plan F

That free online Tarot card reading was right. After asking what the deal with our new house in Austin was going to be, the cards said that I would be steered wrong at first:

"The card to the far left represents the first false path that may lead you astray. Seven of Pentacles (Assessment): A pause to check on the progress of your labors. Making difficult financial decisions. Exercising patience and perseverance." Yeah, yeah, that could be true of anybody.

Even Susan Miller's horoscope for May -- Nick and I are both Aquarius so it's double -- said that we would underbid on a house, and we did just that. We found out this morning:

"For example, perhaps you bid on a house but were turned down by the owner because they felt your bid was too low. Now you may be invited back to bid again and win the house you had your heart set on, perhaps because competitive bidders have bid low, too." That could end up being true but we're going to put in an offer elsewhere.

We have 2 backups which are still pretty good, and both are in the South Lamar neighborhood, which we really like. One has a gated community across the street. Can we really have a view of:

"Little boxes on the hillside...and they're all made out of ticky-tacky and they all look just the same." Probably not.

I'm favoring a funky '30s house that has really lovely Austin-style landscaping, a fenced yard for Estro and a fenced garden for us. We could grow flowers and salad.

One thing is for certain, there is a plethora of houses out there. We'll nail this thing in a matter of days. But now, I'm taking myself to brunch and I'm going to overtip my server.