So close to a perfect day...

The plan for Friday involved getting out of town for the day....packing a picnic lunch, going through Walla Walla(a town my wife had never been to, and I had only driven by) on the way to Dayton.  We would eat our lunch in Dayton, then hit a few little shops before heading up into the Blue Mountains for an afternoon of driving and some light hiking, before heading back into Dayton for dinner at Skye Book and Brew, and make it home in time to lay the kids down for dinner. 

The day went almost perfectly as planned.  Instead of driving around Walla Walla, we stopped for potty breaks.  It's about an hour from our place, and there are a few neat little museums that SWMBO is going to bring the girls to for home schooling field trips.  It also has a very cute downtown area with a HUGE number of shops, and wine tasting rooms.  If I wasn't already dieing for a walk in the woods, we might not have driven past Walla Walla...but, my wife knew I wanted to get in the woods for a bit.

Dayton was nice...had our picnic lunch in the park...Maureen got to chase a few of these little thumb sized frogs around the gazebo...they were pretty cute.  SWMBO got to walk around a yarn shop alone, while I braved a few stores of knick-knacks, and a bakery with the girls.  Shopping done, we headed up into the hills.

We did more driving than walking...because even though I have been a dad for over 9 years, I sometimes forget my kids limitations.  My wife says I have a tendency to idealize things, and then pout when they don't work out perfect.  Anyway, I did get to walk around for about an hour with my .357 on my hip for bear protection...and it's somewhat legit...the wild raspberries are ripening, and the black bears dig that stuff.

Dinner was tasty.  I have eaten at Skye Book and Brew 4 times now, and all 4 times I've had their Reuben Sandwich.  It's that good.  Today, I washed it down with a Johny Mac's Scottish Ale, and then washed that down a Tucannon Honey Wheat.  In a nod to the predicted weather the next few days, I had my growler filled with the Honey Wheat....I thought it would be the easier beer to drink when I get home Monday and it's 95 outside.

The ONLY discordant note to the day was the phone call we got from our real estate agent.  After much bitching, moaning and praying(my wife handles that part) we had an offer on the house!!!!!!  Yay!!!!!

The offer is for $12,000 LESS than we are asking. Boo.   If it was $12,000 less than our original acting price, that wouldn't be an issue...but we have dropped the price from our original asking price of $189,000 to $172,000.  At $172,000, we are having to write a sizable check at closing(think base model MSRP on a Mazda 3).  We will get 95% of it reimbursed due to my employers generous relocation assistance.  Today's offer of $160,000 means we would have needed to come up with an additional $12,000 at closing...and that money just doesn't exist.  I think to help me get out of this house, my parents could come up with a few thousand extra, but not 12K extra.  It's not even a matter of not wanting to take that big a loss...I just can't commit to being able to cover that check at closing. 

We countered at $168,000, and really can't go any lower...so far there has been now response to our counter...if they say yes, we will still end up LOSING $4,000.  Been in the place 7 years, and I am going to end up losing $4,000 on it...glad the economy is shaping up.

I wonder if I can get the escrow company to let me post-date the check...that way maybe I can get my reimbursed relocation assistance before they deposit the check...