(Yet Another) Update on What We are Doing

It's been a super busy week.  A week ago yesterday we arrived in Las Vegas. Here's what's been happening:

• The house situation.  As soon as we got the moving van unpacked and our stuff put into storage (literally...like a half hour later) we started looking for a place to buy.  We looked at about ten places and we found a condo that hubby totally loved so we made an offer on it.  The next day the seller came back with a counter offer which we agreed to.  Then the next day the seller gave us another counter offer (?) basically asking for a quick appraisal that we would pay for (the place was priced kind of high and I didn't even think it would appraise out at that price so I asked that if the seller was so confident in his price that HE pay for the appraisal and we would reimburse him when financing was complete OR he could agree to come down to the appraised price if it came in lower than the asking price).  Seller didn't like that so we rejected the deal.  We looked some more places and found a house that I totally loved so we made an offer.  It is a short sale which should strike fear into the heart of a buyer but since this is the first short sale we have made an offer on we are just in limbo for up to a month until the bank decides whether they want to sell it to us (we offered the asking price but then I heard that banks will offer short sales at super low prices then come back with a higher sale price once they know that someone is interested in the property).  tl;dr: buying a house in Las Vegas is a nightmare.
• The travel situation.  We were scheduled to have made a firm offer on a house then go to Connecticut on Tuesday evening.  We are still in Las Vegas.  We figured that with the housing situation up in the air, the last thing we should do is go 3,000 miles away.  That's what we did last time when we went back to Seattle then the deal fell through and we were too far away to look for another property until we came back to Las Vegas.  So that was $325 down the drain (the cost to change the tickets would have been over $300 just for the change fee). tl;dr: Airline costs are a nightmare too!
• Living in Las Vegas.  We are enjoying Las Vegas although we are still in a tenuous position here.  We are staying with a cousin who said we are welcome as long as we want to stay but we would still be happier with our own place.  We are enjoying finding all of the free and cheap things to do in Las Vegas, enjoying the weather (high 80s today!!), enjoying the food, and hubby is a happy camper at the poker tables.  Las Vegas is overall awesome!
• I need money.  Although we are getting by fine on hubby's income, I still feel like I need to make some money.  When we get the house I am sure I will want to decorate it (and probably do some home improvement projects too) and we have also been talking about going back to the Philippines next fall which will be a huge expense (everyone there is getting old and we don't want to wait too long to see them again).  Of course we will need cash for all of these things since we don't use credit so I need to get me some cash.  I have looked at the job ads and it is my usual response to job ads (ick! blah!) since I am not one to like a 9-5 job (which is why I have been self employed most of my life).  So I need to get busy setting up a business.  And I would really like to write a book.  Maybe a business around a book? 

That's about all that is happening so far.  My fingers are crossed that we get the beautiful house that I love!

p.s. Each day we try to explore something new--a restaurant, a place, a casino, an event, etc.  Today we went to check out the (free) conservatory at the Bellagio Casino. The photo above is of a grass horse which is part of their fall display.