We have been renting for almost two years (since we moved to Tehachapi) and we'd like to buy a house.  We have another year before we'll be ready to purchase
a home, but we'd like to find a "rent to own" or lease/option as we're wanting to get into a home soon.  My husband and I have secure employment, and have no debt with the exception of one student loan.  Here's what we need:  3 bedrooms 2 baths,
1400SF or a little bigger.  $250k would be the maximum purchase price for us. 
We would like to live in Town or the Golden Hills area.  Please let me know if anyone has information that might be useful. 

Definition of -Normal:
conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; not abnormal; regular; natural. 2. serving to establish a standard. 3.

Psychology. a. approximately average in any psychological trait, as intelligence, personality, or emotional adjustment. b. free from any mental disorder; sane. I have the definition here and I still don't know what normal is.  As a matter of fact, I don't think normal exists. Who can you think of who is sane, emotionally adjusted, or  doesn't have a mental disorder?  Every body's taking medication for something, and 9 times out of 10 it's for some kind of mental disorder!  There's another statistic (I'm unsure of the source) shows that 1 out of 100 people have serious sociopathic behavior.  How disturbing is this? I have to admit that I would not consider myself "normal". I'm going to throw it out there....No Body is normal. I like to think of people as:  different degrees of crazy... C'mon people, how many Normal people do you know?  Include yourself when thinking this over.

I was listening to the radio this morning when the two DJ's began saying, "Merry
Christmas" to the listeners.  People started calling in complaining that they were offended after hearing the phrase, "Merry Christmas".  The two people that claimed
to be offended also claimed to be "Christian".
I thought to myself, " what kind of Christian would call up and make a big deal about
wishing everyone a Merry Christmas?"
We live in America...  We have the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion....So, if I want to say "Merry Christmas", that is my right.
I believe that Christmas is  the celebration of Christ's birth and that is what I like
to focus on during the holiday season.
I don't take offense to "Happy Hanukkah", or Kwanzaa....or ...?
So, what's offensive about "Merry Christmas?" 

It all started a few years ago while having a family party at our house.
It  didn't take long for me to realize that my brother and sister in law had brought
their own large garbage bag to collect all the recyclable items thrown frivolously
into the the trash can.  They had tried to shame us into recycling a few visits
before.  These are the people who clip coupons, throw $200.00 worth of groceries
in their cart and end up paying $5 .00for all of it!  They scrimp and they save, and they do very well.
After some thought, I decided it was time to start recycling our plastic and aluminum cans. 
Well,  my 9 year old daughter realized that every couple of
weeks we would $cash in at the recycling center. 
She decided she wanted to buy a hamster.  She worked for the neighbors, cleaned the house, and recycled her own cans to earn enough to buy a cage,
food and of course $8.00 for  the little critter.
While at the recycling center, I asked the "recycling guy" how the whole process
works.  He collects about a ton of recyclables and compacts them into giant
cubes.  When he accumulates several tons, someone comes to pick up the cubes.(I assume this is when he gets paid)
Anyway, I asked the recycle man, "where do the materials go, and how does the U.S. reuse them?"
He promptly told me that 90% of these materials go to China!  HUH?
India takes about 5%, and we get ?
Let me get this straight.  We send virtually all of our recycled materials to China and other foreign countries so they can use it to make things(like toys) to sell back to us? 
Yes, this subject is a whole new Blog.
What do you think?