Thursday, March 18, 2010

Unexpected blessings

So, my mom found in a drawer some savings bonds that my grandfather gave to me...back in 1982!

Unexpected blessing.

Then I took them to the bank (which was a bit of a debacle -- pre-computer bonds don't scan with computer...it only took two bankers to figure that out! ;-) but after they figured it out and she was counting out the money...it was more than the face value. I didn't expect that they had earned interest too. (BTW, don't invest in savings bonds. The interest is too small...but over nearly 30 years, it still adds up a little.)

Anyway, that was unexpected. If you know me very well, you know that I HATE spending money. I mean, I struggle to spend gift cards sometimes. Seriously. I still have $50 credit for Williams-Sonoma from Christmas because I can't bear to pay their inflated prices...even when it's a gift. But I've got a plan on how to spend that savings bond.

And, most unexpected of all, Casey and I might be moving to the Park Cities sooner than expected. Nothing is absolutely decided, but it looks way more probable. The story is that Casey and Dad bought this giNORmous house in Oak Cliff a year ago and fixed it up and have been trying to sell it. Unsuccessfully. But since the beginning, Mom has said she wanted to move there. She likes the huge pool. Dad has been on the fence, and it's been tough to sell a 9 bedroom house in a buyer's market.

Casey has been burning himself an ulcer over turning over the investment. But I think my parents decided they're going to move, and my mom's actually packing right now. So, that means that their house will be the one to sell.

Unless Casey and I want it. The thing is, we don't want that house. It's just not the house we would want. Layout is awkward. Not good for having people over. Kitchen is tiny and would be have to be totally renovated, along with the bathrooms. And I want a super-kitchen and a bathtub that I can swim in. I do. I'm a serious bubble-bath fan. I think I've even gotten Casey into it. Rabbit trail, sorry.

But, the land is great. And pricey. So if we can work it out to pay my parents for it in the future, we'd like to build a house there. Specifically, this one. If you go to the link, you can see the floor plan too.Well, the idea of building your own house is an incredible indulgence that we never considered permitting ourselves to have...but it might just work out. We'd have to fix up our current house and sell it to start paying back my parents, but since Casey and Dad fixed up houses twice before, I don't think the process will be a problem.

So, I'm putting that savings bond money aside for that bathtub. Oh, yeah. Bring on the bubbles.

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