On the Move
After spending two years in Newton Corner, the wife and I will be moving. Moving. Always moving! This will be our 11th move in the last seven years -- including a cross-country trek in a minivan full of crap and a litterbox. This time? We're just moving to the other side of Boston.
We saw an apartment yesterday morning and I think we're going to take it. Actually, we are. It's a nice place -- a little unorthodox and erring on the bigger side of things (second and third floors of a two-family home), but we like that. Maybe we can grow into it.
The kitchen has no cabinets and very little counter-space, but it's cute. It's a box with a fridge and a stove and ugly orange walls that I can paint with Finn. There is a small 'in-between' room-type thing that contains a brand new dishwasher and a trash compactor (wtf?) and a tiny bit of counter-space. There is a pantry with shelves which I think will be better than cabinets because it's always so hard finding things when they are stacked on shelves way up high and hidden behind doors.
If you continue past the dishwasher and compactor, there is a door that leads to a landing that leads one of two ways: downstairs to a deck that takes up the entire back yard (GRILL!) or to a randomly situated spare room with a huge closet on the other-side of the kitchen. It's awkward and weird, but perfect for shelves containing heaps of books and a big chair or storage room since the basement is a little musty.
Off the kitchen is a dining room which will house a new table we can use for pumpkin carving and 45's and maybe even print-making someday. Off the dining room is the living room. The walls are littered with full-sized windows (oh, how I have missed you!). Light just pours into this place.
There is a staircase off the main hall (prior to entering the kitchen) that leads to the second floor. There are two decent-sized bedrooms. Both are itching for a new coat of paint. The lilac has to go. There are two small rooms at the far-end of the hall way. To the left (if facing the bedrooms) is a then-office converted into a walk-in closet complete with shelving units for clothes. To the right is a small room that can be used as an office or reading room or an art room or a dungeon. You choose.
Somewhere in between lives the bathroom. And there is three-season porch, but I do not recall where the entrance is. Perhaps on the first floor. At this point, I was lost in my head picking out paint swatches. And dreaming of free cable and internet compliments of our landlord (we currently pay $185/mo for both).
There are a lot of rooms, but they're not super big. The rooms are quaint and nice and will hopefully keep the central heating and air conditioning costs to a minimum. If my math is correct (it rarely is), we will be saving $250/mo as compared to living in Newton even though the rent is $100 more a month than our current place. Free cable and internet + cheaper T passes + no tolls + free laundry in the basement makes all the difference.
It's in walking distance of the T (10-12 minutes) and near grocery stores I no longer shop at. If the snow has piled high over night, we can walk to the bus stop at the end of the street for a four-minute ride to Malden Center. It's closer to 93 which will be great when visiting friends and family and playing disc golf. It's near Korey and Jenna and DiPietros which has decent pizza, but Sweet Tomatoes is by far my favorite. There is a park at the end of our street. I hope it has basketball hoops.
I will miss taking the Express bus to Copley and I will miss walking to Wholefoods and I will miss being down the street from Trader Joe's since we'll now have to drive to Cambridge just to food shop. I will miss being 3.5 miles from Finn, but I am glad that she lives so close to my work and the T. We can have sleepovers on school nights and crimp each other's hair and it will be grand. I will miss the groove I have gotten accustomed to, but I will carve out a new one. I always do.
Although there are things I will miss, I feel that Maeg and I may have finally found home. We've never really had that. We've bounced between here and there and everywhere. We've dealt with Landlords from Hell and Property Managers with their white walls and strict rules. Jimmy seems like a really great guy. He said we can paint whatever we want. If we have an idea to make something better, he is open to making it happen. If we want to buy shelving for the kitchen, he will reimburse us. If we want to drill holes into the wall to hang our 56" TV, we can. If the washer breaks, he will replace it. He wants to make his place a 'great living experience' for us. He seems genuine. And he's on the ball.
Hell, it's September and he's already looking for Nov/Dec tenants.
I like that.
We both have a good feeling about this place.
And that never happens.
We saw an apartment yesterday morning and I think we're going to take it. Actually, we are. It's a nice place -- a little unorthodox and erring on the bigger side of things (second and third floors of a two-family home), but we like that. Maybe we can grow into it.
The kitchen has no cabinets and very little counter-space, but it's cute. It's a box with a fridge and a stove and ugly orange walls that I can paint with Finn. There is a small 'in-between' room-type thing that contains a brand new dishwasher and a trash compactor (wtf?) and a tiny bit of counter-space. There is a pantry with shelves which I think will be better than cabinets because it's always so hard finding things when they are stacked on shelves way up high and hidden behind doors.
If you continue past the dishwasher and compactor, there is a door that leads to a landing that leads one of two ways: downstairs to a deck that takes up the entire back yard (GRILL!) or to a randomly situated spare room with a huge closet on the other-side of the kitchen. It's awkward and weird, but perfect for shelves containing heaps of books and a big chair or storage room since the basement is a little musty.
Off the kitchen is a dining room which will house a new table we can use for pumpkin carving and 45's and maybe even print-making someday. Off the dining room is the living room. The walls are littered with full-sized windows (oh, how I have missed you!). Light just pours into this place.
There is a staircase off the main hall (prior to entering the kitchen) that leads to the second floor. There are two decent-sized bedrooms. Both are itching for a new coat of paint. The lilac has to go. There are two small rooms at the far-end of the hall way. To the left (if facing the bedrooms) is a then-office converted into a walk-in closet complete with shelving units for clothes. To the right is a small room that can be used as an office or reading room or an art room or a dungeon. You choose.
Somewhere in between lives the bathroom. And there is three-season porch, but I do not recall where the entrance is. Perhaps on the first floor. At this point, I was lost in my head picking out paint swatches. And dreaming of free cable and internet compliments of our landlord (we currently pay $185/mo for both).
There are a lot of rooms, but they're not super big. The rooms are quaint and nice and will hopefully keep the central heating and air conditioning costs to a minimum. If my math is correct (it rarely is), we will be saving $250/mo as compared to living in Newton even though the rent is $100 more a month than our current place. Free cable and internet + cheaper T passes + no tolls + free laundry in the basement makes all the difference.
It's in walking distance of the T (10-12 minutes) and near grocery stores I no longer shop at. If the snow has piled high over night, we can walk to the bus stop at the end of the street for a four-minute ride to Malden Center. It's closer to 93 which will be great when visiting friends and family and playing disc golf. It's near Korey and Jenna and DiPietros which has decent pizza, but Sweet Tomatoes is by far my favorite. There is a park at the end of our street. I hope it has basketball hoops.
I will miss taking the Express bus to Copley and I will miss walking to Wholefoods and I will miss being down the street from Trader Joe's since we'll now have to drive to Cambridge just to food shop. I will miss being 3.5 miles from Finn, but I am glad that she lives so close to my work and the T. We can have sleepovers on school nights and crimp each other's hair and it will be grand. I will miss the groove I have gotten accustomed to, but I will carve out a new one. I always do.
Although there are things I will miss, I feel that Maeg and I may have finally found home. We've never really had that. We've bounced between here and there and everywhere. We've dealt with Landlords from Hell and Property Managers with their white walls and strict rules. Jimmy seems like a really great guy. He said we can paint whatever we want. If we have an idea to make something better, he is open to making it happen. If we want to buy shelving for the kitchen, he will reimburse us. If we want to drill holes into the wall to hang our 56" TV, we can. If the washer breaks, he will replace it. He wants to make his place a 'great living experience' for us. He seems genuine. And he's on the ball.
Hell, it's September and he's already looking for Nov/Dec tenants.
I like that.
We both have a good feeling about this place.
And that never happens.