time to re-imagine yourself

Last fall we registered for a series at UW - River Falls titled "Morning with the Professor."  The first session was a presentation on the billion-year geologic history of the St Croix River Valley formation.  The story was impressive and thought-provoking.  The second was a presentation on computer-mediated communication, in which the presenter talked about re-imagining communication, from what it has been to what it will be.

The concept of re-imagination is suitable in other ways as well, including our person and our life.  That's kind of where we are today, having traveled to Arizona to vacation, falling in love with what we saw, and then making an offer on a home that we think would be terrific for us.

Consider that it means moving from the community where we have lived since 1982, the home we've lived in since 1985, and the family that we will be leaving behind.  That last part was a kicker that we were able to accept only by logically realizing that they are successfully living their own lives and candidly don't see us as often as they used to, and that's a good thing.  They're independent.

Those who have children who moved miles away after high school or college graduation probably don't relate to this loss of children, but we have always had numerous family get-togethers each year, and now we'll be happy if we get a visit each year at Christmas, when the water in the pool will be a bit chilly.

At the moment of this writing, in Cottonwood, AZ, we're still $1500 away from the seller, but don't think they will be sitting tight.  The home is one that was purchased on foreclosure with the intent to flip it.  In December they priced it too high, lowered it $10,000 and 10 days ago lowered it another $10,000.  They gave us a counter-offer on our original offer to lower it another $3500, and we proposed they come down another $1500 - and we'll see.

We left San Tan Valley just before noon to buy some balsamic vinegar here in Cottonwood, and discovered we will come back here after we move because they have a lot of arts/crafts stores offering Navajo pottery, cactus and other sculptures, and numerous items suitable for an Arizona homeowner.  The photo inserted here was taken at Sunrise Point, a rest stop on AZ 202 as we traverse from STV to cottonwood.  It's another example of the awesome scenery that we're looking forward to having as  part of the environment daily going forward.  We are re-imaging our lives.

Old Cottonwood - mountains in the background