Hounding

We've been nagging our collective bosses for several days now, curious about how the process will transpire from this point forward. They have remained vague since they don't really have the hard-and-fast information we've been asking for.

Well today we received our answer in the form of a formal offer for transfers to Miami Center complete with a January 4th, 2009 report-to-work date.
Alright ... now it is official. We have secured the jobs and will be showing up on their doorstep right after a 2,100 mile cross country trip during the New Year's holiday.
Toward that end we have settled on the plan to purchase the RV (Fifth-Wheel) and pull it along with us to Florida. We are going to be living in a Montana 3665RE Fifth-Wheel for at least several months after we arrive in Miami, and maybe for the duration of our time there should we find that this is the lifestyle we like. Now I have to find a truck that'll pull our house around :).

We firmly believe that we're going to be just fine with this choice; that buying property in Miami and then 'settling in' is not what we want to do considering our future desire to go sailing for extended periods of time. One very inviting aspect of having the smaller (considerably smaller!) living space is that we will begin training for living aboard a boat as we adjust to both the RV itself and the community that surrounds the RV lifestyle. Another future benefit will be the ultimate convenience of travel, both by boat and by RV should we choose either option. I may have previously mentioned that it strikes me as extremely cool to consider the idea of moving the RV across the country and parking it in storgae somewhere until we eventually sail into that port. How much fun would it be to drive across the country, leave the RV in, say, San Diego then fly back to Florida and go sailing; eventually crossing the Panama Canal and winding up in San Diego again where a familiar land-based domicile awaits while the boat's hauled out of the water for a bottom paint or some such work. Sounds like a plan to me :)

But we first have to get there ... and the challenges are sizeable. We met with Jenni (our realtor) yesterday and got our final guidance on preparing the Hayden Ct. House for sale. In a nutshell there is still a considerable amount of work to be done and our goal is to live in a 'show home' until it gets sold. Neither of us have done this before, but I think we're not going to be too thrilled to have phone calls come in saying that "there is a showing in 20 minutes, can we be scarce?" /) I know it will be to the good in the end, but it's daunting to think we'll be spending the nights in our house, but not necessarily be allowed to 'live' there. OK> We'll get the gates fixed, do the painting in and out, fix up the back fence, repair the front steps and deck, and finish up the siding and gutter work. Then we'll caulk the kitchen counters, put the final touches on the new flooring, clear out the last astions of our normal life from the den and the garage, and proceed to show the place to as many potential buyers as we can round up. I'll be sure and post the link to the Virtual Tour' after the realty crew comes out and does the photo shoot. Here we go!