Weekbook: House Hunting by the numbers edition

One:
One is for the number of houses out of six that we saw last weekend that had *any* sort of potential. Still, we didn't have that "Yes! We're home!" feeling I've heard you get when you know it's the one. I felt it when we bought our current house 12 years ago. We are realizing ever more so that finding something with a touch of land, in our price range, that has the things we need/want is next to non-existant. We are trying to determine if bumping up another $50K is stupid or the sacrifice we are being called to make. But wow - do I really want to sacrifice my kids future college savings so that I they can have space to breathe and not be on top of me each other all the time?

Two:
Two is number of seconds it took me to hate the house I had my heart set on (before I saw it in person). I asked God for a sign as we drove up as it was our last house of the day- Make it smell like rose petals or something, God! - and he gave me a sign all right. As we stepped out of the car doors, thunder crashed! Then we got in the house and the "cute, funky cape cod" was a horribly laid out, scary place. We all felt uncomfortable and lost, and the kids kept saying "I hate it, I hate this place!" So even though I *could* see sheep from the back yard, and we saw a ground hog, some deer, and a little (sigh) stream on the property, it was a big no. Even though it was in our same town, and only 20 minutes from work. Even though. I can't even look at the picture of the house online without shuddering. I consider that a sign! ;-)

Two is the number of cavities Jeffrey has. :( He's one, and he's already lost a tooth and gotten two cavities. Slow down, Jeffrey!

Three:

Three is the number of weeks we got through Oak Meadow before I crashed and burned. So I'm sitting here trying to figure out if I school "three weeks on, one week off," will we cover 36 weeks of work in one year? I think we will...but my math is probably off. That might be a doable schedule for me though. I think we all naturally run like that - we can sprint and then need a short time to recover. Too long and we are totally antsy, to much work in between and we are over-stressed.

Four:

Four is the number of adults we had at a picnic yesterday, with 19 kids between us. If Jeffrey hadn't cried for hours of it (he was stressed and overly tired from the dentist) I would have had a nice time! At least my other kids disappeared into the crowd and had fun so I could focus on Jeffrey. Nothing fries my nerves more than having one child in a crisis while another comes up and needs something or just wants to chat!

Four is also the number of mums we planted this morning, and the number of plants we have yet to dig for.(ETA: I don't know what I was thinking, they are not mums they are some kind of hybrid marigold) I couldn't believe how hot is was before 8AM! I dug, and the girls helped me take the rocks and pebbles out of the soil. We are thinking of making a little rock path to our Mary statue. We were able to plant this week because I was convinced that we would be buying a house soon, so I pulled up all the half-dead daylilies and bought mums/impatiens. The area gets strong morning/early afternoon sun, so I'm hoping the impatiens don't die too quickly. I bought them for their color and happy feel - I didn't expect to be here to see them die a quick death, LOL!

Five: The number of books I'm trying to read at once. I'm not remembering enough of any of them. What is it about a library visit that makes me want 10+ books at a time even though I can only really read and have a place for maybe three? Don't even get me started about books for the kids, LOL! It's like I have a total scarcity mentality when it comes to the library. "But what if that book is NEVER here again when I need it? What if they sell it? What if I forget all about it? I'd better get it now!!"

Six: The number of times I've almost deleted this, thinking, "This is all so stupid. Nobody cares! Ugh!" Yet as I lay nursing Jeffrey to sleep for his nap, I was crying (darn nursing hormones, I'm getting a little tired of these anxiety attacks!) and thinking, "I've GOT to write something, I've got to create, to connect. Or I'll explode." So here I am. Blogging boring stuff. It all sounded so much better in my head, LOL!

Blushingly,