you are going to play with me now, right?

Perhaps you don't understand. See, I have the string right here. Do that thing you do with your monkey hands.

in the meantime

This is a picture of our larger cat. She has a problem. She is no longer interested in any form of interaction except playing with the bootlace my mom gave her. We used to sit together, rub heads, have a relationship. Now she doesn't want anything but string. If I offer her any form of attention, she runs away and stands by her string and gives me a look like this one. As if to say, "if you are interested in spending time with me, I want string."


Here is a picture of the back of the house which we hope will soon be ours.


It's hot and boring in Mendham tonight and G plans to blow off her breastfeeding class. We are discussing the relative merits of a trip to Aunt Pat's pool or the local movie theater. Not sure if there is anything worth watching. Any suggestions?

progress report: nothing to report

Furiously getting nowhere in particular at the moment, so nothing exciting to report. This phase of the house purchase is a flurry of documents among contractors, lawyers, usurers, insurers, inlaws, realtors, etc. We are hoping to come to some agreement about the repairs needed to the house, and then we hope we can move ahead with our closing on the 10th.

There are only two major problems with the house: the chimney needs repointing, and the front porch needs to be reinforced before someone falls through the soft spot. Pretty good for a 100 year old house. I know that's nothing to many of you overseas types but it's a big deal around here.

Grey is well and truly into her third trimester now. She's still happy and beautiful but the tiredness is back and moving around is more of a production than ever before. At least she's been sleeping better lately, which is a mercy for everyone.

Fleet news: We're still trying to sell the Focus, not as much action on that front as I would have expected. I've been so busy with the house that I've been unable to work on the Mini but there are recent unconfirmed reports of progress from the reclusive lunatic that we've engaged to install the new engine.

space for all the babies

Well today we had the new house inspected. The results were very encouraging. The front porch needs some repair and so does the chimney, but everything else is minor. The place is in great shape for an old house. G wanted me to post these pictures of the nursery, which, in a shocking coincidence, is decorated in exactly the same way that we would have decorated it.



Our inorganic dependents will also be cossetted in a lovely detached garage.


So we're pysched. And today I had words with the current man of the house, and he assures me that the entire lawn can be mowed in less than 30 minutes. Right on.

not just a new haircut

Below you can see a picture of Grey and her new summertime-and-I'm-pregnant haircut!


In the background you might be able to see a Scion xB. This is the special 2006 Limited Edition in Envy Green. This is Grey's new car. She is very, very pleased with it. It was hard to find the cool green one. In the end we bought in on ebay. Some may be surprised that D'Amato's have bought a Japanese car, but there are two responses to this: (1) the lady who made the purchasing decision is not genetically a D'Amato, and (2) it's so well crafted that we might be reconsidering the family policy in the future.

So, we are almost ready to be a family. We have something practical and yet still cool to drive around in and clean cheerios out of.

Also, more big news! The lawyers have signed off on our contract and we are scheduled to close on our new house on August 10! At this point there are many fewer things that could go wrong with the whole enterprise. Tomorrow we have the house inspection and after that we should have any idea if there are other things to worry about.

And, I am almost complete with the partial deforestation that is a mortgage application in New Jersey.

Anyway, thanks for the good wishes. We would like to take you for a ride in our cool new car

house pics

I thought I just posted these thumbnails of the house we are trying to buy, but I haven't seen my deathless prose show up on the blog yet so I am beginning to fear it's lost to the ages. Damn.

This is the house we are trying to buy. We finished the first part, with the realtors, and have started the part with the lawyers. Then it's the part with the bankers and the inspectors, then the realtors again, then the lawyers. Then we might get to live there. Hopefully before school starts and I turn into a wage slave again in September.

Here's some pics. The lovely Kate gave me the idea to use this little photo collage.


We love the house and the town is going to be great. We have a guest room and space for children, so you gotta come visit when you can. There's a nice little town center within walking distance and a train that will take you to big ol' NYC mere steps away. Very civilized.

Speaking of houses, today we got the greatest old-fashioned paper postcard with a snapshot of the wonderful cottage that Ally and Mr B got for themselves in beautiful north Wales. I am awfully happy for them, and tonight I will daydream about shipping my child(ren) off to visit with them some summer, years from now. 

so much excitement

Bit of a catch-up post here... last week we went camping again at Lackawanna state park. We spent three nights out in the woods over the holiday weekend. You might not think that a pregnant lady would sleep all that well on a foam mattress in a 19' RV but she did and we had a great time. I finally got to make some progress on The Confusion. What a great book.

This is a great park, there's a big lake and we rented a boat to paddle around. I think we saw the same family of ducklings we met there on Memorial Day weekend. Back then they were puffball-size and now they are about pigeon-sized.

There's also a great big swimming pool. It's round, about 100 feet across. It's shallow at the edges and deeper in the middle, so there is a lot of area of little kids and some space for floating grownups too. It was a great family atmosphere, and wow do I sound like a grownup here.

The other great thing about the park was the world's most unlikely Snack Bar. In addition to the standard repertoire of burgers, dogs, and ice cream this place had a full Italian menu cooked from scratch on the premises. Marinara sauce made from actual tomatoes, zuppa di pesce, and a killer eggplant parmagiana. I guess the man who has the concession from the park has ambitions beyond the hot dog trade. I say it's a triumph of the free market.

Oh and the other little snippet of news is that we are in negotiations to buy a house in Bernardsville. They have accepted our offer and now the legal fun begins. Nice house. Nice location. More details coming soon!