Time to Breathe. . .

Finally. The house hunt is on in full swing. We have a realtor who is such a go-getter than we haven't had time to stop. We looked at about 13 houses the day after Christmas and found several that Brandon really liked. Two in particular were great possibilities. The one he could probably make an offer, have it accepted and move in as soon as it closed. Beautiful home. But it is minus a few key features he would like. He didn't really think it was possible to get everything within his price range. . . that is until we saw the "other" house. It is EVERYTHING he wants, but the price is a little higher. However, it has already been foreclosed and is ready for occupancy, even quite clean. The realtor suggested an offer she thought the bank might go for. No deal. They countered, Brandon counter-countered, if that is a word. He didn't budge on his price. Houses down here are a dime a dozen, thousands of foreclosures or those in process. This is a chance for a bank to get some of their money back. He will go a little higher. We will see what they say. Hopefully he can get this done. The big problem is that this one just went on the market, so the bank probably thinks they can wait for a higher offer. But not much is selling here. Our realtor said she hasn't sold a house since July.

So our time has been spent running back to the house to take a closer look, meeting with the realtor and the bank, etc. Sunday Brandon leaves for 3 weeks, so he would like to have something by that time. . . but don't know if that will happen. . . but then again, it might. We are hoping for that result.

We did go to visit with Tom's Grandmother Mary, his Aunt Donna and cousin Derick for Christmas. It was a great time. We had never met Grandma before and she has had some health problems recently, but she is a tough lady. She loved Ronan and pushed him around in her wheeled walker which has a place for him to sit. As long as it was moving, Ronan was happy. We stayed till after dark, then started home. It is about a 2 hour drive from Melbourne.

Last night for New Year's we went with Brandon and some friends to Meg O'Malley's. It was a fun place, but it was already crowded at 9:30. We stood for an hour and still didn't get a table. Terry and I decided to head home and celebrate in the comfort of the rig, which we did. Since we hadn't eaten, we put out some snacky stuff and enjoyed the quiet time.

Today it is raining in Florida. The dogs are sleeping and the door is open letting fresh air in. It is supposed to get cold tonight, but just really for one night, then it will be in the 50-60's at night and 70's during the day. Good weather.

Terry got me a new sewing machine for Christmas and I finally got an opportunity to get it out. I made new cushions for the dogs and bought some new material for me so I can make some new tops. I'm tired of wearing T-shirts all the time. The new machine is really neat. It is digital. . . not an expensive one, but very light weight, which is why I wanted this model. It is very easy to move around. I will probably sew again today since it is raining

Till next time. . .

Dale