It's On By Michael

The ubiquitous real estate For Sale sign: it's everywhere and it's unremarkable...until it's the one planted in your front yard. Now that's remarkable. We've been preparing for five years to sell the house and we are totally mentally prepared for it. Yet I'm still a bit surprised when I see the gloss-white 4x4 post out there with the Open Sunday placard perched on top, such a strange thing. Even weirder still is opening the house to complete strangers to walk through and make judgements about whether our beloved home is a place they'd want to call their own.


Our house, for the time being

I think it will sell quickly. We've priced it competitively based on other new listings nearby. It went on the market yesterday and we've already had half a dozen folks come by with their agents. Tomorrow we have two more scheduled and the open house the day after. All very encouraging.

But this ain't 2006 and I imagine there is greater potential in 2011 for any real estate deal to fall through. Financing is more difficult to obtain, it's a buyers market, and who knows which recent foreclosure comps will cause it to not appraise near the contract price. Yikes.

So we are waiting and wrapping up a bunch of small details ahead of the open house. This past month has flown by. Every one of us has been sick at some point, me for most of the month. This has made it much harder to get everything done we needed to do to get to where we are today. We've painted the entire house, including ceilings. We've had the yard sale to end all yard sales. We've completed the final touches to a million little projects begun over the years. (Why didn't we paint and wrap up these projects before?)

If we do sign a contract in the next several days, and close about 40 days later, we could be on the road the second week of June.

Whoa.

Del Viento here we come!

--Michael

Interview with a [soon to be] Cruiser, Eleanor

What’s the name of your boat?

Del Viento.

What is your boat like?

Um...fun.

What will your new bedroom be like?

It'll have dolphins on the wall and my new bed will be big.

Why are you moving onto a boat anyway?

Because the whole family can be together and it'll be very fun.

What will you bring with you?

Lamby #1, Lamby #2, Brownie, and lots of other things.

When you get on your boat, what is the first thing you are going to do?

Get set up.

Once you're living on the boat, what are you going to do?

Go places and look around at lots of stuff. And sleep and eat and see animals.

Is there anything you are afraid of?

Storms. And fish that bite.

What will your parents do to make sure you are safe?

Attach a harness to me.

What will school be like?

Different because I'm really gonna change things on the boat because school will also be studying animals and all the stuff I do at home.

How will you keep in touch with your friends and family?

Send emails to them, and cards, and I'll also see them cause I'll sail there.

What will you do when you are bored?

Go for a swim. In other words, I won't be bored, I don't think.

What will your day be like?

I'll get up, get my routine done, and then the rest of the day I don't know what it will be like...well I know I'll go to sleep at the end, and I might go for a swim in the middle of the day.

Will there be other kids to play with?

Yes.

What are you most excited about?

When I drive there I'll get to see Mexico and I'll get to see the whole boat and decorate my room.

Frances is Five By Windy & Michael

We hatched our 5-year plan to go cruising in 2006, just a few weeks after she was born.

She's never been aboard our boat. Except at the recent boat show, she's never been aboard a sailboat.

Yet Frances has never known her family not planning to live aboard a boat. This is her picture: "Home Sweet Home."

I love the companionway steps, and the keel-stepped mast. Her dad, the vegetarian, is eating, "a chicken leg!" And that brown pupa-looking thing, "it's food!"