Change

Change 1 - we purchased a home. We close on it this coming weekend (the 20th or 23rd, we're still working on that part). We chose the first house depicted in the last post for several reasons. As we looked at them this was the only one (for me) that hit every nail on the head. Jason hesitated because it only had a single car garage, but that turned out to be a moot point anyway because the springs and door have been completely dismantled. If we want it to work it's going to take a bit of effort.
The second reason was because we received a few calls the week of the decision that let us know there was a possibility of extended visits from friends and family. As I stared at the two three bedroom homes I realized there just wasn't enough room in them in case of such visits. So we crossed those two off the list. Then we met with our realtor for a round of visits to the finalists and we were told that the other house had sold the day before. Thus we were left with one option anyway, which suits me fine because I hate decisions.
We've been back to visit the house several times and stayed for the entire inspection. That was the cinching factor for me. Our inspector was not only knowledgeable but also very funny. He walked us through and over every portion of the home pointing out everything from safety issues, which were all minor and easily fixable, to smart upgrades. He even knew which serial numbers had been recalled on dishwashers, furnaces and in-wall heaters. He recognized from the external characteristics that an in-wall heater was a type which had been recalled many years ago and took the time to open it up to verify that.
I was amazed and delighted by him.
All in all we could probably fix EVERYTHING on his report for less than a grand not including the garage.
We're super excited.
We didn't get any sort of deal off the asking price, but it was already below market for the area, and by adding a $1200 window to one of the basement rooms we could officially move it up to 5 full bedrooms. Can I just say one more time that I'm super excited?
The only hold-up has been the housing class we are taking. It's not required for our loan, but there's a special program out through the IRS that allows a refundable credit for mortgage interest on our taxes and they do require the class so we've put off the closing until after that is over (which is next weekend.)

Other than that life is grand. I attended a CPE training through our firm this Monday through Tuesday and learned a great deal about the overall process which I think will help me a lot. I also convinced the partners to send me to another level 2 training in July which should help me even more.

The other item of interest is that I finished the re-write of my first novel and am hoping to get editing help soon so that I can submit it for publishing through Tor books (one of the only science fiction publishers that will accept author submissions). It will be about six months before I hear anything so don't bother asking, but it's been a dream of mine for most of my life so it's neat to be getting closer.

Jason is amazing me daily. He has excelled in his classes and his excitement remains, despite the large demand on his time from school and family. Once again I'm glad we made the decision for me to work so that he could focus as much as possible on his schooling.
He had a test to take the other day and I told him he wouldn't be allowed home unless he scored a B or better. He called about forty-five minutes later and asked if he was allowed in with an upside down V. :)

Alisabeth is doing a little better too, she is still struggling to grasp the new schedule, which is about to be thrown into chaos again as we move, but she's almost there. Mommy works Monday through Friday, Bitsy goes to preschool Tuesday through Thursday and everyone is home on Saturday and Sunday.

We also have a new addition to our family. Robyn, Jason's older sister, drove up to be with us for as long as we can convince her to stay. With a lot of chaos and trial she made it here and we're glad to have her. Transition is always fun for everyone but we're excited to get into our new place where she will have an entire wing to herself. With two bathrooms and enough bedrooms to house everyone comfortably we're hoping this will be perfect.

There's really not a whole lot more, but I think we have enough excitement. Hope you're enjoying your own ride as much as we are.