It's the Most Hectic-al Time of the Year

Today was the last official day of class, and all student work was turned in today. I'll likely also be receiving online work up until midnight. On top of that, we're trying to close on the house, and that has been anxiety provoking -- for the sellers more so than for us.

We're buying from friends -- yes, I know, everyone just go ahead and let out a collective gasp right now and get it over with. And we haven't quibbled on the price or on the other negotiations about the house. But she (there's a she and a he as sellers) is a nervous wreck because she's also trying to close on a house where they're moving to. Why they took all that on at once instead of renting for a few months or even a full year in their new area is beyond me, but that's not my decision and my life. She's really pushed us to hurry, hurry, hurry, sign this, do that, and El Hijo and I have had to pump the brakes a little bit just so we can make sure we're not doing something stupid. The he seller is much calmer. The she seller tried my patience quite a bit today, to the point where I was actually dodging her phone calls and she's a good friend of mine. She just emailed me constantly and called the office two or three times in about a 20 - 30 minute time span, wanting us to hurry up right now irrespective of the fact that it's the last day of classes and we have a crap ton of stuff to do and rush over to her place so we could do something to the contract that we didn't need to do. I called my loan officer and a family member who worked in the legal field, found out we didn't have to do what she wanted at all, and pumped the brakes a little more and she got kind of pissy with me. I know she's anxious, but I don't need help being anxious as I do that just fine on my own, so I'd rather keep the stress to a minimum, especially at this time of year.

The banking/loan process has actually gone surprisingly smoothly. I'm not sure what sort of hassle I expected, but whatever it was it didn't meet my expectations for how much trouble this was going to be. We both ended up with really good credit, which was also a surprise to me, and so we're basically in the in-between phase right now where we've signed the contract and completed the house inspection but the appraisal and legal paperwork isn't finished yet. So, we wait. Which is driving the she seller crazy, but I'm actually OK with waiting. We'll probably close the first week of January and that's also probably when we'll move. I can't believe we're actually about to own our first (only?) house. What's really good (and sort of sad if you think about it) is that even with a mortgage that includes a home insurance hazard policy and property taxes held in escrow, we're still paying less per month than the rent we're paying here for less (and worse) space. And their utility bills are literally about a third of what ours are, because this apartment is exceptionally drafty and poorly insulated -- all of the window seals are compromised. So we're actually saving lots of money by moving. I find that hard to wrap my head around.

I'll have a yard I can garden the heck out of. The house includes the little lot it sits on and a city lot and a half right beside of it, so we have some decent space. Prepare to see more blogs about permaculture and intensive gardening.

I've also discovered Freecycle. It's like a Craig's List, but instead of selling stuff, it's got to be free. You sign up for whatever area you want, and you can list things that you want to get rid of or things you need. I'm going to try to get my moving boxes that way, and I have several things I'd like to get rid of as well. Things seem to move fast on Freecycle! We'll see how it works. The best part is, people come and get it from you (you can set it outside or meet downtown, too, they don't have to go in your house or even meet you face to face), so you don't have to lug it away.

Oh, and I noticed that Christmas was freaking right around the corner.

Dante is going to Florida for Xmas this year; I'm not sure we're going anywhere, especially if there is a chance we might come in for a meeting during the week after Xmas. I still have one extended shopping session left, and then I need to wrap and mail stuff out.

At some point, I'll have to figure out when I'm prepping for my courses for the Spring. Lots of little odds and ends left to do.

Hearing the refrain "It's the mooost wonderful tiiiiime of the year ..." seems like sarcasm to me right now.

-- DV