Officially Homeowners

Hubby and I have officially entered a new phase of our lives - homeowners. We closed on our new home yesterday and put the first of our belongings in our new home today. We are more than happy to be leaving the apartment life of 20 years behind. I haven't had that feeling of "wow this is our house" yet, but suspect that will not happen until all of our belongings are in one place. However, it does feel great to know we only have limited days left to deal with obnoxious neighbors.

We had the most fantastic realtor who made everything super easy. Although I know it was his job, he truly did go above and beyond to make sure we were able to get what we wanted. Anyone in the Austin area looking for a great realtor, I know just the person.

Kick in the Head

I am a very active sleeper and always have been. I have been known to carry on conversations with objects such as fans, desks, or mirrors and have no recollection of the event; at times even get out of bed and wander around the house. Hubby has gotten used to this activity after 20 years and he no longer even wakes up when it happens. The other night I went to bed and fell asleep as normal. All of a sudden I wake up when I feel something hit me in the head. I was so disoriented. I didn't know where I was or what had hit me in the head. It was pitch black and I couldn't even see the night light we keep in the other room. Finally in a panic I realized there was something covering me and pulled it off. That is when I realized it was hubby who had kicked me in the head because I was completely turned around in the bed. My head was at the foot of the bed under the covers and my feet were on my pillow. I had been dreaming that I was moving boxes and somehow ended up in that position. I repositioned myself in the bed and slept normally until the alarm went off. The next morning I awoke so tired, I was dragging all day long.

Neighbors

We have new neighbors that live above us and they are the worst neighbors we have ever had. They are young kids who don't appear to have ever lived in an apartment before. When they walk it sounds like they are stomping. I can't fault them for that because these apartments are not very sound proofed. Since they all have hardwood floors the noise travels even more. My issue with them is their smoking and drinking. My yard has become their ash tray. Every day I pick up between 5 and 10 cigarette butts from my yard that they have just tossed over their balcony and in to my yard. When they have friends over they like to go outside to drink and then they throw their beer bottles on the ground. It makes the area around our apartment look terrible.

Today when we went outside, it was just too much and we had to file a complaint with the management office. There was the usual array of cigarette butts but this time there was also a broken beer bottle in my yard. Thankfully we saw it before one of the dogs cut their feet on the pieces of glass. Hopefully they won't get worse now that we have complained.

Almost Homeowners

We received the notification today that everything is completed and we will be able to close on our new home on January 30th. What a relief. Now I can stop worrying about where we will live and change the focus to packing, setting up utilities, and changing addresses. My vacation got cancelled for the week that we are scheduled to move because of more reorganization efforts at work. I am not at risk for being impacted this time, but I will have to help deliver the news to those who are being impacted. Because my vacation was cancelled, hubby is taking the lions share of handling this move - which I appreciate immensely.

Scared in the Bookstore

Today we went to the bookstore and as we were walking around we noticed this one poor guy who looked scared to death. You know, the look you get when you don't know if you should cry, barf, or run. He had that look and was trying so hard not to let it show. He was standing there as the female next to him added more and more books to the stack. With each book she added, he looked a little more scared. My curiosity got the better of me, so I had to know what kind of books they were buying that had him looking so pale. They were in the parenting section and she had stacked about 10 different parent to be books in his arms. I wanted so badly to tell him to put down the books and just spend time with someone who had children; but I didn't. Instead, I left the store feeling sorry for the poor fellow who has weeks of reading in his very near future.

My Turn

Clearly, the hubby and I should not be trusted around your shopping cart.

This time we were in Walmart picking up a few items. Hubby went down one aisle and I went down another. I needed to grab some feminine products and was going to meet him at the other end. I caught up to him and tossed my items in the cart when I noticed he had added a few things to the basket. Things that we don't normally like. I was getting ready to ask him why he bought those items when I looked up and saw someone else heading to the cart. I was so embarrassed. I apologized, grabbed my items, and quickly moved out of that section. At least it was a female whose cart I put my items in and not some big burly guy.

House Issues - Again

Last night we got news that the house was a no-go. The feds decided not to move forward with the program we applied under to purchase our house. Our moods were rock bottom. Today, I called to see if there was any possible way to extend our lease. No-go there either which is what I suspected. I have a great apartment with hardwood floors and a yard. I called several rental houses and all were a no-go. Either they don't take big dogs (my sweet little Riley is now pushing 50 pounds) or the house was already gone. By this time I have successfully spent a few hours of company time and not done anything that I was being paid to - oh well. Finally, I spoke to our realtor and he came up with another game plan. We are now back on track and trying to close at the end of this month. It looks like it may work, but we have a very tight window on the closing date and move out date.

Right now my main focus is on keeping my sanity intact and not stressing out too much. Once we make it through this, I am vowing to never buy another house - EVER.

Keep your fingers crossed and send all good luck wishes our way that everything gets finished in time for us to close and move out by the first week of February.