Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

So, August is a big month for our family. We have alot going on and alot of decisions to make. They kind of all tie together, so it's hard to prioritize but I think we are making progress.

Big, Stressful Decision #1 - Three years ago we leased a pretty, shiny, new Camry. That was 2007. I drove it for a year and loved it deeply. The last time I drove that car and thought of it as mine was October 23, 2008. To the hospital. Because I was in labor (yes I drove myself...that's another story). I've been driving my mom's 2000 Toyota Sienna ever since. It is NOT pretty or shiny or new. But it holds all three of our kids and it runs. So my mom has been driving the Camry for two years and now the lease is ending and we have to turn it in. We hoped to just buy my mom's old van since (see below) we aren't sure what kind of budget we'll have going forward. It's been well taken care of and probably (unfortunately?) has lots of life left in it. Although Duncan's "special trash compartment" might have devalued it a bit. My mom was up and down, back and forth, all over the place as to whether or not she wanted to sell it so we were unsure as to whether or not we'd buy a new van, or her old one.

Big Stressful Decision #2 - Our house has been on the market since April 6th. We were hopeful that by now, we would have sold and moved so that Duncan could start school at a kindergarten we felt good about. This is not the case. We have shown it perhaps 15 - 20 times and have not had a single offer. We have lowered our price two times and wonder if at this point, it's not too low. At this point, we are not going to sell in time for us to move before school starts so do we keep it on the market, as is; take it off the market and give it a "rest period" and try again next spring or do we spend some money, make some changes and still try to sell this fall, at a higher price...which leads us to...

Big, Stressful Decision #3 - The one piece of feedback we get over and over on our house is that our kitchen is too small/not updated. So, we got a few bids on a remodel that would be pretty incredible and probably help sell our house quicker. No guarantees, of course. The downsides are the money, the time, the mess. The benefits would be that for the duration of the time we have left in this house we would have a fabulous kitchen, and that we would very likely sell the house faster. However, being faced with possibly having to buy a new car instead of an old, crappy uh, I mean previously owned one impacted our decision. We had bids, had talked money, and I think were really close to pulling the trigger, but then doubt started creeping in.

Big, Stressful Decision #4 - Duncan turned five in June and we completely anticipated that he would start kindergarten this August. We also anticipated that we would live in an area with a good neighborhood school. Do we send him to the neighborhood school? We tried to get a transfer but were unsuccessful. Our local school is not terrible. As Iain said, he will not get stabbed. We visited and were not completely horrified. We did not love it. I did not think, "this will be such a good place for him". I had people tell me "it's only kindergarten", which is true only I don't really agree with the "only" part. He's there at least six hours a day, five days a week. With people I don't know. Without us. Without the people he's been with most days, all of his life. That's a harsh change. So, to send him somewhere that we don't feel really confident about, where we aren't sure he'll get what he needs just doesn't feel right to us. I went back and forth almost daily on what to do but after MUCH prayer the answers started to come to me.

Not so big not so stressful decision - My cell phone was up for renewal and Iain got me a new one. Oh, iPhone...where have you been all my life?

So, as of right now, we are buying my mom's old van, selling her the Camry, not remodeling the kitchen, homeschooling Duncan (yes, I said homeschooling...I am sure I will have lots of good material on that one, don't you think?), and still hoping our house sells and that we can still move to a good school.

~Christie