The Week in Review

Been some time since I've written, mainly because I'm tired. This new house has proven to be a LOT of work. But more on that in a moment.

First, the 12th anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks was this week. I wove that into my sermon on Wednesday night. My wife mentioned to me that it seems like just yesterday that it all happened. But my oldest, Robbie, was in kindergarten then! We still have the stuffed animal he got at school, donated by some folks in Columbus, OH, to comfort the kids. (It is a gorilla which we named Columbus.) We were still in New York then. I still have vivid memories of it all. Not just that day, but all the days, weeks, and months after that day. Much of the country moved on, but in New York, it just kept going and going. The clean-up was so massive, and casualties (or pieces thereof) were being found in "the pile" months later. I remember traveling to Ft. Wayne in November and being away made such a difference! I hadn't realize what living with that constantly did to me.

I remember being at the pile (that's what the workers called it) and counseling the workers. Their stories were horrifying and sad, yet they returned everyday. Their stamina was amazing, and they were very appreciative of us pastors being there to support them. When I went back to see the memorial last year, it wasn't the memorial or the giant holes in the ground that got me, it was being back at the little church where I helped. For that's where I was. That's what made the memories come flooding back.

But now, we are fixing up our new house. When we actually moved in, we found out that the place was really pretty dirty and needed more work than we thought it would. So we've been cleaning (deep cleaning!) everything and doing a lot of painting. The floors were all very creaky and squeaky, so I've also been busy peeling up the carpets and reattaching the wood. I needed to get all this done now because we are getting new carpet installed on Tuesday and I don't want to pull up the new stuff once they put it down.  :-)  That should make a big difference! We also found out that the former owners had painted right over all the switches and outlets.  :-(  So in addition to repainting, we've been replacing all of them. Then there's been the work we've had contractors in to do - they're still coming. Electrician next week to fix some problems and install a lot more lighting in the basement which will be my study/office. And there's still a lot to do - but after next week, I believe all the major work will be done. Then we'll begin taking things out of our storage unit and settling in all the way.

My brother and sister came to help us move and they did a LOT of work! Not only did they help with the actually moving, but did a lot of patching, sanding, cleaning, and painting while they were here. I don't know how long it would have taken us without them!

The basement which will be my study/office is what needs the most work now. It has an old and not very nice wet bar of sorts in one corner that needs to be torn out. Some brick around it will need to be chiseled out too. Then some drywalling and painting, and with the new lighting, it should be pretty good. I want to put some carpeting down also, but I think that may need to wait a while - I think we've pretty much used up our improvements budget with everything else we've done! There's other stuff that will have to wait as well, like a new basement door and some new windows in the basement, new light fixtures in various places, too.


What we'll do little by little after this major stuff is done is the painting of all the trim in the house, as well as the wainscoting in some of the hallways and rooms. I would like to try something like this picture, except with the color above the rail light and the color below the rail and in the squares dark - maybe a dark green. I think the contrast would be nice, but we'll see. As I said, we can take some time with that.

But what I also need to get moving on is my school work! I've always tried to place church and family before school, and with all this happening, the school work has slid a bit. But I still need to get it done, so I need to carve out some good time to make sure I do.

Finally, here's a picture of the whole gang around my father. We are making plans to move him down in November. It will be nice to have him with us.

New House. Done.

Well, the settlements all went through today, but not without a lot of drama. Our mortgage company was late getting us the final paperwork, so things got held up a bit. But finally around 2 pm it was all finished.

We met the folks buying our house. A very nice couple with twin 5 year old boys. He is in the military. They were very excited about the house and we're happy they're the ones who got it. We also met the folks selling us their house. He bought a gas station in Las Vegas and is going out to run that business. They did not want to sell to someone who was just going to flip their home, so were happy someone was buying it that really wanted it and appreciated it. So in the end, all was well.

But the drama with our mortgage company really got hard to take. Things that should have been done just weren't getting done. I found out from my agent that they have experienced that with this bank quite a bit - so much so that they are cutting ties with them. But it's done. Finally.

This afternoon after closing we went over and started working on the house. We had a lot of cleaning to do, taking mirrors off walls, washing the walls and getting them ready to paint. We want to try to get that done quickly before we have too much stuff in the house. So that's the task the next couple of days. Should be tiring!  :-)

Incompetence

Incompetence really burns my butt. We are supposed to settle on our houses this morning, and the NEITHER the mortgage or settlement companies are ready. Really? Is this the first house you guys ever sold? It's going to take a mighty effort today to hold my tongue and just get everything signed . . .

