Oh Al.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
3 Months Later...
Sorry about that - life interfered with my blogging and I really can't promise that it won't again.
Anyway...
The countdown is ON! The Fosters will be moving into their luxurious new digs in 19 days. Hell yes! The first thing I am going to do is bleach the entire house. It's been vacant since the last occupant made her final journey to wherever. Actually, I was thinking of doing some kind of cleanse since she took the final leap in the house. She was a good catholic so I'm pretty sure she's taken her spot beside her G-O-D and won't be hanging around the house. But just in case...I think some sage is in order. The house is pretty much ALL I can think about at all times. The following account that details our efforts to buy a house will probably help to explain some of my obsession:
In mid -August Kris and I were approved for a mortgage and thought "Wow, this is the best thing that's ever happened to us - can you believe we'll have a house for Christmas?" This was followed by a couple intensive weeks of traipsing about the city from one end to the other in search of the perfect home. Then...we found it on Portland Avenue. It was a sure thing because I dreamed it and Kris, incidentally, always wanted to live in Portland. So cosmic signs were abounding. We made the offer, it was accepted, we got excited and drunk and celebrated. Then the inspection revealed bad foundation problems that the seller would not admit to and after a week of no response on negotiating the price - the deal died. We were sad, got drunk and commiserated. We looked for another month at crap here and crap there - at one point getting yelled at by some owner who wasn't expecting us (it has come to known as the bitchy house and I felt vindicated after seeing what a massacre reno they did). But then - hope. Along came Ayers Street. An elderly couple selling their family home with a gigantic back yard, a sun room for Saturday crosswords and an awesome deck. They entertained our offer for two weeks. We were keen on the house so we let that happen. Then finally!! They accepted our offer one evening. We got excited, drunk and celebrated. The next morning, they reneged and took the house off the market...for the second time. I maintain that they never actually intended to sell their stupid house and I will forever shake my fist at the Dooners who, though sweet and old, made our lives miserable for several weeks.
So the end of September brought despair and hopelessness. Oh, but Urbandale arrived very soon. This one, we didn't discuss with anyone because we were so tired of explaining how "the deal fell through". This one brought us into a new experience - competing offers. Thank god we lost because that house sucks compared to our beloved Haig Drive residence.
So there you go. Three failed attempts in three depressing months. But now, there is light. Our beautiful, spacious, vacant and possibly haunted first house.
Of course, with everything that has gone wrong during this process, I don't think that either Kris or myself will feel safe until we actually get the keys and move our belongings. But when we do - we will get excited, drunk and celebrate.
Anyway...
The countdown is ON! The Fosters will be moving into their luxurious new digs in 19 days. Hell yes! The first thing I am going to do is bleach the entire house. It's been vacant since the last occupant made her final journey to wherever. Actually, I was thinking of doing some kind of cleanse since she took the final leap in the house. She was a good catholic so I'm pretty sure she's taken her spot beside her G-O-D and won't be hanging around the house. But just in case...I think some sage is in order. The house is pretty much ALL I can think about at all times. The following account that details our efforts to buy a house will probably help to explain some of my obsession:
In mid -August Kris and I were approved for a mortgage and thought "Wow, this is the best thing that's ever happened to us - can you believe we'll have a house for Christmas?" This was followed by a couple intensive weeks of traipsing about the city from one end to the other in search of the perfect home. Then...we found it on Portland Avenue. It was a sure thing because I dreamed it and Kris, incidentally, always wanted to live in Portland. So cosmic signs were abounding. We made the offer, it was accepted, we got excited and drunk and celebrated. Then the inspection revealed bad foundation problems that the seller would not admit to and after a week of no response on negotiating the price - the deal died. We were sad, got drunk and commiserated. We looked for another month at crap here and crap there - at one point getting yelled at by some owner who wasn't expecting us (it has come to known as the bitchy house and I felt vindicated after seeing what a massacre reno they did). But then - hope. Along came Ayers Street. An elderly couple selling their family home with a gigantic back yard, a sun room for Saturday crosswords and an awesome deck. They entertained our offer for two weeks. We were keen on the house so we let that happen. Then finally!! They accepted our offer one evening. We got excited, drunk and celebrated. The next morning, they reneged and took the house off the market...for the second time. I maintain that they never actually intended to sell their stupid house and I will forever shake my fist at the Dooners who, though sweet and old, made our lives miserable for several weeks.
So the end of September brought despair and hopelessness. Oh, but Urbandale arrived very soon. This one, we didn't discuss with anyone because we were so tired of explaining how "the deal fell through". This one brought us into a new experience - competing offers. Thank god we lost because that house sucks compared to our beloved Haig Drive residence.
So there you go. Three failed attempts in three depressing months. But now, there is light. Our beautiful, spacious, vacant and possibly haunted first house.
Of course, with everything that has gone wrong during this process, I don't think that either Kris or myself will feel safe until we actually get the keys and move our belongings. But when we do - we will get excited, drunk and celebrate.
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