I dropped Eleanor and Emma off at the airport this morning, and 10 minutes later I was swinging back to pick them up. Snowstorms in the northeast wrought havoc on flight schedules, and the end result was that their flight was impossible today. So they're going to fly on Saturday instead.

That made today and the next few days into bonus days. That's a gift. We took the hint and went out for breakfast to discuss whether we really wanted to buy a house.

See, from one point of view, not buying a house would be a financially responsible thing to do. Our living costs are lowest when we live in the Airstream and travel moderately. Having a home base means obligatory payments: taxes, insurance, upkeep, utilities. It's a luxury. It's nice if you can afford it, but for many full-timers having a house, even a small one, doesn't make financial sense.

But we also recognize the investment potential in real estate. Wouldn't it be nice to have a home base that is also a good long-term investment? So we're looking in that direction.

The other bonus of the flight delays is that Eleanor and I have a few days to ensure the last vestiges of our colds are gone. We're both pretty well at this point, but a couple more days of rest wouldn't hurt. And I could use some time to work on the Summer 2007 magazine. People are getting the Spring 2007 issue in their mailboxes right now, but I'm deep into editing the next one and need to have it wrapped up by March 8, which is right around the corner.