$2700/mo. 2bdr 1ba cozy "charmer"; termite poop incld.

Well, after an exhaustive rental search we have found a little pied-a-terre here in the lovely Bay Area, Unincorporated Menlo Park to be exact. The search wasn't a pretty one. I could have written a novel on the offensiveness of it all. Droves of desperate middle-aged people clawing at each other over the privilege of paying exorbitant rent for places with "features" such as: stained, cracked, and pealing "like-new" linoleum flooring, 30 year-old carpeting, freezers (where appliances were actually included) that hadn't been de-iced in a century, bathroom vanities in hallways, broken windows, broken-into door locks, holes in doors, city-condemned detached-garages, pealing paint (probably lead-based), moss growing on soon-to-be-caved-in roofs, mold, and my person favorite: a mound of termite poop in a bath tub. The kicker of this bonus feature was that we had to explain to the owner what the termite poop was. She thought it was dust.

Needless to say the market here is once again tight. And when you're living in a temporary housing (a hotel room) with your husband, dog, and 10-month-old son while spending all of your time on Craigslist and going from crap-hole to crap-hole praying to the God you now hope really does exist that the "next one" will be "the one", your cheery disposition can take a beating... So any down time I have had has been spent staring into space whimpering with exhaustion and dismay rather than writing.  Yes, I do realize that is childish. Thankfully my better blogger half writes like Hemingway with a sense of humor so my lack of contribution to our little blog has clearly gone unnoticed. There are days when I feel I really should quit and start managing Ian like a good stage mommy rather than trying to keep up. I know I am the Andrew Ridgeley to his George Michael. The Tubbs to his Crockett. The Ike to his Tina. The Pepsi to his Coke...but I digress.


Soon we will be unpacking our boxes and making the best of yet another rental. And this one has a garden window in the kitchen. Who needs southern exposure and architectural charm when one has a garden window with shelving to collect one's clutter?

But this rental will be our last. I am pleased to announce that we are officially starting our house hunt. This hunt will no doubt be quite an undertaking as fund raising will take some time --much more time than an average PBS pledge drive, and without the classy tote bags and member support.

In the interim I am looking forward to discovering (and rediscovering) what this area has to offer. I think I will start with the Eichlers. I'd do anything to own one of these -I'd even overlook the termite poop.

-Catherine