The front of the house (we are the second floor apartment).  There is a secondary entrance from the driveway on the side of the house that enters into the kitchen.

The kitchen:

The dining room (with lots of windows) and the living room (with a decorative fireplace):

The enclosed sun room, taken from the dining room looking through the living room, and then from the living room:

There is also a bathroom and three bedrooms, and a basement with a washer and dryer.  It has all hardwood floors and off-street parking in the driveway (they do snow removal).  The rent is $725/month.

One major thing off the list, thanks to Kelly’s decisiveness.

We also got our car back today, $1,507.40 later.  At least it runs!  Kelly did the amazing job of actually going to the mechanic and making them explain everything in detail to his satisfaction.  And we got a one-year warranty on all the parts they replaced, which ended up being a huge part of the engine.  So actually, that’s two things off the list.  Yay Kelly!

I went to the doctor yesterday to check out this crotch rash that hadn’t been going away.  I’d been treating it with antifungal powder my midwife prescribed, since I have had itchiness there due to fungus before.  It turns out that this is a bacterial infection called folliculitis (because the hair follicles get infected) and now I am treating it with an antibiotic cream.  I hope it goes away soon.

I have a midwife appointment tonight.

This means that of the 23 pounds I have gained during pregnancy, over 7 are baby.  That’s 30% of my total gain!

This sort of problem can be caused by a number of things.  One, the car has a lot of miles on it (it’s a 1998 Honda Civic with 115,000 miles) so just erosion over time could be the cause.  Two, if the coolant system is not serviced the coolant gets very acidic and could cause erosion.  Three, we had a heat sensor fail in our engine about a month ago, which resulted in the engine getting very hot.  Heat does baaad things to engines.

The Kelley Blue Book Private Party Value of our car is $3,855-4,430, so this problem has not totaled our car.  We need a car, so it makes sense to fix the car.  We couldn’t even sell the car unless we fixed it.  It is amazing how we got our $1,200 IRS economic stimulus check like 2 days ago, though, and now it will be entirely spent.  Thanks, the government.  CRAAAAAAAP!

At least after this our car should be more reliable than it has been.

Yesterday I interviewed a pediatrician.  Very, very nice guy.  Dr. Osler at Somerville Pediatrics is very nice and supportive, although of course we will only be seeing him for 2 weeks.  At least we have someone lined up to do the 24 hour baby checkup.

Then, last night we went to my weekly midwife appointment.  I will have an appointment every Wednesday between now and when I give birth.  Lots of good news: I am cleared to give birth at the birth center pending one last ultrasound tomorrow to make sure the baby is growing normally.  I weight 140 pounds, which means I have gained 23 pounds since I got pregnant – a decent number.  I am no longer anemic, I don’t have group B strep, and (surprise) I don’t have syphilis!  Even my fundal height is catching up – I am only 3 cm small now, as opposed to 4 cm last time.

I have a dentist appointment today which I am completely psyched about since my gums are totally rotting.  Stupid pregnancy gingivitis.  And I am so obsessive about the dental hygiene!  I don’t deserve to be punished like this.

I contacted the other mohel to get his information.  Now we have a list of numbers to call just in case.  We had talked about renting space in the Temple for the brit milah, but then Kelly called and found out it costs like $325.  So much for that.

Tonight we are going to Molly’s baby shower.  Much fun will be had by all.

Oh, also the car is dying.  We took it in today and the mechanic was like, your car has major issues.  I’m like, I KNOW – this is the third time I have brought it in for the same problem, so why didn’t you find these issues before?  I am going to ask for a discount if they tell me that these issues existed less than a month ago (June 24) when I brought it in.  All they found then was a baffle loose in the muffler, and the mechanic said it was not something I needed to worry about fixing.  Now they are like, OH F@*# YOUR CAR IS DYING.

Kelly’s going to a New Dad class this weekend which will teach him how to change diapers, bathe the baby, etc.  Cool beans.  He’s also preaching on Sunday.  Oh, also his name change came through and he has already submitted the papers to get a new Social Security card assigned, which should arrive in the mail in a week and a half.  Then he can get a new license.  Then he will be so legit!

