The Hidden Costs...

When you decide to buy a house, you are always very focused on the price you pay for the purchase. But did you ever stop to think about all of the hidden costs that come up in the process?

We all know about real estate agent commissions and closing costs. But what about the $50 for the Fire Inspector to come to your house to tell you the smoke detectors in your five-year-old house are in the right place? And that you now need to have a fire extinguisher in your kitchen -- not inside the pantry door where you thought you would put it, but mounted to the wall just next to your kitchen table. (By the way, that fire extinguisher just cost you an additional $25 at Home Depot!)

Then, there's the latest inspection that was just made into a law last week: the Building Department has to come to your house to issue you a Certificate of Continued Occupancy. WHAT??? You have to pay an inspector a $100 fee (yes, that's $100!) to tell you that someone is allowed to continue living in your home??? WOW.

What other oddball fees do you think are going to pop up? I should keep a running list of how much this whole "buying-a-house" thing costs us, and post the grand total in a few months...

Hard to Believe...

Next year will be 20 years since I graduated from high school. WOW! It's hard to believe that nearly two decades ago, my classmates and I walked across the stage of the Kennedy Center in DC to receive our diplomas from Thomas S. Wootton High School. And guess what? After all these years, I finally know who Mr. Wootton was! The founder of Montgomery County, where I grew up. Apparently, it takes a bit of age and maturity to learn these important tidbits of trivia...

Anyway, when I realized just how much time had passed since my days at Wootton, my first thought was, "I don't FEEL that old!" And, my second thought was, "I wonder who's planning the reunion and when it will be..." Since I couldn't do anything about altering the passage of time, I decided to at least be part of the planning process. I am happy to say that I found a group of people who are interested in all doing it together -- some of whom helped plan the 10 year reunion, and some of whom (like me) are new. We have our first meeting this week (with me on the phone from NJ), and hopefully, we will be off and running after that.

As much as I dislike the fact that it's been nearly 20 years, I am excited for the reunion, especially since I missed the 10 year one. It will be great to catch up with old friends after so many years...

It's Been A Long, Long Time...

I suddenly realized that it's been a month since my last post. YIKES! Not that I haven't had anything to say -- I think I just haven't had time to say it! Somehow, there are never enough hours in the day or days in the week to get everything done. (As evidenced by the 6 loads of laundry I have to do this weekend. I have no idea why I let it build up like this. Again, it's that time thing...)

That needs to be my End-Of-The-School-Year-And-Beginning-Of-Summer Resolution: to find time to do the things that need to get done. Things that need to get done to function in this world (i.e. the laundry!), as well as things that need to get done to keep me sane (i.e. writing a somewhat-regular blog post or reading a few chapters at a time of a trashy, beach novel). The "to do" list is long, but I'm sure I can do it. Now I just have to find the time to compile the list in the first place...

The Dinner-Challenged Individual

My daughter is definitely dinner-challenged. The majority of the evening meals she eats (well, sometimes eats, but we'll get to that later...) are serious attempts at judicial negotiation, almost bordering on coercion. Some might even call it bribery.


But, how do you balance the idea of making sure your child is eating a healthy well-balanced diet with holding onto your principles of serving a legitimate meal? Every day, I battle this. Do I give her exactly what she asks for, so that I make sure she eats? Or do I give her a little bit of the thing she asks for, and withhold the rest as a "reward" for eating the food I want her to eat? And how long do I let dinner drag on, while encouraging her to eat what's on her plate? We've gone some nights with dinner lasting almost an hour! Last night, we tried setting our kitchen timer, but it was NOT a big hit. The munchkin got so focused on worrying about the timer "dinging," that she couldn't eat. We told her to try and forget about it, but that's all she could think of. So, you guessed it -- dinner lasted 45 minutes again.

We seem to have a rotation of about 5 dinner choices -- scrambled eggs, a Boca burger, chicken nuggets, ravioli (or some other form of pasta), or fish sticks. She varies the accompaniments (cous cous, green beans, broccoli, applesauce, etc.), but the "main dishes" always seem to be on this narrow list. I often wonder if she'll grow up to be an adventurous eater -- something my parents could never claim about me. She does like unusal things -- olives, mushrooms, avocados, pickles -- but her overall diet seems to be about as un-adventurous as any other almost-four-year-old's. I'm not worried, I just wonder what impact it will have in the long run.

