Bad News on the Homefront

I guess I shouldn't call it bad news, just not news we wanted. As I mentioned in a prior post, our house is back on the market, although it may be a short-lived stint again. Our subdivision (like many others) has been hit hard by the real estate market and our values are taking a big nose dive into the toilet. We were hoping we could squeeze by but it's not looking good.....

The house across the street has been vacant for a good while and has an identical floorplan as ours. We assumed it was in foreclosure but hadn't seen any signs up and figured it might hurt us but we would try (again) to beat the clock and sell before activity began with that. Apparently the buzzer has gone off and our time has run out. That house is now on the market with a listing that is a whopping $50k less than ours. How in the world could it be that much less? I mean, I'm sure the last owners (cuckoo was my nickname for her but doesn't even begin to describe the bizarre personality) didn't take great care of it but it's only 4 years old. How bad can it be? We might see about taking a peek inside, just to satisfy our own curiousity but it likely won't matter. We might just be stuck awhile longer. Oh, patience. Not my strong suit. A few months back, I believe I had a lengthy session with God and prayed for patience in all areas of my life. What I meant to say was I needed help in all areas of my parenting life.

Obviously, I'm not a realtor and don't know the statistics around these types of situations but I do know what HOPE is and it's alive in our home. Do I think a miracle is needed at this point for our home to sell? Yep, pretty much. But I happen to believe in miracles. And more importantly, I believe He has a plan for us in every aspect of our life. D1 and I continuously pray for God's will in our lives and we have peace and comfort in that alone. Sure, there are no shortages of our own selfish pleas where we tell God what would be best and shoot him an outline of why but ultimately He knows. So what if I have to continue my 45 minute drive to work? I HAVE a job. So what if we have to drive an extra 10 minutes to TFBC? We have an awesome church body who loves our family. So what if I have to pay more than my 'burb friends for internet? OK, that one really hacks me off.....

So instead of pouting (you know, since we're trying to set good examples for our little people), I've decided to be upbeat and positive about this small bump in our road and look at all the great things about our home. We have plenty of space for our rowdy crowd to play and just be looney toons. Our playroom is awesome and if we are staying, it might be time to take it to the next level in organization (which totally excites me - I am an organization goob!). Our backyard is beyond huge, backing up to a creek with a daddy-built swingset. Only thing we lack in our backyard is a fence and a shed. Maybe we start taking steps toward those projects. Have I mentioned how amazing our grass is? That may be a ridiculous statement and I would have thought so a few years ago until we moved to this house and had nothing for a yard. I mean nothing. Nothing but dirt (er, red clay) and weeds. My talented and persevering husband dug it up and started from scratch. And it is quite possibly the most beautiful yard in the subdivision. In the beginning, he was fervent in watering, even if it had to be done at 5:30am to beat the heat. And we don't have an in-ground sprinkler system. We have a very manual system where D1 goes out and rotates the Dollar General specials around every 8.5 minutes. If our neighbors had just been awake those mornings he was moving them, I bet it would have been quite entertaining. He never wanted his feet to touch the grass he was watering, so he was jumping like a crazy man all over the place. I imagine it looked like someone with OCD who cannot step on a crack or it will break their mothers back. All those details and side stories to say that our grass ROCKS. One more thing to brag about my house - we live on a double cul-de-sac. Which means there is really never any traffic except the homeowners. This gives us such comfort in letting our boys ride their bikes or drive their Gator outside, even if we aren't right there to watch. It's pretty sweet. And our neighbors are quite awesome, too. You know, the ones who let me borrow their car on d1's first day of school? You don't find those kind of people everyday.

On a related note, D1 had an interview this week for a spot into the Greenville County administrative pool. It went really well and now he is just waiting to hear if he made it the next round. The process that is involved in making it into the pool is crazy. I've been comparing it to getting into an Ivy League school. So all you parents who have children in this county's public school system should take comfort in the fact that the principals are highly screened and the selection process is thorough. OK, so even if he makes it through this next 'cut,' it's not a guaranteed job. He would then have to wait until a position comes open and go through that interview process with the individual school. The applicants were many and the spots were few just for this round so imagine what it will be to actually get into the pool. With budget cuts out the wazoo, there really doesn't appear to be many positions so they're not going to take a lot of candidates. I am biased, of course, but I know with complete certainty that he would be an excellent administrator and an asset to the district. If it's meant to be, it will be. No doubt about it.

Next week is busy busy. We will be celebrating d3's first birthday with a little family party at our house.....where I've been convinced by my BFF that I can make his cake myself. I'm not incompetent in the kitchen but the idea of me making a monkey cake for my son's birthday has started to give me a bit of anxiety. You know, that feeling that someone is physically resting comfortably on your chest and you just can't breathe right? That and all that we have going on next week - d3's pictures, throwing a baby shower, Easter (baskets, outfits, dinner). Along with a busy week at work. Coupled with the uncertainty of our home. Magnified by my deadlines of sending out baby gifts to my out-of-state friends in time for their showers. Because you know how I feel about being late. I told D1 that lately I find myself sitting at my desk and staring off into space and my thoughts go a little like this - *can't forget Ms. Waters birthday tomorrow *d2 needs plastic eggs and candy for the hunt by Monday *d2 also needs an Easter treat by next Thursday (no peanuts) *don't forget K's shower is next weekend for the twins and it's 1,000 miles away *yes, she gets TWO girls *shed a tear *don't forget to pick up the cake for C's shower on Thursday *make sure the name is spelled right *get on the ball about booking d1 & d2's birthday party before it's gone *what should we get them this year *my filling still hurts but I have no time for the dentist *boys need dental appointments this summer *drop stuff off at Goodwill *mail Grandma the picture d1 colored of the farmer *book plane tickets for MO trip in September *decide which month we won't eat to cover the costs of all 5 flying *get D1 and d2 fitted for their tuxes soon. I tease D1 about him having ADD but I'm starting to wonder if it's a shared family trait. No, I take that back. I know what it's called. It's called multi-tasking and we mommies have it down to a fine art. Can I get an amen?