Story A Day

Tim and I spent the day at the new house – big surprise!  We had a list of things that HAD to get done today, and a list of things we’d get done if time allowed.  We had to trim the tree since the roofers are coming on Wednesday and they’d charge us to trim it otherwise.  So, Tim got up on the roof with his saw and hacked away.  We also had to get the place cleaned up because the painters are coming tomorrow.  Yes…we hired painters!  We’ve never hired painters for interior work before, but we’d decided to see what it would cost, and it’s only $600 for the whole main level (living room, 2 bedrooms, kitchen, and hallways).  We decided that it was well worth the likely 2 weekends worth of work that it saves us I told Tim we better be careful, I might get used to this kind of luxury!  I’m so excited to go see the place after work tomorrow, I’m sure it will look like a whole new  house once it has a fresh coat of paint.  Tim and I were also thrilled to finish cleaning up the kitchen this weekend.  It was GROSS, but now the cabinets look almost new!  We scrubbed them, and put new handles on.  The last item on our list for today was to order the new appliances – range, washer, dryer.  We got them all on sale at Menards, and there’s free delivery – yipee!  A productive day.

I attended a retirement party today for my former colleague at Valley Branch ELC, Bruce.  He’s been working at Valley Branch ELC (at Belwin) for 36 years!  It occurred to me yesterday that Bruce has been working there since my mom was 15.  That was a crazy thought.  He does always tease me about how young I am Bruce is a legend at Belwin, and he will certainly be missed. Whether it’s his “Brucisms”, like his response when someone says “Shoot” (which is) “Skys full of ducks!” or his seemingly endless supply of stories about occurences at Belwin, the place won’t be the same without him.  The gathering was wonderful, with lots of people sharing “Bruce stories” and a great gift from the group to Bruce – a computer!  He said aside from the people, access to a computer would be one of the other things he’d miss most It was a great time to connect and send him on his way with a lot of love and laughter.

It’s only going to cost $300 to have the single-car garage door replaced at the new house.  Yay for us!!!  Not so yay for all of the desperate contractors I’ve been meeting lately – I feel bad for them!

Life’s a bit busy right now…BSP is ramping up for summer, just bought a new house to fix up, working with four real estate clients.  Busy, busy…but good!  Time for some sleep

What a day…Tim and I both took the day off to close on the new house, and begin the repairs.  It was a long, and busy day, here’s how it went down…

- 5:50 am:  Woke up
- 7:15 am: Went to the walk-through.  The occupants were mostly moved out, but it did take them until about 11:00 to be out completely.  Not a huge deal, and better than the hassle we were worried may occur due to the volatility of their moving situation.
- 7:30 am:  A call from our loan officer that the bank was back-logged and the papers were not going to be ready quite in time for our 8:00 closing, so it got pushed back to 9:00.
- 7:45 am:  Trip #1 to Menards (we bought the easy stuff – light fixture, locks)
- 9:00 am:  Closing
- 10:30 am:  A much needed brunch at Baker’s Square
- 11:15 am:  Stop at home (the one we live in) to get supplies
- 11:30 am:  Arrival at the new house, as the new owners, took some measurements
- 11:45 am:  Trip to Home Depot to compare prices with Menards for some materials
- 1:00 pm:  Bids from 3 roofing contractors
- 2:30 pm: Trip #2 to Menards (we bought the stuff that required the measurements and further exam of the house – blinds, paint, curtain rods, etc)
- 4:00 pm: Back to the new house to replace locks & start cleaning
- 5:30 pm:  Trip #3 to Menards (for the lawn mower that wouldn’t fit in the car on Trip #2)
- 6:15 pm:  Dinner at McD’s
- 6:45 pm: Back to the new house to mow the overgrown lawn, clean some more, and keep working on the locks
- 7:15 pm:  Trip #4 to Menards, after realizing our lock sets didn’t have matching keys
- 8:00 pm:  Finishing touches on the lawn and locks
- 9:00 pm:  Calling it quits for the day, and putting our feet up at home!
- 10:20 pm:  Blogging, yawning, and ready for bed!  Many more days like these to come in the next few weeks!

Since my sister’s in town from DC there are lots of opportunities for socializing.  We spent the afternoon with my mom and other sister, Kathy.  We had a nice lunch and then enjoyed some good catch-up time.  Later in the evening, Christy and I visited friends Katie and Dan, and their two little boys.  We had a great evening of chatting about their recent return from 10 months in Brno, Czech Republic.  We also enjoyed scrumptious brownies, and played a rousing game of Yahtzee – which I lost miserably.  Now, time for some sleep in anticipation of an early morning closing on the new house!

Item #1 – Work out
Item #2 – Real estate showings
Item #3 – Install 1st of 4 closet doors in the basement
Item #4  – Visit friends with my sis (here from DC) – Jen, Eric, and Noah – very fun, and delicious food made by Jen.
Item #5 – Install 2nd of 4 closet doors in the basement
Item#6 – Go to bed

We have 3 more days until we close on a new investment property here in Como.  I don’t think I blogged about this previously, since it was a bit up in the air for a while.  But things are rolling along, and we’re hoping for a smooth closing on Tuesday morning.  It’s a quaint little 2-bedroom in Como, selling for $99,900!  Unbelievable.  It was too good of a deal to pass up, and it’s in a great spot in the neighborhood.  We are going to do a bit of work on it, and then either sell it or rent it out, whichever happens first for a satisfactory price.  It’s got some good things going for it, just needs a little TLC – a lot less than the place we bought last year – hopefully!  I am crossing my fingers for no unpleasant surprises Can you tell the photo is a little old?  More and better”before” photos to come, after we close!

I spent the evening in the garage, varnishing closet doors for our basement.  Thankfully, the fumes were mediated by the strong breeze!  I’m hoping I can convince Tim to help me install the closet doors this weekend We’ll see…