The Back Story

This was once my personal life blog, but I've decided such things are a bit too emo for my tastes, so now it'll be all about this whole new house project in our lives.

So, first off, the whole thing with the house...

We've been wanting to move out of our area (Holmesburg, NE Philly) for a while. While it's not a terrible place to live, it's not ideal. Crime has been on the upswing lately, and that is obviously a concern. Safety is a big deal. Hearing gunshots at night and reading about mid-day home invasions a block away certainly are factors in our decision to find a new place.

Additionally, our small condo has practically no storage, and Xavier's toy/puzzle/general stuff level has been increasing by leaps and bounds, which has made our living areas shrink. I don't begrudge the kid his toys, but... wow. Our living room looks like a toy store sometimes, and it's really easy to clutter up such a small space. So we definitely need more room for everything.

And then there's school. The schools in our direct area have gotten generally not-so-wonderful reviews, and, if the kids running around our neighborhood are examples of the kind of education available in Holmesburg, well... yeah. The less said, the better. Xavier is only two (or, as he puts it, "Teeeewwwww!"), and, while we don't have to worry about real school for a bit, we just want to be sure we can guarantee he'll have a nice student/teacher ratio, high-quality curriculum, safe environment and all that good stuff. And, as much as I don't want to put down Philly teachers or schools (because I know they bust their asses for very little pay!), I have serious doubts about the Philadelphia school districts and their ability to provide these things.

And private schools? Too damn expensive. Too far away. Just... no.

So, as luck would have it, my parents (who are pretty damn great people, by the way), saw a house up for auction in the suburbs. Without giving too much specific information away, the house is not far from the area where I grew up, but the kicker is... this house is outside of the city. Good stuff. Avy and I did some research, and we discovered this colonial house was built in 1950, and it's only had a single owner--a family with the rather interesting and unique surname of "Serpico."

If I have to tell you why that is kind of amusing, you are probably not an Al Pacino fan, but that's the source of the name for this blog. Anyway, Mrs. Serpico passed away, and her family decided to auction off the house.

One thing led to another, and we went to the auction. Oddly enough, we actually lost during the bidding process, but, through a series of strange events, the high bidder wound up walking away from the deal, so, as the next highest bidders, we won the house. The official paperwork and handing over of the deed goes down at the end of November. We're on pins and needles until then.