Moving, Moving, Moving....

Tomorrow is the big day. Tomorrow we all move into our new house. It will be a crazy, mixed-up day; but then so was today. The moving company sent over the packers today, and when I left about 7:45 this morning, they were well into creating boxes and boxes of our stuff. They were here for five hours packing away. I wish I could say I was here supervising them, but alas I had to go to work and the job of supervisor was left to Tracy. The packers did their jobs, and did them well; when I got home around 6:00 I found the house filled with boxes and displaced furniture. Actually, the movers packed pretty much everything, including items we really didn't want them to pack. Oh well, they did their jobs.

So much was packed up that sleeping in this house tonight would be less than comfortable, so it is off to the new house. Javier is bringing over a couple of air mattresses for us to sleep on tonight. We are actualy looking forward to it. We had originally planned on staying the night there, but the packers packed away our nice air mattress. Like i said, they packed everything. Tracy is very happy and will enjoy spending her first night at the new house, even if it isn't in the comfort she is accustomed to. Honestly, I am as well.

I have photos of the packing, and will post them when I get a chance.

Soon I am signing off the this network for the last time and sometime tomorrow afternoon I will be able to sign onto the new network. I've not built it yet, but I will. Until then, we are all moving, moving, moving!

It's My Closing, I'll Cry If I Want To

Today is the day. The day that my current house stops being "my" house and becomes someone else's house. Yes it is only a structure of wood and bricks, but it was the first house I ever bought. A house I bought on my own. I worked with the builder, made all the selections and signed all the paperwork. It was a great deal of fun, and not much stress. Of course back then I wasn't trying to sell a house to move into a house.

So, today at 10:00 this morning I will again be signing documents; only this time I will be saying good-bye to my home since January of 2003. It's hard to imagine how much has changed in my life since then. When I moved in, I was single and working for Fujitsu. By the time my first payment was due I was unemployed and looking for a new job, hoping I wouldn't lose the home I had just moved into. Here I am 4 1/2 years later, I'm married, have a step-daughter living with us, in my second job since buying the house; in short my life is radically different. Moving into a different house does seem to be the ulitmate end to all of the change I've experienced.

The change has been good to me though. I love my life. I will miss this house, but I've met the new couple moving in and I believe they will be good to her. It doesn't mean I won't shed a tear or two, and well, it's my house and I can cry if I want to. They will be more tears of joy and sweet memories, than anything else. Joy for the years I've spent here, single and married. Joy for the years yet to come, shared in a newer, larger home. A home that Tracy and I chose together. So tears I may shed, but a smile will still be on my face.

Closing on the 18th of June

We finally have official notice that we will close on June 18th, on both houses. We have no idea of what time yet, but most likely we will close on our current house in the early morning and on the new house in the afternoon. It will make for a crazy, hectic and quite possibly stressful day; but when it is all over we will own a different house. Of course that only sets objects in motion, and a few days later we will move into that new house.

In the past I have hired movers, but done my own packing. This time around I decided it made more sense to hire someone to do the packing. Tracy and I are way too busy to spend every night for a few weeks packing up everything we own. The company I hired should be able to do it all in half a day. The day after they pack, we move. I've used them before and have been very satisfied with the results. If you ever need a moving company in the Dallas area, checkout Major-League Moving.

Thursday, June 21st will be my last full day in the house I built in 2003. The house we are moving too is bigger and nicer, but it won't ever be my first house. Of course, the new one is going to be the first house that Tracy and I purchased together. That in itself is very special.

UPDATE: We actually have a time for the closing now. Everything is now set in motion. A week from now I will be going home to a house full of boxes, and just a sunrise away from the actual move.

Moving Day - Not Far Off

We don't know what day we will be moving, but we do know it will be prior to June 23rd. That's right, we have only a few short weeks left in my first house. I started construction on this house back in October of 2002 and moved in on January 3rd of 2003. This was my first house and while not a complicated project for me personally, was still a major milestone in my life. While I will move on to other houses, other homes, this 1600 sq. foot structure will always hold a special place in my life. Not just because it was my first house, it was also the first house that Tracy, Courtney and I shared together; and together we are moving on to our next house, our next home.

I don't know for how long I will wax nostalgic about this house, and I am not the only one. All three of us do love this house; we have just outgrown what it can provide. The next house is bigger and yes, even a little nicer. There is a little work that we need to do and it won't be the same no matter what we do. As always, life is fully about change. One could say that this is just the final result of my new life with Tracy, and one might be right. That isn't to say that I don't fully enjoy each and every change that I've experience since meeting Tracy, in point of fact, I have fully enjoyed them all.

