MY HOME IS SOLD!
09-25-06, 7:55 PM

Ying presented itself but Yang remains hidden. To speak of such good fortune may jinx me but how can one contain onself when bursting at the seams?

Jealously arose from the pending offer upon my girlfriend�s house but this emotion was to be short lived. Last Wednesday night around 8 p.m. my Realtor called stating a persistent, couple wanted to view my house the next morning. With stacked boxes, dirty floors and walls from the dogs a viewing was next to impossible due to all the cleaning required to make the place presentable. �Come on, you can do it! Stay up all night! Work is winding down and you can sleep throughout the day,� was the encouraging voice. Starting at 8 p.m. and finishing 7:15 a.m. on the nose, I cleaned the entire house, basement, packed boxes and made the place show worthy.

�What did I get for my effort?�

�They said the yard was too big for them and they wanted an updated kitchen. They also said it smelled like DOG.�

�The yard sign states, �Huge Backyard!� Why did you show them the house?�

�They were persistent.�

�You know I stayed up all night for this. Oh, well. At least it is ready for the next one.�

The next morning, my boss and I had an appointment for me to explain the file system in my office, project status and review financials. This meeting dragged on for two hours and I avoided answering the phone. Around 11:40 a.m., there was a break to review my voice mail. It was my Realtor, again. �Bob, please call me because you have an offer on the house. You only have until noon to respond.� Believing I was to be low balled by the persistent, anti-dog people, I returned the call around 11:45 a.m. after grabbing a cup of coffee.

�Bob, the offer is not from the couple but a gentleman who is familiar with the property. He did the estate sale at the home. He has a cash offer, �as-is� condition and can close in 14 days. Now, he wrote the offer on a back of a business card as he was pulling-out the drive but we could work around this.�

Calmly, �14 days and as-is condition are good terms. I guess it is a matter of price now.� Here is where I had trouble weighing my options. Was it worth it to have the home sit to get a slightly higher price or meet him half-way. I chose the half-way point because I want move on with my life and not have to deal with any of the potential repairs that arise out of a home inspection.

MY HOME IS SOLD! I close next Tuesday. My house was on the market five or six days during a so-called �buyers market�.

Now the next worries...can I afford a home out in Flagstaff?

From August to today, my new life has begun to take root and spread. We are exhausted with stress interviews, moving, selling the homes, repairs, garage sales, Realtors, training for a marathon, work and life in general. She doesn�t know about the engagement yet, either � that is my personal stress.

Yesterday - Tomorrow