I Thought the Fever Had Lifted...

...house fever that is. I thought my bad case of house fever was cured from some economic news that I cannot control but that affects me. Alas, I was wrong. I'm seeing all these houses for sale just sitting, sitting, sitting on the market. And I'm thinking: why not get a slow-mover at a steal? And then I realize that our little house might be one of those slow-movers, too. And someone may want to steal it from us.

Dave had a great idea: offer the builder [whose house has sat unsold for almost 2 years] our house plus some cash. Any real estate magnates out there who can tell me the tax consequences of a "swap" plus cash boot?

Aaah. It is great that dreaming is still free.

Family Fun Outing and a Personal In-ing

We had the usual Sunday fare: Mass and time at home together. Dave suggested we take the kids out to McDonald's for a fun outing. They did great and Annie even got up the slide a few times. When I reminded them of the rules before we went in, they all said, "Eat first. Play second." Hey! That spaced repetition really works.

Afterwards, Dave and I took advantage of the daylight saving time and the onboard DVD to drive in the country and look at a couple houses for sale with acreage, off of the same road he grew up on.

After the wee ones went to bed, I took a big soak in the new tub in the "new" bathroom. That's a first for me. Prior to that in the 10+ years we've lived here, I had never done that.

Enough to Say Grace Over

I've been quite distracted lately almost to the point of obsessing about a new house. It's quite enticing to do some big dreaming again. It's even more fun to do it all with David. But sometimes you just have to stop and take stock of what you have and where you're going. A mentor of mine says "you've got enough to say grace over" which often means "you're busy." But here, I think it can mean "your cup is overflowing so why are you working yourself up about what you don't have?"

It is true that I definitely want some more space and that elbow room will be at a premium when the children are a little older. But it is also true that this little home is cozy and full of love. It's enough to say grace over.

Romber Devastation

After spending most of my waking hours riveted to the local real estate listings* on the computer, I helped wrangle young'uns to bed only to be devastated by a defeat of my favorite team, Rob and Amber Marino on "The Amazing Race All-Stars." Worse yet: they lost to Charla and Myrna whom I loathe. Aaak. I was hoping it was a non-elimination round. This just changes the whole dynamic for me. I don't know if I'll watch the next episodes. The whole reason I watched just landed on the bathmat last. And they were Philiminated.


*I found a couple promising places. The one that has a large piece of land nearby [5 acres] has a decrepit house on it. The one that has a decent house has a lot that's only about 1.5 acres. The solutions to our housing crunch appear difficult.

Process of Elimination

We had our Family Fun Outing this morning. The kids really enjoyed running around an empty little cottage and tromping around the woods. Dave and I were really glad to walk the property. Sometimes you decide things by getting there and saying, "Aha! I knew this was it!" And sometimes you decide, "Gee. It didn't look like that on the satellite photo. I think we'll pass."

Every time we decide something's not quite for us, we're one decision closer to that thing that is precisely for us.