HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Today is my sister's birthday. She is turning 31. I'm sure she is going to kill me for posting this picture. Like my husband, she does not like having her picture taken and this is unfortunately the most recent photo. It is from her birthday dinner two years ago (2007).



My sister is not only a great Aunt to my son Mason. He loves to play choo-choos with her at Grandma's house. She is a great sister too. We've had our differences, what siblings get along 100% of the time? But there is just this unspoken bond and understanding that we have of each other. I think she is a beautiful person inside and out and love her very much.

Even though it is a rainy day, I hope she has a great birthday.

Happy Birthday Sis!!!

Create

I was feeling creative over the weekend and decided to make a piece of artwork for the nursery with my scrapbooking supplies. I got the inspiration from Ali Edwards collage and thought I'd try it out for myself. I used various papers from my scrap stash of scrapbook paper and the Martha Stewart butterfly punch. I punched out the butterfly images and then placed them on white card stock that I cut in the shape of the frame. The frame, I had laying around in my scrap room and figured it would be a good match to this project. So here is my version.

It will hang somewhere in the nursery, not sure where yet. Then maybe in the guest bedroom.

I also wanted to share two awesome finds we got at a local frame store that was going out of business. They had wonderful pieces of art that were like 60% off. I happened upon these two movie posters and the guy said he'd give them to us for $20 each! Yes, they came framed so we jumped at the deal. The Cinderella poster hangs in the nursery and the Cars poster hangs in Mason's room.

Conversation with Fred

In regards to pregnancy,

Me: "Ugh!  If this is supposed to be such a freaking miracle why is it so freaking miserable." (edited for language)

Fred: "I think they mean it's a miracle you survive."

Isn't that the whole freaking truth!!!  Amen.  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Taking a break from a lot of things right now.  This heat has got me all messed up.  Swollen legs and feet, nausea, dizziness...

Right now I am trying to figure out if I remember what labor feels like, because I'm wondering if I am having contractions right now or what.  A lot of pain, in abdomen and back.  Cramping and tightness of stomach.  Thinking I'll just lay down and drink lots of water and pray that this is not labor.  

Be back with some layouts and pieces of artwork once I'm feeling a little more mobile.  

KOTM

Just received my free scrapbook kit, from Kiss on the Chic, in the mail yesterday afternoon.  If I get some time today (a.k.a. if Mason takes a good nap and this baby ceases with the daily pain rituals she inflicts upon me) I am going to sift through all these goodies and make a layout. Will post when I'm done.  

Stay tuned.  

One of those days...

Rainy days and Mondays always get me down...

"Talkin' to myself and feelin' old
Sometimes I'd like to quit
Nothing ever seems to fit
Hangin' around
Nothing to do but frown
Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down."

--Rainy days and Mondays by The Carpenters

After the gorgeous weekend we just had it's hard to wake up to such a gloomy, depressing Monday morning.  Of course it would have been easier had I not had a migraine and slept in causing us to run late for Mason's gym class and therefore missing my morning cup of coffee. Thank goodness for play dates with Mason's best buddy and fellow gym classmate.  They always crack me up when playing together. Three hours really runs them down and I know it will be a good nap day.  Still, at 4pm when he wakes up screaming cause his allergies are rearing their ugly head making it hard for him to breathe, I find myself wishing it was still nap time or that Fred was home from work. It is now that I need that extra shot of caffeine.  Most days I would go ahead and take it without a second thought but lately with the cramping and horrendous pain of my ligaments stretching to beyond possible proportions, I think twice.  Did I already have the prerequisite amount of caffeine today?  It's 4pm.  Do I want to be up all night with a caffeine high on top of the many bathroom trips I know I will have to make?  Water it is.  *sigh*  There are still two hours till Fred will be home and I need to decide and make dinner before then.  I resort to letting Mason watch an obscene amount of television.  Now before I get hounded with comments about what a horrible mother I am for letting my son's brain rot away, I must point out that I am 8 months pregnant and lack the energy and brain power to multitask entertaining my son while making a meal.  Dinner in the oven (or microwave as the case may be), Mason glued to the tube, I let myself look forward to Mason's bedtime when Dancing with the Stars comes on and I can sit, relax and enjoy mindless reality t.v.  Just a quick check on the weather for tomorrow: 65 degrees (yes) with thunderstorms :-(.

Lord give me strength.

