I'm Back!!

Honestly, how is it even possible for vacation to go by so quickly?  Ridiculous!  Anyway, despite some of the crappiest weather Cape Cod has produced in recent memory, I had a great time.  There was (again) much lobster eating, wine drinking, and book reading while rocking lazily on the front porch.  I also got to spend some time with one of my best college friends and her gorgeous and charming baby boy.  (I was *thisclose* to just sticking him in my luggage, he was that awesome.)  In short, it was all summer vacation is meant to be.  Mark had an equally fabulous time in South Dakota where, judging by the laundry, he alternated between sweaty hard labor and rolling in dirt.  (And he wonders why I have no desire to spend a week and a half building houses...)

The big news is that my mom and I went house hunting while I was home, which was so fun.  I even got a chance to see this house, and it turns out I still love it.  Hooray!  However, all of my adorable little cosmetic ideas?  Those would totally have to be on the back burner, because this house?  It needs some MAJOR work.  Let's see, there's the roof, the furnace, an oil-to-gas conversion, windows, asbestos removal, and some moisture issues in the basement to ameliorate before we even begin to think about the HIDEOUS bathrooms.  I'm guessing there's about $50-75k of work needed. 

And despite this, I can still see us there.  It has so much living space for the square footage.  Sure, it's not a master suite kind of house (the master bath and closet are WEE), but I can see a Christmas tree in the corner of the living room, I can imagine our huge family clogging up the kitchen at parties (as we do), and I can practically smell snowy nights curled up by one of the three fireplaces.  The yard is YOOOGE, and only about 1/3 of the property has actually been cleared of trees, which Mark likes, of course. 

Let's not forget, Mark's job is here, and though I have job prospects in Massachusetts, nothing is even close to set in stone.  I really need to relax and embrace the "wait and see" approach we have chosen, but it's tough.  I'm kind of hoping that the owners (two brothers who have not occupied the house in years; it was most recently a rental, but is now unoccupied) might be more willing to negotiate after another harsh winter on the market, seeing as even the seller's agent admitted that the house is way over priced.  I'm also banking on other buyers being driven away by the work required, despite the huge parcel of land in a nice part of a great town that has a low housing inventory, even in this market.  HAAAAAA.

Oh, and if this isn't a sign -- I was lamenting to my mom while we were driving through the town that the grocery options (Stop & Shop and Whole Foods) were less than stellar, particularly when compared to my beloved Wegmans.  However!  I happened upon an article this morning announcing the newest Wegmans location in Massachusetts, and I kid you not, it is less than 10 minutes from the house.  Meant to be?  We'll see.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed though.