Two Steps Forward. One Step Back.

Last week we were expecting to finally have something resembling an answer from the bank.  Alas, as in so many other areas of life, expectations in this process are a set-up for disappointments....

Instead of a yes, no, or even a maybe, we were told that instead of evaluating us for a short-sale they are now "required" to evaluate us for a loan modification.  The same loan modification that we have been told previously that would not work in our situation.  The same loan modification that the bank themselves told us they wouldn't consider us for previously.

It will take them another 30 or so days to work through that process.  Once they determine that a modification will not work - and if they can do math at all they will see that it can't  - then the file will go back to the decisioning process for the short-sale.

One step back.

Technically, our contract with the buyers expired this week.  If they walked, as the previous buyers did, that could have been a giant step back.  However, they and their agent requested to extend the closing date to on or before July 23rd!  So obviously they are still hanging on.  It's not a guarantee that they won't change their minds at some point, of course, but it is a positive move for now.

Two steps forward.  Hopefully.

As for the rest of life in general, we're settling in to the rental fairly well. It's pretty cramped, but since it's very similar in square footage and lay-out to the first house Mr. Four Walls and I purchased - the home to which we brought newborns Jellybean and Miss Florida - it's not been too much of a challenge to cram in all five of us.  There have been a few trips to Ikea, the storage Mecca, since in small spaces the only way to go is up!  Wall shelving, bins, and some do-it-yourself honey-do items for Mr. Four Walls should get us out of the last few remaining boxes soon.  We scored on some Ikea shelving in the as-is section for the corner of our bedroom - now referred to as The Office - and Mr. Four Walls is going to build in a customized desk top.  Once it's all done I need to post some photos.

The other BIG item on the horizon is that we're coming up on the end of our arrangement with our current sitter.  Childcare issues....again.  The bane of my existence lately, especially since my heart isn't in it.  I don't want to find childcare.  I want to be home.  Peanut is 18 months old today, if you can believe it.  The time has gone so fast, and as I look back on the past year and a half, I remember so little of her teeny days.  I can remember so much of Jellybean's and Miss Florida's, almost like it they were yesterday, but the fact of the matter is that I wasn't with Peanut much to make those kind of memories, and that breaks my heart.  We're doing some serious soul-searching, budget-crunching, and God-seeking as we try to move towards a decision: find new care for the kids, or quit my job????? 

If I do leave my great job - and it is a great job - I will still need to bring in an income.  One big option on the table is for me to open a small in-home daycare, and I'm thoroughly researching this option.  I can also flip burgers or wait tables every evening and weekend, basically putting me and Mr. Four Walls on opposite schedules.  There are pros to cons to both options, so more decisions. 

Big Decisions. That seems to be all that our lives are about lately, and as we make them we pray that they're the two-steps forward kind, not the one (or two, or five) step back sort.