and we got some beautiful photos.

On the house front, I am officially tired of the parade of realtors and prospective tenants coming through our home since Monday.  Fortunately, they all call ahead of time, but they just seem to pick inconvenient times.  Yesterday a few came right during dinner, and today some are coming during Peter's naptime (although I did tell them his bedroom is off-limits during the tour, and they respected that).  All the realtors and lookers have been very pleasant and even apologetic about interrupting our day, so that part has been OK, but honestly I just have a thing about strangers in my house.  I'm always a little uneasy when new handymen or repairmen have to come fix something.  I've never had a bad experience with one, but I just feel unsettled while they're here and so relieved when their work is done and the house is mine again.  So, day after day of strangers wandering around my house has been a little wearing.  Thankfully, we are moving out next Thursday or Friday at the latest, so I don't have to feel unsettled for too much longer.

Unfortunately, I really don't have any update about our next rental home.  We are moving forward on the lease, so that's good, but we haven't actually signed anything (we've been waiting and waiting for the owners to get the documents together), so we don't actually have the house yet.  We were supposed to sign the lease today, but it's nearly 3PM and I haven't received it or heard anything yet, so I'm guessing that probably won't happen.  I'm a little nervous that the owners will suddenly backout and we'll be in a tight spot in terms of finding a whole different house and signing a lease before we have to leave our current home.  On the upside, the worst case scenario is that we'll end up living in a hotel for a few days and put out stuff in storage (fortunately, not too much -- mostly toys and clothes, since we left our furniture back in CA).  David's company would pay for our hotel, and maybe we could even score a place that serves free hot breakfast :).  So, we certainly won't be homeless no matter what happens, but it sure would be nice if we get this home secured.  I'll update when we know more!

Hopefully moving up in the world

It's hard to put into words how busy the past few months have been and how fast they've flown by!  Next week we are scheduled to move for David's final rotation in his program.  Fortunately, he'll be working just about 20 minutes away from his current office, so it's not a big move.  David and I did decide to change houses, though, because we haven't been all that happy with our current rental home.  We rented it sight unseen in a last-minute housing scramble from Colorado, and when we arrived we realized that the home and the property managers had lots of quirks that we would rather avoid for the next 6 months.  Part of me thinks we're a little picky -- the house is perfectly livable and we would be fine here.  But, on the other hand, David works very hard and his company is paying our rental expenses, so if we're not really satisfied or if we feel like we would feel more "at home" somewhere else, then we really shouldn't have to settle for a place we don't like.

So, we took the plunge about 3 weeks ago and gave out notice to vacate our current home.  We didn't have a new home lined up yet, but we were hopeful that we would be able to find something quickly.  Well, it's been a lot harder than we thought.  We did find a home that we loved, but they backpedaled a little bit because we need a short-term lease.  After David's rotation ends in October, we might be headed to CA, CO, or who knows where.  We were disappointed, because the new home is gorgeous, and just feels so much more comfortable than this one.  Then, this morning they told us the short-term lease would be fine, so we're back on track (we hope!).  We move on April 8th, so we really don't have much time left in case things go wrong again.  We hope to have the lease finalized today or tomorrow, which will be a huge relief!

In the meantime, our current house has been put back on the rental market.  They put the "For Rent" sign in our yard, and the lockbox on our door, and today the listing was posted online.  Already we've had 4 calls from realtors who want to show the home!  The first ones are supposed to come by this afternoon.  It's a really weird feeling.  I don't have any stake in what prospective tenants think about this home, so it's not like I have to keep it "show quality" as if we were selling it.  But at the same time, I feel obligated to keep it somewhat neat and tidy.  It just seems like the decent thing to do.  Also, if the house looks better, maybe it will get rented faster, which will mean a quicker end to the parade of people wanting to look at it.

Also, I'm anticipating that the prospective tenants might want to ask what we thought of the home, the property managers, why we're moving, etc.  I haven't really figured out how to answer these questions if I'm asked.  If I'm totally honest, it might impact whether people decide to rent this home or not, because we really didn't have the best experience here.  I don't want to come off as badmouthing the property.  But of course I'm not going to lie and tell them we loved everything about this home!  We'll see.  Maybe I can balance some good points and low points that we found with this home and let people make up their own minds.

In addition to all the house stuff, we're scheduled to go to the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC this week.  I can't wait!  We've all been sick for the past 2 weeks and mostly housebound, and we're so ready for spring and all the new beginnings and good weather that it brings. 

In other news that I haven't posted about on this blog yet, I'm 13 weeks pregnant!  Everything seems to be going well so far, and we got to see a healthy, active little peanut about 4 weeks ago on ultrasound.  The next milestone will be my appointment this Friday where I should be able to hear the heartbeat on Doppler.  I'm nervous but hopeful that this appointment will go well.  It doesn't make much sense, but I have in my mind that if I can make it to this appointment and have everything go well, I can finally take a breath and relax about this pregnancy.

When I get a chance, I'll update about our home and my appointment on Friday and hopefully have some pictures of us at the Cherry Blossom Festival!