House shopping goes on

Tom caught the vomit bug last weekend. He was supposed to be golfing and instead spent the day watching TV in bed. For him to miss a golfing opportunity tells you how mucky this bug makes you feel. Meanwhile, we are waiting to hear on the big house Tom likes. Its a short sale like us, so we have to wait for their bank to OK it. It could take a couple of weeks before we hear anything.

Tom is starting his new business as an independent contractor/project manager. He starts his first project next month. The commute is too long from here and he wants his company to be based in Washington. Oregon really has some serious issues that are chasing us away. Extremely high property taxes on top of an income tax and still to have bad funding for the schools is inexcusable.

Our district has done amazing things to keep going, but my boys miss a month more of school every year than Washington students, and they are cutting more days from next year's calendar.

We want a social life for both of us. Tom wants his golfing. He is renting a friend's spare apartment until we can find a place big enough for all of us. School gets out in June so I am in no hurry to move until summer. Then we can take our time.

I had to laugh, the dive is back on the market. It would have been a done deal if they would have accepted our offer. Its on the block we want. Now we are strapped and have offered elsewhere. But we could never have built a house as big as we are trying to get, and it is near move in ready for us. Just a few tweaks here and there to make it ours. But I really wanted the club. Though Tom and I would have fought tooth and nail on a house construction. With everything so cheap these days, it is hard to argue for a construction project.

Maybe it was a sign that we were not meant to be on the block , yet. We get this other house and do our improvements then later come back to our old street when the time is right. The boys move out in 5 years and are off to college. We wont necessarily need a 5000 square foot house then.

I still have to get in there and figure out what I want to do with that basement. All sorts of options come to mind; A huge master suite or a separate apartment or a big laundry with closets or a party room like that 70's show, though without the pot, even doing chickens again out of the spare garage stall. This place is so big I could house mine and Tom's families without ever having to see them. All I wanted was room for the pool table and ended up with a mansion.

The idea of this place is growing on me. But I am still watching our other choices, which are hanging out there not moving either.