Finding a Place of Our Own

The cost of living here in NYC makes living on a paltry non-profit salary pretty impossible. As such, my mother-in-law has been kind enough to take us in and let us live with her in Dan's childhood home here in Staten Island. It has been an awesome way to allow bonding with Nanna, save some bucks and have a great home base to work from, but we have been yearning for the opportunity to have our own home once again.

We have another three years here on the island with Dan's residency, which isn't really enough to invest in a home that we might have trouble reselling in so short a time. So, we dove right into the crazy world of renting in NYC. Granted, you can get a lot more home on Staten Island than in Brooklyn, but it's still a pretty ugly market compared to Ohio, for example. My personal favorite was the 1000sq ft 3 bedroom bungalow for $1,600 per month.

One thing Dan and I were really looking for was a yard. As you can see from these pictures from our current neighborhood, a yard isn't necessarily a place with grass. Staten Island has the highest number of cars per capita: one for every two people, an average of 4 per household, not sure how that adds up, but seems to reflect an AWFUL lot of boomerang kids out there. This appears to result in the above scenarios - front yards consisting entirely of driveway. Yards are often so small that it hardly seems worth owning a lawnmower, thus some of the creative brick-work, full yard decking and other options seen here. It was all so sad that I actually thought I should nominate the owner of the place at right for some kind of commendation for converting their driveway into a grassy patch (note the garage door hiding behind the bushes).

 We looked at a lot of crazy postings on Craigslist before coming across one that seemed a little too good to be true - good square footage, a yard (with actual grass), off street parking, all new kitchen and everything, plus kind of reasonable price. It was MUCH further from the hospital than we hoped, but we're right off Hylan Blvd, so it's a straight shot to the hospital anyway. We will soon be moving to Great Kills (sounds like a hunting lodge, right?). Amazingly, there is a bus route that runs right between Mom's house and here so visiting is a snap even if one of us doesn't have a car. We're minutes from the beach - for most people, a great advantage, but this is a New York beach, after all.

I've spent the last few weeks figuring out how to set ourselves up in our new digs. I've investigated local pre-K programs for Penny - our low budget means we'll be sending her to the free universal pre-K funded by the Department of Ed, rather than footing the bill ourselves. All applications are in and now it's just a waiting game to see if we're accepted. With only one household car, our options within walking distance are limited. It'll be five half-days a week where she gets to hang out with other kids and show off how much she already knows. Letters, shapes, colors and counting to 20 are already pretty well mastered. As are using a mouse, typing, and kicking butt at Super Smash Brothers (aka "The Fighting Game). While we were checking one program out, she even went so far as to write her name on a sheet of paper someone had left sitting out.

Today I finished setting up utilities, filing the taxes and scouting estate sales for buying home furnishings. I hadn't realized how estate sales can be even better deals than garage sales! I'm looking for curtains, rugs, and ways to get lots of stuff into a small space, not an antique dealer, so I've walked away with armfuls of stuff and even furniture for less than $10! I'm hoping to round up some curtains tomorrow so we've got a little privacy as we move all our stuff in. It'll be so exciting to rediscover the treasures we socked away in storage before heading to Grenada. Those items will magically appear in a giant box outside our new doorstep sometime in mid-April. It's wonderful how everything is slowly coming together.

Must head to bed. Though I had hoped introducing solids to Paul yesterday would lead to somewhat longer sleeping periods, it seems to have had the opposite effect. Rice cereal isn't exciting, but there is no reason to protest by waking every hour all night. Sheesh! Perhaps he's more of an oatmeal fan? We'll see. The boy refuses to take a bottle, so I'm stuck being the sole food provider for a bit longer. He's still solidly on the 50th percentile, so something is going right.

Happy Birthday!!

A big "Happy Birthday!" to all the Girl Scouts and Girl Scout Alumnae out there. March 12 is the 100th anniversary of Girl Scouting in the United States. I definitely wouldn't be the person I am today without my experiences in Girl Scouting. Here is a picture of me and my mom, probably after my very first award ceremony (I only have one little yellow pie piece on my sash here - I probably just got it for completing a year of Brownies in second grade). It was through Girl Scouting that I developed my love of the outdoors, the concept that I could do anything with enough hard work, and organized my first science programs at museums for younger kids. Who would have thought that what most people think of as a fun after-school activity could lead me down such a varied and exciting path?

It wasn't until I worked as a professional Girl Scout that I realized how much the experience also helped my mom. Mom was definitely a determined lady before Girl Scouting, but it gave her a venue to express her creativity, supportive people to encourage her to develop amazing leadership skills and a pool of friends with common interests. Why else would she have an infinite supply of people to go camping with month after month, years after she'd stopped leading troops? The council even inducted her into their Hall of Fame (I believe related to her years of service as a volunteer) a few years before she died. I love that Girl Scouting gave something to both of us as we enjoyed it together. I look forward to building some more Girl Scout memories with Penny when the time comes. Here's to the next 100 years!!

Continuing Evolution

 Alas, it was too good to last forever. Penny is starting to realize that Mommy being home isn't all it's cracked up to be. She's very proud of being a big sister, often bragging about Baby Paul at school or to random strangers while we're out.  Most of the time she either ignores him or is pretty nice to him at home. Once in a while, I even get lucky enough to capture one of their funny moments playing together.

There are occasions, though, where she will not settle for second banana. She is constantly taking his baby toys, which I originally forbade and led to infinite strings of timeouts. More recently, I've decided to step back and just settle for ensuring he has SOMETHING to play with and she can do whatever with all the unused toys. Other times, it seems she invents things that require immediate attention as soon as Paul starts sobbing inconsolably. She'll start yelling so I can hear her over Paul, which (shockingly) doesn't help Paul or myself all that much. Then there's playing with Paul that turns a little rougher than I'd like. A cute moment can turn ugly so quickly! So far, no major injuries or trauma. He's always giving her huge smiles and seeking her out as he scooches across the floor.

I try my best to come up with Penny-only activities to help alleviate the tension. At present, trips to museums are still frequently requested and Paul doesn't have any say in what we do (other than the occasional requirement for diaper changes). Here Penny is showing off one of the exhibit components I helped to develop at the Museum. Kids get to compare how tall they are to a six year old tree and six year old bamboo that is mature enough to be made into floor boards (the floor here is made from bamboo). She's helping conceal her identity since I didn't get permission to use the photo for press. Another Penny-only activity is baking - she helped maintain the happiness of my staff with a constant stream of cakes and cookies while I was at the museum. This week, she helped mix and decorate a gingerbread house this week. It's kind of funny, though, because she only really enjoys eating icing and candy, not the cakes or cookies themselves. I suppose that's how she keeps so skinny.

Penny always seems to be on the go. A couple of weekends ago, it was non-stop partying to celebrate Mom's 70th birthday. All the family was together for the big day. It was our first time just leaving Penny to her own devices for a whole get-together. She had a blast with all her cousins. Who knows what those girls were up to in the basement for so many hours. I remember we used to have such fun at Saluke gatherings with all us kids up in the attic or back yard. Now they seem like such small spaces for all of us (17 when we all made it) to have been playing in simultaneously. But there were all kinds of things to do - lowering baskets for supplies, some joke about footprints on the ceiling, plotting our next great escapade to thwart or trick the grownups, honing our gaming skills. It would be hours before an adult came by to see what we were up to. It was great! I hope she's making similarly fun memories.