The Ice Cream Truck

Just got this video of Mason eating ice cream after his first experience chasing down the ice cream truck. It was so cute watching him run as fast as he could and then picking the ice cream of his choice. Which to my utter astonishment was not the Dora ice cream on a stick but Bugs Bunny. He says it, "runny babbit" and I love it. Always reminds me of the Shel Silverstein book.

This by far is the funniest video of Mason to date. I think anyway. It shows off his personality so well.

Enjoy!

Signs

Our tree has finally blossomed out front. Tulips and other flowery bushes are starting to peek through and make an appearance. It seems that signs of Spring are sprouting everywhere and despite my sudden inability to regulate my body heat, I am hoping this warm weather is actually here to stay.

Spring days like this are when I long to have my body back. To feel normal again, so I can chase my son around and sit on the driveway and draw circles of chalk. When I can lay on my back with the windows open, the spring air filling the room, eating strawberries and sipping vanilla coke. It's days like today when my husband and his friend get together to detail, wash and buff their corvettes while my son supervises, that are naturally fun. Spring is a time when I feel blessed, relaxed and genuinely happy.

Everyone seems to be in a better mood when the sun is shinning and we are able to venture into the outdoors without fear of blowing away or freezing our butts off. I love Spring!! It is one of my favorite seasons, next to Fall. It is when neighborhoods seems to come alive. Lawns are green and plush, trees have bloomed beautiful blossoms of pink and white, and you can hear the laughter of kids and adults alike.


So here's to Spring! Enjoy it while it lasts!

Baby Bumb + Jelly Bean Eggs

32 weeks, 3 days and counting.......

That means I have exactly 44 days to go till I check into the hospital and get this little girl out of my belly.  Can you tell I'm just a little bit anxious to be done?  This pregnancy has been anything but my favorite.  Just this morning I woke up at 3am to the feeling of having my ribs crushed and unable to breathe properly.  I am finding it hard to believe that this girl has anymore room to grow.  Not to mention the little things in life I take for granted every day that I am not 8 months pregnant.  For example: tying my shoes, shaving, laying on my back and stomach, walking up and down stairs, getting up from the couch, playing with my son and of course drinking alcohol.  The first showings of stretch marks appeared and it seems that everything I put on makes me feel and look fat.  It is the home stretch (literally) and it's brutal.  Especially in my fragile state.  I've tried to get into the spirit of all things girl and *gulp* the color pink.  Finding this ironic since I was also disappointed at first when finding out Mason was a boy but fully embraced all things rough and tough.  Trains, cars, trucks, puppies, mud, fearlessness and the color blue.  So much that my new favorite color scheme is turquoise blue + dark brown;  the color of my scraproom.   Yes I have deviated from my signature color of purple.  But don't worry I haven't abandoned it.  That would be crazy.  In fact, much to Fred's dismay, Mason has learned to embrace the power of purple.  *I really did end up with a child just like me, only the opposite sex.*  I'm sure I will get back into "girl mode" once I hold her in my arms.  But who said girls can't like cars, trains and getting dirty?

   

Easter morning was a little bit like Christmas morning.  Seeing the excitement on Mason's face when we asked if the Easter Bunny came.  The sound of his voice as he exclaimed, "there's an egg!  It's pink," while peering through the banister to the foyer below.  It was the happiest thing watching him run around the house searching for egg after egg and feeling so proud when he found one.  I also love the way he says Mr. Potato Head.  

Dinner with the Briggs clan and my parents was short but nice.  Aiden and Mason enjoyed chasing each other on the play set at Janet's, Fred got his butt kicked by Keith in ping pong, and I enjoyed a meal that I didn't have to cook.  *Note to self:  get recipe of chicken chalupas from Grandma Veda.*

Next year I'll have to try out that technique of dying eggs with silk that I saw on the Martha Stewart show.  

**Correction to post.  Fred did not get his butt kicked at ping pong.  Just lost.  

Weekend of Celebrations

Won't be on much this weekend but I wanted to wish everyone a Hoppy Easter!  hahahaha

We are having dinner with Fred's extended family, most of whom we haven't seen in many months to a year, and my parents and sister have been invited as well.  So it will be great to have everyone together.  

Being that it is "grandma sunday" tomorrow, Mason will be at my parents for the afternoon.  I had hoped to use this time to "celebrate" our anniversary since it fell during the week but it seems that Fred has plans to work on the yard so it looks like another year of no official celebration.   Cest la vie.

