until next summer...

So it's been an AGONIZING few days as we've been hashing and rehashing the whole move idea.

Here's what we've decided:

• We are not putting our home on the market until somewhere in April-June 2010.
• Our goal is to try to pay off as much debt as possible between now and then (more on that later). By then we should only be a month or a few away from "debt-free except the house."
• We are lowering our price range for a new place to one where we can afford a 15-year loan. This is totally doable where we live and we would still get a lot of house. We would be done with house payments by the time Iona started college.
• We are going to work on the home improvements our realtor suggested we make between now and then. We've already fixed one small thing, but we still need to get a new vanity for the main bathroom and...the big thing...rip up the carpet in the living room and hallway and refinish all the hardwood upstairs.

Have any of you had hardwood floors refinished? How do your small children do with the wood versus carpet? We may wait on this part until closer to the move, but we'd love to know what you think. We're collecting estimates like they are baseball cards. One guy today "forgot to write down" our appointment at 8 am this morning. I told him he lost the job. Boo. We seriously have had someone here (or supposed to be here) at 8 am for the past few mornings. And we have someone coming Monday at...you guessed it...8 am.

So I've decided to apply at the local community college for a teaching job...English Comp. Part-time--just one class to start with. This would seriously help with our debt reduction plan. And it sounds like I just might like it!! Please pray--they are hiring a number of new English Comp teachers. The whole thing is a God thing. Long story. I was able to get my transcripts today, and tonight I'm working on my curriculum vitae and cover letter.

I'm pretty darn excited. About all of it.

For now, we're having fun driving around and dreaming big.