House hunting, volunteering, and 2 blogs you should read now

This post is a whole mishmash of stuff. The house hunt continues, although things just got interesting with the house we made an offer on two weeks ago. They had their open house on Sunday, but no takers. Our agent talked with their agent and thinks we can make another offer on their recently dropped price. We really thought we needed to walk away, but it looks like we have a few steps back and a look over our shoulder to make first. There's just something about this place that keeps bringing us back there.

We've got 3 more homes to tour tonight, one of which Larry is particularly drawn to. I'm still on the fence and need to see it in person. We're cutting it close... we have to be out of my dorm by August 15. We've given ourselves until July 15 to have a solid lead on a house, or we're going to look at some month-to-month rentals in the area and trying shopping again in the winter. House hunting is just like getting engaged. At first, you're excited and you can't wait to start buying everything and imagining what it's going to look like, but once you get neck-deep in the planning, it's a beast. Other updates after the cut.

Other updates... Willow is still being adorable, doing that whole "less than a week old gee the world is new and shiny" thing. My sister is doing better. Brother-in-law is still beaming. I'm now incredibly impatient for when I can start taking my niece on mall runs and start talking about boys and getting mani/pedis.

Today starts the official first day of my job promotion. Lots of great planning sessions at work for this coming year. I haven't felt this energized about my work in nearly 2 years, so it's a good feeling. Only thing I'm not looking forward to is working two hours Saturday morning and three hours Monday afternoon... yes, we're closed and yes, I still have to be there. Bummer.

Volunteered at the RESOLVE of New England Annual Fundraising Telethon and helped to raise $555 last night! My numbers were totally boosted by a very generous contribution from my mom in honor of her new granddaughter. Still, it was the first volunteer event I've been able to do in my new role as Board member, and I had a lot of fun doing it. If you feel so inclined to donate, you can do so here online. No amount is too small and even $1 can help and your support is always appreciated. *takes off her fundraiser hat*

Two other important blog posts I'd like to promote as well.

1. A Half-Baked Life writes:

Today, this is what I'm thinking: we need to be kind to each other. We need to be able to talk about (or at least be present to) sad, unimaginable things in the way that we celebrate the joyful ones, to remember the losses as we remember the birthdays, not because we should dwell on what is depressing, but because death is a part of life. We are such strange, half-invisible creatures sometimes, hiding our shadows.

The rest of the post is really stunning, and gives us pause for reflection. I feel like I've been reading so many loss announcements recently and in the wake of the loss of my own grandmother, I found her post really comforting. Go read the rest.

2. My friend Jessa of Two Big J's, One Little E is running a card drive for a friend and fellow blogger, Kim. Kim was diagnosed with cervical cancer during her pregnancy last year and had to deliver her son early. Son is fine, but mother is not; the pregnancy saved her life in that her cancer would never have been detected otherwise. Kim is currently undergoing cancer treatments with no insurance- she lost her job just before her diagnosis. Jessa has all the details here of how you can participate in the card drive. Cards will be mailed to Kim on July 15. If you can send some love to her, it would be some seriously good karma.

That's all I've got for now. I'll probably take a break from posting this weekend for the holiday, but I'll be back up and running next week. Until then, for my readers in the States: Happy July 4th! Be safe out there and enjoy the weekend.

Photo by WoodleyWonderWorks via Flickr.