The Keys to Paradise

I waited all day with bated breath.  I called my realtor twice before she kindly told me that she would call me when the transaction went on record and the keys were delivered to her office. Around 2:45 pm Joan called and said she would meet me at my house with the keys at 4 pm. Our downstairs neighbors at the apartments were moving too and needed a break from packing so I invited them to come and see the house. We caravanned over there and right at 4 pm I was turning an old tarnished brass key in my very own front door lock. I gave my very first tour of my new home, right then and there.

That night I could hardly sleep, I was so excited to get in and paint!

The next morning I dropped Millie off with her aunt and uncle and headed for our house.  I started by spackling dents and scrapes in the walls, then moved on to the wallpaper border in the master bedroom. The wallpaper was old enough that it came down with relative ease and all I had to use was a squirt bottle full of warm water.  I took a break and walked over to the neighbors to collect the paint that I stored in their garage.  Gene was eating breakfast and didn't have his hearing aids in so even though I could see him and I was knocking and ringing the door bell I didn't get his attention.  I went around back and his wife was out with their dog, Coco.  I introduced myself and asked if she could open the garage.  She complied readily, adding that her name was Emmy.  In the garage she filled me in on a little history of the neighborhood, burst into tears at the mention of Dorothy (the previous owner of our home), and informed me that under the mottled brown/orange/gray shag carpet there were hardwood floors.  After moving the paint from garage to garage I moved on to mixing paint for Millie's room and succeeded in creating a rich fuschia.  The paint mixing was followed by a realization.  I didn't have any paint pans.  Crap!  Luckily for me Chris was on his way to bring me lunch and offered to pick some up.  So I started with a brush, painting the hard-to-reach areas. 

Pretty soon Chris arrived laden with burgers, fries and paint pans.  It was his first time inside, so he took his camera and snapped off some shots.  We ate and then investigated the hardwood floors, oh, and our findings were beautiful.  They spawned further investigation which resulted in a full on demolition of the faux wood paneling and marbled mirror wall in the living room.  Chris took off after an hour or so and I finished the bottom half of Millie's room. 

In the garage I mixed up the top color, a soft yellow.  I was 80% done when Adam arrived with the young owner of said room and Greek take out . We had a nice picnic in the backyard.  Adam took over the painting for a while and I watered the lawn with Millie.  It was nearing 7:30 pm and she was none too happy to be receiving peripheral splashes from the hose.  I handed her off to Adam and sent him back to our dinky apartment.  I stayed and finished up the paint job in Millie's room, then I went through the house and made sure all the paint supplies were away and all the paint cans had their lids, at long last I shut off the lights and stepped onto the porch to lock up fumbling in the dark with the unfamiliar and yet wholly comforting keys.

To get to the beginning

It is just over eleven months since our wedding and now we are taking another big step in our lives.  We are (attempting) to purchase our first home.  After the year we just had this should seem easy.  But in this real estate market and with our budget easy is not what it used to be.  On one side of the coin we are lucky.  It is only because of the real estate collapse that we are even able to think about purchasing a home.  However, the homes that are now within our financial grasp are most if not all foreclosures or short sales.

A month ago we put an offer in on what we considered our charming dream home and within two weeks the deal fell apart. So we cast away our dogmatic dream home fantasy and elected for a more pragmatic choice.  A home that was not full of personality and old world charm as well as old world plumbing but a newer home that would suit our needs and our pocketbooks.

The house was built in 1971, about 1650 square feet, three bedrooms and one and a half bath, two car garage, fireplace, separate living and dining room, you get the picture.  It was originally listed for $130k and after sitting on the market for five months we offered $80k.  We viewed the property twice and both times the place was a mess.  The house is currently inhabited by three bachelors and it definitely reflects that.

The seller has accepted our offer but what now?  Now we wait for the bank to accept it.  Ugh!  If this happens quickly it could be 45 days if it happens not so quickly it could be a series of months.  I am not a patient person, never have been, and waiting is the most malicious torture anyone could inflict upon me.  So in my free time, these endless hours waiting I am planning.  Oh, I have such plans! New floors, new carpet, new paint, the list goes on and on.  My husband just rolls his eyes and refrains from comment.

This has got me thinking... Can I do what I conjure?  Or are these plans going to be finely laid but abandoned?  Is it true what Will Hunting said, could I learn all I need to know at the public library?  If we get this house I just might have to find out...