Good. Discipline. Hope.

There was a lot of GOOD in the weekend that just finished. It’s a tough time, but there’s good in it.

• We arranged the carpet replacement we need for the Lesser Way house. Deals can be had. Tell a hard-luck story, set a hard budget limit, and let the sales person meet you at your need. We got carpet for half what we were quoted a year ago. That’ll go into the Lesser house as soon as it’s vacant.
• We needed a couple pieces of furniture for the Lesser Way house – a bed for the downstairs studio apartment, and a kitchen table for the nook. Scored both on craigslist over the weekend – table and six chairs: $100; bed: $150. That was about 10% of what C was afraid we’d have to spend.
• Seems we’re back as preferred hosts at Marylhurst. Two years away, but they remember us and are glad to have us returning to their community.
• We met some wonderful people who are struggling just as much as we are to manage our way through these resetting of the market. A young man who lost his job and is close to losing his first house; a successful real estate broker who’s gone so long without a sale that she’s selling carpet to make ends meet.
• We held the house open for prospective buyers. We had seven visiting parties, four of them dead-serious shoppers. Two parties spent 90 minutes at the house, looking and talking. Unheard of.

This is a tough time, but we increasingly feel lucky. And hopeful. And disciplined.

And now, home sales are on the increase. First time buyers are getting their houses; those home owners who’ve just sold are now (finally) shopping their step-up homes. The stock market is showing a sustained rally; the jobless rate is increasing, but coasting to a plateau. My job is steady; C has in increasing queue of contract work she can take on. There’s prosperity here that I wish I’d been able to find in the last recession.

Last night, C kept asking my why I had paint in my hair, just above my temple. I kept telling her I hadn’t been doing any painting. Eventually, she came over for a closer look. “Nope, those are gray hairs just forming. They’re gray on the ends and working backward.” she said with a tone reserved for a fellow comrade, “I think you’ve earned those medals in the past few months. Thanks for steering us through tough times.”

We’ve had to face fear and uncertainty for so long, we’re starting to see a way out. We’ll have some scars and some gray hairs…but we’re coming out.

More disciplined than ever.