Wrapping a Lot of Things Up

Well, another busy week has flown by. I was down in Florida most of the week for my Lutheran Haven Board of Trustees meetings. Left early Tuesday morning and returned late Friday night. The meetings weren't bad - we actually have an exciting building project just beginning, so lots to consider and think about. If all goes well, I think this will be an good addition to the campus and help turn the place around. Our new CEO has been doing a good job of that on the operations side, now we need to do so on the long range planning and facilities. The only bad part of the trip was that my flight was delayed 3 hours coming home. but JetBlue surprised me with a $50 rebate the next day, so that says something.

We settle on our housing this week - Tuesday. So this will be another busy week! At 11 am we sell our current house, and at Noon we buy the new house! Then we get to work cleaning and fixing and moving. My father, brother, and sister are all coming to help, and it will be nice to all be together again. That doesn't happen too often these days.

School is starting back up for the semester as well. This summer of moving has set me back a little. I am hoping to take my French exam in the not too distant future, and then try to buckle down on my reading. I was hoping to have all my exams done this fall, but as I said, this summer has set me back a little and now it looks like Spring.

I'll try to post some stuff a little more often now that most of the summer's upset is winding down. We'll see, right?  :-)

Hoops, Hoops, and More Hoops!

Buying a house means jumping through a lot of hoops. Selling a house means jumping through a lot of hoops. Both buying and selling a house means . . . well, you know: a lot of hoops times two! But how blessed we are to be in such a position, so I shouldn't complain too much. Slowly but surely we are plowing through conditions, inspections, contingencies, negotiations, financing, forms, and all the back and forth. It can get dizzying! And so long to wait as well. We are ready to begin doing things to our new home that need to be done and getting going, but have to wait until our expected closing on August 27.

Later today we go up to visit my Dad for a few days. It will be good to both see him and get away. It is my vacation after all, even if we're staying home for most of it and doing housing stuff. More later . . .

Ratified

The offer we placed on a house was accepted, so now we have ratified contracts to both sell our current home and buy a new home. So as long as everything goes smoothly and the home inspection doesn't reveal a money pit, we go to closing on both houses on August 27th. Then we just have to move and fix up the place we got! But it is good to know things are moving in the right direction and that hopefully we will be in our new home by the time school starts.

Front of house

Front porch

My favorite room! Sun room in the back.

Back yard

Housing News

Well, it has been a very full week, which is why I did not post a VBS day 3, 4, or 5! (We did, in fact, have them.) But in addition to VBS, we did receive, negotiate (a little) and accept an offer on our house, then found a house that we like and will be putting an offer on tomorrow. And during all this leaving our house with some frequency to allow realtors to show it. So it was a very hectic week.

The house we found (actual picture to the left) needs a little work- some really ugly wallpaper, paint and rug colors, and a few other updates - but overall is nice and would fit our needs well. Finding a "grandpa suite" on the main floor isn't easy, but this one has a nice one. It is also only about 1 mile from our current home, which means none of our kids have to change schools, we get (I believe) to keep our phone numbers (home and church), and already know the neighborhood and where everything is. There are many positives. So, tomorrow we'll meet with our agent and submit an offer, and hopefully get it and put a lot of this behind us.

I'll write more soon about VBS and our Kid's Fitness Fair which we had on Saturday as well. Stay tuned!

Cicadas, New Homes, and Family

Well, the cicadas have come out with a vengeance! At least around our home. It seems very unusual that outside my home we are inundated with cicadas and shells, but right on the other side of our neighborhood, not so much. I wonder why that is? The good news is that they seem not to be making much noise around our house - all the noise is coming from farther away. Again, I wonder why that is? There are strange creatures . . .

In other news, we are looking to move into a new, bigger home soon, so that my father can move down here and live with us and we can care for him better. So . . . we are in the process of getting our house ready to sell, getting our financing into place, looking for a bigger house with the private space we need for my father, and all while making frequent trips to Philadelphia to help him now, and finish school, and church, and summer activities . . . tiredness! But it's important, so off we go. Our only non-negotiable about the house is that we keep our older kids at the same high school - don't want to make them go to a new school. Inventories are down right now, which means we'll have trouble finding a new home, but also have no trouble at all selling our current home. There is a model up the street almost the same as ours that sold in just three days on the market! So no worries there. Just have to find a new one.

So if you're in the market for a townhouse in Northern Virginia, let me know! I know of a good one for sale . . .