the underwear drawer

the burning of atlanta, day 2

Since we had such good luck with our housing search on Day 1, we decided to blow off the homes that we were set to see on Day 2 and instead spend the day entertaining Cal, who has understandably been thrown off by the last 48 hours. I think overall he has been enjoying himself, but he is not above crying and insisting that he "wants to go home" during the more trying moments of the day. I haven't had the heart to break it to him that in a couple of months, this will be home. So anyway, this morning, we hit up a playground in Decatur (real pictures on my big camera, but I didn't pack my SD card reader, so on my camera they will stay for now), and later in the morning, we visited the Fernbank Museum, which is like a much, much smaller version of the Natural History Museum in New York. Should I stop comparing things to New York? I know I should, but I just can't help it.




The museum was this beautiful, airy building winding around a circular atrium not unlike the Guggenheim (oh look, I did it again), with a bunch of new exhibits clearly designed for younger children. We had a great time, though for Cal, clearly the best parts of the visit were the trips up and down the stairs. Clearly, what could be more fascinating and educational than going up and down the stairs? Forget the dinosaur bones, I'M DESCENDING HERE.




This afternoon, on the business end of things, we met up with our realtor again, at which point we signed our end of the rental contract for a townhouse in Midtown Atlanta. The renters (you know, the people who actually own the place) still have to sign their end, after which point we will have to write the check for the deposit, first and last month's rent, etcetera, but aside from that, I think (jinx and whammy aside) that it's a hair breadth away from a pretty done deal. Joe and I are very, very happy about this. More details when we get the contract back and the bottom line is settled (possibly by tomorrow, certainly by the end of the week), but with respect to our housing situation, it's as close to satisfying almost all of our important criteria as we could reasonably expect. We are excited. Beers were consumed with dinner. As for Cal, he has no sense of what's going on either way (I fear his little head may explode when he realizes he may actually be living in a home WITH A STAIRCASE) though he did enjoy the bowl of post-dated Valentine's candy at the realtor's office, so really, everyone wins.




Tomorrow morning, I'm waking up early to attend the first of three job interviews at which I will attempt to secure a job in order to pay the aforementioned rent, secure Cal's school tuition, and buy food and clothing for my family. But, you know, no pressure there. However, despite my love for mass transit, I decided that my first time negotiating MARTA should probably not be on my way to a time-sensitive appointment, so I actually called a cab service to take me there in the morning, and will try to take MARTA (the train, with subsequent transfer to a bus) on my way back to the hotel. Wish me luck on both counts.