Ultranormal

I want to make a post about all of my fabulous and inspired New Year’s resolutions, but I am sure they are just like everybody else’s: No more kicking old ladies or driving over dogs while they cross the street.\
Ugh. I can’t think of any real resolutions, which means I am totally deluded in my near-perfectness or have just gotten old enough to know the real me.\
Brian, from years ago, doesn’t know how he feels about this post:\

• S’up, Savannah? Why do you keep having fires and explosions that makes downtown lose power?\
  Kevin is working from home. The boys tend to forget they aren’t supposed to talk to him. I was working hard at keeping them away from him, but then he took a lunch break and I ran into the bedroom for a break of my own. I LOVE IT when Kevin is home, but not when we are supposed to pretend he isn’t.
• We finally bought a new tv. No more green-tinted, turning-off-by-itself, whining tv for us. Super yay! I bet the neighborhood dogs are happy as well. Now we can have that election-day coverage party I wanted…
• People came by to look at the house this morning at 9, without calling first. I just got back from a trip and the house totally looks like it! It was clean all last week, and the week before that, and the week before that. Did they come then? Oh noooo. They had to wait until it was messy!
• Today is all about laundry and organizing toys. Can you tell I am really bored though, because I keep posting?
• A pic from this year’s Christmas. How come I am so fuzzy?\
  

I keep going back and forth about buying a house right now. My mom keeps reminding me that we are on the hook for the mortgage for the Va house. We have renters, but what if they bug out? What if we can’t get new ones? If we are simply renting here, and things go south, we can at least downsize more easily. At the same time though, we might as well take advantage of the low interest rates and lower home prices, right?\
Then there is the issue of what size and cost of house we should we go for. I have no idea how much we can actually afford. We pay our bills fine and buy stuff we want, like shoes and books and just this week a new tv- wheeee, if there is money in the checking account. (Money going into savings, etc is not to be touched.) Bigger sometimes means just more to clean, which is totally uncool, but I don’t want to underestimate how much we can afford and be in an uncomfortably smaller or older house.\
My dream house is the white fancy one I posted before, with the awesome kitchen (and awesome everything else):\
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But it is a two-story house, so it isn’t really my dream house, but it is really darn close. Like, 95% close.\
There are other options, like the smaller, newer, less expensive house with the fabulous sun room.\
Or the least expensive house that is almost exactly like the house we are in right now, except with only a one-car garage and no pantry:\
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How much is it worth to me for a two-car garage? The house is kind of boxy and not as open and airy as some of the others we’ve seen. For that reason, it isn’t as appealing to me. On the other hand, it would be easier to separate and keep the noise down as we do different activities in the house, like dish washing vs video games vs tv watching vs working on the computer.\
The things all of these houses have in common: right school area, formal living room and casual living room, and at least 3 bedrooms plus a bonus room (and have kitchens, bathrooms, etc, heh).\
So, yea. Someone make the decision for me. :)\
Above all, I am really thankful we can afford a house, any house, in an area with such a good school because that is the most important thing of all. Of course, having such a good school improves the chances that my kids will get into an Ivy League school, which means I need to double the contributions into their college funds. Oy. And I am back to square one.

Christmas with my fam was FAB! We ate, shopped, played, and basically just goofed off. YAY! We also watched this wacky show called Whale Wars. How is airing this show a good idea? Crazy! Anyway, since we were in Mississippi, I made sure we got lots of local flavor: ribs, catfish, shrimp creole, fried pecan pie (yes, Tim, fried). Brian stuck with chicken fingers, though Max tried fried oysters and frog legs.\
Here are some pics from earlier visits.\
My folks and Buddy. Wow, my mom is smiling. It’s a Christmas miracle!\
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My dad and the boys:\
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Aunt Edna and Brian. As soon as she walked in the door this year, Brian made a beeline for her. No wonder since he’s been talking about visiting with her for the last few weeks.\
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Max and Buddy. And, hey! Look at the floors. Aren’t they gorgeous? I am wicked jealous.\
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This is one of my favorites of my mom. She is always in the kitchen, cooking for us. Thanks for the great care, Mom!\
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It’s only been a day and I already miss my fam like WHOA. They live too far away. Boo.\
Eventually I will post this year’s pictures and write about the death-defying feat of pyromania (aka fireworks that should be illegal) that came over Kevin. Until then, enjoy the older pics.

It’s supposed to get to 74 today!