THINGS I WILL MISS ABOUT THE NUTHAUS
1. Being downtown (or: location, location, location).
2. The view from the top of the garage across the street (also sort of a location thing).
3. Crochet Guy, Grandpa, the Dude with One Dreadlock, the Taco Cabana staff, the guy at Subway who's always a li'l burnt, the CVS cashier who has a head-full of dreadlocks and is so helpful and patient to everyone, the across-the-street apartment drama, the guy from South Carolina who's always asking for odd jobs (gave him one once; he sucked at it), the guy who usually sits in front of the Baptist church and who has seven grown kids and LOVES Mal, the guy who sits with that guy and who unfailingly says to me, "Mama's got her hands full!", the crazy next-door neighbors, the lady with the crocheted apron who sells carnations outside the Scientology building.
4. Hungry but don't feel like cooking? Walk half a mile and choose from more than half a dozen different cuisines (represented by 20 or more restaurants).
5. The sirens (from Mal).
6. Being able to hang out downtown; I know, we can do that no matter where we live, but biking down is so much better than driving up!
7. Walking/biking distance from Barton, Deep Eddy, downtown, West Campus, Allendale, etc. Hair salon, doctor, lawyer, counselor, grocery store, veterinarian, bank, etc.
8. Being able to bike without building up new muscle and cardiovascular systems.
9. Walking to caffeine.
4. Hungry but don't feel like cooking? Walk half a mile and choose from more than half a dozen different cuisines (represented by 20 or more restaurants).
5. The sirens (from Mal).
6. Being able to hang out downtown; I know, we can do that no matter where we live, but biking down is so much better than driving up!
7. Walking/biking distance from Barton, Deep Eddy, downtown, West Campus, Allendale, etc. Hair salon, doctor, lawyer, counselor, grocery store, veterinarian, bank, etc.
8. Being able to bike without building up new muscle and cardiovascular systems.
9. Walking to caffeine.
THINGS I'M EXCITED ABOUT AT OUR NEW PLACE
1. Not having to run across the parking lot to Taco Cabana to use the restroom (or: two bathrooms!).
2. The swimming pool!
3. The "woods."
4. Two thermostats! I don't know how we'll take advantage of this unless Daphne goes somewhere for a week, but it's still kind of neat.
5. Not having the stuff stolen from our patio (if someone really wants to scale the exterior of the building to mount our second-floor balcony and take a cushion... well, I wish I could at least watch).
6. Not having people walking in our front door.
7. Hidey-holes for all of our messes.
8. Climate control that isn't sabotaged by poor insulation.
9. On-site maintenance.
10. Not hearing our crazy next-door neighbors' romantic drama four feet from our bedroom window.
11. Actually knowing our next-door neighbor by name! It's DeAndre, I believe, and she has a couple of kids, including a daughter who looks a bit older than Daphne and a son who looks a lot older than Daphne. I know her name not because she introduced herself (which she did later, but I don't remember that kind of thing), but because she took all of our boxes into her foyer the first couple of days until she realized we were going to get a LOT of boxes. Anyway, she left a note on our front door and I always remember things better after I see them in writing.
12. Biking challenges.
13. Non-stacked washer and dryer! No more freaking front-load!
14. Getting to know a new area of Austin, and probably a lot of Bee Cave.
As a side note, I'm ready not to have a lockbox on our house! I was looking back through our lease today and we could have declined if we had paid $150. It would have been worth it! I wonder if that means we could have declined showings, too... Because I was over it after the third one. Today really chapped me, though. A lot of times, it's a representative from our management company who shows the house.
Yesterday after 3 PM, I got a text that said, "Afternoon I would like to show your house at 1:00 PM." It was a Realtor from an independent agency. I asked what day, and she said Saturday. Fine.
So we got our attic taken care of, and cleaned that up (stuff dropped into the kitchen from the dusty access, and plus we have to climb over kitchen stuff, and a glass bowl broke, etc.) then we tidied the stuff up on the back porch so you can still walk back there. I woke Daphne up at noon (if you've missed that discussion: she sleeps a swing shift schedule), and we straightened up her room.
By about 1, Mal was getting restless and needed a nap. I was trying to keep him awake until after the showing, but by 1:15, he was getting hysterical (giddy then screaming) and accidentally violent, so I texted the Realtor at 1:20 and said, "Are you on your way? My baby desperately needs a nap..." She texted back, "We got held up at the other house. I'm sorry. I think they've decided on it."
Geez, lady! Let me know if you're not going to come! Some of us like live in our house.
So, yeah. Ready not to have to tidy up unless I want to because I have exciting people coming over. Preferably to bring me delicious food.
4. Two thermostats! I don't know how we'll take advantage of this unless Daphne goes somewhere for a week, but it's still kind of neat.
5. Not having the stuff stolen from our patio (if someone really wants to scale the exterior of the building to mount our second-floor balcony and take a cushion... well, I wish I could at least watch).
6. Not having people walking in our front door.
7. Hidey-holes for all of our messes.
8. Climate control that isn't sabotaged by poor insulation.
9. On-site maintenance.
10. Not hearing our crazy next-door neighbors' romantic drama four feet from our bedroom window.
11. Actually knowing our next-door neighbor by name! It's DeAndre, I believe, and she has a couple of kids, including a daughter who looks a bit older than Daphne and a son who looks a lot older than Daphne. I know her name not because she introduced herself (which she did later, but I don't remember that kind of thing), but because she took all of our boxes into her foyer the first couple of days until she realized we were going to get a LOT of boxes. Anyway, she left a note on our front door and I always remember things better after I see them in writing.
12. Biking challenges.
13. Non-stacked washer and dryer! No more freaking front-load!
14. Getting to know a new area of Austin, and probably a lot of Bee Cave.
*******
As a side note, I'm ready not to have a lockbox on our house! I was looking back through our lease today and we could have declined if we had paid $150. It would have been worth it! I wonder if that means we could have declined showings, too... Because I was over it after the third one. Today really chapped me, though. A lot of times, it's a representative from our management company who shows the house.
Yesterday after 3 PM, I got a text that said, "Afternoon I would like to show your house at 1:00 PM." It was a Realtor from an independent agency. I asked what day, and she said Saturday. Fine.
So we got our attic taken care of, and cleaned that up (stuff dropped into the kitchen from the dusty access, and plus we have to climb over kitchen stuff, and a glass bowl broke, etc.) then we tidied the stuff up on the back porch so you can still walk back there. I woke Daphne up at noon (if you've missed that discussion: she sleeps a swing shift schedule), and we straightened up her room.
By about 1, Mal was getting restless and needed a nap. I was trying to keep him awake until after the showing, but by 1:15, he was getting hysterical (giddy then screaming) and accidentally violent, so I texted the Realtor at 1:20 and said, "Are you on your way? My baby desperately needs a nap..." She texted back, "We got held up at the other house. I'm sorry. I think they've decided on it."
Geez, lady! Let me know if you're not going to come! Some of us like live in our house.
So, yeah. Ready not to have to tidy up unless I want to because I have exciting people coming over. Preferably to bring me delicious food.
