Oh, how complicated things can be!

I feel like my days are taking twice as long as they should. I'm still working a lot, and that's fine, but I'm exhausted in every way possible. I got home from work last night to find John already in bed, so there went any time I wanted to spend with him. The boys have begun to act out a little bit (I'm assuming from having me gone so often) and Nathan appears to have memorized all my work outfits, as any time I put an article of clothing on from one of those outfits, he begins screaming and attaches himself to my leg. I try to spend as much time as possible with them though. Of course, the housework is suffering because of this. I hate having to decide whether to do a load of dishes or spend a little time with my kids. Obviously, I'm going to choose the kids more often than the dishes, but if I do that too often, the kitchen begins to smell and we run out of silverware.

We went house hunting on Friday with our agent and it was an interesting experience. Most homes we viewed were short sales (basically a bank term for pre-foreclosure). Some of them were occupied (but not home at the time of the viewing), and it was actually a little sad. To walk around these homes and see pictures of these families who were losing their homes... Obviously, I don't know the whole story on all them and maybe they got in over their head with the payments or maybe they were just unlucky and lost their jobs. In any case, it was an interesting position to be in to be able to put faces to just a few families facing foreclosure.

The first two houses, I didn't like at all. The third, I really liked, but it had no backyard. I was a little disappointed by this time, and wasn't holding out too much hope for the remaining two houses on the list. We got to the fourth and had a little trouble getting in, but once we were inside, I was very pleased. It was gorgeous. Aiden loved the backyard and I don't think there was a single thing I hated about the home. We were definitely interested and told our agent to find out everything about it.

Fast forward to today: I'm trying to keep a level head about it and know that if it's meant to be ours, it will be. And if not, there will be others out there. I get home from another 8 hour shift and John tells me that the agent called and apparently, the home went to auction on Thursday (that would explain the lack of a For Sale sign in the front yard!). We don't know all the details yet, but he believes it was bought by a bank. If that's the case, they could be extremely happy to have an immediate buyer. On the other hand, banks can be a little tricky to work with and could be very stingy with letting it go. We probably won't know until Monday at the very earliest.

So, that's my update. We would definitely appreciate some prayer for a few things. Regarding this home that we're interested in, the bank that we are working with on a mortgage, and for our general mental well-being during all of this. I was feeling a little overwhelmed this morning and when I got in the car to go to work, it all got to be a little too much and I cried for half the drive to work. I haven't been sleeping or eating well at all and it's beginning to wear on me. John seems to be doing fine with all of it, but then again, he's not much for talking about his feelings. :^)

I will make sure to write again once we know what we're up against.