(Just a random picture. I had a can of chickpeas out on the counter last night to curry… and Kallie decided to help herself. Too cute not to take a picture.)

Well… I think we’ve finally made *the decision*. We are moving. This year.

Our price range is set, and I was pre-approved for anything in that range, with 10% down. The 10% down is going to be the hard part – I need to sell my house before we have that cash in hand, obviously. The trickier part is that given today’s market (and what we’re able to afford within our specifications) we’re mostly looking at foreclosed houses. And banks don’t take contingent offers. So there’s a chance we could find something perfect, not be able to make an offer on it, and then lose it to another buyer.

There is A LOT to do before I can put my house on the market. And my schedule isn’t letting up any to give me extra time; plus the weather still isn’t quite right for home improvements. If you’re into house painting (outside), garage painting, grass repair, planting bushes and flowers (apparently, yellow flowers invoke a “buy me now!” mood?), and window trim (outside and in)… you are very welcome to be our house guests for as long as you’d like to stay and help.

So, we’re looking in the Princeton and Isanti areas. I visited a few houses last week… haven’t found anything wonderful yet, but I’ve been looking through a rather large list of houses that meet our criteria online. There are a few things in Wisconsin too – so that’s a possibility. Mostly, we’re hoping 1 hour our less driving time to the Twin Cities, where my baby niece and Chris’s baby nephew live. (Oh, and the rest of our family).

Our criteria: (MINIMUM) 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 3 acres, 1600 square feet finished. Of course, a smaller house on 20 acres would win over a larger house on 3 acres, provided most other conditions were right. We’re now looking at this more of a “move up” closer to what we’d eventually like — because at this point, we simply can’t afford the giant Victorian house in perfect condition on 50 acres that we want. A move closer to the twin cities will allow us to see family more, and hopefully be a positive step in our careers.

The food co-op’s board meeting is tomorrow night, and I’m going to tell the board that we are searching for houses out of the area. Ideally, I’d like to see a whole month (if not more) overlap between my leaving and a new manager taking over. I am really going to miss working there – it’s been an invaluable position, and I’ll be sad to leave. But, life goes on.

Long overdue.

Visit. Get yourself a website. Or refer someone.

You *know* you want to.

www.iceberghosting.com.

Just about two years ago, Chris brought home a couple of papayas from a grocery stroe in the twin cities. The giant one (pictured in the linked post) was a Meridol papaya. He also brought home a solo papaya. I planted the seeds, and soon had a couple dozen small papaya plants. 15 of them overwintered in 2006/2007… and four survived. Two of each variety — though I don’t know which are which.

I still have the four surviving papaya trees. As you can see, two of them are doing quite well! The two pictured above stand nearly five feet tall now, and I’m searching for new pots for the summer, when they will move outside.

The other two… well, they are going through some tough times. First, Kallie decided to break the top off of one of them:

That prompted a papaya tree move into their own secluded room. The one she broke off started to branch off, you can see the new growth. I’m hoping this one makes it… it’s going to be a funny looking tree if it does!

And then, I ignored the papayas for too long. The fourth one became infested with bugs (spider mites?), and was full of web-like strings. I cleaned it off, and used a spray bottle to try and blast away what looked like eggs. Unfortunately, the leaves weren’t strong enough for my puny spray bottle, and it lost most of them:

This poor guy doesn’t have much new growth. I’m worried about it. I’ve been diligently checking it for bugs and spraying it every day. It’s still green, and according to the “Papaya Experts” it may still have a chance. But this is what the 11 that didn’t make it looked like before their final days.

We can’t wait for summer! (If we move, I have no idea how I’m going to transport these guys…. BUT if we move, we’re building an attached greenhouse, so my tropical plant obsession can continue.)