Here is a chronology of the weekend. Henry was up early on Saturday (6:15). I gave up on trying to get him to fall back to sleep in our bed after about 25 minutes. So we got dressed and he and I went to breakfast at the Blues Diner on Main Street in Melrose. We were in "Kid Row" - a series of booths with 3 high chairs in a row. Of course Henry was the best looking, best behaved, most charming, and smartest baby on the block.
We then went to the grocery store where I wheeled him around in one of those "truck" carts that has a truck front on it where he sits with his own steering wheel. Once again we got lots of comments from the shoppers. However, trouble began after we left the store. I unloaded the groceries from the cart into the back of the car while Henry sat in the truck cart. I then wheeled him back to the store to drop off the cart. As I unbuckled him I saw it - the purloined candy bar. He had swiped a candy bar from the display while we were in the check out! Too ashamed to enter the store and fearing for a blemish on his clean record, I pocketed the evidence and drove out of the parking lot with my head low.
I discussed the incident with Joni later and she did not object when I said that crime should not pay and we needed to dispose of the hot goods. So we split the candy bar between the 2 of us, gave none to the thief, and tossed the wrapper.
Most of Saturday was spent packing belongings into blue bins and sorting hundreds of dollars in change into rolls. The day was complete along with 4 loads of laundry.
Sunday we went shopping and picked up more blue bins. We also went to a couple open houses, one of which was nice. It had a 2 car detached garage, fenced back yard, 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, newer kitchen, partially finished basement, lots of wood trim, and good storage areas. It also had laundry hook-ups on the 2nd floor and what looks like a large, open, unfinished attic. The house is a 1926 colonial style. The house was in Reading, in a neighborhood north of the Gleason Road house.
That evening we continued to become more familiar with what is likely to be our new town. We ate at Cafe Capri, take-out pizza and Italian restaurant. I got a pasta dish with gemelli and grilled sausage in a light wine sauce. We also split a pizza with spinach and onion. Plenty of left-overs for lunch today. Henry enjoyed everything, as usual. He had pasta, sausage, mushrooms, and enjoyed chewing on the pizza crust.
His vocabulary is exploding. In fact he may have said "exploding". The pediatrician asked us last week what words he knows. We kept listing them until he stopped us and went on to the next question. He got a book about tractors at that visit. They give him a book each visit to encourage reading and vocabulary. It works. We bring books along with us when we go out and he read the tractor book at the restaurant. It is shaped like a tractor, too. His favorite books are a pair of flip books that have tabs on the pages that you lift up to see a picture underneath. For example, there may be a tab showing a chicken sitting on a nest with eggs. When you lift the tab, the chicken is standing with little chicklets and broken shells. Those books were gifts from his aunt Janie and cousin J.D.
I have to go check the fax. I just heard it printing. I am expecting stuff from the attorney for the P&S.
We are moving forward with some of our concerns with the home conditions. I faxed a list of questions this morning to our broker for the sellers to answer.
I also faxed some conditions we want addressed before the closing to the attorney. We get attorney services through a benefit we subscribed to from Beth Israel. I called an attorney in Wakefield yesterday who is part of the service. He is a graduate of BU's School of Law and passed the bar in 1960. Seemed like a genial fellow - not at all curmudgeon-ly.
We also decided we wanted to have the ceiling tile in the basement tested for asbestos. Joni called our broker this morning to see if we could make arrangements for testing. The ceiling tiles are those inter-locking 12x12 acoustic tiles that I think are stapled to the joists. Our P&S is supposed to be completed and signed Sunday - we will probably need an extension. We did not get our copy of the draft until Wednesday evening so we have not had much time to read it over and work with it.
Both of us are working again today so Henry is with Jim and Ellie. Their van is still in the shop so hopefully they will be able to put the car seat in Steven & Kim's vehicle and go over to their house instead of hanging around Melrose for 2 days. Nice day to take a dip in the pool, too.
This weekend we will try to get the condo cleaned up for sale. I hope we can get it done and sign the listing agreement Sunday.
Update at 4:40 PM - I spoke to the attorney and !surprise! he has other issues with the purchase and sale agreement. He should have it ready on Monday. We are getting an extension on the P&S until Wednesday.
We had the home inspection yesterday at 3:00 PM. The home owners were there and it was kind of nice to meet them before the closing. They told us about the nearby park, the other families with kids on the street, the quality of the schools, and then invited us in while we waited for the inspector. They told us to help ourselves to cold water and sodas in the fridge while they went to see the Pirates movie. It was hot, so the cool drinks were welcome!
First impressions of the inspector were along the lines of Foster Brooks. He was an older fellow, weathered, bone skinny, with sagging jeans, work boots, and a cotton shirt. He was not a man of many words, so I wrote down almost every comment he made. After 3-1/2 hours I had about 5 pages of notes. He was recording his findings onto an Apple i-Book. He was very methodical; first the exterior and foundation, then the living areas, then the attic, and lastly the basement. After the inspection we sat down at a Dunkin Donuts and went over the details. Slowly and methodically.
