...and it's Feb 28th already and I haven't given up the goss that's been going on. Well, in summary, the land gig isn't going to be happening anytime soon. 1st was the issue of price, but we figured they would be coming down as the post covid market corrects. Then it was, we can't afford a mortgage because the rates have more than doubled than what we pay on our townhome. But still, there was hope that with decreasing prices and a housing market correction, that sales would slow, inflation would get under control and then the feds would slowly drop rates back down...and where lower land price meets reasonable rates would be where we'd buy. But...the once approved remote working for Dave has now been rescinded and he must be in the office 3 days a week. Bam! Now our plan has nowhere to go without one of the following: a) We win a large lotto, or b) Dave gets a job in Humboldt that pays as much as his job here (currently unlikely). So, we are at an impasse.
This frustrating and seemingly doomed currently reality forces other issues to the forefront such as fixing some of the problems in our townhome and Christine moving out. One costs money that could be used to help buy land in the future, the other is about our grown kid being able to have her own life and us having enough room to fully live in our home. Originally, Christine's room was to be Dave's office once she was on her feet and out, which would free up the basement to put our storage unit full of art and 1 piece of furniture in to and get rid of the storage unit. We will soon be heading into year 5 of her graduating and it's definitely time...but she's still here because the original plan was for us to move north and her to rent this place with a roommate; good for us, good for her. Now, with us going nowhere, things need to change. She had a year of living on her own and she's more than ready to have her life not overseen by parental unit rules. And we're ready to be empty-nesters. She has been looking for roommates but turns out that just like dating, it's harder than you'd think. Now don't get me wrong, we all live well together and enjoy our family unit. But, I can see that I am pushing her life like a train engine at the back of the train, and while it may be in her best interest it's also not in her best interest; it's time to let our hummingbird run her own life without us looking over her shoulder.
As for making some improvements in the townhome, we've just said "fuck it" and are willing to spend some money, so we made a list of everything we'd want to do, and started with the things that gave us the most enjoyment of our home. So, we now have a retractable screen coming for the front door so we can better utilize the courtyard without letting in all the bugs as in years past. We also have the doors & window people coming Thursday to measure for a slider in the kitchen to replace the old, barely working, inefficient big window there, which will also enhance our using the courtyard being able to go directly from kitchen out to the courtyard, and to measure to replace the matching old, barely working, inefficient window on the opposite side (my office area). We also put in a request to have an engineer look at our courtyard roof opening to see if we can put a skylight over it. This would keep the rain out while letting the light in, help keep the debris out of the courtyard, help keep it cool as well as allow us to use it year round. Yes, I do see a theme here, the courtyard is central to the enjoyment of our home. When the front door is open out to the courtyard you can see from the golf course wall of windows all the way through the house to the courtyard, green on both sides and airy, it makes for a much more open living and bigger feeling space as well as the atmosphere of being secluded among the trees.
On my front, it has been a bit meh. Hormones continue to dominate my life and dictate my existence, but now on the .1mg femring for a month, I'm hoping things will continue to mellow out. On the scholarly front, my great book idea hit the ground like a thud of dried mud. The director of my degree, while supportive of my ideas, did not respond they way Lori & I had anticipated and said that my book would not be used in an educational way at the college because 'they don't use books for curriculum." So now, without a purpose, my book has stalled. There was also talk of doing a website (originally part of my Capstone idea, but was too much in too little time so it was nixed) which I'm onboard with, but having done websites before I know without financial support, it will go nowhere no matter how good and how needed...it has to have a large following and grow influence to be seen and make an impact...that all costs money. So, like the land, my quest to keep GWZ alive seems to be DOA.