Crunch time...

Goodness! It has been a whirlwind around here. We got back from the cruise and immediately went into "get the house ready to go on the market" mode. We listed on Friday afternoon, and by that afternoon, we received a call that someone wanted to look at it. So....on Saturday morning, me, Jason, the Nut, and the Jakeman all got in the car and headed out. Lucy stayed to gather information - hehe. After getting back home, we got a phone call that someone else wanted to look at it on Sunday, and then the Saturday people came back for showing #2. It was a busy day on Sunday. We got our first offer yesterday, so we will see how it goes. In the meantime, I am getting ready for showing #4 in the morning. Whew!!!

With all that said, this whole process is bittersweet. I am soooo ready to move back to Georgia. I am looking forward to living in a place that you can order Brunswick stew. I mean, I took for granted that everyone knew what that was, but apparently, it is a pretty regional thing. Who knew? As Jason has said, we are looking forward to having our own "wine guy" or butcher or favorite dive. I want to live in a place and establish roots. It is an exciting time. But there are people here and places here that I will miss. It's sad to think that the Keltons or the Webers will be hundreds of miles away (along with other people, too), and it will take a plane ride or a VERY long car trip to visit.

On a happier and much more rambling kind of note, I mentioned finding favorite dives earlier. That's the kind of gal I am. Rambling and dive finding... Anyway, it always astounds me that there are people who turn their noses up at places because they don't meet their standards of socially acceptable places to go. I guess nowhere is off limits to me. For instance, if Southern Living has said that a place is good, I will trust them. I don't need the Junior League of Jackson to tell me that I should go to "insert fancy place here." I love having a Cool Al's burger from time to time. Granted, the place surely isn't anything fancy to look at on the inside, but the people who work there are super nice, and they have some of the best burgers around. I love finding hole in wall places like that. We have found several places like that here. If you tell me somewhere is good to eat, I don't care if it's in the ritzy part of town or the ghetto, I am there. Random, I know, but for some reason I have food on the brain.

Food and private schools. Jason and I are products of public education. And personally, I think we turned out quite well. I think a goal for both of us is to see that our kids get a good education in a public school setting if possible. I grew up in a town that had private school options in nearby towns. And, um, they sucked. Yes, I said it, and unless it's changed drastically, the majority of people who send their kids to one school in particular simply want to say that their kids go to private school. It's a status symbol kind of thing - pure and simple. I have heard people here talk about sending their preschoolers to private schools that cost a fortune. Let me say this. It is always your prerogative what you do with your own children, but if you pay thousands of dollars for someone to teach your child how to say their ABC's and count to 10 then you have more money than sense. One of the things that I hope that I find in any school our kids go to is diversity. I would hate for Jake to be in a classroom or school where all the other children look eerily similar to him. I would like for him or our other children to have friends that are other races or backgrounds and have families that don't all have daddies that are doctors or lawyers. Call me crazy... I'm sure that I have pissed some people off with this one, and quite frankly, I don't care. Now I must get back to getting my house "show-ready." Or hell, maybe I'll just nap instead...