Sold! At Last!

Yes. The House is SOLD! papers signed, money in the bank, no more bills to pay.

It was a hard 15 months, between the nail biting wait for prospective buyers to view the house, the difficult decisions to lower the price, the gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair as we negotiated (and renegotiated)3 seperate offers and finally the last flurry of activity with the new buyer who changed his mind almost weekly. Our realtor Curt Britson is a SAINT!

As I am in Minnesota visiting family, I stopped by the house to say goodbye. If felt strange, there was nothing to move out, nothing personal left there (except a coffee mug in the microwave that Curt found 3 months after we left--ugh....science project). Curt opted not to leave that moldy cup of coffee for the new buyers. After several difficult negotiations, I was on the fence about our little housewarming present.

Part of the change was the new buyer had asked if he could have a contractor start work a day or two early.When I walked through the place, there was a big gaping hole in the wall between the kitchen and living room, new tiles laid out for the floors, and new carpet on the way.

I went to the backyard to dig up St Joseph, who was supposed to help sell the house, but instead sensed our Lutheran guilt over the iconographic saint and refused to help. I was ready to dig St Joseph up, and repent. The flowers in the backyard had grown up over his burial spot, and I didn't have the heart to ruin the flowerbed. (I didn't have a shovel either).

Leaving the house felt strange. Part of me was still looking at this as an escape hatch (if everything went wrong in Australia, we wouldn't be homeless) but part of me felt that worry over selling and the on-going bills meant we weren't really free to fully enjoy Australia.

Despite our intentions of being footloose and fancy free, Nathan and I put down roots here. We were nourished by our friends , rewarding work, a welcoming church community, music and theater. But, the longer we stayed the more we realized that these roots would only grow deeper, making it more challenging to transplant ourselves later.

So, with joy and a little nostalgia, we are ready say goodbye to 5559 Fairway Dr. NW, Rochester MN. Thanks for all the memories! Kristin

Visit to Minnesota.

Wow! What a whirlwind. I left for MN July 4. Nathan wasn't able to get leave from work, so I was travelling on my own, straight from one of the most hectic days at work I have had to date. With my pulse racing and adrenaline rushing, Nathan and I raced across town to get me to the plane on time. After a hurried goodbye, I checked my luggage, and I rushed into catch my plane. Which was delayed by an hour. Still in suit, I started thinking about my comfortable shorts and flip flops sitting somewhere and checked baggage longingly.

Finally boarded the plane, where I was finally able to relax (sort of). After a couple of drinks and a couple of movies, I fell asleep to awake in New Zealand, where I had a 12 hour layover. I took advantage of the day to walk, and walk, and walk around Auckland (still in my suit and dress shoes), arriving back at the plane for our 5 pm take off, I thought about my luggage again. If only I'd had the sense to change out of my SWEATER, I was dying. A girl from MN in the seat next to me, kept my mind off of my overheating by chatting with me about her Australia trip.

I arrived in San Franscisco, caught an airporter to Alan and Masami's house, and finally changed clothes. 38 hours in the same suit...time to find a dry cleaners. After a little nap, and dinner, the boys demonstrated their prowess with the Sony Wi, I was sore from tennis, golf, bowling, and finally 2 bouts of boxing (of which I emerged victorious in the second bout).

Alan's family and I had the same flight to Minneapolis, so Gregory and I played cards all the way from SFO to MSP. War and crazy eights makes the time fly...After arriving we split up, my best friend from high school Connie (Jansen) Kells picked me up for a whirlwind 18 hours together...talking the whole time. We packed an entire year of talking into one day, and we were both exhausted.

The next day Connie drove me to meet up with my parents, who took me the rest of the way to my brother Brian's cabin. We had a great family reunion from Saturday until Tuesday, Julie & Scott brought their camper, Taylor, Emily, and Layla stayed, Brian, Jen, and his kids, Mom and Dad, Alan and his family. 20 of us tubing, waterskiiing (okay some of us only attempt waterskiing), kneeboarding, wakeboarding, jetskiing, fishing, swimming, bonfires, pingpong, cribbage, biking, and LOTS and LOTS of talking. If was so great to be together, I think we've started a new tradition...Sorry Brian, you are hosting!

After the activity of Brian's cabin, we spent a few days recovering. It was really nice to have a couple of quiet days with Mom and Dad. Dad had been in the hospital for 10 days because of a very serious infection. The fever and side effects left him several pounds lighter, and not well rested, so we enjoyed a few more relaxing days together.

On Sunday, I headed to visit Nathan's mom and Grandma (Emily is having surgery on Monday, July 22 say a prayer for her speedy recovery)...It was really nice to visit, even for a little while. She was able to bring me up to date on all the events of each of her grandkids spread across the country.

Sunday night, I drove down for a whirlwind tour of Rochester. I didn't give people very much notice, but was still able to visit with Jaymi, my friends from the Diversity Council, a visit to Curt Britson (who is wrapping up on the house) and Dave & Cheryl Smith. I didn't get a chance to visit church, Larry & Rebekka, Kirk, or so many other great friends we made while we were in Rochester. I saved Rochester too late, and just didn't have enough time.

I fly tomorrow to California, where Nathan and I will get to spend a week together before he flys to MN. It just wasn't enough time. No matter how much time I spent with mom and dad, my siblings it wasn't enough time to catch up on all I had missed. There was so much to say to my good friends like Connie and Jaymi that we were up all night. There were so many people I didn't really get to talk to, or see that I wanted to know more Not enough time.

Why do I get the feeling that I am going to feel like that after every visit?