The Hub is fond of saying that Change is the only Constant. He's right.

Even though we bought this house with the intention of living here until we died, tonight we signed papers to sell it. It's a beautiful house, if anyone is looking for one. Jeff and Susan Milam, the realtors who have always been such a help to us in the past, will have our house up on their website in a few days.

We are, of course, doing it to have an honorable means of paying our debts, including our medical bills.....

We will be very blessed to have medical insurance through my job in about 20 days. When everything is paid off, we'll see what we have left, and then will know if we will be able to purchase another house right away or if we will rent for a little while. Jeff and Susan were very encouraging, in terms of our financial situation, and gave us the number of a mortgage specialist who might be able to help us with a "no doc" loan. Mortgages are especially complex for people who are self employed and my employment at the job-in-a-box is too recent to count for much. There is, of course, always SOMEONE who is willing to lend you money - what you pay for that money is another matter.

Notwithstanding our financial difficulties, I really do believe that this is a wise time to sell the house we are in. After all, "what goes up must come down" and that's true with housing prices, which are at an all time high in our area. It's my opinion that prices in our part of Maryland may start to fall a little - I just hope we're not too late to the party.

"What makes you think that?" Jeff asked, curiously. He's a real numbers and facts guy.

"Hmm. It's very much feeling." I said.

Jeff gave a sort of skeptical look to which Susan said, "Good Lord, Jeff, the woman decided she wanted a parakeet and then found one on the sidewalk! If I had her feelings I'd listen to them too!"

But, then again, Susan is the person on the team that talks about how to get the house ready to sell and what motivates buyers - all the emmotional angles. They really are a double threat as realtors: they cover all the bases, and what one doesn't think of the other does. They're also extremely professional. While, by now they know us pretty well personally, they didn't express any surprise or dismay about the fact that they now have us as clients with less-than-perfect credit.

I don't feel as bad about signing on the papers as I thought I would. Maybe it's because I've moved so much. Maybe it's because I am long in the habit of not thinking of anything as belonging to me, but sort of being "on loan from the universe" for the time being. It's true that when I was a teenager, I used to walk past this house and admire it very much, and hope to have a house just like it one day. But, rather than bemoan the fact that, having bought it I will now lose it, I am more inclined to think "Wow. I got to live here for 2 years. How many people can say they lived in the very home that they dreamed of for any period of time at all?"

The only thing I really want to take to remember the place by is Birda's nest, which is still up in the carport - even though if she comes back she'll build another one. Probably, I'll miss the frogs more than anything.

I am a great believer in good memories. Sr.Jean Ann - the nun I had in 5th grade who probably saved me from turning away from God by the sheer example of her goodness and patience - used to advise us "make good memories when you are young, because when you are old you will look back over your life, and the memories you, yourself have made will be more real to you than anything else." It struck me at the time as good advice. Much like knowlege and education, memories transcend our material circumstances.

So, whatever is next, it's good-bye to the frogs and hello to the future....which is always, at least, interesting!