In Which I Take a (Sort Of) Break

That's a somewhat silly title because I haven't posted since Tuesday, so I've already taken a two-day break. Looking forward, it will probably be much of the same, so I thought I'd tell you why.

The biggest reason is that we did buy a house in Elkton, MD, and for some dumb reason, I have ridiculously underestimated the time this venture would take. The house is the one I posted previously, and the past few weeks have involved lots of negotiations. The inspections revealed termites with damage to joists, an inoperable hot water heater, old windows that don't even open, a kitchen with a faulty stove, dishwasher, and sink, and many, many other little things. We had looked for a move-in ready house, thought we had found one that was close, but the inspections showed otherwise. We asked for lots of money to fix everything, negotiations went back and forth, and we finally arrived at an amount that neither we nor the seller are thrilled with, but it's enough to fix all the big things. We seriously considered walking away, but that would have put us back at the beginning. There were two other houses that we were considering, but even the cheapest one was $80K more, and that's money we just don't have.

So we decided to go ahead, and settlement is next Thursday. We chose the "good enough" house; we know its issues and have begun scheduling the fixes. I have a new hot water heater being installed on Friday, Home Depot is coming on Saturday to rip up old carpet and measure for new carpet to be installed the following Thursday. I'm hoping that there is hardwood under the carpet in the living/dining room, and because the carpet was installed 16 years ago I'm hoping that if there is hardwood, it won't need much refinishing. On Sunday, John and I are going to try and replace the garbage disposal and sink, fix the burners that don't work on the stove, and repair the dishwasher. Termite treatment is happening on Monday. Joist repair is scheduled for Wednesday, and somewhere in that week, we're going to shop for furniture. I really hope to find a bit of spare time to get a library card at the Elkton Library and maybe even visit my new LYS, Vulcan's Rest, in Chesapeake City. (Big thanks to Vera for her recommendation!)

I've procured home owner's insurance, scheduled electric, water, and sewer to be turned on the day we close, but haven't yet contacted Comcast to set up internet. Given my previous interactions with Comcast here in NJ, I thought that process might work better when I was actually in MD.

So my time has been taken up with details and all the seemingly hundreds of things that need to be done before Thursday the 12th. I enjoy posting every day, and I especially enjoy hearing from all of you, but that hasn't been possible for a few days now. I'm not leaving, but all this house stuff plus the activities of daily life and family mean that I'll be posting randomly over the next few weeks. I'm going to be in MD from next Wed. the 11th through Fri. the 20th, then back to NJ to regroup. Here's hoping I can successfully negotiate with Comcast so I might even be able to post from MD!

I'm wishing everyone a wonderful, relaxed, and relaxing weekend. We've been invited to the ranch where Justin works this weekend to meet the man who owns the place, his assistant, the rest of the ranch staff, and their families so I may even have blog fodder for Monday!