One last celebration to mention.  I recently added a counter to my blog if you hadn't noticed.  I was curious to see just how many people, if any, were actually reading my blog.  It turns out quite a few people.   I reached 100 hits as of tonight.  Woohoo!!!  So thanks to all of you for reading my blog and making me feel as if I have something a least a little bit interesting to say.  

Have a great holiday weekend, be back sometime next week with updated belly pics.  Stay tuned!

Fairy Tales do come true.....

at least in the simplest form.

It all began thirteen years ago in the basement of the Briggs house in Great Falls, Virginia. I was a junior in high school and it was close to spring break. Well we were still in school but college was out on their break. Our band of friends were having a great time playing pool and being, well your typical teenagers. We hung out at the Briggs house a lot, especially in the summer. They had a pool in the backyard and a huge basement. I knew Chris from Marching Band and had only a month or so earlier discovered he had a twin brother, David. So you might imagine my surprise to find out on this day that my friend had yet another brother.
It was, as my sister described in her MOH speech, a West Side Story moment. This tall, dark, handsome guy came walking down the stairs and it was as if time stopped. Everyone and everything faded into the background until it was just him and I. And my first thought was OH MY GOD he is so freaking hot, who the hell is he? It didn't take me long to find out it was just Chris and David's older brother, Fred. YOUR WHAT!? Fred looked nothing like his brothers. He had long dark, gorgeous hair (longer than mine) and totally sporting the "bad boy" imagine. I was hooked.
After that first meeting, Fred and I slowly became friends. Keeping in touch, emailing each other and hanging out when he was home in the summer. It was in this getting to know him that my feelings really started to take off, but of course being the immature teenager, I was too scared to admit how I felt. Though I was sure he knew, thanks to the guys of the group who would tease me about it every moment, especially if Fred was around. But nothing was said, at least not out loud. The years went by, I graduated and went off to college. We continued to keep in touch while dating other people. However, Fred constantly occupied my mind for the next six years driving my sister and friends absolutely nuts. Luckily, the summer of my second year of college my sorority sister decided to hold a party at her parents home in Arlington.
It was August of 1999. The party was getting started, we were waiting for our friends to arrive. I had invited David (not sure where Chris was) and other friends from high school and began thinking of how I would like to invite Fred. Of course I was too scared to do it and a friend of my sorority sister decided to do it on my behalf. To my surprise he agreed. Now the story gets a bit funny here when Fred arrived without his brother David. You see the Briggs boys don't really communicate with each other. Neither knew they were invited to same party and had left on their own. David, apparently got lost. I'm sure at this point in the story you are thinking, good god this woman is a talker. Hang in there this portion is almost done. A few hours and many drinks into the party I was having a conversation with some friends and my sister when once again the topic of Fred came up. Shocker! My sister, totally drunk off her ass and really annoyed with hearing this story for the umpteenth time, disappeared only to return with Fred following her. I was mortified because I knew what she was doing. A few things were said that I don't remember but the most important of them was this. My friend mentioned that he thought Fred and I would make a good couple and Fred responded with, "so do I." I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped and my eyes glazed over making me look like some moron but I couldn't help it. I was paralyzed. Stunned by what I just heard. I'd been dying to hear that for so many years and was sure I was just imagining it. I wasn't.
That night I guess you could say we started "dating." However I was living in Harrisonburg and school was about to start again. Thus began the many travels of Fred down 81 to visit me at JMU every weekend for the next three years. The first time we kissed, I have to admit my heart was pounding so fast I was sure it would explode out of my chest. I don't recall ever being this nervous to kiss someone in my life. The first time I knew and wanted to say "I love you" was about a year later. It was the weekend and Fred had tickets to a Redskins game. He drove down to Harrisonburg to pick me up, then all the way to D.C. where we caught the metro to the stadium. I was developing a horrible cold at the time but wasn't about to pass up tickets to see my favorite football team or a chance to spend time with Fred. I remember standing on the platform, Fred holding me, and I looking up at him. The first thing that came to my mind was, "I love you," but found myself once again scared to say it out loud. It wouldn't be until a few days later that these words were said out loud by either of us. Not sure who actually said it first, but does it really matter?
