Closing in on closing...



My weekend.

 One day to go!  I can't believe after all the highs and lows of house hunting (which isn't nearly as fun or quick as they show on HGTV, but thank Cheesus we didn't have to deal with Sandra Rinomato), the waiting and the strife, we only have one day to go.  Surprisingly, my four days and four nights without John flew by.  I think this could be due to a packing trance I was under for most of the time, brought on by the repetition of carefully entombing all of our possessions in bubble wrap and paper and the sweet smells of packing tape and Sharpies.  Twenty five boxes, two rolls of paper, 1.5 rolls of packing tape, and only one (!) bottle of wine later, my weekend is over, John is back, and tomorrow we close. 

While I know we're both so excited to move into our own home, we're also sort of terrified.  Even though we've been married for almost two and a half years, buying a house feels more like the biggest, most adult decision of our lives.  It's a huge financial investment, not to mention the time investment it will take to maintain and improve our home.  At this point in our lives, I think we're ready for the challenge.  I know underneath it all, I'm really 50 on the inside.  Nothing makes me happier than watching "This Old House" on a Saturday morning while leafing through my latest issue of "Better Homes and Gardens".  We even spent our last Valentine's Day trolling Home Depot, getting all misty-eyed and dreamy checking out the tiles and flooring.  Maybe at 25 and 26, we should be renting a one-bedroom apartment in D.C. living it up, but like most things in life, I'll blame my parents for making me like this.  Some of my happier memories include the trips to Sears with my dad, hours spent perusing the tool department (granted, I may have been bribed with Slurpees...), riding my bike down to the local hardware store to pick up some screws for the newest deck project, and painting the shed in the backyard with my parents.  Heck, my dad even mildly resembles Tom Silva.  Now it is my time to pick up the hammer, don the plaid, and live out the American Dream.  It is pretty terrifying, thinking tomorrow we'll gain a house and lose our carefree youth, but I know we're ready.  We have each other and the support of our families.  What else could we need?

In the spirit of the end of our Final Countdown, it seems only appropriate to once again borrow from "Europe" to commemorate this monumental occasion:

We're leaving together
But still it's farewell
And maybe we'll come back
To Eagle Ridge Lane, who can tell?
I guess there is no one to blame
We're leaving Overlook

Will things ever be the same again?

At last!

As you can see from our Final Countdown calendar, we are fast approaching closing.  As of 5:00 last night, we had yet to hear anything regarding the appraisal and I was starting to get a little worried.  Luckily, Marriah emailed us about an hour later with great news... the appraisal came back and at value!  There was one small issue with roof flashing and a bit of leaking, but the seller's contractor had already made the repair and is going back today to improve the drainage.  Although we won't be removing the final contingency since we're only 2.5 business days away from closing, I guess we can consider ourselves officially under contract.  It's about darn time.

Now with John out in California and me having so much free time for online shopping on my hands... what's the saying... "When the cat's away, the mice will play"?  Just kidding... there's no reason to cancel my credit cards, John.  Now it's time to seriously get down to business with my packing efforts and officially being able to be 100% excited about the house.  Unless it gets carried away by a freak tornado/flash flood/alien abduction. 

So, hooray for some good news!  I think I can finally relax now and just ride out my packing high until closing and the Big Move.

Elliot: Packing Extraordinare

We spent a great deal of time over the weekend packing.  Even poor John who has been battling a cold for a few days now.  With just a couple weeks left before the Big Move (assuming the appraisal gets resolved...), we need to keep on trucking.  I really don't think we could have got as much accomplished over the weekend if it weren't for the help of our boys.  Kiefer was vital in the supply of packing material.  I re-used some plastic shopping bags as box stuffing and he made sure to attack every bag, viciously clawing and biting them to make sure they didn't pose a threat to me or our things.  He was even brave enough to venture into some of them, ensuring there was no funny business going on within.  Dexter provided crucial moral support, jumping into my lap every few minutes with some hugs and kisses.  He also made sure my glass wrapping was up to par by pouncing on the wrapping paper and dancing across it.  However, one of our sons really went the extra mile and without his help and support, I think the painstakingly repetitive task of wrapping up all our breakables would have been too much for me.  As you can see from the photographic evidence, Elliot took it upon himself to crawl into the packing paper box... and nap.  Maybe he thought the warmth of his body would create a more flexible paper that would hug our things like he hugs himself while he dreams.  Or maybe he thought he could lend some of his fur to our things, adding another layer of protection.  Who can know what goes on in his tiny mind?  I'm just glad to know we have three amazing sons who would stop at nothing to make sure we know they're there to help us and wouldn't let anything (but themselves) stand in our way.

Working hard...?

Or hardly working?

Yay Packing!

There isn't much new and exciting to report at this time, but John took this picture of our sweet boys yesterday as they were helping us pack.  Can't you see the enthusiasm in their eyes?  Elliot had worked so hard, that he just couldn't take it anymore and passed out from shear exhaustion.  Dexter, of course, always wanting to be involved in everything has taken up the role of supervisor, ensuring we make the best use of our boxes and don't forget to pack any of his toys.  Kiefer... well, he's just as creepy as always, lurking in the background in his gargoyle pose.  It looks like they're just as excited to be packing as we are.  We can't wait to take them to their new home, though, and watch them run around exploring every room, closet, window, and everything in between.  Hopefully they'll love it there as much as we do.

Otherwise, we're just waiting now on the results of the appraisal, and then more waiting until the 19th.  It seems like September just flew by, so I'm sure it'll be here before we know it.