The Great Cookie Bake Off

So, what do scientists do for fun?  Many friends have taken up distillation or fermentation as hobbies (translation:  they make their own beer, wine, or other form of alcohol).  At work this week, we turned our attention to another venture:  baking.

Now, I often complain that, if you know how to bake, you can make personal care products.  Because, on a daily basis, I follow a batch care (recipe), adding very precise amounts of ingredients (in this case, chemicals) together, mixing them, heating them, cooling them, until, c'est voila, shampoo.  The art comes in by creating a recipe from scratch, understanding how each of the ingredients will work together (or not work, as the case may be) to create one perfect product.

Now imagine, a bunch of scientists (and some non-scientists) competing to see who can create the perfect cookie.  There were over a dozen creations, all consumed over lunch.  My stomach is still protesting remembering how many sweets it ingested on Monday.  I don't think I have ever consumed that many cookies in a day, let alone one sitting.  In the end, one cookie reigned supreme. . . my Chocolate Chippy.

In fairness, the Chocolate Chippy had existed in my mind for over a year.  People on Pinterest posted recipes adding potato chips to chocolate chip cookies.  But, when I tried them, I realized that, putting crumpled potato chips into a cookie made them soggy.  By the time the cookie finished baking, you had lost all of the crunch of the potato chip.  And, really, the sweet/salty combination wasn't perfectly balanced.  I initially tried using adding the chips to a chocolate dough.  Then I tried Frito's corn chips (since they are thicker, I thought they would retain some of their crunch).  But, my husband vetoed the Frito's, claiming the cookie was overwhelmingly "corn flavored".  I tried rolling the cookie in crumbled chips, like you might roll a cookie in nuts or sugar.  A small improvement, but not what I was ultimately looking for.

If only I could coat the potato chips in something so that they retained their saltiness AND crunch.  Something like the non-nutritive cereal varnish Clark invented in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (a classic).  And then, it came to me.  Why not coat the potato chips in chocolate before adding them to the cookie?  This introduced new challenges. . . how to best coat the chip without getting too much chocolate on the chip (because I wanted to maintain the perfect balance of sweet and salty).  Ultimately, I painted dark chocolate onto both sides of the chips, laid them on a cookie sheet in the freezer to set, then crumbled them into smaller pieces to add to the cookies.

In hindsight, coating potato chips this way is very time consuming.  If you're crunched for time (pardon the pun), you can order chocolate covered potato chips from various retailers on the Internet.  I love dark chocolate, and most vendors use milk, so I'm going to continue painting chips.  For anyone who wants to try it, the full recipe is listed below:

Dark Chocolate Covered Potato Chips

Ruffles Potato Chips (can substitute other chips, but the crinkle cut are easier to coat)
1 bar of Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate (can substitute other chocolates)

Break the bar of chocolate up in a glass bowl.  Microwave on high at 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until chocolate is melted.  With a brush or clean hands, paint the chocolate onto each side of a potato chip.  Lay the coated chips on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.  Freeze until the chocolate has set.  Break the chips into pieces.

The Chocolate Chippy

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup of granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups of broken Dark Chocolate Covered Potato Chips (see recipe above)
additional sea salt for sprinkling on top of the cookies

Preheat oven to 350F.  In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until smooth and creamy.  Add egg and vanilla extract and beat until combined.  Slowly mix in the dry ingredients, mixing until smooth and uniform.  Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed to make sure all of the flour is mixed in.  Stir in chocolate covered potato chips.  Scoop tablespoon sized balls of the dough.  Sprinkle or roll the top in sea salt before placing on cookie sheet, spaced about 2 inches apart between cookies.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Allow the cookies to cool for 2-3 minutes on the cookie sheet before removing.  Assuming you haven't consumed the cookies (or dough), continue cooling on a cooling rack before storing.

Happy Baking!

Love, The Trahans

Stream of Consciousness

There are five more days left of commuting 52 miles to and from work left for me. You would think I'd be ecstatic. But, the closer we seem to come to moving, the more painful my commute seems to be. Part of me thinks God is trying to make us even more appreciative of the change once we move. But, I really think I am starting to lose my mind.  Just read some of the thoughts that go through my mind during my three to four hours in the car:

"Once I get to work, I will only have ten more times that I have to make this drive...ten..."

(After reading a Connecticut vanity tag) "'EXIT12'?!? What is that supposed to mean?  That is the stupidest license plate I've seen yet.  Why would you pay money for that license plate?  What exit is exit 12 in CT anyway?  Stamford is 8-10, so it must be somewhere between Stamford and Milford.  What could possibly be the significance of some town between Stamford and Milford?"

(After reading a sign updating traffic conditions) "8 miles and 8 minutes to Allston/Brighton.  How is that possible?  I am stopped. Literally traveling 0 miles an hour. The top speed I have reached in the last 20 minutes is 20 miles an hour. The only way I could travel 8 miles in 8 minutes would be if my car turned into a helicopter right now. Or if I had a plow attached to the front of my car and could bulldoze traffic around me.  Now THAT would be cool!"

(8 minutes later) "So, clearly that sign must be a joke, because I have traveled less than half a mile."

(28 minutes later) "8 miles in 28 minutes would have been more accurate.  I don't know how they determine these travel times, but they should double their calculation before posting it. If it said '8 miles 40 minutes', right now I'd be thinking, "Woo Hoo!  I made it in 28 minutes. That's got to be some kind of record!'  Instead, I'm just pissed off at the ineptitude of MassDOT."

