Yesterday evening, on Valentine’s Day, I fell in love. I didn’t really expect to, I figured I’ll settle and be just fine. Happy sometimes, even. Besides, I’ve already got one foot halfway into another, altho the contract hasn’t been written yet and it’s not binding technically. Yet.

I don’t think there’s just one “the one” in our lives. Sometimes there are two or three “the one”s, cuz that one is the best one for our lives right now. I just know that when I recognize one of these “the one”s, I can instantly see the future flash before me, I can picture myself there, and I’m so happy. I can think about nothing else and all the molecules around me spark with energy and I get beyond restless. It’s happened to me before when I’ve found other “the one”s.

So it was last nite that I ran around in circles, exclaiming over and over, “Oh my God. I love it. I love it. It’s perfect. Oh my God.” That house that Vicky found online and told me about? Mr. W and I went to take a look at it last night on our way to dinner. Sure our offer for our short sale house JUST went in that day, but it doesn’t hurt to keep our options open for something more ideal. We first hit up 2 or 3 other houses on the way, and even tho some were pretty cool or had interesting floor plans and I could live with it, none of them spoke to me or excited me. One had a backyard that scared me. I swear, I think they abused dogs or children and there are body parts still buried back there among the overgrown shrubs and weird sectioned-off kennels and cages. *shudder*

And then last on our list was THE house. It has a huge 3-car driveway, so wide that “I can Zaino my car sideways on it!” I said, so wide that “You can do donuts in your car on it,” Mr. W said. The neighborhood is older but well-manicured and totally upgraded. The 2500 square foot house looks like it had a recent face lift with beautiful new double-front-doors and a generously-sized raised platform wooden porch. The lights are on inside the house although it’s already vacant, and I gasped at the custom paint, the crown moldings, the carpet, the upgraded designer interior. The back yard gate was unlocked so in a delirium I ran to the back and nearly fell into the GIANT new pool, surrounded by a nice deck and fruit trees. (It was dark.) The clean white backyard patio rafters, Mr. W observed, is not wood, but fiberglass. No termite issues! Looking in from the back, I saw new granite countertops in the kitchen, recessed lighting, a nice center kitchen island, new stainless steel appliances. All totally new and upgraded. I even loved the bend in the staircase. In my mind, I SAW my life inside that house. I felt my happiness. I could feel Dodo’s happiness wandering around in there. It was totally move-in ready and costs THE SAME as the other house! (With the other house, we’d have to sink money into changing the carpet, small repairs on the floors and upgrading the bathrooms/bedrooms first.)

My realtor left for a week-long family trip yesterday, but had left me in the hands of Grace’s dad. I called him this morning to say hello and to tell him about the house, and he called me back with details. It is a short sale again (I’m fine with that, because the amount of time a short sale situation adds to the process will be beneficial to us; we can’t move in right away, anyway), it’s assessed at $200K more than it’s being offered for, and he’s free to let us in to look at it TONIGHT! I was SO excited when I hung up I couldn’t stop smiling as I called Mr. W to tell him the good news.

Due to the psychotically early meet-up time I made with Grace’s dad at the new property in my eagerness, I’d have no time to run home tonite to grab clothes and take care of Dodo’s food and whatnot for the weekend, so I was going to do it at lunchtime and skip the gym. In calling my gym trainee to tell her I wasn’t going to hit the gym with her today, I got a call in on my cell phone. It was my bank, congratulating me that I’ve been approved for my great HELOC (home equity line of credit), which I’d applied for at a crazy-low interest rate to use as down payment for the new house. I’ll be mailed closing documents on Wednesday and then I can throw my car loan into the HELOC, make it tax deductible, AND fund my path into my (uh, I mean “our”) new home!

Here’s the fated sequence of events…
1. We find the 1st short sale house.
2. We put an offer on that short sale house. (I run into Grace’s dad.)
3. I call and tell Vicky about it.
4. Vicky looks up that house online and says, “Hey, what about THIS house? It’s the same price.” She reads the description to me and I’m instantly intrigued.
5. Our realtor leaves the country. Mr. W and I visit that house. I fall in love, utterly, completely.
6. Grace’s dad is handling our stuff in our realtor’s absence.

It’s perfect! It’s GOT to be meant to be, right? EEEEEEEEEE!!!