Orlando

Orlando was fun, but it's good to be home! We actually had a nice relaxing visit. We stayed with our good friends, Francis and Anne, who moved into their new house last month, and we got VIP treatment. Anne made us what seemed like a 7-course dinner! It was so nice to be able to have all of the conveniences of home, especially with the boys. The only disappointment was that we couldn't enjoy their pool. It was just too cold which is shocking when you consider that it's April and Orlando. What the heck?!

Yesterday, Anne made the trip back with us, and we returned the hospitality. We took both of our guests, Anne and Uncle Al, out on the town in the historic district. We had dinner and did a little bit of bar hopping before calling it an early evening. We had big plans to stay out late, but our old age got the better of us. Even Uncle Al, the youngster, was yawning by 10pm. So sad! I blame the lack of excitement downtown though. I thought there would be more mid-week action considering that it's spring break. Nope!

Back on the topic of Orlando, our visit did have an unexpected side effect. Seeing Anne and Francis' house actually got us sort of excited about our own search. Anh and I have been somewhat dreading the search. Understandable, I assume, given our past luck and experiences with the Florida real estate market. We've decided next weekend we will finally venture out to see some the houses that we found on the internet over the past few months. The good news is that we have a decent sized list of about 15 homes to look at, and some have even recently dropped their listing price which means the owners are probably willing to deal. So, we are cautiously optimistic.

If we find any houses that are real contenders, I plan to share details and pictures, but don't expect anything as grand as last time. We've dialed back our budget considerably. Given the uncertainty of the economy, we just aren't as eager to plop down such a huge down payment. I think the only person disappointed by our decision was our realtor, but she's just thrilled to have a client willing to buy in these uncertain times. Little does she know, we're still REALLY gun shy and far from committed to the idea of purchasing.

We'll wade cautiously into the pool though and see what happens!