New housing plan

We've been trying to clean up the house and look at moving into something larger. In addition to the boys needing more room, my parents are getting older and it's entirely possible that we'll need to have one or both of them move in with us with the next few years. Our current house, much as we love it, just isn't up to that. So, we need to find something else... and that means getting this house ready to sell.

Getting ready for this is a big job, and it's going to be nearly impossible to show the house while we're living here with the boys: it won't stay clean for more than five minutes at a stretch. Plus, there's some general work that needs to be done: paint, tile in the bathrooms, and like that. Maybe the foundation, too, but hopefully not. So, yeah: there's a lot to be done.

Fortunately, I think I've found a solution. It's a reasonably inexpensive houseboat at a dock on the Trinity River, not too far from downtown Dallas. The bank is willing to give us a loan, too - apparently they can process this faster than they could a house, or something. I don't understand banks. Anyway, rather than trying to find a new place that's large enough for all of us and all our stuff, the new plan is to throw away (almost) all our stuff and move everybody into the houseboat.

I figure we won't need things like television, DVDs, and video games: fixing up the boat will keep us busy enough. (It needs work on the roof and some of the fixtures. Oh, and the wiring - we'll need to replace that completely. And either fix or replace the engine, but that won't matter unless want to move the thing.) The boys can play on the dock, or go swimming in the river if they need more exercise - when they're not helping out, of course. It'll be a longer commute, of course, but I think it'll be worth it. And when the Zombie Apocalypse comes, we can just cast off and float away, safely out of their reach.

So that's the plan: houseboat. Happy holiday, everyone.