Home Is Where the Heart Is...

We did it!! We closed on our new house in Osage Beach! We are now the proud owners of a gorgeous, 1/2-finished house!! HA!

On Thursday the 15th, we headed down to the lake area to spend the night. Our final walk-through was at 8:30 Friday morning - no way we were going to make that 3 hour drive on Friday. Closing started at the bank at 9:15, and took FOREVER! That is a truly unpleasant experience made worse by the presence of 3 little boys with zero patience for boring. And writing that check? ouch.
Once the bank was finally finished with us, we headed to the title company, and again did a lot of waiting... we had to wait for the sellers to get there - give us the KEYS!! garage door openers, house plans and whatnot. But, in the end, it was so worth it. When we drove back over to OUR house, I felt the first shock at the place we will be calling home for many years to come. Stunned at how lucky (blessed) we were that we just happened upon this house that wasn't even technically for sale at the time. Stunned at how lovely the surroundings of the neighborhood are. Stunned that we are actually going to have to get the ENTIRE basement finished. Stunned that John and I have had fewer than normal arguments about all the stuff that we want done!! Mostly, though, I think I am having a hard time believing that all of this med school/residency crap will really be over in such a short time. It's hard to believe that we will soon be able to make real, grown-up plans for our life. It's hard to imagine all the possibilities that lie in front of us now...

Now comes the fun, stress, fighting, and paying for all the finishing, decorating, and enjoying of this home!!! We have to get the "remodeling" loan, still waiting on the estimate from the contractor, and eventually we'll be purchasing at least half the adjacent lot to have a bit of flat yard for the boys. John's going to need a new vehicle someday soon (I really hate that crappy thing he drives, and it's gonna die a painful death soon, anyway); Miss M will be learning to drive and "needing" a vehicle way too soon; the boys are going to start growing up on us...
And I'm sure my husband will try to talk me into all sorts of toys and completely unnecessary things in the next year - things like boats, 4-wheelers, in-home movie theaters, and giant pool tables come to mind. ;)

We're also still hoping and praying for a quick sale here in Kirksville... we've had an Open House, and there is someone coming to look this afternoon. Everything I can possibly cross is crossed!!! Would love to just have the weight of this house off our shoulders. Besides the house, we have to figure out what to do with all the stuff in it that we do not want to move or have in our new house. And trust me when I say, there's a lot that won't be coming with us!!! Not just small "junk" either - we're talking sofas and china cabinets here, people! We'll finally be able to afford to have stuff that is actually to our taste, and I don't even want all these old things entering the house :) Fresh start!! But, you know, old sofas don't just disappear...

Anyway, our move is now just about 5 weeks away. The excitement is building! As is the nervousness that always accompanies a move to somewhere new. Ack!

Hope you all have a wonderful place you call HOME...
Denise

Lots of Hurry Up & Wait...

Sigh. I hate this feeling of hurry, hurry, hurry, get all this stuff done, then wait, wait, wait. It's so hard, sometimes, "knowing" exactly what the near future holds, knowing all the things that will be happening soon, but not soon enough...

We close on our NEW HOUSE (!!!) this Friday, and we'll be going over plans for finishing the basement with a contractor following closing. We officially got our house in Kirksville on the market this week - there's a sign in the yard, and everything! - and the first Open House is this Saturday.

**I must take this opportunity to mention that if you are a smart person, you would not try to live in a house you're trying to sell when you have 3 young boys! Many, many headaches will follow if you do...

We got a near confirmation of some pretty big, pretty life-changing, news this afternoon - I am not quite free to expound on this yet, but it shouldn't be too much longer. :)

Soon, my daughter, my oldest child, will be "graduating" from middle and will officially become a high schooler. Not too long after that, D will turn 8, then M will turn 14, then N will turn 4, then J will turn 2. N will be starting preschool in August, when M is starting 9th grade, and D is starting 3rd. When did all this time pass?

Soon we will actually live within about an hour's drive of Miss M, 2 of my sisters (and their kids), and my Dad. We will finally be able to have family come visit us more than once every 4 years, and be able to visit family without having to stay with one of them and be totally stressed out the whole time. Finally, we will have a house big enough for my brother, sisters, and their families, to congregate at and celebrate our Mom's Christmas.

Soon, I won't have to go 2-3 months between visits with my daughter.

All of this soon, yet still so far away!

And not so far away?? The cleaning... Man, that stuff never makes ya wait, ya know?

Hurrying Up & Waiting ~
Denise