It was all about the TV

We didn't get the house. We decided not to go to our top number for a variety of reasons, but the one that seems most critical? Not the fact that the kitchen needed to be gutted. Not the fact that the garage had been ravaged by termites and had to be ripped down and replaced. No, the deciding factor was that we couldn't figure out where to put the TV in the family room. So we bid low and lost. "Blown out of the water," as our real estate agent put it.

Apparently, someone has better interior design capabilities than we do. Or perhaps they are not as concerned about proper TV placement and will spend the next umpteen years regretting their purchase decision. But after spending the past three years craning to get a glimpse of the screen while hanging off of the couch, the location of the TV in any future home is apparently of utmost concern to us.

You may all laugh now.