House Hunt is ON

So for the past 4 years, my mother has been threatening to give us a boatload of money to buy a better house. Well, that money has finally come through. It's sitting in my savings account right now...I know because I still check the balance a couple of times a day just to see if it's still there.

Now I've been stalking the MLS checking home listings off and on for years. I know where I want to live - Auburn, Holden - and I have a price range that should work for us. We've been to open houses, chatted with realtors and had someone come out to give us a valuation of our current home.

All of my ducks are in a row except I can't find a house that both Blixx & I can agree on. There was the wonderful older colonial in Worcester which would have been perfect, except it's older (which scares Blixx) and its at the top of a fairly large hill. Fine for us with our SUV's, but it would be rough in winter to have company. Then there's the registered sex offender living just one street over.

In Auburn, there was the strange lay out of one home with a skinny spiral staircase where I was sure that either Cass or Drunkgirl would meet their demise. The ranch this weekend could have worked...great commute location...but the ceilings were low and made Bill uncomfortable. Bah! Even the split level in Holden, one I've had my eye on for some time, needs considerable work and is not priced accordingly.

Every day I'm out looking at houses, imagining living there. I feel like I've got to hurry so we don't just piss away the cash on bills and cool stuff. I mean, did we REALLY need to both get new bikes, no. But I want to get active and riding is a pretty easy way to work off my winter weight.

Blixx thinks a beach with white sands, blue water & cocktails is where we should make our financial decisions...and he has an excellent idea. But I want to get my family into a house where we can all be happy for many years to come.

I'm house obsessed. That's what I've been up to.