Quick House-Hunt Dispatch

We put a bid on a house today. It is beautiful and perfect and I love it. There is already another buyer in the picture who offered a bid two days ago, which the seller countered, and hasn't returned. Only in Austin is a house on the market five days with two competing offers.

I am still quite sick. The sinus pressure has gotten so bad that it hurts to wash my face. To lightly press on my closed eye is intensely painful - it makes me feel like I'm back on the airplane again. I can't bend over or move my head much at all, and I continue to have the same splitting headache. I'm on antibiotics and a prescription decongestant that I think have helped, but I'm worried they won't help enough to make the return flight home bearable. The antibiotics seem to have turned my snot orange, which, other than being repulsive, seems quite fitting given my current location.

Tomorrow we tour three daycares while waiting to find out the status of our bid. We left the Houston at 7 AM - it's been a very long day. I talked to my mom and Landon is doing well in their care, of course. He watched my dad and brother play basketball on the driveway and was thoroughly entertained for over an hour. He's really enjoying the outdoors. The house we bid on has a playscape already in the yard that I know he will love - I can picture him swinging on it, tilting his head back and laughing.

Each time I return to Austin I'm reminded of how much I love it. Our family is going to grow here; our careers are going to begin here; and we're going to be happy here. I am going to miss Chicago a lot, and I'm going to miss the friends I love there even more, but I'm getting so excited about our future here. It's yet another beginning in our family's story, and beginnings are my favorite part.