2009-07-06 - 2:35 p.m.

...a rambling entry in which I make it clear that we are not moving...

After much reading and studying, we finally put in an offer on the duplex. We promptly received a counteroffer, that was way way WAY higher than our offer. We countered with our maximum offer - and received a second counter that was less than 1% lower than the previous one. So we are not getting the house, at least not now.

I'm not altogether surprised by the outcome. Our bid was very low compared with the asking price, although we tailored our bid to reflect a reasonable market price for our neighborhood - in fact, on the high end. The seller's price goes well above that, and in fact it is 100k over a similar property we looked at 1 year ago. And the market hadn't crashed a year ago. But it's entirely likely that this guy will find takers, simply because there is nothing else out there on the market.

So alas, we are not getting a new house.

I wonder if my realization of this fact has something to do with my gardening urge this weekend. I was in Europe during the planting season, so I've subjected my porch garden to benign neglect all summer. I spent Saturday and Sunday afternoons plowing through the dirt. We now have strawberries, peppers, herbs, and flowers that are being soaked in a gentle summer Funcouver rain. It's a lovely lovely porch.

Actually, it's also a lovely lovely rain. We haven't had rain all June, and so this one is quite welcome. It moved in gradually last night. This morning the grey clouds were still hovering high over the mountains when the sprinkles started. Now, up at Mountain U, we are pretty much buried in a cloud. I find it somewhat comforting, actually.

K and I actually went on a DATE last Friday - K drove up the mountain and we went to a lovely restaurant that overlooks the inlet and downtown. The views are phenomenal from there, and we enjoyed them before we then drove off to IKEA. We splurged on a new table and chair for Susi. She already loves it.

If we are staying in this place then we need to find a way to make space for all of us. This means some more rearranging, and some more dumping of stuff. I'm up for it. But the piano stays.