One Week to Go...

I can't believe we only have one week left before Michael moves.  It felt like it was going to take forever for December to get here and now it's almost upon us.  I feel like we are so far behind.  Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to Michael's dad, Bob.  Michael got to spend a few days with him before he passed.  This was certainly a blessing.  We just wish that Bob could have gone fishing with the kids this next summer among other things.  I'm sure he'll be watching over us and whispering in our ears giving us advice as we start the next chapter in our lives.

Michael will be re-bidding on housing tomorrow.  There are now 2 three bedroom houses that are available along with a few of the 2 bedroom apartments.  We know nothing about the houses so we don't know how big they are.  We also don't know if they will be move-in ready by next weekend.  What do we pack?  Do we need to get Michael a hotel room?  Should the kids and I just stay home and not go with him?  Hopefully, we will know the results of the bids quickly and get some answers.

After being gone from work for a week, I really don't want to go back.  I have too much to do.  At least I got a lot done around the house this weekend.  I'm going to call the real estate agent tomorrow.  We need to get that ball rolling or I'll be here for a whole lot longer than necessary.

We are also considering the purchase of a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee.  It has very low miles and is fully loaded.  The down side: it does not have the car seat hooks that make the seats safer and more secure.  The cargo area is smaller than the van too.  However, it has less than 70K miles on it and has 4 wheel drive.  Plus, it's pretty and it's not the van.  We'll sleep on it and make a decision tomorrow.  I really want to get it on one hand but on the other, I don't want to be spending the money.  I doubt we'd ever find something this nice for the money again so that kind of makes me want to go for it. 

I set some criteria for getting rid of toys.  If the dog left even 1 tooth mark on them, I'm throwing them out.  This has proven to be a rather effective method of toy reduction.  The toys that they have outgrown are going in another pile for me to sell.  I figure with it being Christmas shopping season, I should be able to get rid of most of it as long as I'm not greedy.

We also decided not to get a sofa bed.  We have a semi-portable queen bed that Michael will be using.  The stand that it's on is not in the best of shape but we may be able to replace that with an air mattress stand.  If that doesn't work, we'll just get an air bed and call it good.  I didn't see any sofa beds that I was in love with.  If you spend a extra $400, you can have pretty much any couch made into a sleeper.  That just seems a bit extreme.  I'd rather just get a couch that I like and not have to spend so much money.

Hopefully, we'll get our answers at the beginning of the week instead of at the end or it's going to be REALLY stressful around here!