Three weeks ago, to get ready for this trip, we previewed about one hundred homes. We settled on thirty-three to tour. Some were added at the last minute, a few were nixed, and we ended up spending four days, at five lakes, touring thirty-six houses. We saw it all! Some homes were unbelievably beautiful, but we just could not picture living there. Visiting a bit yes, but not making it home. A few were unbelievably creepy. One honest to pete had a hidden bookcase that slid back, and then stairs went down to a vaulted room to hold the woman's jewelry. Soon as I saw the enormous spider I high-tailed it out of there.

At one there was a mix-up. The owner was home watching football and cooking lots of raw meat. We were greeted at the front door by his very friendly pit bull..... I hid behind the realtor who was a good 10 inches shorter than me, and well into her 60's.

But finally, after it all, we signed papers today in the snack shop of Bass Pro to buy the one I posted on yesterday. We'll close the end of September, and won't actually get to go back and see it again til Thanksgiving. The owners were so gracious as to bring photos of the home, from when it was being built all the way up to this summer, and I appreciated them so much since I'd already forgotten what some of the inside of it looked like. It all blurs together when you view 36 houses!

So we're a bit broke, a bit scared to have taken the first big plunge toward retirement sometime next year, and excited. Since our grown kids in Texas get to use it for a good ten months before we do, they're pretty tickled too. We fly home tomorrow, feeling a little weary but good that we found what we were looking for. It's the home we've been praying about finding for overe two years. I imagine God might be a bit weary of hearing about it too. Back in a few days, after we get back home and catch our breath.

Labels: Family Affair