2014: Year in Review

With a one-year-old, it’s hard to make 2014 about anything else. Truman had a lot of firsts: his first words and his first steps, first swim and first plane ride. But it wasn’t all Truman all the time. As a young parent, your world gets small, but the outside world keeps moving

Speaking of moving, we moved to a new place. Just before summer started we moved to South Deerfield, about five miles from where we were before.

Our place in Sunderland was on a rural highway, surrounded by cornfields, dairies, woods, and mountains. It was nice and quiet, and dark at night. But it was the country, and quiet, and dark. We wanted to live some to someplace where we could go for walks with a stroller and not need a car for every little chore. And as Truman grows, so do his piles of clothes and toys; we needed more space. What really got us looking was a change in ownership at our old apartment.

On a walk near our old apartment. Nature!

April found the place in Sunderland when we first moved to the East Coast in 2009. She lived there for nearly five years. It was inexpensive but nice. The owners were absent for the most part, but for most of the tenants, this wasn’t a bad thing. If something needed to get fixed, it got fixed, but the outside looked a little shabby, the basement flooded every once in a while, and some of the tenants were less than perfect neighbors. You got what you paid for, which wasn’t much, but we didn’t want much.

The building was sold to new owners in the fall of 2013, and their management style was the total opposite of what we were used to from the previous owners. The landlord immediately raised the rent. This was understandable. The rent before was low compared to similar places in the area. But soon started the improvements. Construction, landscaping, tree removal, painting, new laundry room, new stairwell, new parking lot, new mailboxes, new windows. It’s nice to have new things, but it’s also nice not having construction going on all the time. We never had a chance to relax. Soon residents started complaining about the landlord entering their apartments without notice. Every time he spoke with me, the landlord would gossip about the other residents. He’d bring in building managers, but each left within a couple of months.

The thing that drove me over the edge was the new heating system. We had been on baseboard electric heating, but the landlord wanted to switch over to propane. The switchover started in December. A new heater was installed in the kitchen, but we realized after the fact that it was too big (the old baseboard was left in and the new heater installed next to it) and our refrigerator door wouldn’t open all the way. So the old heater was removed, and the new one reinstalled a few inches to the left. Then a gas line had to be installed. This was done in January. But the landlord didn’t want to turn on the gas until the old propane could be removed. So near March, he notifies us the gas will be turned on on the first of the month, and a surcharge of eighty dollars would be added to our already higher rent. So the heat’s turned on as soon the weather starts to warm up. April wrote an email to him about how shitty this was, and he agreed to turn on the gas a few days early. We set the thermostat to “tropical.”

While before we were passively searching for a new place, the apartment hunt now became more urgent. April scoured craigslist and rental websites. We focused on Greenfield. There’s a nice downtown, with a grocery store and a YMCA. I occasionally work at the community college in Greenfield. So it seemed the best fit. But we kept swinging and missing on the applications, either not qualifying for the apartment, or having it get rented out to someone else.

One weekend after Truman’s swimming lesson, we drove down through Deerfield. Going through downtown we saw a For Rent sign in the window of a TV repair shop (yes, they still exist). The owner was in and he showed us the apartment. A few months later we moved in. It took a little while. The apartment needed a paintjob, and our new landlord put in new tile in the kitchen and bathroom.

Downtown South Deerfield

South Deerfield isn’t nearly as large as Greenfield, but has much of what we were looking for. It still feels oddly urban for such a small town. South Deerfield has a diner, two restaurants, two pizza places, Chinese takeout, a Subway, and two bars, all within walking distance. There also two farm stands that operate during the summer and a seasonal roadside burger joint that offers sandwiches and ice cream. Laundry, liquor store, and two places to get your haircut.

As soon as we were settled into our new place we took off on a trip to California. And we somehow made it. After a lot of worrying about getting to the airport by six in the morning, getting through security, finding a decent place to sit—the last row on all four flights—and getting Truman comfortable enough on the plane that he might actually nap, it turned out he was a pretty good flyer. He made eyes at all the women who stood in line for the bathroom. He took a short nap. He ate some gold fish crackers. He didn’t get too cranky. He did a little, but who doesn’t get cranky on cross-country flights? Many of the people who passed our row were surprised to see Truman since he had been so quiet while other babies on board were spending their time yowling.

We had a great time in California. We stayed at my parent’s house. It took a few days before Truman warmed up to his grandma and grandpa, but once he did he was running and dancing just like at home. We took a trip with April’s mom to Santa Barbara to see Truman’s great Aunt and Uncle. We went the zoo there and Truman got to feed a giraffe. During the car trip back to Stockton we stopped at the beach and put our toes in the pacific. Truman got to meet all his Polish relatives at a party hosted by my parents and at a second party met all his Greek relatives at Yia Yia’s house. Even with a strict nap schedule, Truman was able to keep up his social obligations.

Soon after returning home from California April found out she was pregnant. Truman’s going to be a big brother! I don’t think he quite realizes the amount of responsibility that will fall on his shoulders, or even that he’s going to be a big. But he has been poking April’s tummy, so he knows something’s up. And he likes kissing everything, so I think he’ll be alright with a new younger sibling.

2014 was one of our most momentous years, but 2015 will be even bigger. And crazier. And memorable. So here’s to whatever the new year brings.