Life Updates of a Larger Magnitude

This could be it - the Forever House.  What?!?!?!  That whole covered porch thing would actually become 2 garage bays with amazing doors and then matching entry doors on either side.  Check out these beauties... And my cartoon drawing of the garage area:  The siding and windows will all get replaced.  The interior will get gutted and rebuilt up to code (this thing was built by an artist - great with concepts, bad with "rules" and "codes".)  The back porch needs to be demolished and rebuilt. Currently the house is a 2 family unit, with identical sides that have 3 bedrooms, an office, and 2.5 baths.  They each cover about 2,500 SF.  But the most amazing part is the view from the back.  Through all the crazy vines and trees is a gorgeous overlook of farms,stream, and valley. So the past 3 days have been an emotional whirlwind.  I love how much potential this place has and I'm psyched out of my mind about the thought ...

Tomorrow, I'm flying up to PA to see The Barn (see last post).  My dad and I are going to go through it together, then I'm going to spend about 6 hours coming up with a scope of work and some rough floorplans, and on Wednesday 2 different builders are going to come through it with me and give me an idea of how much it will cost.  I've suspended disbelief and I'm moving on gut instinct alone now.  I hope my guardian angel is watching over me... So, IF the builders say it will cost less than $200k, and IF I can get the house for less than $200k, and IF we can find the financing/money to handle a $400k investment, then... we will either live there when renovations are done OR we will sell it for a profit (I hope).  We could be talking about my forever house here!  Or we could be talking about a flip on the level that I didn't want to be at for another 5 years or so.  Either one is something that I didn't expect to encounter at this point, and I'm a little ov...

It's funny to me (rubber chicken, not funny "ha ha") that things will happen in my life and I think, "Woah.  Everything is dropping into place at a ridiculous rate.  This must be MEANT TO BE."  And I think that about absolutely crazy stuff; my brain has no filter when it comes to "impossible".  Leave Boston and move to FL when you're 8 months pregnant? Sure!  Quit your awesome job because you might be able to make money flipping houses?  Why not?!  But then when I start to encounter a little resistance I think, "Ok, you just went for a ride on the crazy train.  The stars are NOT aligning.  You should get off this train now." And here's how this applies to *right now*.  Sometime in the last 2 weeks, I started to reopen the "moving to PA" door.  I think it's related to 2 things - the fact that my dad is having hernia surgery in a few weeks, and even though this might not be an epic procedure, there have been quite a few ...

Someone (named Matt Shea) once told me that I had to learn to be content.  To stop always looking toward the next mountain to be climbed.  Sorry, love, but that's just not me.  I am, however, as content as I've ever been.  My daily life is pretty darn great.  This morning I: Lillian eating Eve's lollipop. Shhhh!  Don't tell! woke up at 6 am to a crying baby (-1) got some sweet baby snuggles (+1) still wanted to go back to sleep but made a cup of coffee instead (+0) accomplished the amazing feat of getting 3 children and myself ready early enough to not be stressed out by time (+1, although not in a warm fuzzy way, just in a hot damn that seemed impossible! way) walked my children to school - 2.6 miles roundtrip! (+2 for fitness and good mommy moment) remembered a snack for the baby that would inevitably start crying AND my bluetooth headset so I could enjoy Freakonomics podcast on the way back (+1) TOTAL: +4 life points by 10 am Then I sat a...

Sometimes being a risk-taker is over-rated.

We finally did the family vacation to Alan's lake house in Arkansas, and it was a very fun time.  Elaine, Alan, and baby Alexandra flew in.  Mom and Dad came down from PA.  And the Shea clan drove ourselves up.  And Alan's parents came to show us the ropes of their fabulous wooded retreat.  It took about 18 hours of driving to get there (15 on the map, but the map doesn't have toddlers.)  And we had to drive through the night to even get there in 18.  (Driving through the night is the only way to avoid lots of potty stops and constant chattering.  Hooray!) The lake was gorgeous and the water was the perfect temperature.  We spent almost everyday relaxing in the house, out on the pontoon or jetski, or just generally relaxing.  It was niiiiiiiiiice.

(That was supposed to be "Part", not "Party".  My fingers got away from my brain and the resulting typo made me giggle, so I left it.) My Favorite Body Part I listen to a podcast that makes hilariously snarky comments about life with kids, and the last episode inspired this blog post.  They talked about body image, specifically in the realm of post baby bodies, and it made me start thinking about how nice it would be to focus on the good things about our bodies instead of the perceived flaws.  If you ask people what they dislike about their body they can answer you in about 0.2 nanoseconds.  And that answer will not be one word, it will be a list.  If you ask people what they LIKE about their body, they will likely first tell you what everyone else likes about their body.  Is it possible to consider some parts of ourselves awesome without feeling guilt? Anyway, as this is my blog, I obviously want to talk about me.  First, I love muscles - not ju...