Sunday, May 04, 2008

There are things that we’re praying about and considering for our future. It’s funny how God presents things, opportunities, ideas and then we need to figure out which of them to pursue or leave behind. It’s weird to line them all up to see how to prioritize them and to realize that we really don’t know what to do, which direction to turn, which fork in the road to take. It’s why we, humanity, get so frustrated with God at times - because he gives us the map, but seemingly without directions. So here’s what we are thinking and praying about now.

1. Beau’s career options. Should he continue the hunt for a full time job or be a stay at home dad for a bit? Should he look for a part time job to bring in a bit of extra money if he does decide to be at home with Jesse?

He has put in for a couple of government jobs, one of which would involve an eventual move to the Dallas area, probably in the fall/winter. But there’s no telling if/when we’ll hear anything on either of them. So we wait.

2. My career options. There is a promotion opportunity opening up in my office. It’s the next grade up and it’s a significant pay increase if I get it. The thing is that 3 other admins in our office are qualified to compete for the job, too, although one of them is Useless One #2 and if management is wise she will never be considered. Because if she is? There will be three loud and legal complaints from the other three candidates. I have a leg up on the other 2 since I have a college degree and neither of them do, but that’s no guarantee that I would get the job. But I’ll put in for it regardless.

My boss is making retirement noises, so that is another possible promotion opportunity, but my chances for that slot are slim to none because of the two folks I know will put in for it and would be considered before I would. And the timing would be such that the new President could determine how things shake out with however he decides to appoint a new Marshal to the district.

3. Our home options. We rent and while our rent is lower than the average for this neighborhood, it is still pretty high. And our neighborhood is in an interesting area. We’ve noticed a lot of realty signs go up in the past several months, including at the home next door. Beau sees them all when he takes Jesse for walks every day. We figured that some of them might be foreclosures, but then the thought occurred that maybe some of the abandoned houses are the result of the new crackdown law on illegals in our county. So this morning, he picked up one of the realty brochures at one of the houses on our street and called to find out the listing price. It is ridiculously cheap. I’m talking prices from about 15 years ago in this part of Northern Virginia - well below $200K - these houses sold for over $350 just a couple of years ago.

I did a search on realtor.com and found more than 350 houses listed for less than $175K in our town. Astounding. Of course, many are in parts of town that aren’t that great. But there are several in very nice neighborhoods, clearly bank owned, and for sale “as is.”

I found the listing for the three on our current street and all are priced low. All are vacant and have been for at least a couple of months. But I’m most interested in the one next door. First, because it’s next door - no truck would be needed for the move. Second, it’s an end unit townhouse. Third, the online listing included extra photos and it looks to be in good shape and it’s the same size and basic layout as the one we’re in, including the basement configuration.

So we’re thinking we should buy a house this summer - as soon as possible really, in order to get in before the military transplants come to town looking for houses and buy up the one(s) we may want. But we have nothing for a down payment and we’d have to try to get a mortgage on my meager salary. As low as the listing price is, I’m not sure we can get a mortgage for it.

I’ve got a nervous knot in my belly just thinking about it.

And then if Beau gets the job in Dallas and we just bought a house here, then what do we do?

It’s too much to think about right now. So we pray. Pray. Pray. Pray.

Oy vey.