Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Stump Watch 2009, Day...34?

We have detachment! Well...sorta. The large part that gets caught on everything came off, leaving just a flat scab-looking section about the size of my pinky fingernail on her bellybutton. So, it's not completely detached, but the bulk of it is gone, and I can see part of her cute little belly button. In the meantime, I will continue to clean it, and if that little bit is not off by the time we see the doctor next week, then we'll ask about it.

Last night, we took Elsie out of state for the first time, as we went to the Braves game in Atlanta. Turns out it was a relatively easy drive since we're right here on I-85. Because it was Dave Ramsey $1 Night, a deal too good to pass up, we left after Eli got off work, knowing full well that we would miss a couple of innings. I couldn't get Elsie's feeding time just right yesterday, so we had to stop and nurse in LaGrange, GA, and arrived at Turner Field in the bottom of the 5th inning. I was afraid we had wasted our time and effort with only 4 innings to go, but wouldn't you know, that game went to 15 innings! We ended up getting to see most of a full 9 innings of play before we had to hit the road back to Alabama. Anyway, in the 8th inning, I fed Elsie at the first aid station, and her stump came off and was stuck to me. Yuck? I put it in a zip lock bag just in case Eli wanted to see it up close, but he didn't ask, so it will be trash since that's not really the kind of thing one would put in a baby book. At least, Eli already vetoed that. Haha.

Anyway, I've promised a couple of times to explain our lease decision, and I think now would be a good time. So, we signed a lease on this apartment again because,

1. Even though the rent is higher than we would like to be paying, it's too darn expensive to move.

2. Even if we found a place with lower rent, add the cost of moving and prorate it over the year, and I think we would pretty much break even on a place that's not as nice.

3. This place is convenient to everything in Auburn, with easy access to Opelika.

4. There are only ten occupied units out of fewer than 100, which means it is relatively quiet, and a screaming baby affects fewer people. (My apologies to the guy whose bedroom is right next to ours!)

5. Eli didn't have a job, and we had to make a decision. And since I had a pending job offer, it felt right.

6. I hate moving. I hate it, hate it, hate it. This should actually be reason #1, but I didn't want to start with something so...irrational? as a reason for staying.

7. If Eli ends up getting into the Coast Guard, they'll pay for us to be moved, and there's no penalty in breaking our lease.

8. I'll be making a little more money at my job this year in the new district since they pay slightly higher than the state minimum salary schedule. So, no, $200 a month more isn't a lot in the overall scheme of things, but it gives us a little more wiggle room.

9. If Eli gets a job anywhere else and we have to spend a couple of months apart, then we'll be able to afford the rent on this place anyway since we'll have two decent incomes.

10. I haven't finished unpacking from when we moved in! (Though that's on my list for this week.)

So, there you have it. We're staying put, at least for a little while.

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