In other news,
KAMommy (Cherie) and I have been having some long talks lately. Nothing bad. We're talking about moving. But just here in our general area. We've been in our house since Oct. 2000. At the time, we had the option of choosing which of two high school we could send the kids to. Since then new elementary schools have been built, and we've been rezoned so now we're forced to go to one high school. What it means is that our kids are zoned for High School Y, while the rest of the middle school kids at the same school are zoned for High School Z. Our neighborhood and the adjoining neighborhood are the only ones in the county affected by the rezoning (it was an elementary school being built that affected us specifically - Katie went to K & 1st Grade at the old school, and last year started 2nd Grade at the new school - Adam was in middle school by then so wasn't affected by the new elementary school change). We're not "grandfathered" in any way that I can find through the various rules (our kids are still too young - the cut-off for grandfathering with the high schools was the class two years ahead of Adam's year). The school board does not allow school switches unless it's a dire situation (like a divorce situation where the custodial parent is zoned differently, etc.), which I honestly can't say that we are. I've had some professional run-ins with the school board director (in the last firm I was employed with) so he's really not inclined to do me any personal favors in any case. I think he's a hard-headed 'fellow' (East TN. slang for 'dick') in some of his decisions (he tends to look at short-term benefits rather than the long-term), and I wasn't afraid to say so in a project I was working on with the county many years ago, when I was a bit younger and stupider (much less tactful than I am now
).
My son is in the band and he's got some really close friends from his middle school years (6th & 7th Grade). But if we stay where we're at, he'll have to switch high schools. I know how hard that can be, from personal experience (my parents moved us to a different state right after my junior year of high school). The middle school band is a feeder ground for high school band (naturally), and ALL of his current friends (except for a couple of acquaintances here in the neighborhood who he doesn't hang with at school) will stay at High School Z.
Our house is a bit on the small side. Just the accumulation of crap over the years - we're big readers and one of our garage spaces is basically full of book shelves. We bought small - the house is about 1800sq.ft. (not counting garage space). Part of that is my own personal philosophy - I'm not going to buy more space than we really need as a family. So I'm obviously not a fan of the image-boosting McMansions - I don't think that a mega-big house says much about a person. Around here, most people who live in the McMansions are either scrimping in their daily lives to "afford" the mortgage payments or digging into debt big-time. I'd much rather buy
what we NEED rather than what our neighbors want us to buy. But realistically we're in the 2500sq.ft. range for our needs, or a bit smaller if there's tons of attic or basement storage space.
Money's not
really the issue for us - when we bought in 2000 we were approved for a loan about 3x the amount that we actually borrowed. The mortgage company said we could "afford" it - but I'd much rather keep my money in other places than a house and enjoy life if & when I can, rather than spend all my time in a huge, under-furnished house eating Ramen for dinner every night to "make ends meet". My personal philosophy: I'd rather live in a nice house (not a "wow" house), and be able to afford what I want when I want (within reason) without going into debt - such as multiple trips to WDW per year, nicer furniture, nicer cars, all the books we could possibly read,
Lego Millennium Falcon
, etc.
Our house's value has appreciated about 70% from when we bought it, and we've got a decent amount of equity built up due to doubling & tripling the mortgage payments when we can afford it.
Adam has one more year in middle school (8th Grade), so it's time for us to make a decision. We ultimately want to build "our house", but there's not enough time or money for us in the immediate future to do that in the timeframe we'd need to get Adam where he wants to be.
The realistic timeframe for our retirement house is to start looking for the land in the next couple of years - 2 to 3 acres with mountain-views is our only major requirement. Cherie likes to garden, so that's why we'd need that much land. Pay that off in a couple of years while I design the house. We cut photos out of magazines with ideas we like as we find them, and put them in a design folder - we've been doing that for years now. Lots of book cases throughout the house, and a sitting area with a large window in the master bedroom are envisioned at this point, too. And a specified garage stall for a Corvette Z06, of course
...
This means the discussion goes on at least 3 times. One for all of us on the floor, one for the other boss who probably already heard but fakes it, and one for the deaf boss who's fault it was anyway. 
I think we all have that one "deaf" boss. 
We had a meeting the other morning to "brain storm" 
hehe)
One of our local boys is on the show and he's pretty darn good! 