(The next day, after reading the same sign) "Maybe they should make MassDOT employees get in a car and drive the Pike all day long to report on travel conditions. That would be the WORST job ever. They could punish criminals by making them drive it.  Wait, no, bad idea. They might crash intentionally. I bet if Jesus came back to earth now, the Romans would torture him by making him drive the Pike repeatedly before crucifying him.  Wait, that seems sacrilegious. I wonder if God will consider my torturous endurance of this traffic as atonement..."

(After the announcement that the Pats signed Tim Tebow) "I hope Tim Tebow never has to drive on I-90 or I-93 during rush hour.  It may shake his faith knowing Hell does exist."

(Too the tune of 'Stuck In The Middle With You') "Cars to the left of me / More cars to my right / Here I am / Stuck in rush hour with you."

"Why do I wake up everyday thinking, 'Maybe there won't be traffic today?'  Isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?  Am I insane?  I must be if I drive this everyday and still wake up the next day wondering if there will be less traffic.  I think I'm sane...is this what insane feels like?  Thinking your sane when your not?  Maybe I don't actually THINK there will be less traffic.  I just WISH there would be less traffic. That must be the difference. Still sane, just hopelessly optimistic..."

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Think McCaully Culkin screaming in Home Alone...this was actually in my out loud voice.

Wow, seeing it written out definitely makes me rethink my sanity...

10 days until we close...10 more nights sleeping in a hotel...9 more times I have to drive along the Mass Pike during rush hour...

Pray for our sanity between now and the 25th.

Love, The Trahans

. 

How Living in a Hotel is like College

We have officially moved out of the house and are living in a hotel. Which sounds very fancy. Champagne, caviar, room service, pool. Until you realize we are at the Econo Lodge. No pool.  No room service, unless you are Hannah and Mikie and Mike and I are the staff (unpaid staff I should add). There might be caviar in the pond out front, but I wouldn't want to eat it. We do have champagne, but only because I moved the bottle of Andre from the house to the hotel (really classy, I know).

All kidding aside, it could be worse. As a coworker joked, we could be "living in a van down by the river".  But, moving from a 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bathroom, 2800 sq. ft. house into the equivalent of a studio apartment with a cleaning lady is quite an adjustment. It's like being back to college, but with two kids...

Problem #1:  Sleeping. We have two queen beds; one for us and one for the kids. Or, as Hannah tried to convince us, "One for the girls and one for the boys."  Ha!  Fat chance, kid. I've seen "Family Guy". I don't need to give her easy access to smother me while I sleep.

Remember being in college and finding out you are an early riser, but your roommate is a night owl?  That's us.  The kids go to bed at 8:30. First, because they need their sleep (it's hard enough to wake them up at 6 am). Second, because Mike and I need time without listening to them whine and fight. So, we put them to bed. Mikie, the world's soundest sleeper, passes out immediately. Hannah, the world's lightest sleeper, will not go to sleep unless you lay in bed snuggling her. And, even then she wants to have a conversation for a good forty minutes. 

Once we overcome the hurdle of getting them to sleep, we encounter another problem. We don't go to sleep for another 3 hours. In college, you could just walk to your friend down the hall or hang out in the common area. But, in a hotel?  We lay in the adjacent bed reading, occasionally daring to watch TV with the volume really lowdown as not to disturb Hannah. 

Worse, imagine that your college roommate is scared of the dark. And, for some reason insists on having half the lights on to fall asleep. I, who am a light sleeper (especially since having kids), woke up every two hours when I came out of REM sleep because I thought the light filtering though my lids was the sun and that I overslept. 

After the second night without sleep, we bought low wattage bulbs for the lights. 

After the third night without sleep, I took a risk and turned off the lights during the night. 

Now, I leave the bathroom light on with the door cracked so that the room is dark enough for me to sleep. But, if the kids wake up, they won't panic. 

Problem #2:  TV. First, the kids are not used to live television.  Mikie keeps asking us to "pause" the TV.  Hannah keeps asking us to put on (insert a show that is not on), demanding that we turn it on "On Demand". We've given up trying to explain that we don't have a DVR. 

Second, there is only one TV. So, just like in college, we need to agree on what to watch. This is less of an adjustment for Mike and I, because we usually watch what the kids want to watch when they are awake and agree on what to watch together when they are asleep. But, the kids are not used to agreeing. If Hannah was watching Caillou, Mikie would ask to watch Loony Tunes in our bedroom. If Mikie was watching something Hannah didn't want to watch, she would scream/ask to watch Netflix on the computer, and, in many instances, end up in time out. 

Problem #3:  Imposing time out when there are only two rooms. My solution has been to make everyone suffer by turning off all electronic devices and make them sit on separate beds. Mikie's solution is to threaten to put Hannah in the bathroom by herself. His way is very effective because of problem #4...

Problem #4:  Hannah's SEVERE separation anxiety.  Hannah will not allow us to leave her alone for even a second lately. Worse, Hannah considers herself "alone" if I am not occupying the same space as her AND she has an unobstructed view of me from where she is. This means I can't leave her in the car for the ten seconds it takes me to walk around to her door and unbuckle her car seat. She begs Mikie to stay in the car until I get to her door. This anxiety also extends to me leaving her I the hotel room with Mike and Mikie to do laundry, and, occasionally, to me walking into the bathroom to shower or empty my bladder. 

