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Aside from the fact that 75% of my friends would like to be at Jet and Ryan’s movie marathon happening that same weekend that I tried to have the “Welcome Home” party, (I should have actually checked my schedule), some of my dearest friends can’t make it at all. So October 20th isn’t going to work. The 19th doesn’t work so well either.

The next weekend I’m sure someone is having a Halloween party. I’d make this a Welcome Home/Halloween party, but the Halloween party is Skwid’s thing every year and I wouldn’t even dream of competing with him.

So, how about Saturday, November 3rd?

I got a call this morning from my Lawyer’s office again. She had two pieces of information.

1) She talked to the relocation division of my company and didn’t feel confident that my assigned relocation agent knew what she was doing. Then again, this may not be a common occurrence, so maybe she doesn’t know what she’s doing.

2) The bank that held the old lien got the release in yesterday afternoon and, at this point, we are 100% ready to close if we still want the house.

…

I told her “no”. I told her to start negotiations with the other lawyer to get us released from our contract. But I can’t say that my heart wasn’t heavy as I said those words.

It figures. One day after we decide we’re not waiting any more and that we’re just staying here and everything finally comes together.

After many months of anticipation, the Dallas North Tollway has finally reached US-380. This means that after a 3-mile drive from my house, I am on the Tollway.

Despite the nearly $5 each way in tolls I’ll have to pay I decided to give it a try this morning. I left my house just before 6:40am and was in my parking garage by 7:15am. That’s about 25-40 minutes shorter than my usual commute.

I don’t even know how much I was paying in tolls before, but, I’m certainly going to do the math now and see if the time savings are worth the difference in cost.

I do think it’s pretty shitty of DFW to fund it’s highway infrastructure by charging people like me $200/mo ($5 one way, twice a day, 20 days a month). But, I guess that’s the way of the future and certainly incentive to move a bit closer to work.

Apparently, getting out of a contract to buy a house isn’t that easy.

Our lender has already committed to the money. He told me that even if I lost my job there’d be nothing he could do to back out from loaning me the money and nothing he can do to retract his commitment from the seller.

Our lawyer indicated that, if we want to back out of a contract, it’s entirely in the hands of the seller regarding what it will cost us to do that and it can by anything from $0 all the way to the cost of the home thereby forcing us to buy it.

So, we’re back to plan A. We’re going to pursue selling and renting our house in Texas until, if ever, we are released by the seller from our contract in New York in the event that they are unable to clear the title in a “reasonable time frame”. Our lawyer seems to think that they will get the title cleared in time. We’ll pressure them to close by 10/15 and, hopefully, we’ll either have a house in New York or be released from our contract by then.

Sorry for getting your hopes up or letting you down, depending on your particular bias. This whole trip has been a roller coaster like this. Here’s a rough timeline:

• 2006/11: Initial plan to staff in Syracuse presented to me
• 2007/03: Orders to start travel and prove worth of new position
• 2007/03: SURPRISE! You’re having a Baby!
• 2007/04: Approval expressed by Syracuse
• 2007/05: Position not approved. End travel.
• 2007/06: Position reinstated. Resume travel.
• 2007/07: SURPRISE! You have a new boss!
• 2007/08: Job officially offered with relocation.
• 2007/09: Relocation officially retracted.

Fun, huh? One thing’s for sure. There’s no shortage of stress over here.

Looks like Jess and I are having an open house this Sunday. Our real estate agent doesn’t expect too many people to show up. I’m not quite sure why she’s having it then. Maybe she’s just bored.

We’re officially putting our house up for rent. 2250 sq ft with lots of upgrades, access to community pool, cafe, hot tub, sauna, tennis courts, basket ball courts, parks, and fitness center. All for $1350 a month. You know you want it!

Some news and notes:

• When we first put our house on the market, there were 7 other houses for sale on our street alone. Now there are 11.
• We put our house for sale at $163k. Selling at this price would represent a loss for us.
• We also put $2500 worth of upgrades and repairs into the house to ready it for sale. Again, more loss.
• We’re also having to front the mortgage for our Texas house month after month until it sells. Still, more loss. And after 4 months of this, I can afford no more.
• At this point, most of the homes on our street are selling for $10K-20K less than ours. If we have to lower our price any further, it will be a loss we simply can’t afford.

The odds are stacking up against us being able to sell this house. And, as much as we like Syracuse (or Canada, or Hawaii, or Italy, or France for that matter) it doesn’t matter if I can’t afford to move there.

When our kind, caring friends and family of the praying, energy channeling, or thought focusing varieties asked what they should pray, channel, or focus for, I’ve always asked for clarity. I asked for a sign indicating what we should be doing — something to point towards what the best choice for us right now is. I think those prayers, energies, and thoughts have finally reached their goal.

So, we’re staying in Dallas.

Our desire to be in the North East has not changed and we are still planning to be there. We’re just postponing that plan for the time being. 

I know this news will make some of you very happy. It will also make some of you quite sad. This was, and continues to be, a very hard choice for us, and I hope you’ll remember that when you express your joy or sadness. We need our friends and family both near and far more than ever right now.

We are, of course, very happy to be staying in Dallas near many of the people we love, and relieved to have the stress of selling our Texas house, buying a new house, relocating across the country, and starting a new job all lifted from our shoulders. However, at the same time we are feeling the sadness of loss that comes with delaying our plans to be where we want to be, as well as the continued distance that we feel from our family and friends in the North. It’s one thing to have desires and goals and be wishful for them.  It’s another thing entirely to have the promise of those desires just within your grasp only to have them pulled away from you at the last minute.

Thanks to all of you who have supported us with advice, offers of financial help, prayers, energy, thoughts, and distractions. It means so much to us. We love you all, dearly.