Ah.....  Isn't it beautiful?  The sale was finalized today (i.e. the buyer closed on the house today and it was recorded as an official transaction in the country records).  Yea!

I heard on the news this morning that Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping was up from last year.  Estimates were something like 15-18% up from last year.  Does that mean the economy is recovering?  I remember was back when I was in high school (hey, not too long ago.  We haven't had out 20-year reunion yet!) I was in an economics class and we were learning about the last recession in the 80s.  My teacher told us about how President Reagan lied to the public and gave a speech on how the recession was over, which caused consumer confidence to rise, so people went out and spent money, so that spurred the economy to recover faster.  Now is that true? In college I learned that it was somewhat true, but what I've taken away from that particular lessons, all these years later, is that the economy won't grow or recover unless there's money put into it.  While I didn't get up and go shopping at midnight (or at all) on Friday, we managed to our share of holiday shopping.  I think Black Friday is blending in to Gray Weekend (trademark pending- don't steal my catch phrase!), so with all the great deals out there, how could you not buy those things you were going to buy anyway but are now not only on sale but have free shipping?  So how much did you do to help the economy this past weekend? 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Woke up and it was sunny (a rarity for here) and cold.  I decided to put off my run until later when I won't freeze to death.  After all- who can cook if they are frozen?  Or dead?

We have the best reason to be thankful this year- I have, in my hot little hands, the final paperwork for our house!  All we have to do is sign it before a notary and our house is sold!  It took 3 months from the time we put it on the market until we close next week.  I'd like to say it was our awesome house or fabulous agent, but really it's just luck.  There were 2 other identical houses in our neighborhood for sale (1 was a foreclosure and the other was on the market for 2 years) so why did the guy choose our house and not those?  Well, the foreclosure takes 6 months to buy, but the other one?  I'm not arguing.  3 months!  I'm so thrilled and can't wait to sign those papers and mail them back.  Yea!

We did it- moved 2500 miles cross country- and are now living on the east coast. Everyone we knows thinks we are nuts and will be back. Really? That's a lot of work to just change our minds and move back. I figure there are 2 types of people with regards to jobs- those who stay put and find a new job at a different company and those who move to the job. Apparently we are those who move to the job. I spent my whole life before college in the same town in the same house. That's how you end up in a rut. Moving isn't a bad thing. It broadens your horizons, gives you new perspectives, forces you outside your comfort zone. Nothing wrong with that.


Things aren't perfect, but I'm still glad we moved. Our house is smaller so we've had to get rid of a lot of stuff. The schools require a physical (complete with psych eval!!) before kids can start school, so they were out longer than expected. It's rained almost every day since we've been here (What's that stuff falling from the sky? Rain? Huh. So that's what that is.). I keep getting lost in our neighborhood (it's huge with lots of winding roads), but only when I'm really trying to find something. The things they call mountains here are little more than bumps. But all in all it's not bad. I am trying to focus on the positives. I've found Target and a grocery store. The local school is supposed to be the best in the area. We have a huge yard and there are lots of other kids in the neighborhood to play with. It's only 11 hours from our families (as opposed to a 4-hr flight or 3-day drive).  And, best of all, there's a running path the goes around the entire neighborhood (and in this case I wouldn't mind getting lost).