Less Borneo

Originally uploaded by wintercow20

OK, I’m still a little bit of a wild woman, but now it’s not the hair!

Wild Woman of Borneo

I can sit up now …

Mommy likes to call the one on the top left, “Thunder and Lightening.” Even in the spring, “I’m freezin’, brrrrr!” And don’t you just love the ladybugs too?

Isn’t it adorable that I am trying to help feed Isaac?

Think again! We have only one high chair … and Isaac is invading it. It’s easy to play the sweet sister … but mommy knows the real deal. Darn it! Will they know what I am doing when I sneak out of the house as a teenager too?

Little man is finally getting his first taste of freedom. Daddy figures that if he locks us up enough, we might grow up to be the radicals he hopes we become. Mommy is already turning into one, and all it took was for her to pay attention a little more closely to what is going on around her.

Not when Daddy has to carry them up to the top, but when it’s time for a picture, it sure would be nice to have another set of hands. Here we are at the top of Pittsfield State Forest, along the Taconic Range. The Catskills are what we are looking at, to the West. I’m sure we’ll love Rochester, but daddy sure does love living in and near the mountains. Let’s hope he doesn’t go all Alexander Supertramp on us.

Clockwise, from top left – momma and baby sheep on a farm in historic Deerfield are almost as fuzzy as daddy! Amelia now knows how to identify daffodils, tulips and daisies (and not because any of that grows in front on our house - it’s because of Courderoy’s Easter Party – a book we just LOVE). Daddy and Amelia at the hairpin turn on Route 2 just east of Williamstown (Mt. Greylock is to the left, out of view). And Isaac being as chill as ever.

It’s not often that daddy can sneak in a picture of mommy! And she’s smiling to boot. We love you mommy, even if you are tired of chasing us around all day.

Did I say mommy gets tired? Well, if we shrunk mommy down by 70% this is what she would look like! By the way, I am now able to climb in and out of this darn thing … oh my … good morning mommy and daddy!

Yesterday was a county-wide open house day in Pittsfield.

House hunters’ paradise

By Benning W. De La Mater, Berkshire Eagle Staff

Article Last Updated: 05/04/2008 05:55:24 AM EDT

Sunday, May 04

PITTSFIELD — From a modest, $79,900 two-bedroom home in North Adams to a 4,400-square-foot jaw-dropper priced at $3.2 million in Monterey, the homes for sale in Berkshire County opened their doors yesterday in a mass showing of available real estate.For the first time, the Berkshire County Board of Realtors organized area real estate agents to stage an open house extravaganza. From North County to South County, roughly 340 homes had open houses in the morning and afternoon hours.

Sandra Carroll, CEO of the Berkshire County Board of Realtors, said the idea behind the event was to use it as a marketing tool for prospective buyers.

“We thought that this would let buyers get a real sense of our market,” Carroll said. “We had a great response. It really took off.”

Michael Clark, 27, of Lanesborough, hit seven open houses with his girlfriend Erlinda Shatney yesterday in Pittsfield, Dalton, Cheshire and Lenox. He’s looking to buy his first home and said the open house event was helpful in learning exactly what $200,000 will buy.

“This really gave us an idea of what’s out there,” Clark said. “It gave us a no-hassle opportunity to look at homes at our own leisure.”

Clark’s only gripe was that many of the open houses were only open for two hours, which provided for a bit of a logistical adventure.

Brandon White, an agent with Cohen & White Associates, spent the afternoon showing Mike and Rachel Rizzo’s home on Kenilworth Street in Pittsfield, a yellow, center-entrance Colonial priced at $445,000.

White reported a “steady” crowd of both out-of-towners and locals.

“We had people from New York, New Jersey and Boston looking to relocate,” he said. “But we also had a lot of locals who are looking to move up.”

White said the organized event was a great way to kick off the spring real estate season. The Rizzos are hoping the traffic yields some offers. The family moved here a year ago and completed renovations on the home.

Mike Rizzo, 33, an economist at the American Institute for Economic Research in Great Barrington, was recently offered a professor’s position at the University of Rochester.

“We weren’t planning on moving, but the right job came along,” he said.

The home has been on the market for 46 days, and with two young children, the couple hopes to make a quick transition to Western New York.

The signs are in their favor. Carroll said the Berkshire County market hasn’t suffered the same decline that other areas of the country have felt. In fact, there are roughly 1,600 homes on the market, about 100 less than at the same time last year.

Sure, the market has softened a bit compared to the peak years in 2004 and 2005. And agents say there’s probably a bit more wiggle room on offers today. But if a house is priced well and appeals to buyers, it will sell.

“Slow and steady, that’s what we say about our market,” Carroll said. “We’ve maintained solid growth. Our market is very balanced. Everyone has a place in it.”

They even brought over a photographer and snapped a phote of all of us in the new kitchen. Sadly, by the time Amelia is 2.5 years old, she would have lived in FOUR different residences. Before heading off to college, I lived in the same place my entire life. Take a look here.