Um, no

Today is my birthday and while my partner is delivering babies, I am going swimming, then to the spa, then to a dinner party for a bunch of poets and writers. Rebecca and I had dinner last night at Bengal Tiger and I heard all about her adventures in the snow back East. New York (sigh).

My friend who is marrying this summer in Tuscany has asked me to officiate at her wedding. Ha! They are renting a villa with five houses on it, several swimming pools etc. Pure opulence. She's buying me a ticket and feeding me. The villa is an hour and a half from Florence. Uh, I'll have to go there too. Trying to decide if I want to stay on longer than a week.

I'm beginning to house hunt in earnest. I've forgotten what a weird experience that is. The photos on-line make the rooms look huge and the yard gigantic and the bathrooms pristine.

What the description doesn't say is that the house is under the flight paths from the airport (double thick windows supplied by the city!) or that the neighborhood has no stores or restaurants and is impossible to get to. But the price is right!

My agent Rosemary is friends with Eden, my younger daughter and yesterday she asked if Eden knew I was looking for a new house. She said she has to do a good job with me because Eden will question her judgment so there's double pressure on her to find the right house. As long as the house has a MIL, a fireplace and is near a greenbelt (or in a greenbelt) and a dog park and the water, I'll be happy. Oh, if the house isn't falling down and in need of a roof/plumbing/front stairs/windows, that would be good too. Although for the right location, I'm willing to compromise. I have peed in a litter box waiting for the bathroom to be done.

Just say no to a mortgage. In my current house, the mortgage will be paid off when I'm 92. Really.