Maybe you've lost track of how many times we move or put offers on houses and whatnot (for the record, we have shared 8 residences, and had more than twice that many in our lifetimes otherwise). Maybe you heard we were in negotiations for a house up in Belmont this past March, then last month we put an offer on a house going through a probate sale. We like where we live at present, but it has always been seen as a California-starter home for us, one we were so pleased to share with Verl, but which we're now ready to move on from. Over the years of pseudo-househunting, we've harborbed no illusions about finding our "dream house", but we do hold out hopes of at least finding something we would be happy to settle down in (buying an adorable house in Southeast Texas didn't count as settling down, since we knew it was short term).
So maybe you'll be interested to read that we seem to have finally been successful in buying a house we could live in for a long while. This morning we heard that our bid--on a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1840 square foot, turnkey house in Sunnyvale--was the winning and final one. Now we just need to go through the escrow period, finalize some fixes, and move in. Voila! Twenty years of being together and it looks like we're finally going to settle down.
David looks forward to being moved in, not moving again for a long time, and getting rid of a lot of our "crap". Those all sound good to me, but I also look forward to having a dedicated space for Adam to play in, a kitchen we can unpack all of our dishes and appliances into, and a space in which to once more allow easy access to our (greatly reduced) personal library. We'll live with the downsides--the freeway is on the other side of a creek behind the property, the laundry is in the garage, and the kitchen is fairly small and closed in). On the plus side, the family room and living room are large, rooms are well laid out, there is a 20'x20' enclosed patio room, baths and kitchen are all updated, and there's ample parking (parties are definitely in our future).
I will miss the swimming pool and vast lawns at our Los Gatos Village complex, and the assorted places we've grown to enjoy in this area (although being 11 miles north on highway 85, it's not like we're moving to another planet, and it's not as if we've not spent lots of time in and around Sunnyvale these past 20 years). I do feel a wee bit odd about moving back to Sunnyvale, after now spending more than half my life out of it; there is a part of me that feels I ought to have grown out of my hometown. But there's a bigger part of me that is deeply content with the idea of reconnecting with all that the place I grew up in has to offer and having Adam grow up in it too, albeit in his own way.
Cross your fingers that all goes well between now and the end of escrow (we don't foresee any problems, but of course your good thoughts are welcome). We hope you will come visit us when you're in the area. And if you are willing to help, such as with a bit of painting (Adam's room needs to be personalized, don't you agree?) or packing/unpacking, we would love your assistance. We hope to begin the moving process as soon as July 17. I'll send a more formal change of address and all that after the whole thing is final.
PS One lesson I learned from our dealings with a probate sale: If you haven't done so yet/recently, go right now and write/update your will. Seriously.
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