Where my kids can just be kids

The excitement in our household is building as we get closer to our move.  We head out on our house hunting trip this week and will probably pack a month's worth of looking, investigating, searching, shopping, negotiating and eating into a few days. 

We have had two appraisals, a home inspection, a pest inspection and a septic tank inspection done on this house for the relocation company which will ultimately purchase our house from us.  So far everything is moving smoothly.  We've had two offers on our house, but we were unable to accept one offer since it was contingent upon the sale of their current home and the other people, well, let's just say they weren't living in the real world.  Their offer was a little low and they wanted us to pay their closing costs and give them all our mineral rights.  UM, that would be a huge NO!

Mineral rights are the hot topic these days in North Dakota.  As oil and gas exploration expands south and east of the Bakken, everyone who owns land and the mineral rights are reserving their rights due to the potential for huge income on those minerals.  I guess some people enjoy living in la la land with Tipsy and Po. 

The greater Minneapolis area has a glut of houses that fit our needs.  We are looking for a home on at least 10 acres, horse ready with a barn and a 4 bedroom house.  So far our realtor there has matched us with 136 house within a 40 mile radius of downtown Minneapolis.  From that list we have whittled it down but we really can't know if a house will 'feel' right until we can see the surrounding area and get a feel for the town.  We most certainly do not want to repeat our circumstances that have occurred here with small town/small minded bigots, so getting there and getting a feel for the neighborhood will be so important. 

The moving company is pushing us to lock in the specific date that we want them to show up and load us.  It's been hard to do since we aren't sure when we'll close on a new house in Minnesota or Wisconsin.  We know Marc must be at work there on December 19th so we are guessing the movers will be here around the 13th.  GULP!  They estimate 2 days to pack and 2 days to load.  Once there they are paid to unpack us...which they did not do last time and literally just dropped our stuff and left.  This time I'm not going to be a nice Nelly.  I'm gonna be wicked Nelly Olson from Little House on the Prairie!

I'm still not complaining.  Really I'm not.  I'm so damn happy to be getting out of here and leaving a community behind that resists new comers no matter how hard they work to adapt and blend with the old timers.  We look forward to blending into a big city again where my kids won't be stared at simply because of their skin color.  A diverse enough city where my kids can just be kids.  Not the black kids with the white parents.  Just simply kids.