Housing Update

We were proceeding with trying to close on the house, and went by to show my aunt and uncle, who were in town. Dino was along, and he always tries all the doors, and lo and behold the back door was unlocked. So we went in and took a little look around. The men went downstairs and came back with reports of mold growing up the walls. I was definitely frustrated by this because the owners were supposed to have taken care of all the mold and even cut out all the affected dry wall, but there was mold in all the rooms in the basement. About four feet high.

Our realtor was out of town until Tuesday so we waited to call her until then. We decided that we didn't want a house that is full of mold. So we told her we didn't want to proceed with closing on this house. So Wednesday we went by the house with our agent and she was appalled by how much mold was in the basement, and was happy to help us get out of our contract. We also went and looked at four more houses, found one we loved, and the next day we made an offer on it. Friday, on the way to Gatlinburg for the weekend, we got the call for the counteroffer, which we re-countered. Then they accepted. So we're very excited about the new house. It's in the same neighborhood as my sister's. Actually, seven houses down, but on a different street.

The housing inspection is on Wednesday, so we'll be able to go for that and hear what needs to be heard. From what we could see, everything looks really good. Everything is clean and nice. Nothing that needs to be fixed. The only thing the house doesn't have that we wanted was a dishwasher. Which we can live without, at least for a while. So we're mildly excited, trying to keep it reined in, because as we have learned before, things can go wrong. I think this might be easier because it's not a foreclosure, unlike the last one. So we're hopeful, and still praying.

We feel like maybe God left the door open of the house, so that we would see the mold and get out of it. You never know. In any case, we are hugely blessed.

Update

Yesterday evening Michael has his interview at MCE, and he felt like it went really well. He was told he would get a call at 9:00 last night, and 9:00 came and went. At 9:30 the superintendent called and said that they were having another three interviews (for a different position, which Michael also applied for) today, and that he would let Michael know after that. So basically, Michael thought he had no chance, they had hired someone else, and he didn't have much hope for the second position. We were very disappointed. I had a crying session by myself last night. I picked him up from the airport today and he was feeling pretty low. I made a last supper in our house, (from now on it's eating out or at the cafeteria) we took a walk and packed up some more of our belongings.

At 9:20, the superintendent called and said that they had filled the second position. This was no surprise. We didn't think he had much of a shot at this anyway. Then he said that they would like to offer him the 8th grade position. Michael was stunned. You could have knocked him over with a feather. He started laughing (a little hysterically), and accepted immediately. So we're super excited about this. It means a lot of things, including some security with salary and benefits. Also, that God has once again seen fit to keep Michael in teaching, at least for the time being. I think Michael is a phenomenal teacher, but it's nice to see God's hand in it all, and know that I'm not the only one.

House-wise, we're now hoping to close by the end of the month and still get the tax break, but no guarantees. So far, the seller is still willing to hang with us to close on this house. We think we'll get it still, but we're just hoping they'll be patient with us. In the meantime, we'll stay with my parents for a couple of weeks, at least. So that's the update. Thanks for your love and prayers.