Ups and Downs

These past two weeks have been somewhat of a roller coaster ride.  Our condo went on the market last week on Monday.  Then for the next few days we wondered why we hadn't had any showings even though we had put in a lot of work to make the place look nice.  Of course the day after asking this we get not one, but two showings (actually one person looking at the place twice).

Then, last weekend was very busy as I helped Erin with the state speech and debate tournament at her school while also making sure the condo was ready for additional showings.  This included making sure to be there for the plumber, tidying things up, and doing some last-minute cleaning.  Then on Friday we were excited to learn that the person who had seen the place twice had made an offer.  That day we made a counter-offer and by Saturday we were under contract.  It was hard to believe since we had just listed earlier that week.

At the same time the condo sale has been going on, I've been in contact with the director at the school in Taiwan where Erin's going to be teaching next year.  We have been discussing me taking on the position of IT Coordinator for their school which would be an ideal position since it would allow me to have a similar schedule as Erin's as I apply my technical and business experience to help the school.  The process involved having my references respond to the director though and emails from both sides seemed to be getting lost.

Amongst this backdrop of future plans and actions we still had day to day activities.  On Sunday we went to Erin's parent's house to celebrate her dad's birthday with a delicious shrimp meal and a lot of good wine (even the puppy Dante enjoyed some wine).  Over the weekend I finished the beta version of software that I had been working on and had it sent off to the client.  On Wednesday we were able to celebrate St. Patrick's Day and beautiful weather outside with a walk around Wash park and a meal at Darcy's pub with a bagpipe band playing.

Then Wednesday night I spoke with the school director to discuss the current situation at the school, ask me a few final questions, and finally offer me the position.  It's going to be an exciting opportunity to apply the technical and business skills that I've learned over the past six years.  It will also be a challenge to keep track of the many different parts that make up a school IT program as well as quickly get up to speed on the existing software and processes.  Altogether Erin and I are very glad that I've got the position.

But it hasn't all been good news.  While we've been making plans to move out after a quickly approaching closing date on our condo, our brokers haven't heard any more from the buyer or their broker.  On Thursday he broke the news to us that the buyer had missed a major deadline and that the buyer's broker hasn't responded to their calls or emails.  It seems like he's flaked out.  Guess it had been too good to be true.  Still the place has been showing to other interested buyers even as late as Tuesday.  So now we return to the daily chore of keeping the place cleaned up while we wait for more showings.  It probably won't happen today since a snow storm has replaced the warm sunny days we've been having.

Fortunately Erin goes on Spring Break next week so we'll have more time to do sorting, cleaning, and packing.  It looks like the storm will pass by then and we'll have some more warm sunny days.  And so it goes with life as with weather (especially here in Colorado) some days the sun shines while the next day the snow falls.  We celebrate one while seeking refuge from the other realizing these things are out of our control and happy that we at least have someone to share them with.