We just had a quiet celebration at home with G., Sky, my parents and my brother. The friend who Sage was going to have spend the night didn’t show up because it turned out his dad was in town, and apparently the man microcontrols everyone’s life and wouldn’t let his son come. The kid’s mom was so embarrassed.

Anyway, here are some pics. This one is from a couple of weeks ago, when Sage went to church with the kid who was supposed to spend the night, A. He insisted on wearing a suit, because “Hispanics like to dress fancy”. I think it’s a genetic thing, as I’m still remembering his biological dad in his glittery shirts at the disco…

Sage decorated the cake with the strawberries. He wanted everything strawberry, even though it meant the cake would be pink. I think it’s cool that he doesn’t care about stuff like that. Of course, other kids don’t.

My brother had brought some trick candles over. It took several tries, and a lot of splattered wax, before they went out.

G. bought him a new bike, since he has outgrown the old one. He picked out the same exact model that he had before. Hey, if it works! He was a bit disappointed that he didn’t have a bigger party. I promised that we’d invite the entire class to the local gym party factory thing we have here next year. He seems cool with that. Meanwhile, I’m watching pennies because of the house.

I can’t believe he’s nine. Well, he won’t officially be until tomorrow. And he’ll be spending his birthday at school in in-school suspension. You see, he got mad at his gym teacher for making them run laps and made up a big huge story about how she cursed kids out and made them cry. He wanted her to get fired, he said, after the story was disproved my the principal, assistant principal and the other kids. Oh that was embarrassing. I see that I have a kid who does his bad stuff behind the scenes. I was the same way. Sneaky.

Other highlights of the week have been that he acted up during the states TAKS testing, and he got a magnet and ran it over the television, saying, “Hey Mom, isn’t this cool?!”

He didn’t get in trouble for the magnet thing because he really didn’t know. He knows now, and will be constantly reminded by the big blue spot that covers the lefthand bottom corner of the television. I informed him about the computer since we were discussing the wonders of magnets…

My dad thought it was hilarious.

My mother said he was lucky to be having a ninth birthday.

I’m hoping we have a smooth rest of the year.

I’m getting a house. We should close on it March 31st. Pictures first, details next.

I didn’t think to take a pic of the outside of the house, so here’s one from the realtor’s site.

Here’s a partial view of the living room.

My favorite room is the kitchen. I love the colors, and check out that old chimney! The house was built in 1920, by the way. A cool thing is that I can see the brick streets of historic downtown from my front porch.

The bathroom, although small, has a clawfoot tub that looks like a well-kept original.

Here’s a partial pic of the dining room. The house also has three bedrooms and a sunporch. I’m not posting all of the pictures. The sunporch needs work, though. It opens up to the backyard, coming up soon… I’m wondering how much the guy would take for the piano. It’s got to be a hassle to move that thing.

The backyard is a landscapers dream. It has a fountain and bamboo! I love the patina on the old bricks. It is so shady. The seller strung party lights between the trees as well.

So, what do you think? It is within walking distance to my job and Sage’s school. Facing the house is a city park–the same one they set off fireworks in on holidays. It’ll be a great show from the porch! It will need central heat and air at some point–window units aren’t my favorite thing, although I do like old space heaters.

I felt pretty nervous putting down the earnest money. This means that I’m not going to Portland, anywhere in Mexico or the American Southwest. This is where Sage and I need to be right now, though. I can be at peace with that.