Often, all of the basically inconsequential dinnertime issues just pile up into one big round of frustration. Not for her, but for Mommy (and Daddy). Every night, we struggle with whether to "stick to our guns" and make a point, or be a little looser and let things slide a little. Sometimes she eats what we consider to be an acceptable amount of the approved menu items, but other times, she ends up eating just a few mouthfuls of food and a few sips of milk. I always think she'll be too hungry to fall sleep that night, but somehow she makes it until the morning. (And then, thankfuly, eats a nice big breakfast!)

But, no matter what happens during dinner, as soon as she's finished, the munchkin "pays the toll" to Mommy and Daddy. Each of us gets this toll (a quick kiss!) as she scoots off to her playroom to attend to some other much more important matter. After all, dressing up as the Princess from the Planet GreenPail, or putting together a Clifford puzzle in the middle of the living room floor is waaaaaaaay more exciting than eating dinner! Right?!?

Thoughts about family

We have just returned from visiting family in Florida. It was a wonderful trip, and it certainly gave our munchkin the opportunity to get to know some relatives a little better.

Living so far away geographically, we don't get to see them all that often, and as such, the munchkin was a bit shy when it came to these "new people." Yes, she's met them all before... And no, she is not normally shy... But, nonetheless, she was absolutely NOT interested in giving anyone a hug or a kiss. She was usually willing to blow kisses, but would not engage in any lips-on-cheek kissing, or any arms-around-neck hugging at all. We tried to encourage her, but to no avail. We ultimately didn't push it for fear of making too big a deal about it. I do hope that someday she overcomes this and is willing to hug and kiss like the best of 'em...

We got together with a lot of people while we were in Florida, but there was one person that we did not see. There is a rather acrimonious divorce going on in one branch of our family tree, and it was clear that we were not supposed to have contact with the divorcing spouse. No one said this to us in so many words, but it was obviously the (unspoken) rule of the family. This frustrates me, and I am not sure how to handle it. Here is a person who has been in our lives for many, many years, then all at once -- POOF! -- this person is no longer in the picture. Sure the name gets mentioned, but only with a negative tone and a minor look of hatred in the speaker's eyes.

While I support our family member wholeheartedly, it also makes me sad that the other spouse will no longer be part of our family gatherings. I really enjoyed spending time with this person and will miss them tremendously. I also wonder if I would be "condemned" a little if I did choose to keep in contact with this person. I will need to weigh the details of the situation, come to terms with it, and then make my own decision. All the while, trying to be understanding of a very awkward situation...

Families are one of the most wonderful and rewarding things in life... And also one of the most challenging and complicated. It's no wonder that we love them so much!

A Question About Fruit

OK, here's one to ponder... How do they make seedless oranges? Don't you have to plant a SEED to grow a new orange tree? Where do the seeds come from if not from the actual orange? Is each seedless orange the end of its "orange lineage?" I am perplexed...

Here We Go...

As of tomorrow, my blog will officially be "public." I am going to tell a few friends about it, and see where it goes from there. Until now, I've only told 3 people -- my husband, my mom, and one of my oldest friends -- so, I was able to see if it was something that would work for me. There was no stress about whether or not I was posting things that were important or meaningful...

When I originally told my mom about my blog, she said, "Oh, I don't think I could ever do a blog. I don't like the idea of putting myself so "out there" for the world to see." Her comment got me thinking: Why exactly am I doing this? Why start a blog? I haven't fully been able to answer this yet in my own mind, much less in the public arena of a blog.

What I do know is that like many of my freinds, I am trying to find an outlet for expressing myself. My group of friends is made up of lots of former career-women: many of us have chosen to leave our careers (either temporarily or permanently) to begin families. My cohorts are lawyers, teachers, nurses, entertainment industry professionals and social workers. We are of various ages and ethnicities, not to mention that we are spread out across the country. But what unites us is our desire to DO somthing. Our need to be involved. Whether we serve on committees or we enroll in classes to further our education, we are not sitting back and letting life pass us by.

That is why I started this blog. I do not want life to pass me by. There are too many people to meet, too many sights to see, and too many things to do. And, in this case, too many things to write about! I have only just begun...