Passing the Crossroads

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It’s looking like a move back to North Carolina is still not in the cards for us. But the good news is that we’re excited enough about our new house to be happy anyway. We did put an offer on the house I mentioned before, and the owners accepted. We’re currently wading through loan application stuff (that is, Laura’s wading through that while I finally do our income taxes).

We like the house’s layout and its location. Some of the equipment is getting old (e.g. water heater, one of the AC units), but it’s in great shape otherwise and everything’s still functional as of now. The neighborhood seems nice and has a bunch of small kids for Riley and Lydia to play with. The one downside is that there’s no garage or even a carport, but I can live with that.

I applied for a contract-to-hire job as a web developer here in Atlanta. Still no word, but the recruiter did forward my resume to their client yesterday, so at least I made it that far. It’s a junior-level position, which I’m overqualified for, truth be told, but I’m reasoning that my child-rearing hiatus will make that seem less true. But I’m also sure they’re flooded with applicants, so I’m not holding my breath. It would be a good thing, though, so wish me luck.

House Hunting in Limbo

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Well it’s been a bit of the same ol’ same ol’ here in BryceLand. My grip on sanity is lubricated daily by the nagging suspicion that sanity is overrated. Loneliness and misanthropy bicker with each other in the back seat of my brain, but I blare the stereo to drown them out. I’ve started several long posts about having been unhappy for a while, only to delete them as something I’m not going to want to remember in the future. Nice weather will help get me out of my slump, but suffice it to say that I do need to unslump myself.

I’m still scanning for work, but not hyper-aggressively because we’re not sure where we’ll be living half a year from now. Laura has applied for a job at UNC in Chapel Hill (two, actually, but they chose an internal candidate for the first one), so there’s a chance we’ll be back in the Triangle next fall. Which would suit me fine. (Update: it’s looking less likely now, but is still a possibility. We could have an answer in less than a week, thank goodness.)

Even if we stay in the Atlanta area, we’re still looking at a move this summer, to a more central suburb. We’ve been house shopping in preparation for this outcome. I think soon we’re going to put an offer on one of the houses we saw last weekend. Laura’s in love with it, which I hope we can keep under wraps. The house would be fine for our needs right away, and is also probably the easiest to add on to among the ones we saw. I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t even have to make the kids share a bedroom — although they’ve been loving that arrangement ever since we decided to try it out.

I’ve also been meaning to write something about the TMBG shows I saw two weeks ago, but this post isn’t the place. I would have done it already, but I couldn’t get past the unwritten whiny post. Funny how my LJ can get stuck like that.

Closing Remarks

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The sale of our house is supposed to close today. There’s been some last-minute drama — because really, what better time? 😛 — and so it might not go through. Basically the buyers want to request additional repairs here on the 1-yard line, and although there are provisions in the contract to prevent such a thing, the whole deal could still go south. Cross your fingers.
—
Hey, it worked already! As I was typing, the buyers counter-counteroffered to settle the discrepancy in the repair agreement for five Benjamins, which we’ll accept. Apparently there were actually a couple of requested repairs that went undone after all. As we suspected, it’s too late for them to add new repairs, though.

One single thank to our real estate agent, Linda Boucher, who did the absolute minimum for us once she got us under an airtight contract. Thank you for your adequacy! I’ll be telling all of my friends.

I’ve got a lot of good memories in that house. The best years of my life, so far. But I know I’ve got lots more good memories ahead of me too. It’s amazing how different the house sounds with no furniture in it.

So this also means no BryceLand Wild Plum Festival this year. It’s just as well; we still have a bunch of jam from last year. We just don’t go through it very fast.