OMG, we're moving!

After months of working with our credit union, and having the first woman quit in the middle of the process, we finally got our loan approval. Mr. W is transitioning to a new type of compensation at work so that made the process a bit challenging as well. As a result we met with our realtors last night. Initially, Mr. W told me he didn't want to live through selling the house while living in it so his first choice was a bridge loan, but that isn't what we got. I think we will be going for a contingent loan. (My lack of knowledge in this subject is vast so I'm quite sure I'm using all these terms incorrectly.)
Here are some highlights and optional plans from our meeting:

1. The market generally isn't great between Hallowe'en and New Year's. Our realtors will check around for houses comparable to ours next week and do some other research so that they can come back to us with a suggestion of what we could/should list our house. We should be packing everything up and getting a POD to get our house ready to go on the market in 3 weeks (!)
2. The Mt. Tabor house we love is still on the market even though the 'for sale' sign is no longer posted. Maybe they would be flexible on price?
   
3. We want to broaden our search a bit. Mr. W has seen other, larger houses sell for much less than their value recently and he wants to see what else is our there. I want to see other houses so that my head can catch up to me heart that there is no better house for us than the Mt. Tabor house. We set up paramaters for a house search including the following:

• 4 bedrooms
• A separate living room, dining room, and family room.
  
• Off street parking, a garage would be great, but not mandatory.
• Our preference is on the east side and we'd be willing to look as far south as Eastmoreland/ Sellwood and as far north as Cathedral Park. I know we have to include the west side though too because there are more Victorians there.
• Pre-WWII

It was a bit overwhelming, but also really exciting. We were talking about the possibility of getting in before Christmas. I need to get carpet and paint scheduled for our bedroom and the office upstairs. I need to start packing. This is really going to happen!
I ended the meeting in such an excited, happy mood. Then as soon as they walked out the door and I turned to walk to the kitchen to have dinner round 2, I saw the current state of my dining room. My sewing stuff is everywhere. I am in the middle of sewing 2, possibly 4 Beatles costumes over the next 3 weeks. Can I possibly add packing up half my house to that mix? Not to mention new carpet and paint upstairs? Is this practical? And even if I push it back a few weeks we have my birthday, Mr. W's and Thanksgiving. Our realtors make a good point; I wouldn't want to be house hunting in the winter between the holidays. And since I only had my epiphany in February, wouldn't it be nice to have one last Thanksgiving and Christmas in the Laburnum Bungalow? I didn't go all out last year because of Baby Boy's birth, I'd be sad to not know my last Christmas was it.
I processed all that as I was nursing in the dark and then went downstairs and told Mr. W as much. He didn't disagree. It is pretty overwhelming. Although I must admit that I am a bit annoyed with him. When we met with the realtors in April and I suggested that I start packing up the house over the summer, he poo pooed the idea insisting that he wouldn't live through a sale. He confessed that he didn't think he would actually get approved for the loan. When I asked why did he keep bringing up moving then and getting my hopes up after I kept mentally writing off the idea of the Mt. Tabor house he suggested that he is Bi-housal. Sometime he has house mania and other time he has house depression. It just depends upon which mood I catch him in. While that may be a slightly offensive analogy to his mother and others with bi-polar disorder, it does explain a lot and will be helpful to me to remember so I don't get frustrated with him during this process.
I am filled with equal parts excitement and horror!

PS. Since we had to woof down a dinner before the realtors arrived I decided to skip the feast of St. Francis this year.