Progress on the home front

Finally have some solid news to report on the house-for-sale front. We are 'in escrow" ... as in, someone made an offer, we accepted and now we're working on things like termite and home inspections. Sadly, or ironically, this offer is lower than one we received before the home went into the multiple listing service last October. Our realtor and a couple agents showed the house a few times while we were finishing our "spruce up" tweaks. We had a verbal offer that was $25K higher than where we ended up, but considerably lower than what we were asking. We turned it down, thinking "Geez, we're getting offers and the house isn't even listed yet." Fools, we. We also had a low-ball offer — more of an insult — on Christmas Eve, which we rejected. It's not the greatest offer, but it is time to move on with my life.

I have another chemo under my belt — my fourth, making me one third of the way done. This week's chemo went as quickly the previous one, so it looks like my port fix is permanent. The bad news is the chemo weeks wipe me out. It's incredible that I can awake from a night's sleep, be somewhat active for an hour or two, and then need a nap. This is going to complicate packing! Thankfully, some very dear friends have offered to help — and I'll be taking them up on it.

Baby Girl got a new car this week — a Honda Insight (hybrid)! They are rare and hard to come by because they are built in Japan and we all know what's happening there recently. Our local dealer got one in with a navigation system and bluetooth, which Amanda wanted. She test drove it on a Friday. After Tuesday's chemo, we took a couple written offers from other dealers (out of our area), but the local dealer wouldn't budge on pricing. Looked like we were going to have to make a drive to Temecula to get her the car. Surprise, the next morning our local dealer called was willing to negotiate. We met nearly in the middle, so it was worth it to "shop local" and get the purchase made without having to drive all over SoCal.

Today we took a load of Christmas stuff — we have ALOT of Christmas stuff — and stored it temporarily in Mark's boss's unused second floor office space. Mark's boss, a former neighbor of ours, is allowing us to use the space to store the stuff we don't need to deal with immediately, which should make divvying up the household and moving into two places somewhat easier. We'll be storing other stuff there that we can't sort quickly, as well as stuff we probably will try to sell once we get settled in new places. Going from a 3500-square foot five-bedroom house with a loft into two condos or apartments isn't going to be easy.

Had some sad news this week. Fred Turner, the sports editor of the Sun Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, passed away on Monday. Fred was the one who hired Mark in Fort Lauderdale, where I had been working for five years. Because Mark and I happened to be from NE Ohio, we hit it off and the rest, as they say, is history. Even though Mark and I won't be riding off into the sunset together, we did manage to create and raise two wonderful kids during our 22+ year marriage. Without Fred, I wouldn't have the two best things in my life. So, thanks friend. Rest in peace.