Problem #5:  Communal, coin operated laundry room.  We have to carry the laundry down a flight of stairs. This requires appropriate dress in case you should encounter other hotel patrons on your way to the guest laundry room. Plus, physically carrying a basket of laundry down the stairs.  At home, I would throw everything down the stairs and pick it up, or kick it, around the corner to the laundry area.  Then, I need to find an empty machine (there are only two washers, only one of which is high efficiency, and two dryers) and, $3 in quarters per load ($1.50 for the washer and $1.50 for the dryer). Oh, and, I need to keep track of when I started the load so that I can run back downstairs before someone "tables" my wet clothes. 

Problem #6:  Parking. Of course you would always fight for the parking spot right in front of your dorm or class. Especially if you went to school where it snowed. And, if you didn't get that spot, you might have to make multiple trips to and from your car to get your books, groceries, Ghanian drum, etc. back inside your dorm. Now, imagine doing that with two other people, one of whom doesn't have the ability to carry her own things. In the pouring rain. When the closest parking spot is a block away. 

I THOUGHT I could solve this predicament by pulling up to the front door, unloading Mikie and all our stuff (book bags, lunch boxes, work laptop, purse, etc) into the foyer. Mikie is responsible enough to watch our stuff while Hannah and I park the car and run back through the rain with the umbrella. The glitch in my brilliant scheme:  Hannah's SEVERE separation anxiety. While I unloaded the car and Mikie was in the foyer, Hannah was "alone in the car" (if you disregard the fact that I was in and out of the car every 15 seconds).  In her mind, I had forgotten her, and she was hysterical by the time we parked and ran back to the hotel. 

Problem #7:  Cooking. Similar to college, we are eating a lot of pasta and things that can be prepared in a microwave. We do have a "kitchen" with a full size refrigerator, sink, dishwasher, microwave, and stove. But, no oven. And, since the room is so small, I haven't braved sautéing chicken for fear of setting off the smoke alarm/sprinkler system. Which Mike succeeded in doing when he fried me an egg the night we decided to have breakfast for dinner. 

On the upside, we are relocating to a new hotel next Friday when school ends. This way, we're closer to the new house, can reduce our commute on Monday morning. And, the new hotel has a pool (Ooh! Ahh!)

And, we only have 10 more days until we close on the new house...

Love, the Trahans

The Bad, the Ugly, and the Outrageously Overpriced!

Also known as "Homes We Are NOT Buying!"

Now that you've seen the home we are buying, I thought I would entertain everyone with photos of some of the homes we didn't buy. Keep in mind, all of the homes you are about to see are located within a 20 mile radius of Boston and were priced (at the time we saw them) between $500K and $700K.

Home #1:  8 Sandspur Lane

We never actually saw 8 Sandspur Lane in person.  Sadly, priced at $729K, it was far outside our price range.  But, the pictures of this home were EPIC.  So, we had to include it.

Per the listing:  "A nicely maintained and updated home, perfect for the larger family with potential for a 6th BR in the lower level. Water for the pool and lawn irrigation system supplied by a private well. Professionally landscaped. Enjoy the quiet back yard with in-ground pool, pool bar and gazebo or maybe the deck overlooking the pool would be more your style. Separate entrance is perfect for a home business office. On the end of a cul-de-sac and conveniently located for highway access and shopping."

Note, they said "updated", just not when.  Judging by the decor, I think 1970-1980.

The pool bar. . .

I don't know if you can fully appreciate everything that is going on in this backyard.  The pool with slide is beautiful.  Then, you have a lamppost in the background of the picture that looks like Mr. Tumnus is going to appear momentarily (if you don't know who that is, please read "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe).  Flanking said lamppost are two park benches, straight from Central Park, which go nicely with the grecian statuary and stone bench in the foreground (just behind the table and chairs).  And, who doesn't love a good tiki torch, strategically positioned just out of reach of the (probably flammable) green-and-white striped awning.

Really, a more apt description would have been, "There is nothing that this home doesn't have."

Home #2:  3 Hayward Farms Lane

"Cul-de-sac location, abuts Thompson Country Club. Hip Roof Colonial, custom built floor plan with bright spacious kitchen, formal dining room, formal step down living room, 1st floor family room with fireplace. Terrific sun room. Master bedroom has vaulted ceilings. Professionally finished lower level with Silestone wetbar and second fireplace.  Setting is on a builder's acre including inground, heated gunite pool, patio, and brand new custom deck. Many new features, newer furnace in '08, and air conditioning in '07. Great curb appeal.  Highly sought after schools."

Let me start by saying, this showing was destined for disaster.  We started by setting off the alarm system.  So, Mike and I had ample time to tour the grounds while our agent, Alison, called the sellers agent to figure out what the code was.  And, call of the alarm company.  In doing so, we saw the beautifully landscaped pool area, deck, ad patio.  Not being sarcastic:  they really were well done.

Then we walked to the front of the house.  And, what you really can't appreciate from a distance is all the unfinished details on the exterior.  The decorative trim/moulding around the front door was new.  Or, you hope it is new.  Because, whoever nailed it onto the house never puddied the holes for all the finish nails.  Nor did they paint it.  Same holds true for the new palladium window above the front door. And, while most of the trim is white, the gutters and downspouts are all pale yellow.  So, one would need to be painted/replaced.  We were taking dibs on the gutters and downspouts.  Since the clapboard siding also needed a new coat of paint, we weren't too concerned.

Until we ventured inside. . . Let me just say, if you are going to expect me to pay $700K for your house, clean it.  I mean, don't leave your dirty towel on the bathroom floor.  Don't leave your toilet lid up if you are too lazy to clean the poop stains out of the bowl.  I gave you 24 hours notice.  Work with me.