From this moment on, I was really falling in love with him more everyday and even allowing myself to wonder about marrying him. My last year of college Fred bought a little townhouse in Sterling and I moved in with him. Despite his allergies, Fred agreed to keep Zeke while I was at school. Those months created their special bond and I knew things were getting serious between us. This was by far my longest relationship ever and my parents just adored him.
After graduation, I fully moved in with Fred and over the years watched as our friends get married, starting their lives together. Quite honestly my "life" had already started with Fred. We were living together and shared everything as if it was "ours." Still I longed for that ring on my finger. I would tease him about it sometimes. After all we'd been a couple for 4 years. How long did you need to know that this is the person you want to spend the rest of your life with?
My question was answered on November 1, 2003. The night before we were hanging out at the Hobby Shop, where Fred used to work, and singing karaoke. Well I guess I was the only one singing. I thought it would be funny to sing the song, Wedding Bell Blues. Little did I know the ring was in his pocket that evening. The following day Fred was on the phone making secretive plans. I was getting suspicious, especially when he suggested we get dressed up and go out to Sam and Harry's for dinner. He never does things like this. Something was up and I was guessing he might propose. Now it has been 6 years since this happened and maybe its time to finally admit in full disclosure that I actually found the ring one day in his desk at work. Well, not the ring itself but the box. I was looking through his drawers like I always did when bored waiting for him to end the day and there it was. I immediately closed the drawer trying to act as if I hadn't seen a thing. Though I honestly thing he suspected that I did. I stopped opening his drawers after that day. Ever since I kept waiting for it to happen and was beginning to think maybe I even imagined the box. Once at dinner, and it was a very nice dinner he planned, we talked and ate and I kept waiting for something to happen. I even tried to get it out of Fred but he wasn't admitting anything. Once dinner was over and dessert arrived and nothing I was convinced that I was wrong. It was this moment that Fred admitted he did have an alternative motive. Of course now I wasn't expecting it and I felt my heart leap up into my throat.
I'm sure he had some special speech prepared but he took one look at my face, which he said was looking as if I would pass out, and thought he better get this out fast. I said yes. Like he really had to ask. The next 16 months of our lives were consumed by wedding plans until the big day.
It was the most beautiful day in April that year. Sunny, warm and gorgeous. We really lucked out with the weather for an outdoor wedding. The weekend before was a huge thunderstorm and we heard it rained the two subsequent weekends. The venue was perfect. The Thomas Birkby House, a cute historical home in downtown Leesburg. I put everything into this wedding. Hand making every invitation, program, bouquet, centerpiece, etc. I was expecting to be totally nervous and a complete teary mess. Surprisingly I wasn't nervous at all, expect when Pachebel Cannon in D started signaling my walk down the aisle. But my dad just squeezed my arm and told me to breathe. I didn't even cry, like Fred suspected I would. The women in my family are very emotional. I was all smiles and never more sure of any decision I ever made in my life. As my dad said, you couldn't wipe that grin off my face all day. I was on cloud nine and rightfully so. It was the best day of my life!! I married the man I thought I could never get. My fairy tale had come true.
Now here I sit four years later watching the video of that day, and trying not to cry. Thinking back over the last four years and all we have managed to accomplish. A lovely home in Leesburg and now this new home in Ashburn. The birth of our son and watching him grow over the last two and half years. The success of Fred's company and now the impending birth of our daughter. I feel like we have been blessed with so much. It's been rocky and definitely not perfect but I would do it all again in a heartbeat. I know that my life is better because of Fred and my children and fully believe that I would die without them. As our Wedding song states, "I could not ask for more."

