Limbo

 I'm now biding my time at my with my son, daughter in law, and two grandsons, who have generously and graciously put me up temporarily while I look for a house. I'm doing my best to help out financially and with cooking, weeding, and other things around the house. But I find I have a lot of free time on my hands. This is such a change -- almost a shock -- after weeks of constant, hurried activity. But we are all getting along great and I'm getting used to the down time. Frankie is loving it here around so many of the people he loves and going on walks every day. We have had a small problem with their 2-year old, 90 lb. lab eating his dinner, as Frankie has a habit of ignoring his dinner until he decides he wants to eat. Now, if he doesn't eat right away, I have to put the dish up until later. In the meantime, Sophie has learned to be a good girl and wait while he does eat. But the second he finishes, she's over there cleaning every last lick of the bowl. The dogs are very good together otherwise.

I went to look at a house last week. But it was a former rental and in poor condition. Especially the backyard which was such a total wreck, it would take thousands of dollars just to clear it and put down sod. Just too many projects inside and out. And it's a very tiny house, and on a main entry into the subdivision, which I don't like. It's the very low end of both size and finishes of this type of house in the neighborhood, and not really what I want. So I'll keep looking. 

After a long summer with no single level houses coming on the market, we seem to have returned to the former routine of one new listing a week. If that continues, eventually one will come up that's right for me. 

There's a house just three doors away from my son where the people have been moving stuff out of the house using a small trailer for the past three days. We are curious if they are slowly moving and possibly selling, and we're keeping a close eye. We don't know the people, so we've refrained from being nosy. However, if they happen to be outside when we're walking, I think we'll stop and chat. It would be far too convenient to find a house just three doors away. But anything is possible. This house is at the opposite end of the scale when it comes to size and quality of houses. It's much bigger and has a beautiful finished yard. Far more aesthetically pleasing outside, and I'm assuming much the same inside. Obviously, it will be higher priced, but I believe still within my price range. *wishing / hoping* There are many houses of a more in between size, layout, and finishes, and I would be happy with one of those as well. I don't need a really big house like this one. But I don't want a little cracker box either.

There is no way to speed up this process. I tried posting a comment on the neighborhood group on FB to see if there were any homes coming up. But that didn't go well as it attracted some troll-ish comments. I won't do that again, but will just wait this out. The kids are in no hurry to get rid of me and want to see me in a house I like. 

So, it's sort of a limbo. But Frankie and I are enjoying our stay here and making the most of the opportunity to be supportive and helpful.