After several months, we finally got the official word on the house that we put in an offer for in August (as they say, "nothing short about a short sale!"). Just before Christmas, and I mean days before Christmas, we learned that we were closing on the house on Jan 6. Since the holidays, it has been a whirlwind: house inspection, furnace breaks in existing house on coldest day of winter, Charlie gets sick, closing on new house, Mike and I pleasantly and maturely negotiate paint colors, dry wall repair/plumbing update/carpet cleaner/cable installation/alarm system installation/termite inspector, Granddad and Mike spend 7 full days painting every room in new house, Charlie gets his first tooth, pack, move, unpack, Charlie gets 4 new top teeth on the same day, clean old house, Henry gets sick, Charlie gets sick again, and take a breath, that brings us to now. Since we closed on the new house, we have made 14 trips to Lowe's, Home Depot, and Ace Hardware, considered 62 paint colors, and have visited the pediatrician 4 times. I am quite tired, and I am sick of living out of boxes, but slowly, the house is coming to together. On the morning of our last day in the old house, Mike and I reflected on leaving the rental:
M: Bye old house and so long to getting trapped in the master bath
J: So long to getting trapped in the main bath... And while I am on the subject, so long to getting trapped in the office for several hours and resorting to taking the door off its hinges and busting out the door knob to escape (true story)
To clarify, the rental had several doors but only a few of them worked properly.
M: Bye tall condo complex in our backyard that blocked out the daylight and whose tenants peered at our every move like we lived in a fishbowl.
J: Bye rickets!
M: Bye colony of crickets living in the basement
J: Bye family of squirrels living in our attic
M: Bye dangerous storm drain in the front and back yard
J: So long to extensive, intricate 17-pt turns just to park the car in the driveway
Of course, there are also a lot (really just 3 that I think of) reasons to miss that house:
1. Henry learned to walk and to talk in that house.
2. It was Charlie's first home.
3. The oven was so small that it didn't take a long time to preheat.
Although they can easily fit into one box, these two items come with their own clothes and accessories that require storage space.
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We have space and a guest room so please come to visit!
