The Crummy Apartment

I sold my beautiful house about a year and a half ago, and I sure miss it! But it was the right time to sell--the top of the market, as it turns out.

I do not, however, miss a couple of my neighbors. One woman, a Hungarian national, Magyara (fake name) would confront me at least once a week and demand to know when I was going to have a baby. I finally told her that this wasn't a good topic to bring up with me--ever. Sorry I waited so long to assert myself. Another neighbor, also an Eastern European, was a bit of a peeping tom. He left me alone after the police yelled at him. But he was a menacing presence in our neighborhood.

Since property prices are still going down, our family hasn't bought another house yet. We don't want to be like so many people who are fixated on the idea of the dream house that turns out to be too expensive and unsuitable for their needs in a variety of ways.

Just before Little Charles was born we almost bought a property, though, and might have ended up in the same financial situation as everyone else--a house in the hills that DH used to live in when he first came to Los Angeles. We reconsidered because it was too expensive. We knew the price would go down substantially and it did. And besides, neither of us really wants to revisit Christmases past.

So instead we've been saving our money carefully and investing some of it in real property in Springfield, Illinois, where DH's family lives. Property prices are much lower there--we've made some pretty good deals.

And we've been bending our efforts to making our somewhat crummy apartment more livable. We've removed a lot of furniture, hung beautiful paintings (see top left hand corner--1930's stylized painting purchased at The Goodwill. Yes, The Goodwill!), and bought lots of plants. It's actually quite nice.

We miss having a yard, but to compensate, I recently bought us a family membership at Descanso Gardens, a nearby botanical garden that has acres of footpaths, lawn and flower gardens. We went there twice this weekend. (visit them at www.descansogardens.org) Little Charles loves the giant koi. They're huge!

As desperately as we sometimes want to move from this apartment, we don't want to make a desperate move. Even though we could easily afford a house in a good area of Los Angeles, the fact remains that prices are still going down. We'll do better if we wait. We want to hang on to the money we work so hard for and make good investments. Dream homes are seldom good investments--as a bankruptcy attorney I know. Our office is extremely busy these days--it seems like everyone's dream home is just one step away from foreclosure.

What DH and I do have going for us, though, is the dream family. We get along so well with each other and we love our baby so much. Our family life is both a refuge from the world, and a springboard for us going out into the world each day.

Best Wishes,

Jen

Man's Best Friend

Here is our little rescue Min Pin, Chacha, lying next to Little Charles. She really loves him!

The relationship that has evolved between people and dogs for over 14,000 years is one of the best deals mandkind has ever made. We give them food and shelter and they offer us unconditional love and loyalty. Last year, Sharky, our other Min Pin, even alerted me that my car was on fire, saving my life and that of unborn Little Charles.

We want to have a couple more resuce Min Pins, but we need to move to a larger place first. Here is a link to the internet Min Pin rescue, where we got our beautiful, sweet, loyal Chacha, who loves "her" baby so much. www.minpinrescue.org

Best Wishes,


Jen

Vacation Memories

We just got back to Los Angeles from our vacation. Am I sorry to be home? Yes and no. We're happy to see our dogs, and everyone else we know and love at home. We took a lot of pictures to help us remember our trip. Here is one picture of Little Charles and me swimming. That's grandma in the background. We sure miss her! Too bad we live so far away.

Best Wishes,

Jen

Vacation in Illinois

Our little family is on vacation in Illinois right now. It's beautiful here. We're right in the middle of the country, surrounded by forests and farmland. At night there are beautiful fireflies that you don't see in California. And lots of mosquitoes, too. They'll eat you alive if you forget to spray yourself with repellent.

We're enjoying seeing all of DH's family. We've taken lots of nice pictures, and DH got some video footage of the family, too.

While we're here we're also taking care of some business. After all, idle hands are, well, idle!

We sure miss our dogs! Maybe we can take them with us next time. I suspect they'd enjoy an outdoor vacation.

Best Wishes,

Jen

The Peytons in the Dell

I confess, I got a little carried away and bought this darling little vegetable-themed charm bracelet. It's really cute, but admittedly a frivolity.



Well, we're a gardening family like all the rest of the Peytons. So I thought this symbolism was appropriate to our family. But I'm not buying anything frivolous again until September! Fortunately that's only a month away...

Here's a link to the Illinois store where I bought it (online of course).
http://www.threeoaksdesign.com/catalog/i7.html

Best Wishes,

Jen