missed yesterday

Well, I took yesterday off from blogging, but I'm back. These last two days have been a little crazy, and the next two promise to be more so. Went all around South-Southwest Baltimore on Tuesday night, and my clients found a place that they like, and now we are just working out the financing before getting an offer in (should be doing that this afternoon).

Yesterday was the tiring day. Went to the new place, only to find green graffiti all over the side wall of the property. Blah. Actually, Sara and I both kind of individually expected this to happen, but not so soon. Meanwhile, we go to go in the property, only to remember that my Supra key doesn't work until 9am, and it was 7:45am when we got there. Doh.

So, I go off to hunt down some breakfast from Safeway. We spend a little time meeting our neighbor across the street (Marvin) and his two-month-old puppy (Diamond) and wait. Like every 5 minutes somebody would drive or walk by and say, "You buy that?" We'd be like, "Yeah." And then they would respond in one of two ways. The locals would say, "This is a rough neighborhood." And we'd be like, "Yeah, but it's getting a lot better, right?" And they'd smile and say "Yeah," or say nothing.

The other response was from the investors and contractors working in the area. They would just look at us, and look at the house, and look at us, and say, "Nice place." Very weird.

Besides that, two people came by to buy some drugs off of us (doh!), but we kindly informed them that they had come to the wrong place.

Finally, at 9am we get in. Sara gets to sealing the grout and cleaning the blinds, while I take care of some business before starting to help with the blinds. Our HVAC guy shows up and that work finally starts (I guess better late than never, right?), and the Comcast people show up. So, our house is crowded.

At around 11:30am, Billy and Joanna show up for our lunch plans. Billy was one of my roommates in Jerusalem 6 years ago, and we've managed to keep in touch over time. He got married 8 months before me and just completed seminary with his wife. The two of them are going to be church planters/pastor trainers in Uganda this upcoming Fall (and for the next 4 years). Billy is one of those people that makes a difference for the good in your life EVERY time that you talk to him...time with him is a blessing.

So, anyway, Sara shows them the house, when Bob, Sara's boss' husband and a friend of ours who has helped us out a lot through this homebuying process, shows up to help us evaluate whether we need a split box spring or not (the jury is still out on that one). Finally, around 12:30pm, we break away from the house, accomplishing very little, but learning a whole lot more about our house and neighborhood in the process.

We go to lunch on the inner harbor, which was a nice, leisurely 3 hours of okay food and good company, and then go back to the house to see how the HVAC is coming along...umm...still not much to see at that point. While I'm on the phone on a business call, Sara gets into a long conversation with some local kids trying to tell her how bad the neighborhood is, which was cute and disturbing all at once. I have a feeling that our place might become a popular thoroughfare of kids wanting cookies and just an adult that cares, but we'll see. :)

So, yes, we are not moving into utopia, but we knew that. What we saw yesterday simultaneously excites me by the change that is going on there, worries me by how much still needs to happen, scares me by the level of crime that is in the alley right by our house, and energizes me at the potential for ministering to the people there, especially the kids. But we'll see. In some way, I can't shake the feeling that God has led us to this property for more than the obvious reasons that we needed housing and it's a good investment. The interesting thing to see is how much we will be "tested" by the neighborhood. Being a young, married white couple in that area could make us a target...but it might not. Time will tell...

Anyway, so Bob's coming over to help me patch some holes in my apartment so they don't charge us like $50 a hole from our deposit, and then I have to get to the office to prepare an offer with my clients from Tuesday.

Settlement is tomorrow...hallelujah.

Peace,
Greg

For those interested, here's a link to a site about Washington Village, which Mount Clare is often considered an extension of...unfortunately, Mount Clare (otherwise known as "Pratt-Monroe") doesn't have its own site yet. :)