Contract on our House

Some of you may have been expecting this, and others will be shocked. We decided to sell our house and move to Ocala, where Bob recently moved his office. It's still an hour and 40 minute drive from home, which is too much time on the road. If he tries to get home for dinner, then he can't get in enough time in the office and ends up having to work a day during the weekend. We were only still living here because I didn't want to leave my friends and I love our house and location. However, we went to visit his new office a couple months ago, and I realized just how long a drive he has every day. And it is a really beautiful area. I used to wonder why people would live in FL and not near the ocean. But Ocala is horse country. There are tons of horse ranches (as well as other farms). The town is actually quite big, has a mall, and all the shops I usually shop at, but has a small town feel. I came to the realization that if we didn't move now, we would have to some day because Bob can't keep up that commute forever, and we'd get to see so much more of him if we lived closer to the office.

So, after a couple of weeks of my de-cluttering the house and getting ready to show, we put it on the market last Friday. We had two showings on Sunday and a showing Monday. Our agent called and said we had an offer, so Monday night we met with her and actually had two offers. At first, they both offered our asking price (because they knew someone else was putting in an offer). But then one called back and raised it $5000, so that made the decision easy. I was so shocked that we got offers so quickly, and for our asking price. We got the confirmation this morning that they agreed to a few minor adjustments we made to the contract. So, we are supposed to close Sept 23rd.

We have not yet started looking at houses in Ocala. We have a couple on the list we want to see, and our agent is looking for some more that meet our criteria. I have strict criteria after living where we have been. And we aren't in a rush (Bob might think differently since he's the one with the commute) since my parents have agreed to let us stay in the house they bought around the corner from us until we find something we'll be happy in.

I had said after we moved here that I wasn't ever doing that it again. It is so much work to not only move, but to find new doctors and so on. But I feel that God has sent us a message that this is the right decision by having our house on contract so quickly.

I'm so thankful that I'm not currently teaching two sections of the course I teach for Kaplan. I was actually assigned two, with one being on reserve in case they needed the extra section. But I just started the term last week and have only the one section, and with the fewest number of students so far (only 21, whereas last term, I had 32). So, that will make it easier for me to pack and get my work done. It will also help that the boys will be in school. Glenn starts next Tuesday and Alexander starts the Monday of the following week. Both are so excited!