closed

It's done and dusted. The sale of our old house is now closed, we have a certified cheque in our hands for proceeds of the sale (what was left over after everyone else got their share). We're both exhausted but now, absolutely everything that we own is in our new house. It might be in boxes but it's here!!

I went over to the old place after I dropped Mark off this morning. By 6:15 a.m., I was back here and we were done with it. I feel good about the fact that we left the house in much better shape than we found it in 5 years ago. Tonight, after dinner, Mark and I drove by on our way home and noticed that they have landscapers there, cutting down trees and stuff.

This afternoon, after the contractors cleared out, I went and picked up my friend Tammy and brought her over to see the house. I hadn't seen her in a while (even though we talk on the phone regularly and she lives only a couple of blocks away) so we had a great visit. As it happens, her sister Holly has just bought a house on the next street over from here. I'm so happy for her. It's a lovely looking house on a super quiet street and it backs onto the school yard. Talk about perfect!!

The dishwasher is now hooked up and our new ceiling fan has been installed in the kitchen. Pat was able to install our new fixtures in the foyer and the hallway but he couldn't put the ceiling fan up in the living room. Turns out, there had been an electrical fire in the box at some point. Not only that, they have made the box into a junction box and some of the wiring looks like it's original from the 1950's. We're expecting an electrician to see us at the beginning of the week to sort it out. There's always something isn't there??

For example, yesterday afternoon, Pat was working on the plumbing for the new faucets and dishwasher and was having a really tough time with it. Turns out, some of the plumbing was really crappy plastic. He was getting increasingly frustrated by it so I had him put in copper pipes. It was $30 well spent. For one thing, we know now that it's good stuff and Pat didn't kill himself trying to work with bad stuff all afternoon.

The toilet was another thing. Yikes. The bathroom that Joe will be using is directly across the hall from his room. It's a really nice, black and white tile bathroom. One of the things we thought was kind of cool was the black toilet. When we got into the house, I noticed that the tank was running and Mark saw that the seat was broken. No problem, we can fix that, right?? Wrong!!! We picked up a black seat and had Pat take a look at the tank. This toilet was some kind of low set, low-flow, fancy schmancy thing. It was also a counterfeit. Instead of being an "american standard" it was just a "standard" toilet. According to the guys at the fancy plumbing store, it may have fallen off of the back of a lorry. Nice huh?? For $100, Pat got a brand new, standard toilet. We put the black seat on it and it looks and works great. Ahh, the joys of a new house huh??

Anyway, I should run along. I am so pooped that I can barely see straight and I have to check my laundry. Yeah, that's right, Mark got my washer and dryer hooked up today (yay!!). Who knew that washing clothes could make me so happy huh?? Trust me, it won't last!!