Look with your eyes

Tia was telling me her parents, when she was out, would tell her to 'look with her eyes, not with her hands.'  I am sure we all heard that at some point in our respective childhoods.  Most of us basically understood that it was strictly hands off.  Quinn, however, is a little more clever.  He then leans over and puts his eye on the item in question (generally knocking it over that way).  Parents = 0.  Quinn = 1.  He has also now figured out the round door handles.  We are truly in trouble now.

We put in our second offer on a house that was, like the first one, outbid by others.  Also, like the first one, it was in the SW.  We have also briefly (VERY briefly) started looking around in some of the Vancouver school districts.  The market there is nearly the polar opposite of the market in Portland.  Largely, this is due to the commute being really awful and the fact that they have no growth boundaries.  Where Portland is dense, they are sprawling.  And where we are building condos and apartments, they are putting in homes.  Huge homes.  Like 2000-3500 sq feet and better homes.  The damnedest thing is you can get one of them for significantly less than here, with lower property taxes to boot.  Yet, houses linger on the market there for weeks and months.  Here we compete against 4 offers on the first day.  It is strange what a river and a bridge can mean.

Though it is somewhat dispiriting, the truth is there is no hurry and letting ourselves get swept up in the frenzy will not be to our benefit.  While we love our neighbors, the neighborhood is still not quite done clearing out the debris of years past.  To whit, there is still a rental property/grow house and a nice enough group of older meth heads both within spitting distance.  Plus, the schools are pretty damn near bottom feeding.  Yet, the area is 'hot' because it is so close to so many things.  The search continues.

It appears that the clinic may soon be in my rear view.  I start back on the floor in May.  I am not thrilled about it because I will lose a lot of what I love to do, but I am really trying to focus on the benefits of working in a team and not possibly/potentially being sold and/or closed at some point down the line.  It is a gamble I felt I had to make.  Plus, there always remains a chance that something opens up at our Washington location down the line.  Then a move to Vancouver would really make sense.

Had jury duty the other day.  More accurately I should say I spent the morning getting up early, driving to Gresham, waiting in lines, watching a video, and then being dismissed along with 50 or so other people.  Sigh.  If I am going to get called, it would be nice to be part of an actual proceeding.

The sun is finally back.  Hurrahs all around!  Can't wait to spend days at parks and nights at outdoor concerts again instead of shuttered indoors with the rest of my hibernating Portland bretheren.