I love you babe, thank you so much for loving me, marrying me, giving me the chance to be the mother of your beautiful children and putting up with all my crap. You really are the best man I know. Happy Anniversary!!!

Below is a highlight video of our wedding day.  I've had some difficulty getting this converted from a DVD to a clip I can post on a website and this was the best I could do.  So please forgive the watermark in the center of the image and enjoy the video anyway!!  
*

Alpha Mom=Zeta Wife?

This was a segment on the Today show this morning.  Discussing how in order to be an Alpha Mom you end up being a Zeta Wife. Which is essence means that to be the best Mom you can to your children you tend to neglect your husband, slacking off in your duties as a wife.   Below is the video clip of this segment.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

This is a topic in which I have very passionate feelings. I agree it is difficult to find that balance between being a mother and being a wife. Maybe more difficult for me being a stay at home mom where it seems that all duties have been abdicated to me 100% of the time. Being "mom" 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year is a lot to live up to and quite frankly stressful as hell. Especially when you don't get praise, or "props" for the things you do on a daily basis. At the end of the day I am so worn out from everything on my to do list that there is no energy left to be the romantic, doting wife. I completely agree that parenting is a partnership and both husband and wife need to work together to achieve success. Sharing in the duties at appropriate times such as mornings, evenings and weekends when both parents are at home. Acting more as partners in parenthood I feel helps strengthen a marriage instead of leaving one spouse resenting the other for being left with all the responsibility.

What is your take on this? Leave a comment. How do you balance the roles of mother/father and wife/husband? Or do you? How are duties shared in your household? or are they shared?

My little handy man

I just had to share this freaking adorable video of my son. A mini Fred in the making.

Tools are cool!

So if you are a scrapbooker like me you just might be as excited as I am to learn about this cool new tool that is out.  The Crop a Dile Corner Chomper by We R Memory Keepers!!!   

OMG!!  I think I might have found my birthday present.  I currently own the Crop a Dile and absolutely love it!  The best thing about these products are the fact that they cut through chipboard like butter.  Plus there is no banging with a hammer so you can do it while the kids are sleeping.  

I've been getting into making chipboard mini albums lately.  Stay tuned for pics of my pregnancy album I am currently working on for Sophie.  And I am really getting into the whole rounded corner look.  You will be seeing this more and more on my scrapbook pages, especially in Sophie's baby album that I am currently working on putting together.  Figured I'd try to be proactive with this one and get a head start on the album so all I have to do is print pictures, write journaling and do some final assembly.  The plan is that it won't take me two and half year to complete like Mason's.  You don't realize how much you forget about that first year if you wait to long to record it.  Which reminds me I need to get my butt in gear and actually journal Mason's pregnancy album.  This is proving to be difficult, if you've been following me on twitter/facebook or this blog you know what I mean.  Hence why I am still procrastinating it.  

Well just wanted to share my excitement over this cool new tool that is being released soon.  But now I need to change a certain little guys pull-up cause he stinks!!!

Mason

So after visiting the ER, a neurologist and a cardiologist it appears that the only thing wrong with Mason is having me as his mother. More specifically, having my genetics passed down to him.

The neurologist saw him on monday and basically concluded that he is fine and just passed out. No seizure, no reason to do any tests or to schedule another visit. Great news.

At the cardiologist today, Mason had another EKG done. The doctor also heard a heart murmur and ordered an echo of Mason's heart. It was clear that Mason was a little scared laying on the table during the procedure. I held his little hand and talked to him the whole time and he laid so still and cooperated with the nurse. He is such a trouper. He sure didn't get his bravery from his momma. I credit Fred with that one. Once the test was completed the doctor looked over the results and let us know that it confirmed a heart murmur. However, it is an innocent murmur. Basically that it isn't anything to worry about and he will grow out of it after a few years. Otherwise his heart is just fine. Nothing to worry about and no need for a follow up.

You'd think I'd be totally thrilled to hear this news, which I am. But then I heard both doctors give their basic conclusion of what happened. NowI have to give my mom credit for thinking of this one, and that is that Mason has the same condition I do. Vasovagal Syncope. I can just hear Fred thinking to himself, "Great. As if it wasn't bad enough that my wife has this ridiculous condition, she had to pass it on to my son." Sorry babe. I'm still trying to track down the crackpot in my family who passed it on to me.

It never occurred to me to think of it, mostly because I have no idea what the hell a passed out person looks like. Why? I am usually the one passed out. Apparently you don't close your eyes when passed out. I find that kinda creepy. Anyway, if you don't know what vasovagal is let me explain.

Vasovagal syncope is not a life threatening condition but an abnormal reflex. Bascially your blood pressure drops, speeding up your heart and causing decreased blood flow to the brain resulting in dizziness or fainting. The most common triggers are sight of blood, injury, needles, and going to the bathroom. Pretty much anything that causes severe stress. Symptoms of this condition include, but are not limited to; going pale, unresponsive for less than a minute, sometimes twitching while unresponsive, once regaining consciousness are immediately aware of surrounding and who they are, feeling dizzy or tired for as much as 24 hours afterwards.

