So, I had my first fiction writing “credit” – I had a flash fiction story accepted by Eclectic Flash Magazine. It’s a fledgling ezine at this point, and it’s just a credit (i.e. no pay!) but I can claim it in future query letters, so that’s good. I’m working on a full short story now, maybe I’ll finish the first draft tonight.

The new house search is both exhilirating and frustrating. There are so many competing priorities, it’s tough to know what’s “right”. We’re not in any particular hurry besides the fact that we *want* to move, so that’s a tick in the plus column. We have a good idea of exactly where we want to move, since we know  which neighborhoods we like best. We know a big open kitchen is important to us, a private backyard, and enough bedrooms to accomodate a growing family and the frequent visitors that we have. I need a private office (preferably on the main level, separate from the bedroom.)  There are more “nice to have” but not “mandatory” options.

But the upshot is that there aren’t many houses that exactly fit our profile currently. There is one house in particular that’s caught our eye, but the backyard isn’t exactly as private as we like it to be. We could landscape and fence, and make it tolerable. And given the market conditions, I’m fairly sure that if they were reasonable we could get it at a nice price. The kitchen is just about perfect, the basement is roomy, and the house has a nice open feel, complete with two staircases to the upstairs and an upstairs hallway that overlooks the living room. But have we looked long enough to really compromise? Dean thinks we should look longer, since August is the typical slow time and more houses should come out on the market in the next couple of months. I suppose he’s right. I’m quite ambivalent about it , since I’ve kept my eye open for a couple of months now and this is the best house that I’ve found, but thats not to say that a better house wont come on the market next month.