Annoyed as I may be by poor housekeeping, I could overlook it.  If your house was awesome.  But, this house needed something changed in every room.  Aside from being either Pepto Bismal pink or dark green, every carpet was in abysmal condition and needed to be ripped out and replaced.  The interior was of the palladium window was equally unfinished (see picture below).  The only room I didn't feel compelled to change was the second floor laundry area.

Add in the TWO sump pumps that were running continuously in the basement for the entire hour we were there, along with the TWO oil tanks (one to heat the house, the second to heat the pool), and immediately knew this wasn't our house.

House #3:  11 Bliss Road

"Fantastic colonial style home in tranquil wooded setting just a short distance to the sought after Batchelder Elementary School. Keep warm and cozy by the fire this winter in your great room with wood fireplace or enjoy your wonderful open concept kitchen with stainless steel appliances, granite & breakfast bar. This home is perfect for entertaining both inside and out. Don't take my word for it come see this for yourself! Live here and be happy!"

This home really is stunning.  In layout, it as similar to our current home.  It is in a great school system.  It has a Buderus heating system. I didn't know what that was, but Alison was salivating.  When she stopped, she explained that it is a very expensive heating system that has the best efficiency of any system on the market.  And, it seemed like a steal at $579K.  

Unfortunately, Bliss Road is anything but blissful.  First, it is an unpaved, gravel road.  Second, the front of this lovely home looks directly into the side and back of a trashy home.  Unfortunately, the trees in the satellite image below obscure the broken down cars and school bus (yes, a bright yellow monstrosity with no tires).  But, the wooden shutters on all the windows weren't enough to block the image from my memory.  Probably why 11 Bliss Road has been on the market for a record breaking 78 days.  

House #4:  2 Benjamin Road

"AMAZING OFFER! PRISTINE & SUNNY HOME WITH 1/3 OF AN ACRE & A LEVEL BACKYARD OVERLOOKING TREES! SPARKLING HARDWOOD FLOOR & NEWER WINDOWS! LOVELY PERIOD MILLWORK AND BUILT-INS. NEWLY REPAINTED INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR, NEW BATH & NEW KITCHEN WITH WHITE MAPLE CABINETS, GRANITE COUNTER TOPS & SS APPLIANCES. 2006 PRIVATE MASTER SUITE WITH AN OVER-SIZED WALK-IN SHOWER, GRANITE VANITY TOP & A BALCONY WITH WOODSY VIEWS! SPACIOUS LOWER LEVEL FAMILY ROOM & A POTENTIAL 4TH BEDROOM. PLENTY OF YARD FOR EXPANSION!"

The agent left out, "IN THE COVETED LEXINGTON SCHOOL DISTRICT". Which was really the main reason why I dropped everything one day and drove out to see it.  That, and the price break to $650K.  It looked a bit small, but the listing claimed it was just under 2200 sq. ft.  And, it was in Lexington, which, aside from being THE Lexington of "The battle of Lexington and Concord" fame from the Revolutionary War, is where rich people live.  And, rich people paying + hefty town taxes = really great public school system.  Plus, it was only 10 miles from work.  

First issue:  this is a corner lot, abutting Concord Avenue.  Which is very busy.  At 1pm, there was a steady flow of cars past this house. So, we would have needed to put a fence up or chain our kids to the house to prevent them from running into traffic.  Second issue:  it was in dire need of a new roof.  And walkway.  And repaving of the driveway.  Right there, I'm over budget and I haven't set foot inside. But, when I did (along with three other couples who got updates that the seller dropped the price), I was greeted by issue number three. This house was NOT 2200 sq. ft.  It might have been 1200 sq. ft. plus a mostly finished basement. I think the entire house could fit in the space taken up by my kitchen and family room.  The third bedroom could accommodate a twin bed, with no room for a dresser, unless it was narrow and could be pushed inside the closet (which was smaller than our coat closet).  

As if wasting my time seeing an overpriced home in Lexington wasn't bad enough, it took me an hour to travel the 10 miles back to work. ONE WHOLE HOUR.  At two in the afternoon.  Can you imagine what rush hour would be like?  Walking would have been faster.  

Those were the most noteworthy homes.  But, honorable mention must be paid to homes with standout features.    See our favorites below:

The world's tiniest sink:

Note, the tape measure is 3" wide.  The sink was about 15" across. Incredibly tiny.  

This same house also offered the original "double sink":

complete with heat lamps:

and energy efficient fluorescent lights, perfect for applying makeup by:

In the same category of "bathrooms", we found the camouflaged medicine cabinet:

and my mother-in-law thought I hid the band-aids.

The corner sink:

For small bathrooms that need to accommodate a toilet, access to the basement, and an exterior door, leaving no free wall space for a vanity, a corner sink is the perfect (and only) solution.

What home would be complete without the world's smallest electrical panel:

At about 5" wide by a little over 12" tall, this "efficient" panel was the main (and only) panel for the house, accommodating 100 amp service with 10 circuits and room to grow with space for two more.  

Also in the category of "things you will find in the basement":

The saloon:

complete with the world's smallest dishwasher:

This basement also housed the a state of the art bathroom:

with reading material that my sister would appreciate:

In a different house, we found the "Barbie Room":

Mikie and Alison pointed this out to the rest of us.  A "semi-finished" room in the basement.  It conjured creepy visions of kids begging, "but I don't WANT to go play in the Barbie Room.  Please, don't make me go.  I'll promise to be good."  When you see the inside, you'll appreciate what I mean:

Clearly, this is where they sent their kids when they didn't follow the house rules:

No whining seemed to be a popular rule.  Another house had it listed in their kitchen too:

But, my two FAVORITE features are:

The creepy kissing door knocker:

because there is nothing more romantic then slamming someone's face into another for a kiss. 

