Blog Warning

Chris and I have been trying to make housing and financial decisions the past few weeks. This weekend, we located a house in this school district and will be moving there over the next few weeks. The warning: I may not blog as much as I usually do, since we will be in a state of flux between two households, but don't worry, I already have an area staked out for the computer and will resume blogging as soon as things return to normal as long as SBC doesn't screw up the DSL.

Fortunately, we found an adorable house with ample living space, a private road and it is still in this wonderful school district. Brandon and Matthew will be able to stay at their current schools and we'll have a house with more bedrooms and (unfortunately) fewer bathrooms. Nonetheless, the bathrooms are adequate at the house.

Because of the housing market here, we found that houses in our price range in this school district were the size of a shoebox and often had only 2 small bedrooms. We had a difficult decision to make:

1. Do nothing and stay where we are (with two BIG bedrooms);

2. Move farther out in order to afford more house, which would necessitate moving both boys into new schools (again) and tacking on significant time to each of our commutes. Chris is only 3 miles away from his job, and I am about 12 miles from mine. The commutes are wonderful right now.

3. Move into STL city to afford more house, but have to pay tuition at private schools for both boys. Matthew is 2, so we're looking at tuition payments for the next 16 years. (STL public schools just issued a statement this week that about 75% of its 9th graders didn't have enough credits to go on to 10th grade. That is unacceptable.) Also, many of the "up and coming" areas of STL (where they are attempting to revitalize neighborhoods), while affordable, still aren't the safest neighborhoods around. The homes are historic and gorgeous, and contractors are going in and gutting the houses, so the insides are practically brand new, but still -- some draw backs.

But, we found a home listed by owner, and I think it's going to work out well for us. We should be able to begin leisurely moving in March. It's only 1 mile from Chris's office and in a really good neighborhood. We are all looking forward to it!