Imagine me shaking my head in admiration. This is why people like you wind up in perfect-for-you houses in really great, vibrant neighborhoods, while people like me wind up in turns-out-it's-a-pretty-great-house-but-who-knew-when-we-bought-it places in neighborhoods that turn out to fit us, but that we picked mostly because there aren't seven bidders on every house the first day it goes on the market.

Confrontation avoidance at all costs. My motto. So yeah, we bought a house within a month of beginning to look. And we bought it in a place where we actually WERE able to put a "sale of our previous house" contingency. But like I said, that's because there weren't a bunch of other people kicking the door down.

I love the home-buying process...when it's not me buying the home. I love looking at houses and imagining what my life would be like if I lived there, and how I would decorate it, and where I would buy my groceries, and which bookstores I would spend all my time in. Keep us up to date so I can live vicariously, OK?