Big checks and ER trips

So as some of you know, we have been in the throws of trying to purchase a little house. It's a modest place in Woburn but perfect for our little family. There's a cute little yard with a deck just big enough for the three of us. Even better, there is a swing-set right behind the house so Birdie can go on the swings when she gets older.

As you can see from the satellite pic, it's in a complex which is managed by an association. By all accounts they seem to be a really great association. Two years ago they replaced all the roofs in the complex and put up the swing-set I mentioned earlier. They clear the snow in winter so I'll only have to worry about our deck and front path. Oh, and they also mow the grass. Pretty sweet!

Anyway after a little buyer's remorse we nervously signed the Purchase and Sale agreement on Wednesday evening and set the ball well and truly rolling. It's by no means a done deal though as the property is being sold as a 'short sale'. This means that the sellers have accepted our offer but because they owe money to their lender, then their bank has to accept the offer. In these situations banks do not move very quickly. The offer was accepted (by the sellers) about 3 weeks ago and we are still waiting on their bank. Anyway we had the Home Inspection last Friday and it could not have gone better. The Home Inspector practically ordered me to buy the place so I'm feeling very good about this house. My only complaint through this whole process has been the attitude of all the 'officials' involved. By 'officials' I mean the realty agents, lawyers and to some extent the mortgage broker. There is a general assumption on their part that Maria and I are intimately familiar with the whole process of buying a house. This despite the fact that they all know we are first time buyers. We've read bits of books about buying houses and spoke to other people but we are by no means experts so I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a little handholding when you're making one of the biggest purchases of your life.

In addition to handing over monstrously scary checks on Wednesday evening we had a sick Birdie to contend with. We found out this week that the The Day Care Lady has been putting her in her Pack 'n Play right underneath an air conditioning unit. You'd think it was fairly obvious that an infant is not going to fair well from this but clearly it did not occur to her. Consequently poor Birdie has been somewhat congested, snotty and fighting a slight cough. This got worse on Wednesday evening when Maria picked her up and realized she was running a fever. Throughout the signing of the P&S she was not a happy little girl and when we got her home, she was very fussy. Around 1am we were awoken by her and her fever seemed worse. We called her pediatrician's office and the triage nurse advised us to take her to the ER, so at 2am we jumped into 'Big Boy' (my car) and set off to Winchester Hospital. To cut a long story short, we ended being there for 4 hours or so. Birdie had a Tylenol suppository shoved up her bum (which worked wonders on her fever) and endured other tortures in the form of taking blood, urine and a chest x-ray. The poor little girl was beside herself and it was quite upsetting for both Maria and I. Eventually they came and told us that she had a Urinary Tract Infection. They prescribed antibiotics and we headed home where we all crashed for a couple of hours. Today she is going to see her pediatrician, Dr Harper, who is wonderful and Birdie loves her to bits. She seems much brighter in herself and hopefully is well on the mend. I'm sure the antibiotics will help with her sniffles too.

Sean, the Dad.