And, tree trunks used as support columns:

the original "knotty pine".

With all of these winning features, I guess I should be amazed that it only took us five weeks to find a home.  

Love, The Trahans

The Home Shopping Process

Searching for house #3 can only be likened to the most exhausting, full time job, ever.  I swear, I don't remember it being this exhausting when we looked for our first two homes.  Mike laughs every time I say this and accuses me of wearing rose colored glasses.

Oh to be young and naive (and skinny) again.

The search for house #1 occurred when we were engaged and childless, or as Mike calls it, "young and naive."  So, I guess the bliss of embarking on two of life's journeys together overshadows any trouble we had.  I think we looked at a dozen homes before finding our first home.  Granted, those dozen were memorable:  the one with the bomb shelter being my favorite (Mike still maintains it would have made a cool fort).

Our first home

The search for house #2 occurred when Mikie was two.  He had boundless amounts of energy, but was always happy and was pretty content to sit in the back of our car, and watch DVDs.  Our agent, Sue, would take us through individually, and then we would compare notes curb side so that we didn't inconvenience Mikie.  And, in hindsight, we didn't spend much time in the car.  We knew we wanted to live in Sutton, Northbridge, or Grafton.  So, we focused on homes in three neighboring towns.  We could accomplish a lot in a few hours.  The only frustration came from the seller of the first home we put an offer in on causing a bidding war to try and drive up the price.  Ultimately, we walked away, found a house we loved even more.  And, karma came back to haunt them:  three days after we walked away (one day after we put an offer on our current home) they called us to see if we were still interested in the house.  Apparently, their buyer couldn't get financing and backed out.  They were on the market for another six months and sold for significantly less than we offered them.

Our second home

The search for house #3. . . where do I begin?  First, we made the process infinitely more challenging because we refused to focus on one town.  We agreed up front that our must have was an amazing school system in a town that has a good history of passing it's override.  We did not want to move only to find ourselves in a school district in jeopardy of losing its accreditation due to lack of funds.  While many people have extolled the virtues of catholic or private school, we agreed before we had kids that we saw a lot of benefits to public school education.  And, having looked into private school four years ago, we know that the cost of tuition times two kids times twelve years is enough to (1) buy another house or (2) send a kid to college.  So, we agreed that we would sacrifice on other things to ensure we were moving into a great school system.

Second, having lived in our beautiful home for the last six years, we had lofty standards for a prospective new home to meet:

• central air conditioning for our allergies
• two car garage because we live in New England
• at least three bedrooms plus a separate office, or four bedrooms if there is no separate office
• at least two full bathrooms (because Hannah and I will not survive if we have to share a bathroom when she is a teenager)
• ideally gas heat, because we spend a fortune on oil to heat our current house

Those were the big wants.  We probably also asked for at least 2400 sq. ft. on at least a third of an acre of land, but I can't remember.

From January to March, we stalked homes.  Literally.  We both had every real estate app.  We would look at properties and night and star ones we liked.  On March 13th, we accepted an offer on our house.  Within an hour, I called our agent to request showings of a new construction that had been listed on March 12th.  She called me back to tell me it was already under contract.  In 24 hours.

Initially, I dismissed this little detail because it was a new construction at a really great price.  The other house the builder sold in that  development had sold for $250K MORE.

In our efforts to reduce strain on the kids, we went to showings in the middle of the day while they were in school.  Not super convenient since we both work full time, but our employers seemed to recognize it was a short term issue.  What we quickly realized was there was so little inventory that EVERY home was selling within 24-48 hours.  For example, the first house we put an offer on, we were one of 20 couples to walk through in the first 24 hours.  And, we were one of at least three people bidding on it.  Second example:  my boss told me his wife's friend was selling her home on Facebook if I was interested.  I scoffed and said, "she'll never succeed with that approach. . . I'll look at it this weekend if I don't find anything else."  It was under contract within 3 days.  Anything that wasn't sold in a week made you wonder "what's wrong with it?"

For five and a half weeks, we searched.  Every night, we culled through listings.  On Thursdays and Fridays, I would spend my entire lunch looking at what came on-line that morning (realizing most agent listed on Thursday or Friday, had an open house on Saturday and/or Sunday, and accepted offers on Monday).  I dropped everything to see house in the middle of the day if our agent, Alison, could get an appointment.  And, we saw a LOT of homes.  Three we liked enough to put offers on (two of which were obviously not accepted).  I lost count on how many I walked through.  I plotted out Sunday's packed with open houses scattered across towns 15 miles apart and dragged Mike and the kids to them (because, with the amount of gas I was using to look for homes, I couldn't waste money on a babysitter).  Last weekend, I dragged Mike to see six homes.  He still has to look at the pictures to remember what we bought.

And, we are currently dealing with the little snafu of "what do we do between houses?"  We (fingers crossed) are scheduled to close on our house on Monday and rent back through June 2nd.  But, we can't close on the new house before June 25th. So, for 3 weeks, we will be homeless.  We are hoping to negotiate with our buyers to move out after school ends (June 21st) so that Mikie can finish school in Northbridge.  Then, we can spend an extended weekend at a hotel near the new house.  But, if we are unsuccessful, we will be renting a hotel through the 21st near Northbridge, moving all of our stuff into storage for three weeks, then moving to a hotel near the new house for a long weekend before we close and move in.

