One Sleep and a Wake Up...

And I'm OUTTA HERE! I BOUGHT A HOUSE!!! A cute little house... on a lake... with a fireplace... about a mile from the beach. It is 90 years old, but has had a face lift. Vinyl siding, new windows, updated bathrooms, fresh paint, new hot water heater and kitchen appliances, granite counters and hardwood floors. Mold, mice, sagging floor, rickety basement stairs, unattached-unheated-no-electric garage (future art studio for me), very ugly entrance and front door, cracked cement driveway, and poor grading too! Oh, and the best of all is... every one of my outlets are 2 prong (in a 3 prong world)... YIPPIE!

The process of buying this house has not been a smooth journey. For one thing, I have to move in BEFORE I have the funds to purchase it. The owner is very agreeable however, so we worked it out. Considering I had to surrender my home, my credit history doesn't look all that wonderful... the seller has agreed to not run a credit check... I agreed to not make a fuss over the items in the house that have not been updated. It's an agreement we can both live with... and one that the lawyers are having heart attacks over! It's 18 hours before I start moving and the lawyers are still faxing papers back and forth, each trying to protect their clients. So far nothing has stopped me from moving and I doubt anything will. The seller and I see eye to eye and I am confident it will all be fine.
The listing agent just so happens to be my new next door neighbor... and we get along fabulously. Her husband and step son are helping me with the move... they are the 'muscles'. AND... the seller has his mother's furniture in the garage and told me I can take whatever I want!! How cool is THAT???

I grew up in this area of New Jersey. My classmates were from here... and a lot of them are still here. It will feel like 'old home week' as I bump in to them at the grocery store or around town. My mom lives 5 minutes away and a high school friend is a few houses down the road. Another classmate is the local veterinarian... so I am already comfortable that Darla will get the best care if needed.

Packing is difficult. I know I'm taking too much with me. In the end a lot of it will be thrown away or donated... but I'm having troubles making too many decisions at once. The dining room of the old house is already over stuffed with items to be picked up by charity on Monday. As I go through the house and pull things to donate I feel so FREE! Then I make another round and pull more things to put in the donate pile. Like a snake shedding it's skin, I'm growing in to a new person. It's LIBERATING and SCARY at the same time. Look out world... here I come!