Well, after some negotiations on a house purchase deal last Thursday and Friday, we walked away from the table . . . only to find a better house for less money. That deal went down pretty well, and I guess we're buying a house. Honestly, there are few things I hate as much as being in escrow, but even that is somewhat of a relief. Now we know we have a place to move our stuff into next month. That's big.

One of these days I'll sit down and write a real post about some theological thinking and living.

A very quiet week on the homefront. I've been working on pulling things together for the move. Some outdoor work, some indoor work. I did get to have breakfast with some very cool people on Thursday. I think the dog is over me. She likes me, but she keeps wondering when Michelle is going to show up. Maybe the dog and I aren't so very different after all.

Back home (I guess SoCal is home for now). I got back Saturday night and have been in a bit of a daze since. Partly I'm tired, and partly I'm overwhelmed with everything I have to do over the next few weeks. In one sense, I should be focused and ready to go for it.

My time in Seattle was good. I got to know the city and surrounding areas reasonably well. And even though this wasn't a major priority for me on this trip, I actually had some good conversations with a few folks about ministry positions. They are all in a category I would label "speculative" right now, but we'll see how things develop. One is related to college campus ministry, and two are in local church settings.

The house hunt is still on - and now Michelle has to do the hunting alone. That's a drag. The real estate market is moving fairly quickly up there right now, and in our price range it's getting tough to find something we're really into.

Michelle's birthday was Saturday. It was lame to have to leave her on that day, but at least I got to see her and give her a card. I'm looking forward to seeing her when she comes down for Thanksgiving next week.

O.k. That's enough rambling for now.

My mind is a little numb from the house search right now. I'm sitting at a table that has about 30 real estate flyers from all around Seattle. Stressful stuff.

Fortunately, I'll be taking a day off from this game in order to go to a church convention type thing in Tacoma. Should be . . . interesting. The last time I went to something of this sort I was disturbed. With any luck (and/or therapy) I'll make it through this event in good health.

Here I am in Seattle. Blogging from the new public library. This place is amazing. Go here to see pictures of the library you wish you had in your town.

Michelle started work a couple of hours ago. We went house hunting with a realtor yesterday. Just from driving around, I think I'm going to like this place. We came up here to visit some friends this spring, and we thought the area was beautiful. Now with all the fall colors, it's really gorgeous.

It'll be a busy week I think, but hopefully a fun one . . . and then I have to say goodbye to my love and go home.

Wow. The time has come. Tommorrow morning we'll pack up our 1999 Nissan Maxima and begin the long drive north. We're going to go about 11 hours and stay overnight in Redding, CA and then finish off the drive to Seattle on Friday. Hard to believe that I'll be coming home alone.

I'll probably be off line most of the next week and a half.

Election day is finally here. After a good bit of struggle as to whether or not I would choose to vote at all, I made my decision and cast my ballot (absentee style). I made what I believe to be a Kingdom vote . . . and I'll leave it at that. With as tight as the polls show the presidential race to be, I'm just really hoping that we have a decisive winner quickly. I would hate to see a repeat of 2000.