Life is a roller coaster

Well, this has been quite the week, with a number of ups and downs.  Still no offer on the table, as the potential buyer has decided to hold off on making a decision until after the weekend.  As I said to my agent, I suspect he's waiting to see if I will blink.  In reality the ball is in his court as I can't make an offer to the buyers.  We're currently about $10,000 apart which on a 25 year mortgage works out to approximately $35 a month (plus interest).  Hopefully his agent will point this out to him...is he willing to give up a property that he and his wife like for such a relatively small amount?  I should note too, that I'd be reducing the price an additional $5,000 to make this happen so if he needs a win, he'll have it.  Oh well, life carries on.  

For most of us anyway.  On Wednesday, the day the first offer was received, I woke up with a migraine.  I haven't had one for two years or more - once I was on this side of menopause they became much less frequent.  It was a doozy and I spent almost the entire day in bed.  I'd just gotten up and taken some meds and gone back to bed, when I got a message from one of my cousins.  She was contacting me to let me know her sister, the oldest of six, had been recently diagnosed with late stage cancer.  Deb has been given a prognosis of mere weeks to live and is currently at home.  I won't be going to visit, as she's asked for only immediate family.  All of her siblings have had a chance to spend some time with her, for which I am thankful.  

It is devastating to the family, as they lost both their parents to this awful disease many years ago.  My uncle Bob (my mother's brother) was only 44 when his life was cut short by lung cancer.  His wife, Ardie was diagnosed shortly after he was with colon cancer.  She told me once, she'd said to God, "I said give the cancer to me instead, not too!".  She survived for five years after surgery and a colostomy but died when she was 49 of liver cancer.  In so many ways, it seems so unfair; Deb was just 64 last May.  Sadly, the last few times I've seen her, we were at funerals.  

It rained most of the week, so I spent much of my time indoors.  My friend C told me she had 2 1/2 inches of rain in her gauge over the week.  Yikes!  I used the time to be productive.  I finished my afghan, worked on my cross-stitching project (just back stitching left to do), and sewed a Superman cape for Eli for Halloween.  I have to cut it down as it's far too long, but I wasn't certain what length his mom wanted it to be.  They'll be here later this week so I'll finish it off while they are at the house.  I'm sure he'll get use out of the cape more than once - what small child doesn't like to play super hero?  

We did have another showing, on Sunday afternoon.  My agent was the showing agent, so feedback was immediate.  They were a young couple, didn't mind the small yard, but this was the first house they've looked at.  As he said, no one buys the first house they look at. :(

I decided I needed a break from everything, and my brother had let me know the fall colors were reaching their peak in the valley, so I left my son to wrangle the cats for the showing and I went for a drive.  They were just sitting down to a late lunch so we chatted while they ate, and then R and I went for hike up the hill (using the deer trails he's cleared to reach the ridge).  I'll just put a couple of photos in this post and will share more tomorrow.  I only took 92 photos in total, so there are quite a few to post... I promise not all of them.   

This is the road down to the valley.  Just a couple of weeks ago it was green as can be.

The "red roofed" church, is an Anglican church rarely used any more, though there are several graves around it, some fairly recent.

Some couples use it in the summer for wedding photos.  And of course, it is a landmark for everyone who lives nearby. 

This is part of the trail before we headed in more brush.  You can see where my brother has mowed.  This was the easy part of the hike. 

When I got home, I had a call from my agent (no, not an offer), that another agent was showing the house around the corner and wanted to know if they could come here.  Of course I said yes, because every showing is a potential buyer.  However, I said I'd just gotten home and I wasn't about to take the cats out of the house. Curtis said I could just step out of the house and let them see it.  My son drove off in his car, and I sat out on the patio.  They were in the house a good 15 minutes or so, but the feedback was the house wasn't for them, as they aren't handy and the house needs too much work.  Oh well, maybe the next group.

However, Curtis is going to tell the agent from last week's agent that we've had some interest based on today's showing.  I'm okay with a little white lie - it will either get the ball rolling again or they'll simply walk away.  Either way, I'll have my answer.  

Have a great week everyone!