He did a very thorough inspection of the sill and all wood in contact with or near the ground, looking for termite and ant damage. I think he kept digging around because he was surprised he was not able to find any evidence of damage on the house. The shed was another story - it has been a feast for both termites and carpenter ants.
There was a fair amount of rotted wood in areas where it was close to the ground. The sills on the basement windows all had rot except for 2 new vinyl windows on the front of the house. The support posts for the screen porch were rotted at the base where they were on the concrete; one seriously. Fortunately there was no sign of rot or significant water damage around the roof lines where the garage roof meets the house side at an angle. It appeared to have adequate flashing to keep the water off the house and garage roof.
The roof was in good condition; there are gable vents on both ends and 3 newer roof vents on the back. He said that was pretty good ventilation but that soffet vents would still help. There are 2 layers of shingles. The top layer was in good shape so it should last for some years. There were 2 layers of insulation in the attic. Both have vapor barriers. He recommended we remove the backing from the top layer as it has trapped moisture between the layers and mold has formed there. He also said that when we do that we should spot clean the mold on the roof planks - not a significant amount, but that would be the time to clear it out.
The living areas were in good shape. The windows were older but he said they were well built and would be costly to replace with similar quality. Most of the electrical outlets were 2-wire, but almost every one that he tested had a ground available so it could be upgrade to a grounded outlet or GFI. The downstairs half bath has only one outlet and it is on the wall opposite the sink. More curious is the upstairs full bath which has no (zero, nada) outlets at all! They had replaced the sink and a light fixture not too long ago, but had not run an outlet line. Through the plumbing access for the upstairs bath we could see a small amount of mold on the back of the wallboard for the shower wall. The tub walls are tiled, but the walls are normal wallboard, not cement or backer board. The shower valve has been upgraded to an anti-scalding mixing valve.
The doorbell did not work, however the buttons on both doors were lit. Also a coach lamp post light did not work. The fireplaces were clean and the flues appeared to be OK although the basement one had not been used in a while and had leaves on the fire shelf. The garage was dry and had a working light and grounded outlet. There was some sign of water on the back wall, but we could not determine where it had come from - the exterior at that location is above grade and a solid wall.
The basement was dry. He had some concerns about the furnace. It 'hiccuped' while we were shutting it down after running up the heat. It may be running out of oil, it may need cleaning, it may have gunk in the line. It is also used to make hot water and had been cycling OK while we ran the dish washer. The hiccups caused an oily smell. Also, the oil line that ran under the cement floor had been replaced with an overhead line. This is fine, but he wanted us to find out why it had been replaced. His concern was about leaking - if the old line had leaked we would have an environmental hazard under the floor.
After the inspection he gave us a run-down on the potential big ticket items. First up was 3 trees that have branches overhanging the roof. He estimated around $1,000 for limbing. Next he recommended we get a preventative 10 year termite treatment even though there was no evidence in the house - they are on the property and other houses he has inspected in that neighborhood have had damage. He said we may want to test the floor tiles and ceiling tiles in the basement for asbestos fibers, especially if we plan to remodel (and we do!). He gave us the name of a lab in Woburn that does testing on samples.
He also gave us the name of a lead paint inspector if we want to know more about that. He used to do lead paint inspection and said it was highly likely that the exterior would test positive while the interior would be minimal to none. He said that windows were the danger areas as the lead dust from flaking paint or window friction would get into the window sills and could blow into the house. Clean them frequently with Spic & Span or a HEPA vac (NOT A REGULAR VAC).
Other than clean up issues (brush piles and junk in the attic & garage), and proof of good service for the furnace, I am not sure what else I would address in the purchase and sale agreement. I have to call the list of attorneys today to track one down. The P&S is supposed to be signed 7/30; we just got the first draft last night.
Whew - that was a long posting! Don't forget to leave your comments by clicking the Comments link below...
p.s. The picture was taken 2 weeks ago. Henry is holding his pig "Piggy". Joni got it for him - it is just like one in a Baby Einstein video. It walks, wiggles its snout and tail, and "oinks". He likes to put the snout in his mouth while it wiggles and he giggles.
Welcome to Henry, Joni, and Alan's blog. Feel free to comment on our postings or to add your own family postings.We will use this blog to stay in touch on a more or less daily basis. For example, today Henry had his 15 month check-up. He clocked in around 46 percentile for weight (23 lbs, 12 oz), around the 54 percentile for height, and once again he was off the charts with his cranium circumference. The graph from the previous visits was always wiggling around the 100 percentile line, but now in the last 2 visits it has taken a sharp hockey-stick up turn off the chart. That's one big noggin'
Tomorrow we have the home inspection on the Reading house.
