THE NEW PLACE

It was Saffron's turn to stay home from school today due to the same stomach bug which has afflicted each of us this week. Last night she was unable to eat dinner and chose to skip breakfast this morning, returning to bed with her stomach aching. Since I had to meet with the new landlord at 10am, I had hoped she was well enough to go to school. She was not.

After walking the younger two to the bus stop this morning, I returned to find Saffron asleep already. I returned to bed as well thinking my email to the new landlord to reschedule our meeting would be received. It was not.

At an hour before I was scheduled to go to the new place, I decided to get ready since I did not want to be late. Saffron was still asleep but I awoke her after my shower to see how she was doing and if she would be able to go with me. I would have preferred she sleep some more, but since I have no one around to watch my children in case I need help I had to take her with me.

As we drove down the road towards the entrance of our community, Saffron glanced over at the street her father lives on and noticed his car was not in the driveway. She surmised he was at his girlfriend's house in San Antonio, so emailing him for help would have been pointless especially since he never even responded to any of my emails from yesterday.

The entire process of walking through the house and going over the 12 pages of the lease plus two additional pages took two and a half hours. Saffron was quite as she sat outside on the porch swing in the backyard. After I got my keys, we returned home and she went straight back to bed to sleep for another three hours.

When I went to the bus stop to get Cinnamon and Sage this afternoon, they asked if we were still going to the new house. I told them no, at first, but Cinnamon begged me to go stating she was thinking about going the entire day. I told them to wait in the car whilst I went to wake their sister. We all climbed into the van and drove the five minutes to the new place.

Neither of the younger two had yet seen the inside of the house. Saffron was the only one. As soon as we all removed our shoes, the children ran upstairs to see their rooms. They were excited and started to plan where they would place their beds. With three bedrooms for four people, the girls decided to share a room whilst Sage has a room of his own.

My room is large enough to double as an office but the entire house is the same square footage as this townhouse. Saffron insisted the new place is larger. I told her it is the same but there was no use in arguing with her. The two-story ceiling in the entrance lends to the appearance of the house being large, but in reality it is not. The style is simple yet charming and I know I will have fun decorating and setting up the house so it becomes a comfortable place to live.

All three children expressed their thankfulness for the house I chose for them. No, the backyard does not have a hill, as Cinnamon so desired, nor does it have 'climbing trees' as Saffron had wanted but it has grass. Most importantly, it has a porch swing which the children like the best. This new place will be our home for the next year with new memories waiting to be made.