Rain, Rain Go Away…

Hello my Friends,

Long time no-see!

To pick up where I had left it – we did not make a cross-country trip for Easter… You guessed it – we got sick again. It was a disappointment for our families, a big one as we found out from the phone calls. Anyway, we had been there not so long ago – at the beginning of May. My niece had her First Holly Communion, and since it was during the longest weekend in modern Europe, we hopped in the car and went East. On our trip we missed by a hair a road block in a small town which residents demanded building a by-pass around the town (currently all of the traffic goes straight through the town centre). So, we made it to Lublin in quite decent time.

The first communion ceremony was a little unusual for me because it was on Monday and not on Sunday. My brother explained that his parish always celebrates first communion on May 3rd. It is Polish state holiday and a Catholic as well hence the odd (for me) day. Since I compare everything to my American experience, I must say that I liked much better Kasia’s celebration at St. Mary’s in Foxboro. My brother and his wife were pleased we came. And it was nice.

I have seen my grand-nephew, he is so big now. He is crawling and standing up to get toys from the tables and unlike my own kids he has a giant appetite. I was cracking up when his dad put him in a high chair and his mom was not ready with food in that moment. He made a fit that ceased at the sight of first bowl with spoon. He basically devoured his lunch, no crumb fell on the floor, no drop on his chin. He is a great eater and such a lovely child.

Apparently year 2001 was a favorite in my family for giving birth because Slawek’s niece had her first communion as well but on May 30th. I have to confess I passed on that and only Slawek went to Lublin again. My kids and I stayed in Wrocław but not alone because my other niece came to visit us with her husband. We loved them here. I hope they will come again soon, or we will see them at their place first.

As I mentioned in my previous post we are in the midst of house search. So far I have seen about 15 of them. Firs one was to be build, we could see a similar house that someone bought and the developer said he can build one for us. We passed because Slawek does not want to build a house and I kind-of respect it. Then we saw a house offered by the owner. That one was already built but inhabited by about 10 dogs of various breeds. The owner lead us to the house through a pet shop with all its aromas set on high. She said ‘here is storage, there is furnace and over there is also another space but we are not going to see it. My bitch is about to give birth to puppies any time now. Please go outside and I will lock up dog and let you in through the main entrance.’ We got outside and came back in promptly, the inside was not much better than the basement we just saw. Kitchen was nice and large, living room really big but upstairs was howling for fixing, and that dog scent everywhere… The final nails to the coffin were: leaky septic tank and brick kennels promised to be left behind for us. I blurted we could use kennels as a time out place for our kids and maybe even rent it to others. The lady of the house said the kennels were sturdy, made of bricks, and for sure kids would not have contact with one another. We passed that one as well.

Then we looked at the house that was build American way – you know wood unlike traditional Polish brick. It would be great except for all-electric heating and mold. But it did have a great potential in the back yard, at the moment though moles and wind were hired for keeping it nice. We passed again, …

Since avoiding realtors did not yield the results we turned to them. We did not want to use a realtor because in Poland you pay them a fee (1.5 to 3% of the house value plus 22% tax on that value) and again as a thrifty person I wanted to avoid it. But we have not much of the choice if we want to move in before September this year. Therefore I started an adventure with realtors. First three houses I saw were supposed to be build and finished up inside as well. You know in Poland developer build a house for you, I mean basement, walls, roof he may even put windows in and main door but t but that is all. All other things that need to be done you arrange by yourself – floors, electric installation, heating system, kitchen and bathroon fixtures, painting the walls after putting plaster on them, etc. I spoke with a person that had experience with that developer and I received a fuzzy view of him. Pass…

Two houses in a very small village, peace and quiet,  no shops, no school, no church, peace and quiet, ultimate quiet. First house was way too big for us, the other one bedroom too small. Pass…

Five housed in Oława not bad but all one bedroom too short, but I must admit the very first one I saw was gorgeous. Pass…

Another house in Kąty Wrocławskie nice but it needs changing the furnace and heating system and probably I would have problems parking Windstar in the garage. … pass

I am going to see one house today in the our current neighbourhood. …

As for my job – I was invited to one interview but did not get the job. It was nice to be invited though!

Rain thing – I do not know how is the weather on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean but over here it rains cats and dogs. Odra river is flowing through Wrocław and in 1997 it flooded it very severeley. This year is a little bit (knock on wood!) better but still some parts of Kozanów quarters were flooded due to severe raindrop. We had literary three weeks of downpour. In fact the whole Poland suffered floods of different intensity, what is more scary rain saturated soil and there were some places with mudslides. We had a week of drier weather and now it rains again.

On the sunny side! Helena was accepted to Music School! She had exams last week and it turns out she is musically gifted kid! I am so thrilled despite the fact that she will attend music school after her regular school three times a week and we need to buy a real piano.

All the best to you my friends and pray for us so we do buy a house before September, so we have room for that piano and us.

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