Turning the page...

Okay, so you've hopefully gotten past the first two posts of this series, and you may THINK you know where we are...but you don't, unless I have told you personally. 

Now, why all the secrecy and delay in getting this out there to my friends?  Well, thinking back to last fall when I posted about our upcoming move to Montana, by the next day it had all fallen apart.  I know I may be a little paranoid, but I didn't want any kinks thrown into this already crazy delicate mix of planning we had going on.  Our house was under contract, yes, but not final in any way/shape/form.  The buyer could still back out, and we lived in the "ghetto", so we thought that could be a distinct possibility.  I didn't want to tell ANYBODY ANYTHING, lest something go terribly awry.  

But you know, if something can go wrong, it usually will (at least for us!).  I'm happy to say that nothing went wrong with our house sale - we are no longer Iowa home owners.  What did go "wrong" was the rental house at our destination.  We were set up to live on a farmstead house in the middle of a private golf course, complete with membership (sweet!).  This was "arranged" by Bubba's employer.  It was not, however, actually arranged.  It had been discussed but not finalized...and, in fact, the property was ultimately rented to someone else - someone on the board of the club.  We were within a month of moving with nowhere to move to...and no way of looking around since we were halfway across the country with no personal contacts in the area, or so we thought.  Bubba was relating our woes to his mom (who lives in a tiny town in Nevada) during a normal conversation one day.  By the next day, we find that her best friend in this tiny little town has a daughter who lives 30 minutes from Bubba's new clinic...and they are trying to move to Utah to be closer to family and are trying to sell their house.   Well, as it turns out, they decided to rent their house to us, which gives the market time to jump back so they can sell their house for a profit later on.   Pretty much a win-win.  Things are truly working out for the best, so what went "wrong" with the house really didn't, after all.

Another kink in the whole plan also bubbled to the surface.  It turns out that where we will be living is not a highly populated area with a less than brisk real estate industry.  Needless to say, transfering my job would be difficult, if not impossible.  The only way for me to continue with the company I have worked at for 15 years would be to cover five large counties over two states, including the difficult-to-master resort communities.  After a profitability analysis and risk assessment (really just a sit-down-and-think session to decide if I really, really, really want to do this), and I have chosen to retire after 15 years at the company and over 20 years in the business.  Yes friends, I am retired / unemployed, and I'm having a little difficulty with the concept.  I'm too young not to work, so now I need to decide what I want to do next.  Any suggestions?

 So, where are we?  I know you are all dying to know, right?  Here's a pic from the internet, since my camera is still packed away...

Yes, we live in Bridgeville.  Yes, the sign really does say "If you lived here you would be home now".  Yes, that is a pretty goofy slogan.  But it is home...at least for now. 

Where is Bridgeville, you ask?  In the very small, very flat, very first state of our glorious nation...Delaware!   We have no mountains...which is unfortunate (however we are within reasonable driving distance).  On the plus side, we do have the ocean just a quick 30 minute drive to the east!  We are excited for the possibilities that this area holds and are excited for this new adventure to begin.