Move On

I've briefly mentioned here and there about our move to SoCal this Summer but here are some reasons:

1. Our oldest son turned 13 and the fact is he will be legally free to be on his own in 5 years. Our 2 sons have never lived with their relatives nearby, so they don't have any bond with them. Most of their relatives are in Japan (their one and only cousin lives there). But my parents and my sister are in SoCal! We've tried to get my parents to move out to Central Texas but they don't like the weather: too hot in the summer (6+ months of it) and too cold in the winter (2-3 months -- which leaves about 1 month worth of nice weather (grin)). They just love the year around spring weather.
   
   So, if you can't beat them, join them. And join them we will.
   
   
2. My parents are old and my mother is not in good health: she had breast cancer 20 years ago, stroke 2 years ago (which she's recovered from very well but not 100%), and her immediate family has mostly passed away (that is, her oldest sister and her 5 brothers and her parents -- so, her 2nd oldest sister and a younger sister are all who are left). So we want to be near her to help out as needed. I also want to have my sons see that I'm taking care of my parents ["monkey see, monkey do"].
   
   My father, on the other hand, is fine: his mother and sister are still healthy, and his aunt will hit 100 this year!
   
   
3. In our will, my sister will become the guardian of our sons, so by living nearby now, in case something happens to us, that bond and relationship will be already established. Currently, our sons relationship with her is not much more than with Santa Claus (someone who sends them gifts on birthdays and Christmas). [OK, it is more than mere gift getting but you, my dear readers, know what I'm getting at.]

The above are our organized thoughts now but it started off with our home not selling all last year (since Mar'05). We thought we priced our home well and we did get a lot of showings but no offer until Sep'05 and then after a lot of song and dance, our buyer's option was about to expire but the HOA rules caused him to cancel and back out at the last minute. We tried to get a wavier but HOA turned us down. We were disappointed and didn't know what to do (we took our home off the MLS (multiple listing service -- the real estate database which anyone can get to via the internet), but we left the realtor sign out still on our yard). In my wife's quiet time, a day or two later, she got a vision to be open to the possibility of moving to L.A. So, I had no problem agreeing to it -- since I grew up there, I don't have a problem other than the cost of housing, but my wife was always negative about living there -- and we took off the "Sales Pending" sign the next day from our realtor's yard sign. That night, we got a call from our realtor from someone who wanted to buy our home! That buyer has a relative in our neighborhood and drove by and noticed the missing Sales pending sign. We had our ups and downs between then and our closing, but we did end up getting a release from our Death Pledge (mortgage) and are now debt free!

We ended up renting a home we almost bought (we were about to make an offer without selling our home but, fortunately, the current owner beat us to it). For the price, we think it's a great home but now that our heart is set on moving to L.A., it's only temporary situation. [My wife loves the greenbelt behind the backyard -- from our master bedroom we have a beautiful view of the field with a creek running through it and the trees on the other side of the greenbelt (we don't have trees on our side, so we have an unobstructed view). Too bad such a home would be waaaaay beyond our price range in SoCal.]

One other thing: this move to L.A. has motivated me to seriously buy guns (3 so far and I'm planning to buy at least 2 more) and get trained, etc. I'm even thinking about bullet proofing cars and house windows (maybe not real bullet proofing since the cost benefit ratio isn't there for me, but I have seen on a Japanese TV program on anti-theft technologies which introduced glue-on/wipe-on plastic sheets for windows to discourage break ins which may give added protections). There were news of random shootings on the highways where motorists were injured and killed as well as drive shootings at homes so it's not something I take lightly.