First- the car....We headed to NOLA with great expectations of a week of fun and house-hunting. When we arrived at the campground, the VW was dead! We called the towing service-Mardi Gras Towing and got it into the VW dealer. The next day, we waited patiently in the motorhome for word on the prognosis. After a full day of working on it, they came back with a repair bill that would exceed the trade-in value of the car. So, we told them to hang onto the car-and started to review our options. We made the trip to the VW dealer- to start to look at our options. We loved the new Jetta...it not only had great acceleration, etc but had the advantage of having a usable back seat (and it was silver--matching our motorhome). Thinking about our future plans for a home in NOLA, we thought that maybe it would be nice to be able to actually be able to fit 4 adults comfortably in a car (avoiding the need for a rental car when we had guests in town...). We got down to negotiating the price (the sales guy, Jose, was wildly excited) when John thought to call the tow gear manufacturer to make sure they had the connecting kit for the Jetta. Well, turns out that they don't (there was a new body style change just two months ago and no one had gotten around to re-manufacturing the plate. Poor Jose-- he was seeing his sale go down the tubes. We finally got to an R&D guy at Blue Ox who said that he'd not only build one for us- but would do it at no cost and install it for free. The hitch....we have to drive to Nebraska! So, in 4 days, we would have to head north to the most boring part of the US....the Plains States.
Well, although we hadn't planned on spending the money on a new car, it really is a joy to drive. So, we spend a few days tormenting our realtors looking at houses--falling in love with them- then finding some minor/major flaw that precluded an offer. We did, however, see some really beautiful homes--giving us hope that that perfect house is out there waiting for us.
On our first day, we saw a beauty- 2 stories with parking and a nice backyard. We did a second look at the house- and found that the improvements that had been made were fairly “self-styled”. It was an obvious Home Depot- “I can do it myself” job. So, we decided to continue the search.
We found another gorgeous home on Laurel Street- a renovated shot-gun with a drop dead wonderful floor plan- for someone like us. They had made the best use of all of the available space- making a huge great room and gourmet kitchen, dining room, den/2nd bedroom that connected to a full bathroom AND a beautiful master bedroom and bath- on the first level. Upstairs were two guest bedrooms. It was a perfect floor plan for us-but something was nagging at us. Why had this beautiful renovation been on the market for so long? We concluded that it was the lack of a formal living room and dining room. Bill and Pat, our realtors, agreed. For some reason, people want that formal space- even if they never use it.
After a few days, the streets were becoming more familiar and we started to get a much better feel for the neighborhoods. Like Boston, it’s a street by street decision. We looked at more properties and saw a stunning house on Pitt Street. It was just on the market- in our price range- and the first showing was for the Realtor Open House day. Bill and Pat gave us the sheet of open houses. We had a few laughs looking at the list and seeing enticements like, “Great Lunch”, “Gourmet Brownies”. It was a bit like offering donuts to training weenies. Anything to get them in the door. We got to Pitt Street first thing in the morning and it was a revolving door of realtors. The house was as stunning inside as out. Bill called it a “small, big house”. It had the feeling of a beautiful old Victorian- with cozy rooms, high ceilings, a renovated kitchen opening to a cozy family room, with a shed in the back and a beautiful little pool and garden. The attention/renovation was done on the ground floor and the upstairs bedrooms/bathrooms would have required work. By this time, we had pretty much decided that rental income would have to be a part of any home purchase….so this one, tempting as it was, was not our dream home. It was priced at $549,000----they had 11 offers on the first day, and it was rumored that the actual selling price came in at well over $600K!
As we left Pitt Street, Bill gave us a call and suggested we look at another property on Chestnut Street. We had done a drive-by the day before and ruled it out based on the neighborhood, but decided to give it a shot. It was our dream house—a recently renovated shotgun—high ceilings, a master bedroom on the first floor, a renovated kitchen, gated driveway (on a brick patio), 2 bedrooms upstairs and a rental unit pulling in $1000/month. The rental unit was completely separate-and even had an entrance on the side street. It seemed perfect. So, doing our typical “let’s sleep on it”, we decided to take a second look the following day. And, as always, there was that something nagging that came up about 3:00 am. I realized that when I took a photo of John and Pat in the living room, there was room for only one more person to sit. Since the kitchen was pinched- and there was no space for an island—it made it almost impossible to envision having another couple over without sitting at the dining room table for any group conversation.
Well, although we hadn't planned on spending the money on a new car, it really is a joy to drive. So, we spend a few days tormenting our realtors looking at houses--falling in love with them- then finding some minor/major flaw that precluded an offer. We did, however, see some really beautiful homes--giving us hope that that perfect house is out there waiting for us.
