Still Here

I know I haven't posted in awhile. It's been rather crazy around here.

All kinds of stuff has been going on. Major blow-up at work wherein someone almost got fired and I considered quitting more seriously than I ever have before. Things are somewhat on the 'truce' side at the moment, so I'll wait and see how they play out ... and keep my options open.

I've also been on the house-search rollercoaster again. It's too funny how every time I start seriously thinking about buying a bigger house, one or the other of us starts having serious job problems. I don't know whether it's a warning, or a life lesson to be learned ... there are no guarantees, you gotta do what you gotta do, and let the chips fall where they may. I have no clue.

We've looked and looked at houses, but there's just this one that is stuck in my head perpetually - it's beautiful and as close to perfect as we've found. Nothing else measures up to it. And it's that close within our reach. Well, technically, we could buy it for the asking price today if we wanted. But it would exhaust my entire life savings, and I didn't want to do that - spend every dime in my savings. I wanted to leave myself a buffer. (the good news is, we don't need the buffer for any unforeseen repairs on this house - it's in perfect condition).

So I was hoping to make a lower offer, but I've been advised the house is subject to short sale, which leads me to believe they won't be able to take a much lower offer.

I keep browsing for other houses from time to time, but so far nothing else has turned up that's as good as this. It's frustrating. Sometimes I decide I'm just going to stay where I am, and fix this place up - and it could be fixed up to some degree, without a great expenditure of money. But there's only so much you can do with a house this small, with people who have as much stuff as we do.

Those two things have kept me pretty preoccupied in the evenings - well, that and Christmas. This year I'm actually on top of the Christmas game. Mostly. I've done most of my shopping already. I do all my Christmas shopping online, and most years since I've started doing it that way, I mess around till too late, and have to pay for extra shipping on everything to get it by Christmas. This year I started early enough that I have most everything bought and ordered, some of it already arrived and wrapped and under the tree (by December 15th!) and some of it on the way. Amazing.

Unfortunately, I do still have a few things to get, and I haven't found anything appropriate online, so I may have to venture out to an actual store, which I just freaking dread. But, tis the season and all that. Much as I don't like to do anything after work, my best bet would probably be to go out one evening during the week - probably less busy than a weekend. Maybe even tonight, since it's a Monday - might be a good night for it. And I should start soon, since I don't even know what I'm looking for. This is the part of Christmas shopping that can be fun, and can also be a pain in the butt - those couple of people I have no idea what to get, and stocking stuffers. Just have to roam stores until I see something appropriate - which, like I said, can be fun, or can be very frustrating.

I did work on the sweater a bit this weekend. Not nearly enough. Well, as winter closes in around us, maybe I'll be more likely to just sit in the evenings and get some serious knitting done. This is when I usually get the most of it done, winter evenings. Although I have so many other projects going on right now, it's difficult - whether I decide to keep or sell this house, it needs major fixing up before I can, and that's been consuming a lot of my time.

Busy, busy, busy ... but, as my dad used to say, it's better than the alternative.