House

Sorry about the lack of HamannEggs posts.  No posts = busy dad or drunk dad.  Considering I was toiling until 1am nightly on an unnamed massive beer client, both are correct.

My lack of posts means you people miss a bunch of hilarious Hamann boys antics.  Their recent trip to Grandma and Grandpa’s house.  Their camp stuff.  Their abandonment of baseball practice.  Their excitement over moving into a new house.

New house?  New house?  Since when did we purchase a new house?

It’s been one of those developments that have been simmering under the HamannEggs radar for a while.  Diana got some insider trading info about a big, cheap house on the market.  I’m not at liberty to say who tipped us off.  Did I mention Eli’s friends Callie and Liddie live next door?

On a personal note, since Callie and Liddie are now our neighbors, I hereby promise to learn the correct spelling of their names.

Anyhoo, we snatched up this big old rambling 2 flat on a lovely street that butts up against a park.  We were able to buy it in addition to our other house.  Busy 1am Dad does have a few advantages.

We attempted to sell our old Ashland house in vain for months and months with no luck.  Buying two houses was within our means.  Actually affording two mortgages is very very out of our means. 

It became a source of stress at our house.  It was an omen of bad fortune and financial ruin.  I stopped sleeping.  I got really snappy with the boys and was generally a pill to deal.

As our move date became eminent, we bit the bullet and decided to rent out the old Ashland house.  We began referring to it as “That damned house.”  Or “That goddamned house.”  Or “That goddamned stinking crap hole house.”

Thankfully, a very nice family took us up on the rent and we breathed a sigh of relief.

We sent the boys to Grandma and Grandpa’s house and moved into our new place.  And by “we” I mean “Diana.”  The job was taking its pound of flesh.  Which meant Diana had to pack, move and run a small business while I sat in a conference room 11 miles away.

It’s been a bit stressful.  Oh, and did I mention I’m traveling to South Africa?  Yeah.  Life isn’t lining up very well.

I managed to squeeze in one day off in the last month a couple days ago.  Diana asked me to head to our old Ashland house and do one last run through to make sure we had packed all our ant baits and Lego heads.

I was stressed.  I was exhausted.  I was hot and stinky and generally in a foul mood when I walked around.

But then, like a scene from the worst TV movie imaginable, I imagined all the little scenes of our two boys growing up there.  Eli standing naked in our front picture window for the neighbors to see.  Luca poking his little head through the bannister.  Their little first steps on that ratty old orange rug.  So many bashed heads on our kitchen island.

It’s the first house either of them knew.  And I’m going to miss it.  Goodbye old house.