On our first day, we saw a beauty- 2 stories with parking and a nice backyard. We did a second look at the house- and found that the improvements that had been made were fairly “self-styled”. It was an obvious Home Depot- “I can do it myself” job. So, we decided to continue the search.
We found another gorgeous home on Laurel Street- a renovated shot-gun with a drop dead wonderful floor plan- for someone like us. They had made the best use of all of the available space- making a huge great room and gourmet kitchen, dining room, den/2nd bedroom that connected to a full bathroom AND a beautiful master bedroom and bath- on the first level. Upstairs were two guest bedrooms. It was a perfect floor plan for us-but something was nagging at us. Why had this beautiful renovation been on the market for so long? We concluded that it was the lack of a formal living room and dining room. Bill and Pat, our realtors, agreed. For some reason, people want that formal space- even if they never use it.
After a few days, the streets were becoming more familiar and we started to get a much better feel for the neighborhoods. Like Boston, it’s a street by street decision. We looked at more properties and saw a stunning house on Pitt Street. It was just on the market- in our price range- and the first showing was for the Realtor Open House day. Bill and Pat gave us the sheet of open houses. We had a few laughs looking at the list and seeing enticements like, “Great Lunch”, “Gourmet Brownies”. It was a bit like offering donuts to training weenies. Anything to get them in the door. We got to Pitt Street first thing in the morning and it was a revolving door of realtors. The house was as stunning inside as out. Bill called it a “small, big house”. It had the feeling of a beautiful old Victorian- with cozy rooms, high ceilings, a renovated kitchen opening to a cozy family room, with a shed in the back and a beautiful little pool and garden. The attention/renovation was done on the ground floor and the upstairs bedrooms/bathrooms would have required work. By this time, we had pretty much decided that rental income would have to be a part of any home purchase….so this one, tempting as it was, was not our dream home. It was priced at $549,000----they had 11 offers on the first day, and it was rumored that the actual selling price came in at well over $600K!
As we left Pitt Street, Bill gave us a call and suggested we look at another property on Chestnut Street. We had done a drive-by the day before and ruled it out based on the neighborhood, but decided to give it a shot. It was our dream house—a recently renovated shotgun—high ceilings, a master bedroom on the first floor, a renovated kitchen, gated driveway (on a brick patio), 2 bedrooms upstairs and a rental unit pulling in $1000/month. The rental unit was completely separate-and even had an entrance on the side street. It seemed perfect. So, doing our typical “let’s sleep on it”, we decided to take a second look the following day. And, as always, there was that something nagging that came up about 3:00 am. I realized that when I took a photo of John and Pat in the living room, there was room for only one more person to sit. Since the kitchen was pinched- and there was no space for an island—it made it almost impossible to envision having another couple over without sitting at the dining room table for any group conversation. It was beginning to feel a bit like Goldilocks—this one’s too hard, this one’s too soft, but none that were “just right”. We also decided that buying a house now when we've got 6 months of motorhome living ahead of us, a shaky economy and a possible housing bubble was probably not a great idea.
Then- the PC.......In the middle of all the house hunting, we made the enormous mistake of eating dinner on our dining room table with the PC extension open and PC open and powered on. Well, guess what happens when a glass of wine falls onto the keyboard of a laptop. We spend one of our NOLA days at CompUSA--once again, waiting for the diagnosis on our PC and looking for a PC for me. Well, don't ever spill wine on your computer....it's not only sticky on the parts, but it fries everything, including the hard drive. So--we've been starting from scratch reinstalling software and praying that our backup CD's were good to go. We decided to get 2 PC's for our travels (mainly because John has become such a PC hog that I never got any time on it....)
And the worst of all....After the car and the PC, I couldn't imagine what more could possibly happen. During all of this turmoil, Mija took a turn for the worse...getting very lethargic. We knew that she had the beginnings of kidney failure and we watched her go down hill really fast during the week. In our early days in NOLA, we would take a walk then sit outside with her, having a glass of wine and giving her the chance to watch the scene go by. As the week progressed, she wasn’t able to- or interested in walking, but we still sat outside and she would enjoy her view.
On Thursday the 19th, John and Brenda came down to NOLA and we went out to dinner at Liuzza’s, a local dive in Midtown, known for it’s stuffed shrimp and cold beer. When we got back, she had gotten really bad. The night was awful- she would cry out in her sleep and we knew that something was seriously wrong. About 7:00 am, we took her to the emergency all night vet clinic. The doctor said that was only a matter of time and that the best case was keeping her alive for at most a month. She was running a 104 degree fever and showed signs of full blown kidney failure. The decision was a horrible one and we spent the day hanging around the motorhome feeling pretty depressed. The following day, things were a little better, although we still miss old "Spark Plug". As John always said--"She's not much of a dog, but she's all we've got". Honestly, I think that it's hit John as hard, if not harder than me. She was a real presence in our life- particularly in the motorhome and we miss her terribly.
