Doing the Turtle (hiding in my shell)

Just a quick update.  Things are picking up in the real world around here.  A week or so ago (I'm  losing track...) I logged on to Lending Tree and Quicken Loans to look into mortgage pre-approval.  That was at 6:00 am.  I got my first phone call at 8:30, and came home from work to find a dozen voicemails.  WolfAlpha still needs to call the credit union and see what they have to offer.  When these guys say they compete, they're not kidding - loan fees range from 1% of the loan amount to ZERO!  (and since we're going VA, the interest rates don't vary much.)

WolfAlpha didn't come home this past week, instead he drove to a couple of houses on our list.  So far it's a bit discouraging.  The nicer houses in our price range are a solid hour away from the airport.  He's getting a bit old for that long commute, but it's probably unavoidable.  How pathetic are we?  We're both feeling overwhelmed, and encouraging each other over the phone.  We're doing OK really, limping along, but we want this to be over!  

I got some comic relief from Maxine though.  She can't believe I'm "letting" him house hunt without me.  The plan is for him to schedule a viewing of the best prospects for a few weeks from now, I'll fly out for a weekend, we'll make an offer, and he will sign everything with power of attorney.  Maxine thinks I should be out there every weekend looking at houses - how can I trust him to know what I want?  What about the community?  The shopping?  Please.  What either of us "wants" has never been much of an issue.  We don't want the debt load that comes with what we "want;" we'll be happy to get what we need.  Community?  We'll either be in a smallish town or out in the country.  And shopping?  I've lived in Hooterville for 16 years after growing up half  an hour from Woodfield Mall.  Remember Woodfield?  In Schaumburg?  Yeah, that place - it used to be a big fat hairy deal!   It would be an understatement to say that I've grown accustomed to compromise, and we're moving to within an hour of some of the best shopping on this planet!!! How much control do I really need in this process?  How much can I control?

In other (TOTALLY FREAKIN' AWESOME) news, WolfAlpha received that "signing bonus" for which we though he was ineligible!  And he celebrated by buying me Fanny May Trinidads and some, um, "sleepwear."  After a year and a half, it's finally starting to sink in that I no longer have to wear frumpy, modest PJs because I'm raising a son!  And incidentally, Lance Criminal is doing well.  He was restricted from the internet for a while because he committed a minor no-no, so I hadn't heard from him for a few weeks.  He "got to meet the Colonel," but his record is still officially "clean."  Live and learn.