And a Happy New Year!

It is now 2007 and I am so happy that 2006 is history. Mr. C and I had a pretty nice time last night, he even sang a song (Ricky Nelson's "Garden Party"). He was set to sing U2's "One" but it was getting late and the DJ guy called out the names of the next 6 or 7 people to sing and didn't say his name so we decided to head home. It was a cold night but I really enjoyed walking with him.

I won't mope and complain too much about having to go back to work tomorrow. After all, I do love teaching and the kids and all. And every day is one day closer to Summer (ha ha). But seriously, I see myself now as being on the "other side" of the feeling that I have to do "everything"...that the sense of urgency and that it is all up to me to do the things that need to be done is in the past. And that is a really good thing. My desire for rest and to do the things that bring me joy, rather than working an unreasonable amount--doing things that are the responsibility of others, is a healthy desire.

Yesterday I got online and looked at the real estate situation. Things are looking OK out there. Houses are still really high in the Seattle area. The "bubble" may be busting in other parts of the country, but the prices aren't dropping much around here. One thing I feel certain about is that we will move by next fall. I will be thrilled if we are able to buy a house by then. But, if not, then we will move to a different rental--one that is more suitable for a baby.

I like a lot of things about our house right now, but it isn't in the best condition. We've talked about whether or not we would be interested in buying it if she was asking for a reasonable price. Of course we would need a professional inspection and appraisal before we would even consider it. From my non-professional estimation it needs: new windows, a kitchen remodel, a new water heater, bathroom remodels, and the electrical/wiring seems like it needs to be updated (which sounds huge). Actually, to make this house be what we would need (considering our plans for the future) would require doing a fairly extensive remodel. I would want to add on to the house at the front, and possibly adding another level above. This would give room to create more bedrooms (currently the house has two very small bedrooms) and more living space. Anyway, we have been here for over two years and it is time for a change. We absolutely love our neighborhood, though, so it is hard to consider making a change that might take us to a different neighborhood.