It’s been an exciting and productive week!
Tuesday at noon, we closed on our house. After signing our names and initialing approximately three million documents, we were handed the keys. What an immensely gratifying moment that was! It felt like I had overcome so much to arrive at that point: a short sale, years of cramped apartment living, a cross-country move filled with hope but uncertainty. This was the payoff, at long last! The main reason we pulled up roots and took a gamble.
Lucky 7s, I guess.
We immediately drove over to the house. Our house. Could only stay a few minutes since we were on our lunch breaks, but after work, we loaded up our cars and made the first of what will be many trips to move things from Point A.1 (apartment) and Point A.2 (storage unit) to Point B (home, sweet home). I picked up Chinese food, we cracked open a couple of beers, and sat on the back patio, relishing the moment. After smudging the house with sage. One can never be too cautious, you know, especially when the prior owner lived there for 46 years and died there.
We have also met a whole bunch of neighbors. All I can say is, we live in May-effin’-berry, USA. They have all been so welcoming. They talk about what a great lady Doris was, how all the neighborhood kids grew up together, and how excited they are to have us there. Last night, Kelly from across the street exchanged numbers with Tara. She told us the neighborhood is so tightly-knit if somebody accidentally leaves a garage door open they’ll go close it. And she offered up assistance if we need a hand moving anything heavy, cutting the grass, etc. I can’t believe how damned friendly they all are. Once again, it’s that Midwestern hospitality. It’s a real thing, folks.
Wednesday Tara had to do make cookies and brownies for a bake sale and Thursday my company sponsored an awards celebration for five local nurses of excellence, so we were tied up with other commitments. Last night we were finally able to get back to the house and stayed until 10:00. I cleaned the refrigerator inside out by hand while Tara tackled the basement walls. I also stripped most of the wallpaper – it’s so old, I was able to get it done by hand. Found some interesting things underneath. Like, this cat! A picture emerged of Doris’s young family working on this project together long ago. It made me feel more connected to the house and its lengthy past.
We’ll be over there most of this weekend; the grass is a jungle once again, and we need to keep cleaning, get started on painting, etc. It’s hard work, but very satisfying, because we are turning somebody else’s house into our home.
Best feeling in the world.
Mark My Words 
Nice! Congratulations.
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Thank you, Jim!
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Good luck and happiness !
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I appreciate that, Carl!
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Finding that cat must’ve been so fun. No doubt it made you smile. Glad you’ll be keeping busy with happy work!
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It was unexpected but definitely brought a smile to my face! Especially since I’m a cat person. I took it to be one more sign that we are exactly where we were meant to be.
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And if you peel another strip and find a dog in an office building you’ll know you’re at the right job. 😉
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I knew it was spirea because we had a whole row of it between our house on Nancy Lane and our next door neighbors house.
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I’ll have to post the picture you emailed me next time!
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Congratulations Mark and Tara!
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Thank you, Pattie. If you and Roger are ever in town, we’ll have a place for you to stay!
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Congratulations! Sounds like you’re settling in nicely
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Thank you! It’s a process, but we are getting there.
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Hard work but so much fun! I remember when we moved into our first home and not one neighbor said boo to us. My husband kept asking me, “Where are the pies?” We did have one neighbor stop over to welcome us when we moved here. His wife was very ill, but he was kind enough to give us their phone numbers in case we needed anything. We are now friends with them!
P.S. Proud mama here – my oldest daughter won a nurses of excellence award a few years back!
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My mom was a nurse for many years and worked at Rapid City Regional when we lived here before, so the award ceremony was very touching for me personally.
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*clapping and cheering*
CONGRATULATIONS Mark! I am so damn happy and excited for you and Tara! I applaud both of you for all the preparation and execution of your plans to move and purchase a home. Bravo…you did it!!!!!
Love the photo of the sage! I burned sage before moving into one of my apartments in Florida because I felt that the energy was “off.” And it worked too. I have a friend who also burned sage before moving into her most recent apartment here in Philly. She and her boyfriend both felt like they needed to “clear” the place before moving. in.
Glad to hear you have nice, friendly neighbors. That’s so awesome.
LOVE the pic of the cat! I bet it made Sydney feel more at home. HA!
Hey, that view from your front porch is STUNNING!
Have a great week, my friend!
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I’m surprised by just how many people burn sage when moving into a new home! I have no idea if it actually did anything, but we haven’t experienced any negative energy whatsoever so it certainly didn’t hurt.
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Guess you can swing a cat. Congrats.
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