A Time to Move - Again
Well, here we go again. We're moving this weekend, but our intentions is this is the next-to-last time. We're close to deciding that Texas is home for good. There is so much to love about this state. The climate is nothing short of spectacular. Mild winters, and even the height of summer is very tolerable. The best part is the spring and fall in which for about 6 months out of the year the weather is between 70 and 90 degrees and sun, sun, sun! Now you leave North Texas (DFW area) and things change no mater what way you move. Southern Texas (Houston, San Antonio, etc) you get humidity of which we have little, West Texas (El Paso) and you say howdy to a summer of 110 plus weather and snowy winters. The altitude and climate off the gulf combine to make it very temperate and low humidity. Basically everything Indy isn't.
Anyway we've decided to go to Big Bend in March instead of the Grand Canyon and Meteor Crater. That trip will be saved for more like September when we won't freeze our collective asses off. You can still get down to almost zero on March around the canyon, and in a tent camper you cease to have fun below freezing.
So, as I mentioned we're moving, but only a little ways. We're moving from North Arlington, to Grand Prairie. Grand distance total, about two miles. The new apartment is much more like a townhouse because we have a garage. So we loose the storage unit, break even on the square footage (about 1200), and pick up a patio once more. Something that I have to agree with my wife that I miss. Its nice to chill out on the patio in a not too uncommonly nice winter evening. The other advantages is that we stay in the same school district for Patrick, so we keep our free daycare and no school change. I think it looks like we loose less than $200 from the budget, so its hard to complain. As long as the house stays rented in Indiana, or sold (even better), we're fine. I'm starting to warm to the idea of keeping the Indy house as a permanent investment property. As long as we keep it down to a slow hemmorage of a couple hundred a month or less, at the least it becomes a nice cash reserve when retirement rolls around. The realestate estimaters say it will be worth about $175,000 in 25 years when the house is paid off, but there is little chance I'm working until I'm 67. I'll either be retired or dead by time time I'm 60 (18 years from now). I'm banking on the former. We still have our plan for a camp ground business in 5 years, but 10 might be more practical. At that point Patrick will be off to college. 52 isn't too old to start a new career/business, is it? Might be a nice working retirement and we should be able to have between 100 and 200 thousand but away. Add the house in Indy sale, maybe another 40k in the bank, we could have upwards of 250k to invest. Call it 150 in business expenses (buy or build), and a hundred in operating capital to see through the first two years. Not too shabby.
I don't know if I mentioned but I started my birth parents search about two weeks ago? A company called Givenright located in the Seattle area where I was born. I've considered it for about twenty years, but only really began to consider after my adoptive parents both passed (mother died in 95, father in 2000). They always said it was fine if I looked, but I never felt right doing it while they were alive. Anyway I paid the starting fee and turned them loose. So far no results, but the group of files where my records should exist are in dissaray at the county. There was a fire at some point, and they cannot find my original birth certificate likely as a result of the fire or a missfiling. I've said aloud that it doesn't mater, but inside I'm beginning to realize I hope I find them. Having no living parents is not as easy as it sounded. 42 is too young to have no living direct family. There is my adoptive sister, but she is a lot older than me (seven years) and we never had that deep connection of some siblings. I find myself hoping for some connection with these birth parents. I don't know, but I never felt that deep love for my adoptive parents that some seem to have and it makes it difficult dealing with my wife and her family. Plus I really want my mother/father to know they have a beautiful, healthy, smart and happy grandson here in Texas! I'll post more on this when I hear from the search people. I want to email them every day, but I don't because I know with as little as I paid they need to just be left alone to do their thing.
Anyway we've decided to go to Big Bend in March instead of the Grand Canyon and Meteor Crater. That trip will be saved for more like September when we won't freeze our collective asses off. You can still get down to almost zero on March around the canyon, and in a tent camper you cease to have fun below freezing.
So, as I mentioned we're moving, but only a little ways. We're moving from North Arlington, to Grand Prairie. Grand distance total, about two miles. The new apartment is much more like a townhouse because we have a garage. So we loose the storage unit, break even on the square footage (about 1200), and pick up a patio once more. Something that I have to agree with my wife that I miss. Its nice to chill out on the patio in a not too uncommonly nice winter evening. The other advantages is that we stay in the same school district for Patrick, so we keep our free daycare and no school change. I think it looks like we loose less than $200 from the budget, so its hard to complain. As long as the house stays rented in Indiana, or sold (even better), we're fine. I'm starting to warm to the idea of keeping the Indy house as a permanent investment property. As long as we keep it down to a slow hemmorage of a couple hundred a month or less, at the least it becomes a nice cash reserve when retirement rolls around. The realestate estimaters say it will be worth about $175,000 in 25 years when the house is paid off, but there is little chance I'm working until I'm 67. I'll either be retired or dead by time time I'm 60 (18 years from now). I'm banking on the former. We still have our plan for a camp ground business in 5 years, but 10 might be more practical. At that point Patrick will be off to college. 52 isn't too old to start a new career/business, is it? Might be a nice working retirement and we should be able to have between 100 and 200 thousand but away. Add the house in Indy sale, maybe another 40k in the bank, we could have upwards of 250k to invest. Call it 150 in business expenses (buy or build), and a hundred in operating capital to see through the first two years. Not too shabby.
I don't know if I mentioned but I started my birth parents search about two weeks ago? A company called Givenright located in the Seattle area where I was born. I've considered it for about twenty years, but only really began to consider after my adoptive parents both passed (mother died in 95, father in 2000). They always said it was fine if I looked, but I never felt right doing it while they were alive. Anyway I paid the starting fee and turned them loose. So far no results, but the group of files where my records should exist are in dissaray at the county. There was a fire at some point, and they cannot find my original birth certificate likely as a result of the fire or a missfiling. I've said aloud that it doesn't mater, but inside I'm beginning to realize I hope I find them. Having no living parents is not as easy as it sounded. 42 is too young to have no living direct family. There is my adoptive sister, but she is a lot older than me (seven years) and we never had that deep connection of some siblings. I find myself hoping for some connection with these birth parents. I don't know, but I never felt that deep love for my adoptive parents that some seem to have and it makes it difficult dealing with my wife and her family. Plus I really want my mother/father to know they have a beautiful, healthy, smart and happy grandson here in Texas! I'll post more on this when I hear from the search people. I want to email them every day, but I don't because I know with as little as I paid they need to just be left alone to do their thing.
posted by Falconsword at 11:25 AM
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