Ch-ch-ch-anges!

I’ve been feeling a bit lost lately.

Maybe it has to do with the fact that I’m now an orphan. Even at 61, “orphan” is how it feels. I just plain miss my mommy and daddy.

Maybe it’s the realization that my career is, for all intents and purposes, over. At some point that resume that used to reflect deep, broad experience became a resume that just says “old has-been fart.”

Maybe it’s a delayed response from being an empty nester, combined with a yearning to be a grandparent. Kids have always been central to my existence – wanting them, having them, watching them grow, and letting them go – and this peace and quiet (that I remember begging for at times!) is sometimes just deafening.

Maybe it’s unhealthy blood pressure and weight readings and a constant pain in my legs and groin, all of which make me feel like a slug. I’m taking action – again. Can I stick to it this time?

Maybe it’s Trump. DUH.

Maybe it’s because we’re looking for the place that we’ll next call “home.”

“WAIT!” you say. “Wait!” How can we be looking for the next place we’ll call home when we bought property in Suncadia two years ago and had begun to design our dream house? You’re astute to notice.

The truth is, we’ve pretty much decided not to move to Suncadia full-time, much as we love it there. Two primary factors played into our decision: 1.) There is no top-quality emergency healthcare nearby. Granted, the Urgent Care in Cle Elum is open from 9 to 5 on weekdays and for a few hours on weekends, but if we chose some other time to collapse onto the floor gasping for breath, unconscious - or worse - on a Sunday night, we’re screwed. 2.) Beautiful as the Cascade Mountains are, winters can be brutal and never-ending. Interstate 90, pretty much the only way to get from Seattle to Suncadia, shuts down due to snow and ice a bit too often for our liking – especially because I promised to babysit for future grandchildren in Seattle on a weekly basis.

We’ve been looking at Gig Harbor  and other communities “on the other side of the water” instead. Unlike times when we’ve moved in the past, there are few constraints this time. We don’t have to look in any specific school district, we don’t need to live close to any job, and we’re less financially constrained than we were earlier in our lives. Total freedom! How nice – and how crazy-making! We’ll know when we find the right place, but who knows when that will be? Next week? Next month? Next year? Watch this space.

Until then, I have a book to write.

Four Seasons of Suncadia - Winter: check!

It's been almost a year since we first heard about Suncadia. Last February, at the Seattle Home Show, we learned that this "Suncadia" place we'd heard about in passing for many years, isn't a retirement community at all (seriously, for some reason that's what we thought); it's actually a resort community for families, with lots of people who own second homes there and some, even, who live there year-round. AND, we discovered, there's a private community at Suncadia, called Tumble Creek, where homes cannot be rented at all, where the lots are bigger, and where it's generally just a lot quieter and more private, but equally as beautiful.

 Long story short, we visited quite often in late winter and spring, and closed on our new property at Tumble Creek in June. We visited often in the summer and even once in the fall, but never saw Suncadia in the "dead of winter" - though we'd seen photos like this:

 The annual Owners' Meeting was today, so we decided to visit Suncadia in all its winter glory.

Snoqualmie Pass had looked iffy for the past few days, with news of a winter storm approaching, but the drive to Suncadia was just about as quick (80 minutes) and easy (all freeway) as it is in the summer.

The road was wet but no problem at all...

 ...even as we reached the summit - where there's still no skiing, but I have a feeling there will be soon!

Quinn loved the ride and didn't mind the cold at all!

Just as we thought, Suncadia looked beautiful in the snow!

Inside...

...and out.

After the annual Owners' Meeting, we headed out to our property at Tumble Creek.

Shasta and Quinn loved the snow!

 

 

Yeah, we loved it with them!

Our lot looked smaller in the snow for some reason -- or maybe it just looks smaller without the full foliage of summer. But we still love it. I can just see us in a cozy Pacific Northwest Lodge style home on this lot someday, watching the snow come down, all warm inside by the fire... (Yes, I'm a romantic!)

Of course we had to walk the "Spiritual Path" out to "Inspiration Point." I have a feeling this will be our daily morning and/or evening walk when we live here! The trail starts right across the road from our lot and leads to the most amazing view!

By the time we returned from our walk, we were both getting concerned about the worsening weather over the pass. Good thing we left when we did, because our drive home looked something like this:

I'm not sure I've ever been so happy to see RAIN!

So Suncadia passed the "winter" test - just like it passed the spring, summer, and fall (all beautiful!) test! I'm looking forward to this:

(Image borrowed with appreciation from www.suncadiaresort.com.)

Home, next Home

We are in escrow!

Behold, our next home, here:

What? You don't see a home? Tom sure does! He has it all designed in his head - complete with a babbling brook and waterfall (he says this one was "just practice"), a tree house for (future) grandkids, and another gorgeous garden shed. All this won't happen until about 2018, though, so he will just have to keep designing and re-designing until he retires.

Imagine something somewhat similar to this, except with the garage actually a separate structure, placed at a wide open "V" angle to the house. Now imagine total silence, except for those birds singing...and more trees. Oh, and imagine our elk friends coming by for a visit.

Nice, eh?

Of course, the design will change many times between now and when we retire, partly because Tom absolutely must obsess about everything - orientation on the (1.2 acre!) lot, model and floorplan, etc. -- and one cannot obsess unless one is at least somewhat undecided.

I will obsess once it becomes more of a reality (first step: close escrow!) and I can actually place furniture and design rooms.

And just to keep ourselves from completely freaking out -- have we already decided where we will live out our lives?! -- we can just look at this whole lot purchase as a simple real estate investment, breathe, and move on.

But why would we? Tom gets his big, quiet, very private property and his dream house in a climate with four times as many sunny days (and way more snow) than Seattle, I get all that plus a real sense of community, and we both get miles and miles of hiking and biking trails, great recreational facilities, a river and a lake nearby for boating and fishing activities, and great restaurants and wineries.

I'm thinking we might be able get used to the whole idea! What do you think?