Friday, May 30, 2008

Sigh

I haven't written in a week. I don't know what to write about. We haven't done much lately, as everyone has been sick, and I feel sort of all Gloom and Doom about this pending move and I'm not sure how to reconcile it. Also, I'm tired of moaning to all of you about our housing woes, but my children are bored to tears with it and I think Tim is, too, and it seems that real estate is the biggest single thing I have going on right now. So please forgive me, and/or skip this post if need be.

I've never been really sad about a move before. I've always looked at it with a sense of adventure and excitement: we'll live in a new place! We'll make new friends! We'll go to new restaurants! This time, however, is different, and I think it's mostly because of the kids (and the housing). At first I was all excited. Las Vegas! Still good weather, but a bigger city, cheaper airfares, etc.!

Then I started to realize some things. Like pre-school. The girls are both in this fabulous pre-school here that is uber-cheap, flexible, and the teachers are great. I called the school in Vegas that friends of friends recommended, and neither Kate nor Claire is currently qualified to go there. Also, it is very expensive, and not flexible. WHAT am I going to do? I must have a pre-school for them. MUST. For my sanity and theirs.

Add to this the fact that we will not be joining a traditional A-10 squadron. I don't think the squadron is traditional in any sense of the word, actually. It will be a great job for Tim, but I have a feeling the social structure is non-existent, which may be frustrating for me since I know no one there and since Tim will be gone a lot more than normal.

I think if we had a house to move in to, things would look a lot happier. We have not heard back on this latest house yet, although our offer has been in for almost 2 weeks. We are starting to see one of the major downfalls of dealing with foreclosures and short sales: you don't have a good contact to talk to or negotiate with. The banks handle everything, and since they are flooded with foreclosed homes, things take forever. For instance, remember that house we bid on the first time we went to Vegas 2 months ago? The greenbelt house? We just found out this week that we are now the only bidders on that property, and would we like to buy it? Of course, we are not so hot on it now, as we think the amount we bid is too high, and it is at the top top top of our price range. And it still needs appliances. It is pretty, and we could certainly live there, but I like the price of the new Oasis house better. I don't know how long we can stall on the greenbelt house, but we're going to push it to the limit because I also don't know how long we will have to wait to hear about the Oasis house.

We had Shayne, Reagan and Dane over for dinner last night, as they had to leave for SOS this morning and will return after we have gone to Vegas. The girls had a blast in the pool, swimming and splashing. At one point, I had to unlock the back gate for Shayne, so I left the girls in the pool alone. DO NOT freak out on me here, people. All is good. The back gate is right next to the pool fence, and Reagan had waterwings on. Kate did not, however, and thought it would be fun to swim out to Reagan at the exact moment that I was about to re-enter the pool area. Shayne and I watched in slow motion as Kate reached out to Reagan, and then realized that Reagan could not support her. I was sort of stuck in one position: not really fear; more like curiosity. I know that sounds crazy, but Kate has now had 2 years of ISR swim lessons and this type of situation is exactly why we have paid lots of money for the girls to learn to swim. Kate kept reaching for Reagan and then realization hit her that her plan wasn't working, and she flipped onto her back and floated for a few seconds. Then she flipped back over and swam to the wall. By then I was in the pool and planning my discussion about how we don't swim off the steps unless mommy or daddy is in the pool. These swim lessons have given us 2 great things: very good water survival skills for the girls, and for me, a sense of calm in the face of a pending water disaster.



Enough random complaining from me. What are you up to this weekend?

2 comments:

Katie said...

Wow!! That is so incredible that the swim lessons really worked...that must make you feel so good! Good job, Kate!

Your whole real estate thing is SUCH a clusterf#$k! I would be going completely bonkers and drinking two bottles of wine a night while I cried tears of gloom and doom. I think you are holding up really well! And, if life in the Air Force teaches you one thing, it is this: IT WILL ALL WORK OUT. I don't know how, but it always does (usually with lots of ass pain in the mean time. That is what the wine is for!)Hang in there!

Elizabeth said...

SO NOT tired of this topic. In fact, more interested than I should be.

I feel like I'm going through the same thing with the adjustment pains. What happened to that adventurous-want-to-see-everything-do-new-things-meet-new-people-live-in-new-places thing I used to be? I liked our life in Tucson. And finding new pre-school/child care in new cities? AGAH! But, if anyone in the world will find immediate new friends, networks, neighborhoods, and cool new things, it will be you and Tim.

P.S. I am so amazed at your Kate/ISR story. Those lessons were so worth it.