What's happened since June...
Wow, I didn't realize how long it had been since I last wrote. I think I must have been waiting for something to happen to write about. That "something" hasn't quite happened, but I can at least report that we're still MOSTLY on schedule, though the new house hasn't started yet.
My whole family, even the five-year-old and seven-year-old, has been working hard to make our house ready for showing. It's awfully cute to watch a child who hasn't started kindergarten when he wields a paint brush. He's been the culprit, more than a few times, of "wall writing" incidents, and he intends to make things right. He wants to personally paint over his graffiti. So I guess we're doing something right in raising him! I never bothered to paint over his wall writing because I was so impressed with his lettering skills at the tender age of four.
So our front porch is looking fantastic, has for over a month, and we've maintained! We've made (or paid someone else) to make some needed repairs, and I'm dreading the plumber's visit. I think we can put that off a bit longer. Two bedrooms are painted, and the other interior painting could be finished within a week. The back bedroom was the big one, since we decided the hardwood floors were in such sorry shape (cat and dog accidents for who knows how long) that we painted the floor, too. Looks great, though not at all my taste.
New house news: we have a builder who is, at this very minute (well, he's probably asleep at this very minute, but...), crafting his bid, which he'll present to me tomorrow. He was highly recommended by a colleague of mine, and he's, so far, said all the right things. Interestingly, his father grew up directly across the street from where our new neighborhood is, so only a house and a yard and a street will separate our house from that house. And the builder's church adopted the neighborhood school for their social outreach work. Serendipity! He also understands the importance of NOT overbuilding and overimproving in a mixed-use, intended mixed-income neighborhood, so I don't feel like we're being upsold. But I'll find out for sure tomorrow!
We have a lot selected, and an address, which is kind of cool, but not really useful yet.
So, the new plan is this. Assuming I like the bid, the builder will go to his bank and secure his financing. That takes a few weeks. Then we can break ground. He thinks, barring natural disasters, or even unnatural ones, that the house should take around 90 days to complete. So we still may be able to move before Thanksgiving, assuming our house sells in time. That's what worries me most right now. The vast majority of houses in our neighborhood seem to sell within two months of listing, but there are a couple houses that sit and sit on the market. I sure hope mine isn't one of those!
Oh, and a further note on my generally nay-sayer parents' reaction to all this. On the phone about a week ago, my dad, not usually a demonstrative guy, told me that he was impressed with the research I'd done and the decisions I was making. He feels like we're making a great change with the house. That's about the highest praise I can hope for.
For now, more painting and more packing. I'm much more excited, though, about making curtains.....