Susan, I'm glad that your MiL will be able to help your family out when you're out there. You are handling this, from what I've seen here, exceptionally well, and have all your ducks in line. I just wish you didn't have to have them in a line.
I hope the 5pm service is helpful.
I forgot to add my footnote to the above, which is that I'm not allowed to play with powertools, because I generally have no idea where my limbs are in relation to my body at any given time, unless I'm concentrating really hard, and only on the whole where-are-my-arms thing. I only got a passing grade in Shop class because I promised my teacher I'd never attempt to learn woodworking again. It's one of those things where I tried *really* hard, and just, frankly, sucked. I'd find it lowering, except the other one was Home Ec, where I stayed in class at lunch to try finishing my sewing projects and still got a D, because they don't reward for effort. Clearly, the extremes of manly and womanly are not for me, and I should have stuck to the effete, like that time I had two art classes in a row right before my free period, so I essentially had a three hour block of art.
Also, I want to be a mom like Laura when I grow up. She's my role model.
Just to give you an idea, this condo [link] is in my neck of the woods. We bought our 2+2, 1300 sq. ft. condo for considerably less than this 2.5 years ago.
I don't know what the median price is here, but I just played with listings on realtor.com. The cheapest place in Seattle that looks like you could move into it right away (i.e. not property or a half-ruined house) is a tiny studio condo for $100K. The cheapest that would meet our space needs (i.e. 3 bedrooms) is around $250K, and those are usually fixer-uppers or in less than ideal neighborhoods.
Still, once I've found a job and we've gotten our credit card debt punched down a bit, we should be in a decent position to buy. I just hope I can find that job by November or so, so we can think about a bigger place not long after Annabel turns 2.
I just googled, and according to an article in the Providence Journal published a few weeks ago, the median price of a single family house in RI right now is $285,000.
From the Times last week
According to the latest multiple-listing service numbers, the median price of King County condominiums was $216,995 last month. That's $158,000 below the single-family house median.
Hell, our tax assessed value is now 45k over what we paid four and a half years ago.
My grandmother died yesterday. It's one of those expected, but "it's always sudden" kind of things. Anyhow, my mom is up there seeing to the details.
{{{{{Anne}}}}} I'm so sorry. My thoughts are with you and your family.