So, where are we moving?  We will be moving to Andover, about 20 miles North of Boston.  You can click here to watch the video tour, or just check out some of the pictures below:

Our home-to-be

Living room

Dining room

Kitchen

I refuse to say that this will be the last time we move, because, every time I have said that in the past, we move within 5-10 years.  I just hope that if we ever move again, the kids are both old enough to stay home by themselves!

Love, The Trahans

Sell This House. . . Check!

I realize it has been a long time between posts.  And a lot has happened.

First on the to-do list was selling this house.  And, I will say, I won't sell another house until my kids are teenagers.  If we ever move again, because, as I keep saying, "I hate moving".  I have said this two other times in my life, and each time I vow, "This is the house we are going to live in forever. . . the kids can bury us in the backyard."  Until we move again.  

It is infinitely hard to sell a house when you have two kids.  Because, the key to selling your house is making it look like something out of a magazine when anyone comes to view it.  Now, Mike and I are not "messy" people.  Our house is generally neat.  Yeah, I should dust and vaccuum more frequently.  But, if people popped over unannounced, I wouldn't be embarrassed by the state of my house.  Possible exception, the bathroom toilets since the kids will occassionally forget to flush and no one discovers it until we get home 10 hours later.  

My point is, the house is usually organized.  But, not magazine worthy.  And, to get that last bit of chaos and clutter cleaned up is no easy feat.  Opening and filing away mail.  Hand drying everything in the drying rack so that it can be put away.  Staying on top of the laundry so that there isn't any in the dryer should a buyer want to open it up to see the capacity.  Keeping the stainless steel refrigerator free of smudgy finger prints.  Polishing the granite counters so that they sparkle.  Cleaning the toilets, showers, sinks so that they don't have toothpaste haze on the chrome finish.  Swiffering the hardwood floors.  Most of those things could be done at night while they were sleeping.  But, making their beds every morning, opening the blinds to let all the natural light in and swiffering my way out of the house. . . those three tasks added a significant amount of time to my morning.  Every day I thought, "I have defied the third law of thermodynamics and reduced Entropy!"  And, by the time I got to daycare with the kids and realized, I forgot someone's jacket, stuffed animal for naptime, what day of the week it is, I realized that while the house may exist in a lower state of entropy, my life/brain was in a higher state.  

Thankfully, our efforts paid off and we had an offer after the first showing.  For anyone who hadn't seen our house, you can see the video our agent posted here.  We did have to clean like crazy people three other times for backup showings and the home inspection.  But, as of earlier this week, we have a signed Purchase & Sale Agreement and our buyer has secured a mortgage.  So, we are in the home stretch.

Now on to finding a new house. . . which makes for a lot of entertaining posts.

Love, The Trahans

Merry Christmas

With everything going on in our lives, we were slightly behind the Christmas 8-ball.  Shopping was completed on the 23rd, and involved a few too many after work trips to malls (don't get me started on those excursions).  All wrapping was started and finished on Christmas Eve, and may not have gotten finished in time for the Big Man to drop off gifts if not for my mom.

We did have good intentions about sending a Christmas card.  We took the picture on Thanksgiving Day.  But, I decided the added stress of editing, ordering, receiving, signing, addressing, and mailing forty cards just wasn't in the cards (pardon the pun).  So, we are going "green" (although, if you look at our trash and recycling bins this morning, you may think otherwise) and sending the electronic Christmas card.  And, by "sending" I mean "posting on this blog and Facebook", since I am not sure we have the correct email address for all of our family and friends.

Merry Christmas (or other Holiday celebration)!

Love, the Trahans

What We've Been Doing for the Last Two Months

I like to think I am good at keeping the blog up to date.  I did actually write that last post in September, immediately after going to the Bronx, knowing that we had a lot of activities planned for late September/early October that I would need/want to blog about.

So, I HAD good intentions, which I feel I should earn credit for.

Life has thrown us into a bit of a tailspin since then.  It started when I (really Mike and I) decided that I needed to quit my job.  It is a very long story as to what led to this epiphany, which I won't bore you with.  But, as you could probably tell from my blog posts (or, more accurately, LACK of blog posts), work was having a significant impact on my personal life.

Since that decision was made, I think Mike and I can agree that life has felt a bit like a runaway train that we are just trying to steer in the right direction.  I applied for, and was offered, a job with Living proof. They were in the news recently for signing Jennifer Aniston as an investor and spokesperson for the brand.

Upside to Living proof:  they are an amazing group to work with.  Most of the employees are younger.  Everyone is very collaborative and focused on making the brand a success.  They put a lot of emphasis on product performance, so research and development is very important to them.  They keep a kitchen stocked with fruit and miscellaneous junk food to keep us happy (someone must have researched what makes scientists and engineers happy).  And, I get paid to do what I love:  create new products.  I no longer have to manage people (which wasn't terrible), redo my budget five times or come up with a strategic plan that is needed 24 hours later but which no one listens to (which was agonizing).

Downside to Living proof:  the commute.  The distance is only 38 miles, so 10 miles further than commuting to Crabtree.  But, I am now commuting with traffic towards Boston, instead of going the opposite direction.  So, instead of a 28 mile commute that took 45 minutes, I know have a commute that takes 1 hour and 45 minutes most mornings.  Yuck.

