Monday, December 31, 2007

2007 - Thankful You're Coming to an End


Day 1 - Mt. Washington
Originally uploaded by gimbler
We painted, cleaned, organized, packed and sold our home.
We painted, cleaned, organized, packed and unpacked our sons home.
We "sort of" unpacked some of our things and lived in two rooms on the second floor of a rented Victorian perched and precariously leaning over a cliff while we looked for a new house in our new city. The landlord kindly allowed pets and wasn't a convicted child pornographer (but that's another story...)

We found a house and fought tooth and nail with HUD over it for over two months and had our settlement delayed six times.

We went a little crazy with a sawsall and became "squatters" in a HUD house for 11 fretful days before it was legally ours.

Then the real fun started - plumbers, electricians and roofers, oh my! Everyone it seemed needed a check for $7000.00. Apparently that's the going rate in Pittsburgh for whatever it is you need done. Or it's just a really strange coincidence. Was there a secret meeting somewhere where it was decided that $7000.00 was the magic number for us?

From June through early December we worked from sun up to sun down and sometimes well past. We laughed, we cried (okay I cried once), we drained our bank account, proclaimed both our love and hatred of Pittsburgh and had a very public fight in the local Target over a shower curtain.

It's been a hell of a year and I can't say I'm sorry to see it pass. But, I'm thankful too - thankful for the contractors who really did each do a fabulous job - especially our electrician who became like part of the family. I'm thankful for our new friends and neighbors who couldn't be more nice or supportive. I'm thankful to have the kind of home that used to only be a dream, and most of all I'm thankful to Drew for having the patience of a saint. He doesn't particularly enjoy any of this mayhem that he's spent the last year totally immersed in. He's not a DIY'er, doesn't like disruption in his routines, and would like nothing more than to relax with a beer and watch a football or basketball game after work. I wish him more of that in the new year.

And no more packing and unpacking!

Happy New Year Everyone!

4 comments:

Sandy said...

I love the cats and the dog. And I am glad that you finally have a home that you can be proud of. In the end, the struggle was worth the result, I am sure.

Wishing you and your family lots of love, laughter, health, happiness and prosperity in the new year.

We are in said...

Good morning, Sandy! Hope your new year is starting off right!

We love our pets SO much. Our children are grown and without the cats and dog we'd have no one to yell "get down off of that" or "don't eat that" to.

Sandy said...

Sounds like our house! We have two girls (cats) and we love them bunches! Rest assured, they keep us on our toes!

deaduser539539 said...

What a great story! I wish you and yours a great new year, and hope that you're staying warm and comfortable in your new home. If your home is anything like ours, there are drafts and things that are far from perfect. We've found that our home is completely comfortable for us and our cats, drafts and all--we just add some afghans and wait for the cats to curl up with us. :)