Moving day!

Today is moving day. The movers showed up promptly at 8:30 and they’re already making short work of the house. I’m simply amazed at how organized things are so far. The hard part will be directing them to the appropriate rooms once things are on the other end.

The weather is overcast, breezy and around 50 degrees, a far cry from yesterday’s weather of sun and 82 degrees. At least there’s no chance of rain today.

Betwixt and between

We’re in the midst of moving, with one toe in the new house and the rest of us still at Hobhouse Circle. After closing and lunch with our agent, we drove back to Hobhouse to gather another load of stuff to take back to Tonsler (our new home). After unloading that trip’s worth I went back for another round while Kelly visited on the front porch with Mollie, who had brought back a sleeping Travis from a trip to the Durham’s most excellent Museum of Life and Science. I then spent the next two hours at Hobhouse unplugging computers, stereos, and TVs and packing them into the car. I also learned what a doggone hassle it is to repeatedly navigate Capital Boulevard.
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Its ours!

Well, we’re back from closing on our new home at 1108 Tonsler Drive. The bank should be very proud (heh). Closing went smoothly and our agent took us out to Winston’s for a celebratory lunch.

Its a beautiful home. Especially empty! And we met our new neighbor, Miss Ruth, a sweet older lady who lives by herself. Nice to already be making new friends.

I’ll post more as the day progresses. For now we’re back to our new home to get the moving-in process started.

Closing day!

Today we pledge our allegiance to the bank as we make our financial institution (and by extension China) the official owner of our new home. A whirlwind of activity is planned. The walk-through at 9 AM, the closing at 10 AM, and then the rest of the day unscheduled but likely full of moving stuff.

We’re thrilled and a bit wary of all the work ahead. We’ll be worn out by the end of the weekend but in a happy way.

I can’t believe this day is finally here!

Late-night courtesy

Kelly and I were so giddy the night we found a buyer for our home that we had trouble falling asleep. Eventually Kelly dozed off but I was still a bit wired and sleeping lightly for some time after.

At about 2:40 AM, I was dozing when I heard the familiar rumble of a diesel engine. A train had sneaked through the Durant Road crossing with nary a sound and was tip-toeing at nothing more than an idle past our home. It only sounded its horn when it was miles south of us and then only briefly. I may never have heard the train if I wasn’t already awake and Kelly never heard it at all!

Earlier, a train had ventured by right after the kids had gone to bed. I walked out back to watch it pass but the train driver never honked. Instead, a flashlight danced through the cabin window: a quiet way to say hello. (I returned the greeting in like manner!)

Did I mention the CSX crews are awesome? Thanks, guys, for the night-time courtesy!

We’re under contract!

For those who’ve been wondering, yes our home is now under contract! The buyers saw the home yesterday afternoon, fell in love with it, and immediately went to work on an offer. And as their agent told us, it is a “beautiful offer” indeed: above list price and with a few extra things thrown in. Though we got our other expected offer late yesterday, it was out of the running before it even came in.
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The show must go on

We’ve got two showings scheduled for today, and a last-minute repeat showing that occurred last evening. At least today’s showings are back-to-back, easing the pressure on Kelly a bit.

Somewhere, somewhere, there’s an offer waiting for us. At least the house will be empty after Saturday, so any showings will be much less of a hassle.

So long, Capital Boulevard

There are a lot of things I will miss about our current home, but one thing I will not miss is the daily trip down and up Capital Boulevard.

I’m days away from not needing a car anymore. Woot!

Nice dinner with the parents

We had my parents over for a casual dinner of pizza and talk. It had been too long since we’d seen them. The kids enjoyed seeing them but their busy day spent at Marbles caught up to them.

It was great seeing them again and hosting them one last time at Hobhouse Circle.