May Rally – May 13th-15th….Almost forgot the Cajun Rally. With the PC fiasco, we decided to go in on Friday rather than Thursday. It was the best decision as re-entry into the Rally scene can be terribly exhausting. We arrived on Friday morning in time for the swap meet. We dragged all of our boxes of stuff into the auditorium and started putting them out. The Cajun guys started to hover. When John arrived to make the announcement that it was all FREE, it was like bees to honey. Our table was swarming with Cajun’s picking it clean. As Brenda once said, “They’ll wrap up a yo-yo as a gift”. Turns out to be more than true. We watched dumbfounded as some of our freebie’s showed up as door prizes the following night! It was hysterical to see the look on this woman’s’ face as she carried back her prize—a very used tachometer.
That Friday was John’s 62nd birthday. Brenda and I decided to pick up a cake that afternoon- and Brenda insisted on the “Older than Dirt” theme…complete with shovel and Oreo cookie crumbles. She also arranged for a Happy Birthday dance. John was asked to the front of the room, seated on a chair and all the women crowded around him- giving him birthday kisses—followed by John in a circle of women, dancing with each and every one of them. He was as red as I’ve ever seen him that night. It was good to be back in the Cajun scene and it really felt like old home week. It also left us feeling absolutely exhausted and ready for a bit of alone time.
Then- the PC.......In the middle of all the house hunting, we made the enormous mistake of eating dinner on our dining room table with the PC extension open and PC open and powered on. Well, guess what happens when a glass of wine falls onto the keyboard of a laptop. We spend one of our NOLA days at CompUSA--once again, waiting for the diagnosis on our PC and looking for a PC for me. Well, don't ever spill wine on your computer....it's not only sticky on the parts, but it fries everything, including the hard drive. So--we've been starting from scratch reinstalling software and praying that our backup CD's were good to go. We decided to get 2 PC's for our travels (mainly because John has become such a PC hog that I never got any time on it....)
And the worst of all....After the car and the PC, I couldn't imagine what more could possibly happen. During all of this turmoil, Mija took a turn for the worse...getting very lethargic. We knew that she had the beginnings of kidney failure and we watched her go down hill really fast during the week. In our early days in NOLA, we would take a walk then sit outside with her, having a glass of wine and giving her the chance to watch the scene go by. As the week progressed, she wasn’t able to- or interested in walking, but we still sat outside and she would enjoy her view.
On Thursday the 19th, John and Brenda came down to NOLA and we went out to dinner at Liuzza’s, a local dive in Midtown, known for it’s stuffed shrimp and cold beer. When we got back, she had gotten really bad. The night was awful- she would cry out in her sleep and we knew that something was seriously wrong. About 7:00 am, we took her to the emergency all night vet clinic. The doctor said that was only a matter of time and that the best case was keeping her alive for at most a month. She was running a 104 degree fever and showed signs of full blown kidney failure. The decision was a horrible one and we spent the day hanging around the motorhome feeling pretty depressed. The following day, things were a little better, although we still miss old "Spark Plug". As John always said--"She's not much of a dog, but she's all we've got". Honestly, I think that it's hit John as hard, if not harder than me. She was a real presence in our life- particularly in the motorhome and we miss her terribly.
May Rally – May 13th-15th….Almost forgot the Cajun Rally. With the PC fiasco, we decided to go in on Friday rather than Thursday. It was the best decision as re-entry into the Rally scene can be terribly exhausting. We arrived on Friday morning in time for the swap meet. We dragged all of our boxes of stuff into the auditorium and started putting them out. The Cajun guys started to hover. When John arrived to make the announcement that it was all FREE, it was like bees to honey. Our table was swarming with Cajun’s picking it clean. As Brenda once said, “They’ll wrap up a yo-yo as a gift”. Turns out to be more than true. We watched dumbfounded as some of our freebie’s showed up as door prizes the following night! It was hysterical to see the look on this woman’s’ face as she carried back her prize—a very used tachometer.
That Friday was John’s 62nd birthday. Brenda and I decided to pick up a cake that afternoon- and Brenda insisted on the “Older than Dirt” theme…complete with shovel and Oreo cookie crumbles. She also arranged for a Happy Birthday dance. John was asked to the front of the room, seated on a chair and all the women crowded around him- giving him birthday kisses—followed by John in a circle of women, dancing with each and every one of them. He was as red as I’ve ever seen him that night. It was good to be back in the Cajun scene and it really felt like old home week. It also left us feeling absolutely exhausted and ready for a bit of alone time. 
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