So while I say good bye to this house and the few years I lived here, I say hello to a new one and all the new experiences that come with that home. I also know that a new couple will become the caretaker of the home I had built. I believe they will take good care of her and she will in turn take good care of them.

The Deals Are Done

We put our house on the market back in March, and since then have been looking and waiting, waiting and looking. After over three months, we have accepted an offer on house and the offer we made on the house we want has been accepted. Now, to say the deal is done doesn't mean it is all said and done, but the hard part is finally over.

I would love to say that the stress of the house hunt was over, but alas it isn't quite yet. We still have to close, and the appraisal hasn't yet been done on this house yet. I still have a few repairs to have done on this house, and we will need to review the house we are buying to insure nothing needs to be done there before we move in to the house. Of course, there is the move itself, along with getting all the various services switched over or turned on. For example, I don't know what rooms have coaxial connections already for TV and I will have to create a wireless network that will cover 3000 sq. feet of house.

With all that being said, Tracy, Courtney and myself are all very excited about the new house. It will give us all the space we need, and then some; as well as being a great place for Tracy and I to entertain family and friends. Tracy gets the space she needs for her stamping business and Courtney will have plenty of space to hide from us as teenagers like to do. Yes, even I get my own little space in the house.

The fine step before moving... THE CLOSING! Just the words alone can put fear in the hearts of home buyers. STAY TUNED, THE EXCITING SAGA IS FAR FROM OVER.

See Photos of the House

The Deals Are Done

We put our house on the market back in March, and since then have been looking and waiting, waiting and looking. After over three months, we have accepted an offer on house and the offer we made on the house we want has been accepted. Now, to say the deal is done doesn't mean it is all said and done, but the hard part is finally over.

I would love to say that the stress of the house hunt was over, but alas it isn't quite yet. We still have to close, and the appraisal hasn't yet been done on this house yet. I still have a few repairs to have done on this house, and we will need to review the house we are buying to insure nothing needs to be done there before we move in to the house. Of course, there is the move itself, along with getting all the various services switched over or turned on. For example, I don't know what rooms have coaxial connections already for TV and I will have to create a wireless network that will cover 3000 sq. feet of house.

With all that being said, Tracy, Courtney and myself are all very excited about the new house. It will give us all the space we need, and then some; as well as being a great place for Tracy and I to entertain family and friends. Tracy gets the space she needs for her stamping business and Courtney will have plenty of space to hide from us as teenagers like to do. Yes, even I get my own little space in the house.

The fine step before moving... THE CLOSING! Just the words alone can put fear in the hearts of home buyers. STAY TUNED, THE EXCITING SAGA IS FAR FROM OVER.

See Photos of the House

Tick, Tock, We Wait By the Clock

We chose the house we loved.
We decided what we wanted to offer.
We made that offer.
They home seller made a counter offer.
We discussed the counter offer.
We countered their counter.
They came back with the same counter offer as before.
Now we working the numbers and asking for a little more detail on a few items.

All the while the clock ticks, ticks, ticks... doing what it does best. Moving through time without a care in the world; while we wait to find out what our next step will be. I'm not sure what is more nerve racking, trying to figure out how much house we can afford; or the endless waiting that seems to be involved in with both selling and buying a house.

They call this the American Dream!!! Seems more like a NIGHTMARE!

Wheeling & Dealing

Well, it is Friday morning, very early, and I am off to Oklahoma City. My company has an office there and I have a couple of unexpected meetings to attend. It's an easy drive, but I will still spent nearly 7 hours on the road today. YUCK!!!! I will get to spend some quality time with my iPod though as I'm wheeling down the road.

Speaking of wheeling, we are trying to wheel and deal on the house we want to buy. We may know by tonight if we have one the day or not. It's a very nice house, nearly 3000 sq ft in size. Tracy loves the kitchen and it even has a 3 car garage. This house has plenty of room for all of our STUFF! It is lacking in the back yard, with only a 2x2 patio. I know, you read 2x2 and you are thinking that's a mistake... nope, it's not. The house does have a gorgeous front yard with a covered front porch. Which is nice, it gives me a place to smoke a cigar after a long drive to say, Oklahoma City.

The contract on our house is fully signed, sealed and delivered. We are just waiting on the appraisal and closing. This weekend the process of packing will begin, although we are using movers to do most of the major packing; Tracy wants to pack her stamping collection and some of the ultra-breakable items. If all goes well, we will close on or before the 22nd of June on both houses and be fully moved by the 24th. Stay tuned!

Oh well, time to drive to Oklahoma City. it's only 5 am. What else would I be doing at this time of the day.