We Lost $200,000!

That’s right, we lost over $200,000…

…in debt. 

We are going from $284,700 and 3100 square feet to 950 square feet.  It’s safe to say we are downsizing.  We got great news here on the Germanic border of France.  Someone has committed to purchase our mammoth of a home back in Texas.  They will love it, and it will be perfect for them.  They will enjoy soaking in the oversized teardrop tub nestled between the surrounding stone work after a long day at work.  Perhaps they will enjoy glasses of chardonnay with bubbles surrounding them, they’ll rest their wine glasses on the granite windowsill.  The wife, or maybe the husband, will enjoy cooking on the oversized stove I bought for my wife when she moved to Texas.  The house didn’t need one, but she’s a baker, and wanted something bigger and better.  Children will play upstairs and down, it’s a good home, no, it’s a great home.  I am very happy for the buyers. 

I’ll miss our bathroom, we designed and built it.  I’ll miss the sleek granite counters, and the backsplash that my wife worked hard on after the hurricane forced us to remodel.  But I am excited.  Very excited.  Excited for the new adventures that selling will afford us.  Excited to pay cash for something smaller, away from the city.  Yes, paying cash!  We will go from owing $200,000+ to ZERO, and that’s a sweet little zero, sweeter than the caramel French toast my wife made a few days ago.  We are breaking away from the norm and making our own way—and I couldn’t be happier.  We couldn’t be happier!

We could stay, and work and commute our lives away, but that’s not us.  We love to travel, but you know that already, that’s why are you here.  We bounce around the globe like a ping pong ball.  Today we are in France, maybe lunch in Switzerland or Germany next week?  I can’t wait to get back to Thailand, those are the best four months of the year!  That’s what selling our house does for us; it lets us sit at the pool at our condo in Pattaya.  Selling our home gets us a plethora of massages from our friends at Nai Massage right on Jomtien Beach.  I miss our friends, and their broken English coupled with our broken Thai.

What now?  We were scheduled to return to the States on May 27.  However, that has changed, we are just too eager.  We’ve found several contenders for our stateside home and must get back to snatch one up!  It would be nice to purchase and close before June 1.  In mid-June we are taking Seven to Hershey Park and Niagara Falls, so pack up your bag buddy!  From there we will make a three-day journey back to Texas, and hopefully to our new home.  Our poor rainbow Fiat will be begging for a nap, after all, Italians love naps.  I hope she’s up for the challenge of motoring from DC to Houston to Virginia to Hershey to Canada and back to Texas.  She’s a good little car, I have faith! 

Question:  How are we moving out of a house without being there?

Answer:  We have a great friend, Mike.  For those of you in the Spring/Woodlands area, go see him at his bar, 19^th Hole, located on Sawdust Road near I-45.  And if you haven’t tried Crown Peach, tell him to mix it with iced-tea, yumm!  Mike is coordinating everything:  storage unit, movers, packers.  He’s at our house right now, as I write this, packing up dishes.  He just Facetimed me.  Also, my parents have been a huge help.  Along with letting us store most of our belongings at their house, they have moved some of our treasures as well.  Thanks Mom and Dad; and thank you, Mike!

You want to know how much our life will cost now, don’t you?  I know you do.  I read our stats.  The financial posts are always the best ones.  Well, you’ll have to wait.  All I can say is that we are downsizing, and the amount will astonish you.  Stay tuned!  As for the misleading title, it got you here, but I promise, “no more tricks, I am the captain now.”