It always seems to happen that life is going along in the slow lane and then, bam, everything hits at once. In this case it's nothing bad, just lots of work (and lots of pressure to get everything in on time), plus we're still trying to rent our townhome, and having no luck. As frustrating as it is, I can't help but be grateful that we can afford our home (even if it is a little tight with two kids), and that we're not in any danger of losing it. It's so scary to see all these people losing their homes. Thinking back, I remember our realtor, the lender and even friends suggesting that we look into some creative financing to get into a larger house. While our friends were spending thousands more and buying much bigger homes, DH and I could only afford the townhome, so we settled for it. We always thought that in a few years we would be making more money, or the house would be worth more and we could sell and move up. But life doesn't always work out that way. Five years, two kids, a layoff, a major career change and a sluggish real estate market derailed our plans. So here we are. I have to remind myself of the positives aspects of living here. There is no lawn maintenance, it's easy to clean (just one great room), we're close to all sorts of stuff for the girls, we can afford our mortgage payment and it's new so there isn't much fixing up to do. I hope we're not living here this time next year. The girls are getting bigger, and we need to find a home in a better school district. But for now, it'll have to do.