Hmm, is it a coincidence that Mason experienced most of these symptoms, or that it occurred while sitting on the potty and me changing a band-aid?

If that didn't convince you, would knowing that I first developed this condition when I was around 2.5 years old do it? I just gained this knowledge the other day. I mean I knew that as a kid I always passed out when getting blood taken (needles) or having shots, or upon seeing a lot of blood and even once after a splinter was removed. But I had no idea it all started just after moving to Herndon. It wasn't until I was in college, though, that I would put a name to my episodes and learn it was indeed a condition. At that point it had progressed into me going into convulsions while passed out. *note: if you were someone who constantly hung out at the Briggs house in high school, remember when I was smacked with the towel and then proceeded to pass out and go into convulsion and you all freaked out. But after I regained consciousness I was fine?* That was a syncope espisode at it's finest.

Knowing he doesn't have some life threatening condition is such a relief but this was definitely not something I wanted Mason to develop. It's not fun having this condition, in fact it's down right annoying as hell. And at times a bit embarrassing. But I am hoping that he will be one of the lucky ones and only have this one episode. Unlike his momma who has had so many over the last 30 years that I have lost track.

Thanks mom for saying, "I hope you have a kid just like you," throughout my childhood. I now have my very own vasovagal, Betty Davis drama queen. The male version.

The hits just keep on coming....

Monday evening we realized that life was not yet done distributing bad news. 

After four years in the little community of Linden Hill, the thought had been creeping in our minds of possibly getting a bigger house.  It wasn't until after christmas 2007 that we seriously starting looking.  The idea was that it would soon be time to try for another baby and our little house was running out of space and bedrooms.  After viewing what seemed like a million houses in person and online, we stumbled upon this house in Ashburn.  Being a short sale it was a total fixer upper, but for those who know Fred, it was a perfect fit.  We aren't afraid of getting dirty with remodeling.  Despite the difficult ordeal of a short sale, which I hope never to experience again, by the end of March we owned the place and had finished our first weekend of demo.  Months of numerous grueling hours, hard labor and most of the remodeling done, we moved into the new house in time for my birthday.

We then did some minor fixes to the old house and put it on the market.  After 4 agonizing months we finally got an offer from a couple to rent the place for 12 months and then purchase it at the end of the lease.  They put down a good amount in escrow and seemed really serious so we accepted it. 

It's been 9 months in our new home and though we still have projects here and there (there will always be projects in the Briggs household), the house has been coming together nicely and we've settled in very well.  However the renters of our other property have been late with rent for the last 5 months.  It has left us wondering if they will be able to get the financing needed to purchase the house when the lease is up.  With the economy the way it is and the impending birth of our second child we have become more aware of how nice it would be to have that money from the sale of the house.  So we've been worried but not too concerned.  Then Monday happened. 

As stated above it was Monday evening, and Fred got a phone call from our renters.  The husband has been transferred to Kentucky.  They will no longer be buying the house. To make it worse they are moving in two months, six months shy of their one year lease agreement.  So now we are faced with not only no one buying our house but quite possibly out six months of rent.  As if this news wasn't bad enough we found out that we can't put our house back on the market until the current renters sign a release form stating that they are no longer buying it.  *sigh*

Fred made arrangements with our realtor and the wife who is renting our house to go see the property last night.  We need to know what state it is in and if any, what changes they have made.  However, when Fred arrived last night the woman wouldn't answer the door.  The garage was open with her car clearly inside and the t.v. on.  This was after Fred had talked to her twice to confirm he was coming over to view the house.  Fred called the husband, who is currently in Kentucky, he confirmed it was his wife's car and that she should be there.  Still no answer.  Even today we have yet to receive a call from her to explain why she either wasn't there or didn't answer the door and to reschedule a visit.  Seriously!!  How rude is that? 

Anyway, the only good news seems to be that after talking with the husband he said he had no problem signing both releases (for the sale and lease), so we can at least get the money they put up in escrow and the remaining six months of rent for the lease they are breaking early.  We hope they sign this soon and are able to see the property so we can re-list the house ASAP. Unfortunately the market has tanked even further so we are just going to put it up for rent in the hopes that the market regains some momentum and a few years from now we can sell it for a more reasonable price.  While this is not the most ideal situation to be in right now, it could be a lot worse.  In the meantime we are moving forward and staying hopeful. 

Know of anyone who is looking to rent a really adorable home in the area?