I’m going to take a minute to update you all on a few happenings around here. The holidays got so busy, that I’ve barely had time to write about anything on a personal level.
I think this is pretty typical for me when I go on vacation, because I have to be extroverted longer than I’m used to. I love family and I love social interaction, but it definitely drains me. When I feel drained, I feel less inclined to write about things on my heart, you know?
Anyways, I definitely haven’t had to be social this week! Right after we all got back to TX, we all got some nasty cold bug that has kept us house bound for days. I’m pretty sure that both the boys caught some form of RSV, because their coughs have been wicked. I’ve been propping them up on pillows and using essential oils to keep them breathing (note: I no longer use Doterra’s “Breathe” on my kids…more on that later. But Frankincense works well, although it’s expensive).
I’ve had at least one of the kids lying next to me on blankets during the night so that I can help them round the clock. Naturally, this has resulted in little/no sleep for me. I caught a mild version of what they had, which means that I have all the head congestion without the nasty cough.
Besides being sick, we also accepted an offer on our house in CA on New Years Eve. I didn’t even mention that we were listing the house for sale again, but the long/short story is that over the past 6 months of renting it to a wonderful couple and their 2 children, we’ve had to spend over $8,000 in repairs. Stuff just kept coming up! We started to realize that our savings account was pretty tired of being a landlord, and after we had a heart to heart with our tenants, they told us they wanted to move on as well since he commutes quite a long ways for his job and would rather move further north to San Miguel.
So, given the fact that we were already going to be home in CA for the holidays, we listed the house just a few days before Christmas. And, whaddya know, despite the holidays we had a tons of showings and our first offer on December 27th! After 3 days of negotiations, they accepted our offer on New Years Eve.
But despite the good news, it’s still been a roller coaster of emotions. A few days ago, our buyer almost backed out because she had emotional panic (honestly, she hadn’t even done inspections yet!). After writing us an apology letter, she is back in the game, but we still have 5 days left on the contingency period and who knows what could happen.
And it’s not just the buyer’s fluctuations that have me a bit stressed about it all. There are a whole lot of emotions wrapped up in that little house for us. It’s our first home that we have ever bought, our Christmas Eve present in 2012. The house we bought primarily so that we could adopt our foster daughter, who is now no longer with us. The house that we continued to foster children in. The house with a huge deck that we had 3 birthday parties for our children on. A lot happened to us in the 1.5 years that we lived in that house, and it represents a lot. In some ways, letting go of the house is a bit of closure, and that saddens me some. But it’s also a new start and a HUGE financial turning point for our family, and I am very grateful.
Even if our house deal falls through this week, I have confidence that we will get another soon as showings have continued so that we can gather backup offers. We really need to sell it so that we can buy a new house in TX, as our rental situation has been stressful from the very beginning. We not only have needed tons of huge repairs here, but we also back up to a really high crime area. For example, while we were home for Christmas, I read on the crime reports that there was a shooting RIGHT BEHIND our alley, and then another midday drive-by shooting a street over! Yikes! Even as I write this, there is a low flying helicopter going around our neighborhood looking for someone. It’s time for us to get out of here, as much as I’ve loved decorating things.
Today (Monday) is my first day back teaching my online class, and in 1.5 weeks I start my FINAL semester of graduate school! I am taking a class on Spenserian poetry, and another on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Should be fun, but so busy, especially if we move!
Alright, that’s enough ranting for today…I think.
Happy Monday, everyone!
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Kelly, I love your column. Keep it up. The decorating parts are fascinating to me, an almost interior design student (which my sister actually did). And, oh, you are studying Spenser and Chaucer. Wonderful. I was an English Literature major in college many years ago. But I also find everything you have written on fostering children very moving and interesting. God Bless you and your family.
Barbara, you are so sweet and this comment makes my day. Thank you so much for the encouragement! <3
Wow, that is a lot of activity, especially over the “already busy” holiday season. Real estate transactions of all types are stressful, and being a long distance landlord isn’t easy. I was emotional about the sale of our first home as well. But I got over it pretty quickly, and was very happy not to have 2 mortgages!
Seana, I know that my emotions will probably dissipate once the relief of not having to worry about being a landlord sets in. 🙂 I wish the holiday season wasn’t so busy– it’s supposed to be our time to focus and grow!
Wow love! You all are incredibly ambitious! I am so impressed, inspired, and pray the Lord’s richest blessings in your last semester of graduate school!!!! Yay!!!
I am so blessed to have met you!! Thank you dear one for your sweet comments on my post last week. I am not able to respond where you would receive the notification, so I wanted to write you here. I so look forward to following you here!
Blessings and so wonderful to meet you! Amy Kavelaris http://www.thebloomprintproject.com
Thanks for responding, Amy! Love your blog!