If you are my friend on Facebook and/or Twitter you might have been seeing these posts saying how we can't find a place to live since the fire. Yes, we are still living in a hotel, but even that had a problem.:) Last week we were jarred out of our rooms with the fire alarm message. We had to get our coats and of course my computer and go out into the cold night. It was in the teens that night and there was no place to get warm. We got into one of our cars and drove away. When we drove away we learned that it wasn't a fire at all but a flood. A water main had burst causing a gas leak! We had to get another hotel right away and found it less than a mile away. That one was twice the price of our first hotel and believe it or not though the lobby was more plush, our first hotel was better. The first hotel, Residence Inn by Marriott in White Plains, NY needed major help. When we left it water was pouring out of the automatic opening doors and the hotel was ringed by all kinds of fire vehicles. We didn't know it at the time but we would have to spend three nights away from this place. Also my computer got damaged when my daughter dropped it. To make up for it, though, both my daughters bought me a brand new laptop! Yay!!!

We were getting comfortable here and it felt like home a little. Then this came along and jarred the whole family. I'm beginning to think we really are a sitcom family.:)

The problem with finding a place to live is that everyone has a perfect place in their head and no one wants to compromise. For each one of us there is a deal breaker. Certainly for me it has to have a high end kitchen and modern bathrooms. But the places we have seen that have these have lousy looking small bedrooms or other strange rooms that can't be changed. Another member of the family refuses to live in any place with ceiling fans. Ceiling fans!!! My husband claims to be out of the picture as far as making the decision, but so far he has been the one to say no to everything. This decision reminds me of how women whittle down their choices for guys from the best looking with money who treats them well to the one who shows up.:) We want a great place, but the truth is that the one that we can all agree upon will be the one we choose. We're looking at apartments close to the hotel, so maybe we can get a place soon.:)

Think of our search like a reality show. We're racing to find a place before we are thrown out on the street. Can our team find a place to live within our budget that will satisfy our standards in the time provided? Or will be thrown on the street? Ready, set, go!!! You have been introduced to the situation on the first program. Will the Ehrentreu's find a place to live before they deplete all their money living in a hotel? Or will they be forced to live on the street? Stay tuned for the next part of the amazing new family game: "Where Will We Live?"

If I sound a little crazier than usual it is from preparing for this new game.:) As you will see on the next show family tensions are very high as one after the other of the family members are sucked into the frenzy of choosing. Which one will crack this week? Find out as you follow the adventures of the Ehrentreu family on "Where Will We Live?" On the next show watch as we decide the city in which we will live.

Amazingly this blog will once again be hosting a guest author on

Thursday. At least I hope it will be Thursday, but it could be Friday. It all

depends on how this week's game goes.:) Her name is Janie Franz and she has a new story, "The Bowdancer" that is published as an eBook by Breathless Press. Janie has also co-written some non-fiction books, The Ultimate Wedding Ceremony Book, The Ultimate Wedding Reception Book with author Bill

Cox and she is the author of a writing manual, Freelance Writing: It’s a Business, Stupid! Janie also has many book reviews as well.

Please join me as I welcome Janie Franz as my guest author on Thursday, February 4th to learn more about her and her work. I am looking forward to the interview, since this is the first one of the new year.:) Janie will also be my guest on Red River Writers Live Tales from the Pages in the coming months. More about that in the next post.

Thank you to my readers and to all the people who have been following my story since December 31st. I appreciate all of your kind words and they have helped me very much during this unusual time for me and my family.:) Until the next time....