Bad news. Our building contractor (the most excellent Mr. Ting Ma) has discovered a rather distressing construction problem. When he (and his crew) tore down the west wall of our garage today, revealing the east side of our house, he discovered that GIGANTIC tree roots -- presumably from the old acacia we had removed last year -- had burrowed *under* the house, *into* and *under* the cement foundation. Those are some strong frickin' roots!

So. This is not happy happy news. I don't even know for sure what will need to be done. It will no doubt involve a LOT more money than we had slated for this garage project. Ting is going to call Mr. Chiu (the engineer) to consult with him, and then we can talk again later.

Shannon is very upset about this. I'm just ... numb. I guess I'm just focused on facts:

1. There is a problem with the house foundation.
2. We do not yet know the extent of the problem or what will need to be done about it.
3. *Something* will need to be done about it.
4. This "something" will cost money we hadn't expected to spend right now.
5. This unexpected money will most likely have to come from somewhere that is not ideal (getting a loan? selling stocks?).
6. This is what it means to own a house, so we just have to figure out what needs to be done, and then make it happen.

So things kind of suck right now, but we'll work it out.