Also, my boss said that I could leave work a few hours early every day, in the hopes that that will allow me to work longer.  Which is good, cuz I need more time to space out, sleep, and relax.

Except for the swimming, everything else is true.

So, here it is: our new apartment (I think).  It all looks amazing except for the basement, which completely skeezes me out.  It’s an unfinished basement, and it is not very clean.  I think I will ask the landlord about cleaning it, or I will pay a cleaning service to come clean it so I can feel comfortable going down there to do the laundry all the time.  Everything else seems good…it’s spacious, clean, and will be fresh when we move in: new cabinets, new kitchen floor, complete repaint.

I hate making this decision, though.  I’ll see what Kelly thinks when he comes home tonight.  $700/month is $5 more than we paid for a studio in Oakland and $200 less than we pay for a one bedroom in Somerville, and is a very good price for a 2 1/2 bedroom in Rochester.

It’s not small, but that just means I will have dancing room.

Also, our car has just gone from “occasional clanking noise that the mechanics identified as the muffler, but which didn’t seem to be causing any problems” to “has trouble starting to the point where we need to put the hazard lights on because our automatic engine is lugging.”  We’re taking it in Thursday.  Yay.

Location: This place is located on a quiet residential street between two quiet residential streets in the South Wedge neighborhood in Rochester. It’s a walkable .08 mi from the Highland Public Library, 3 blocks from the Cinema Theater and other shops and restaurants on South Clinton Ave, half a mile from Highland Park (designed by Frederick Law Olmsted), and .07 mi from the weekly farmer’s market on Alexander Street. It’s 2 miles from Strong Memorial Hospital, where Kelly will be working, 3.5 miles from Kelly’s parents’ house, and 5 miles to the JCC. It’s within 4 miles of two different Reform temples, with two more within 10 miles.

Downsides/Compromises: The apartment has on-street parking, and it may be hard to find in the neighborhood. It means we’ll have to dig our car out in the winter again, and deal with moving the car every 48 hours due to Rochester’s horrible parking regs. The apartment also has oil (not gas) heating, so we have to buy the oil to fill the tank and monitor to make sure we don’t run out. It has carpeting rather than hardwood flooring, which means we need to buy a new vacuum. I am thinking roomba?  The owner of the property is currently out of town so her niece is showing the place and will sign the lease (is that legal?).  Which means, we don’t have a clue about what our actual landlord will be like in terms of niceness, responsiveness, etc. when she returns.  The house is an older building and the owner purchased it 3 years ago.  During the walk-through, the inspector found signs of mice, but the foundation has since been sealed and the niece is not aware of any complaints about mice from the tenants.  When I asked how she would respond in case of pests, she was like, “it’s an older building…I can’t help that.”  What’s the right answer there?  We have seen no pictures of the inside or outside of the apartment, but it has not been described to us as cute.  There is almost no storage space and only a few very small closets.

Upsides: The rent is $550/month and because it’s a smaller apartment than others we have been looking at, utilities might not be as high as other places (less space to heat).  The apartment will be painted and cleaned and the carpets will be steam cleaned before new tenants move in.  It gets good light.

Remaining Questions:

- What are the dimensions of the rooms, especially the two bedrooms?
- Is there a second exit from the building other than the front door or could a window be used as egress in case of fire?  Are there working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors?
- Can all the windows be open and shut or are any painted shut?  Do the windows all have screens and storm windows?
- Are the baseboards tight to the walls and floor or are there cracks or warped boards?
- Is there good hot and cold water pressure from all the sinks and the bath?  Does the toilet have a strong flush?  Does the shower have a detachable head?
- Do all the oven burners function?
- Is there a thermostat to control the heat?  Is the heat a central furnace with floor/wall vents?

Gentle Readers,

What do you think?  Should we snap this up, knowing that it is not perfect but it is very cheap and in a great location?  Or, for those with children, do you think we need more space?  Rochester readers, what do you think about the price/location?  I think we’re going for it – I’ve asked for an application already.  But nothing has been signed yet!