Practical Advice

After the initial disappointment of not getting the house Friday night, we went on to have a lovely weekend. 

Btw, the house sold for $12 000 over asking.

Yes, you read that right.

$12 000 over. 

And we offered the asking price. 

It definitely wasn't meant to be since offering what the seller wanted was too much (the needed about $50K worth of upgrading). 

So, I visited my dad after work today because he didn't attend the family gathering that we went to -- my mom went, but my dad said that he had home repairs to do which was mostly true. I'm just grateful that one of my parents was there! 

I told my parents about the house and they were both shocked that we didn't get the house and that the buyers offered so much. I showed them a similar listing on a busy street and with a pool and my mom said,

"You don't want to live on a busy street with small kids."

She said it so easily and matter-of-factly that it didn't sink in until my way home. 

I guess we're not the only ones excited about adoption!

Btw, Mr JB dreamt we adopted a chubby blonde haired boy. When he woke up Saturday morning he was so happy! I have no idea if that's a good sign, but it can't be bad. Also, at brunch with his dad on Sunday he joked that he deserved the Fathers' Day special because I was pg on paper! 

Adding Excitement to the Chaos *Updated *Final update

The school is winding down, and I'm running out of steam.

I just finished my report cards (although I still have a little bit of curriculum to teach, shhh!!!) that are due on Friday.

We also got Mr. JB's car back from the mechanic after almost a month -- it took a long time to find a replacement clutch and then the labour was at least two days.

And $2200 later.

Ouch.

Definitely no counter top for me anytime soon.

So tonight when I got home I asked Mr. JB if I could drive the car around. I am not 100% confident about driving a manual transmission, but if he's in the car with me I'm okay.

We drove around our neighbourhood and I turned down a street where a house has recently gone up for sale.

And guess what? Mr. JB wants to see it!

We put in an offer on a house that we didn't get before my surgeries in Omaha in 2011. Since then we haven't been able to afford a down payment on another property since all of our savings were spent on hospital bills.

The house needs some renovations, but would be livable as is. It's on a quiet street and walking distance to our parish.

And the best part about it: Our future kids could walk to the parish school!

Although our townhouse isn't geographically far from our parish, our kids would go to a different, but newer school that requires busing (I believe it has to do with having to walk across busy commuter train tracks).

Since we moved to our neighbourhood I have dreamt about my kids walking to school. When I drive to work I fantasize about walking my children to school and then going to daily mass.

Honestly, the location couldn't be better.

Who knows what this visit will bring. I'm trying not to get too excited. The house looks great in the pictures, but for all I know it smells like cigarette smoke and cat pee.

Although I doubt it.

Could you please say a little prayer for the JellyBellies tomorrow?

p.s. I know that it isn't recommended to have a big life change during the adoption process, but I definitely think that purchasing a detached home would be a good thing, right? It's not like we're downsizing to a little condo! I'm trying to acquire a backyard for my kids!

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Update: We LOVE the house. We need to secure a $20 000 bank draft to secure the offer. We have a credit line for half, but we have to find the other.  Our real estate agent said that the seller, who goes to our church and is a lay reader at our mass, wants close to the asking price. We're offering just under. 

Our real estate agent will be by in about an hour with the offer for us to sign. I'm trying to stay calm!!!! 

Please say a prayer that this all works out! 

Final update: Our real estate agent told us tonight that there was a second offer that was going to be presented tonight. We discussed it together and decided to up our offer to the seller's asking price and we dropped the home inspection condition.  Unfortunately, the other offer was well above asking so the seller went with them.  I'm sad and relieved at the same time. I felt like we were overpaying at the asking price since the house needed some work.  

IF has taught me patience. I guess that we just have to wait a little longer for our forever home....

Trying To Count My Blessings

I have been trying to not worry about the adoption wait.

And I haven't been successful. 

I have been waking up in the middle of the night in a panic. I usually fall back asleep, but in the morning the linger of worry is stil there. 

I have tried to be patient for almost nine years. I have lived through surgeries, medications, blood draws, but it's this wait that seems harder. 

Perhaps it's because I'm exhausted as I always am at the end of the school year.

Perhaps it's because I've been nursing a running injury that has kept me from hitting the pavement. 

Perhaps I've already reached my limit of waiting. 

I'm betting on the latter. 

So in an attempt to distract myself I decided to have lunch and mark in my tiny, but beautiful backyard. I am so blessed to live in such a beautiful place. Mr JB even agreed to an outdoor fireplace that we put to use last night. 

I am trying to wait with grace, I know that God is leading our family to something wonderful. I just wish it would happen sooner, rather than later.