Fortunately, we are now working close to each other.  Not so close that we can commute together, but close enough that we could find a new house more centrally located.

Which brings us to the chaos we are currently entrenched in:  sell this house and buy a new one.  The list of sub tasks associated with this is never ending.  We have a million little things that we needed to fix on this house.  Things that broke while we have been living here or we discovered were wrong since we moved in.  For example:  Mike is replacing one of the french doors to our office because a pane of glass fell out of the original.  In the process of swapping out door A for door B, Mike discovered the contractor didn't hang the door level or plumb.  Which, in hindsight, probably explains why the previous door never latched closed.  So, instead of just hanging a new door, Mike has taken down all of the trim and door jambs (which involved a saws-all at one point because he couldn't just use the crowbar to pry the stupid things out) and re-shimming everything in place correctly.

Then there is the master bathroom shower door.  There is a piece that goes on the bottom of the door to keep it flush with the track and prevents water from getting into the track.  Unfortunately, that piece fell off more than a year ago.  And, the holes for the screws were stripped, so we couldn't just reattach it.  Our solution was just enter and exit through the other door.  But, now we need to fix it.  So, Mike took off the existing shower door two weekends ago, only to find out that the stock shower doors were too tall.  Our size shower stall required a CUSTOM ORDER shower door (of course) which would take two weeks to get in.  So, we've been showering in the kids bathroom every morning, which frequently wakes Hannah, aka The World's Lightest Sleeper.

Add in the purging, packing, and cleaning (see pictures of my immaculate bathroom and pantry below) associated with moving plus decorating and shopping in preparation for Christmas, and it's a little insane here.  Okay, it's a lot insane.  But, we are trying to focus on the positive:  we are both gainfully employed.  We both work for companies that seem appreciative of our efforts.  And, once we get through the selling/buying/moving process, we will improve our quality of life for us and the kids dramatically.

But, the upside for all our family and friends who still read this blog:  I will probably blog a lot more when I am procrastinating to avoid all the home improvement projects.

:-)

Love, The Trahans

A Day in the Bronx

Like every kid, my kids constantly ask when we are going to see "Grandma Pookie and Grand Da" (what they call my parents.  Actually, they also constantly ask about going to visit "Grandma Kerrie and Grumpy (aka Norm)" and "Patrick" (sorry to the twins, but Hannah is smitten with your brother), and a number of other people.  But, we can easily accomodate trips to visit most of Mike's family.  Because my family lives further away, visits require vacation days, long trips in the car (which equals tons of money in gas).  All of which (unfortunately) adds up to less frequent visits.  Definitely the down side of living in Massachusetts. 

So, I was pretty pleased with the solution I came up with last month.  Why not meet in New York for a day trip?  My dad always said I should take the kids to the Bronx Zoo.  It would take us 3 hours to get there; 2 hours for my parents (if they hadn't missed their exit).  Add in the fact that the Zoo had a Lego exhibit, and it seemed like God himself was telling us "Go to the Bronx Zoo". 

As you can see from our slideshow, we all had a great time. I ordered the tickets through AAA, so we got a discount on the full experience, which included admission to the zoo plus unlimited rides and Dora 4D experience. We all enjoyed the Dora experience, Hannah especially, because it felt like it was raining on you (key when it is hot and humid outside).

The only complaint I have was the cost and quality of food. The increased cost you pay when going to a museum + the increased cost you pay when in NYC = EXORBITANTLY overpriced fast food. I paid just under $100 for lunch, much of which was thrown away because the kids wouldn't finish it. Plus the stops at the ice cream vendor, slushy vendor, soft pretzel vendor... Amazingly, the least amount of money we spent was in the gift shop, where Mikie got a stuffed Gorilla to use for his summer book report for $10. Plus Hannah's mugs, we left the gift shop having spent less than $15. That NEVER happens.

Love, The Trahans

Blogging. . . Documenting my Flaws for Posterity

They say you should never post anything on the Internet that you don't want people to find years from now.  Because once it's in cyberspace, who knows what happens to it. 

Thanks to my blog, I realized that I have not documented the birth of my first born child in the last three years.  I will blame this in part on Hannah (because, looking back, she has monopolized blog coverage like everything else in this house) and in part on my job.  And, thanks to the Internet, all of my future grandchildren will know this as well. 

Regardless, I am writing this post with 20 minutes to go before September 6th, 2012.  Eight years ago, I was trying to sleep after eating Tex Mex Spring Rolls from Damons, followed by a Strawberry Fields Salad and Oreo Madness at TGI Fridays (hey, I was pregnant).  But, I was having muscle spasms in my abdomen that kept making me get up and empty my bladder.  Eventually, it dawned on me that these abdominal muscle contractions might mean I was in labor (again, pregnant = loss of brain function).  By 11am, Mike told me we should drive to the hospital, even though I was convinced I was just really constipated.  I didn't let him bring in the hospital bags, I was so convinced I would be discharged.  I mean, what were the odds I would go into labor on Labor Day?

Evidently, pretty good.  Ten hours later and you were born. 

Celebrating your first birthday in Maryland:

Your first BMW, just like Daddy's:

Celebrating your eighth birthday with a sombrero after the Woodstock Fair.  When the owner said you couldn't keep the hat, you asked him to buy you one.  When we told you he got it in Mexico, you said, "Well, can you at least give me the plane tickets?"  Because, clearly, that's the cheaper way out. . .

