The closing went well yesterday, much more quickly than I remember our first one going.
Afterwards, we went straight over to the new house to meet up with the friends that were watching our kids to spare them the boredom of watching their parents sign their name 87,000 times. Another couple friends came over with their kids and we ordered pizza and drank a few beers. I suppose that was our first "dinner party". It was wonderful.
We all wandered around the empty house discussing furniture arrangement, paint colors and future remodeling projects. I can't wait to get my hands dirty making all the ideas a reality.
We also got to meet one set of neighbors--three of them from the house next door. Jim went over to borrow a phone book and met the matriarch of the family. When we were leaving, the daughter and granddaughter were outside and I chatted with them for a few minutes.
They seemed really friendly and "mellow"--real earthy type people. I'm not a big fan of hippies, but I'm not going to make any judgement calls here (yet). They offered us a free tree for our front yard! How nice is that?
It's so much quieter in the new neighborhood. No Harley's rumbling down the street, no fire trucks screeching by at all hours, and no bass-thumping asshats rattling our windows.
The backyard is heaven (but in need of some serious landscaping help--as is the front yard. All in good time). I've always wanted a home that I could have gatherings at comfortably, and now I do. I'm so so happy.
The batteries on my camera died pretty soon after we got there, so this is just a little taste of the obnoxious amount of 'before and after photos' I am going to share. Brace yourself.