You may not think we're perfect, in fact, lately, you have a knack for pointing out all of my flaws, in a nonchalant, just-trying-to-help kind of way that isn't supposed to offend me. But, when I see how far you've come, when you amaze me with your reasoning skills, or your compassion for others, I know that, at a minimum, we did one thing perfectly right. We had you. And, I look forward to all the other birthdays we get to share together. Even if I don't blog about them ;-)


Happy Birthday, Trouble!

Love, The Trahans 

Happy Birthday

It is August again.  The end of summer.  The last few days of relative relaxation before my metamorphosis from "Working Mother of Two" to "Mother With Guilt Issues Which Drive Her to Overcompensate for Working" is complete.

With less than four weeks to go until Mikie turns 8, we have started planning the birthday theme.  Theme, you ask?  Isn't the theme, "birthday party"?  No, to the "Working Mother of Two", "birthday party" would be an acceptable theme.  To the guilty-mom, "birthday party" doesn't say "even though I am exhausted and grouchy, I still think about you enough each day to imagine, create, and host an elaborate birthday party."  And, not one.  Because, with the exception of his first birthday, we typically host two birthday parties.  Sometimes more...

But, I digress.  I know everyone is hanging on the edge of their seats to find out what this year's theme is. . .

DC Superheroes

Yes, thanks to Lego, Mikie is obsessed with the DC Superheroes since June.  June 16th to be precise.  The day that Lego Batman II:  DC SuperHeroes came out in stores.  Around the same time, we discovered old Adam West episodes of Batman on MeTV.  We all get a kick out of watching them every Saturday night.  Hannah even runs around saying "Da-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-BATMAN!!".  She wants to be Robin for Halloween to Mikie's Dark Night, in spite of the fact that the men in the family tried to convince her she needed to be "Batgirl" or "Catwoman" because she is a girl. 

Mikie and I have started brainstorming games and activities.  I love brainstorming.  Executing these ideas, not so much.  I think he is expecting my "Guilt-Issues" alter-ego to sew costumes for all of his friends. 

During our brainstorming session, I thought it would be cool to create a comic strip for an invitation.  I was envisioning hours of sketching and drawing (or Photoshop) to get it to look authentic.  Low and behold, Lego has a "Comic Builder" on their website that lets you create your own story boards:

This took me about 15 minutes to put together, excluding five minutes to Photoshop a background color to the second cell (Robin was previously on a white background).  Of course, Mikie's reaction was, "Let's make a WHOLE COMIC BOOK."  To which I responded, "Sure, I'll just quit my job a write and edit stories all day."  If only that paid the bills. . .

That said, I do want to call attention to another special birthday.  Lego is turning 80.  I know our families think we are harboring an unhealthy obsession with Legos in our house.  Mikie's room is just short of a shrine to the small plastic bricks.  But, as a household with two engineers (possibly three), I can't help but appreciate this company.  First, you should see their factory.  I have not been in person, but StumbledUpon (literally) a tour of the LEGO factory on Gizmodo.  It is a manufacturing dream. 

Second, their quality is impeccable.  I live in New England, home of Hasbro, who gives a lot back to the community.  So, I hate to knock MegaBlocks.  But, if you buy a set of MegaBlocks versus a set of Legos, you can see first hand the difference in standards.  A Lego is rigid.  It is indestructible.  Heck, Google "Lego building repair" or click here, and you can find actual buildings where people have filled in missing brick work (the red masonry kind) with Lego bricks.  

A MegaBlock is more "plastic".  Yeah, I know, they are both MADE of plastic.  But, a MegaBlock is malleable.  We have had issues where the pieces won't lock together because the holes are ever so slightly smaller than the "bumps" on top of the bricks. 

Third is customer service.  Since purchasing the Death Star, we now have a few Darth Vaders.  But, prior to that, we had one.  One Vader, with one light saber, and one helmet.  Do you know how quickly Mikie lost that helmet and light saber?  And, you can't put another light saber with Darth Vader.  It must be red, because he is a bad Jedi (duh, Mom).  I went to the Lego store, fully expecting that I would have to buy another set with another Darth Vader to get a new helmet and light saber.  But, the sales girl told me, "just call customer service with the model number of the set you bought, and they will send you a replacement free."  Seriously.  I mean, do you know what mini-figs sell for on eBay?  That girl just saved me at least $20. 

Lastly, the part of my brain that must have been a Brand Manager in a former life thinks their marketing group is amazing.  Case in point:  the Lego MBA program.  It is a subscription program (just like a magazine) where you get a new Lego kit sent to your house every other month.  Each kit comes with some new Lego bricks, a book that shows you how to make three different designs from those bricks, along with giving you hints and building techniques from their "Master Builders" (engineer with the cool job of playing with Legos all day long).  At the end of each book is special Lego graph paper to help you use what you learned to create your own designs.  And, they have a special website where kids can upload and share their designs. 

In honor of their birthday, Lego published an animated short documenting the history of the brand.  It was featured in a trend site I subscribe to at work, and greeted me in my inbox at work this morning.  I found it fascinating.  Did you know that Lego originally made wooden toys?  Or how they got their name?  I'm sharing it, because, like everything else they seem to do, I think it has a great message.  Of entrepreneurship, innovation, quality, ethics.  Values I try to bring to my own work, appreciate in others, and hope to instill in my children. 

So, tonight, this mom says "Happy Birthday, Lego."

Tomorrow, my guilt-ridden alter-ego will continue to fret over Mikie's birthday. 

Love, The Trahans (who, sadly, do not monetarily profit from the sale of Legos)