Our realtor just called, and it’s a done deal.

*spasm*

This assumes, of course, that we get the loans and the inspection doesn’t turn up dynamite wired to the foundations and the survey doesn’t reveal that the house is actually on the neighbor’s lot, and that it doesn’t burn down before we close–but assuming all those things, we’re closing at the end of the month.

This is faster than anybody else was willing to close, which is why we got the house. We are willing to do this because we’re insane, I think (and renters, so we don’t have to sell a house before we get out.) The next three weeks are gonna be deranged.

Adding to the excitement, James will be flying out to GDC next week. So I get to do a commando packing job, while running around and signing paperwork. But fortunately, he’s only out for a week, so all the really nasty jobs, like patching the holes in the walls of the rental and cleaning the carpet can wait ’til he gets back. Hopefully, we’ll be able to continue renting for half a month, so we’ll have time to do the one leisurely move of our existence.

Now that the contract is signed, I can actually talk about the house without fear of jinxing it! It’s a split-level bungalow kinda thing, 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1600 sq ft, which someone bought in apparently a disasterous state and flipped. When we saw it, the interior was largely gutted. This was actually a very good thing–we got to see the innards of the house and thus it was obvious that there were no huge rotten spots in the floor, no mold, etc. (The guy doing the renovating was also doing quite a good job, I am told–both James and our agent, who know more about these things than I do, said there was a lot of attention to the little things. So that’s good!) The roof is literally brand new (i.e. we were watching him put it on) and the structure is beautifully sound. This is all a Good Thing.

The best thing, however, from my point of view, is that the huge backyard opens onto a greenway, complete with walking path and creek. (It slopes down–far far down–to the creek, so no flooding worries.) So the backyard is still largely shade ridden because of all the tres (my hopes of sun will be the front and sides) but it goes a good way into said trees, which then join up to the greenway, the greenway which joins up to Shelly Lake, with the end result that I am in birdwatching heaven. I’m gonna turn into one of those people buying fifty pound bags of birdseed. There’s enough open space in the backyard that we’ll be able to put in plenty of shade tolerants, and at some point lay a patio–James is adamant about drawing up a master plan before we embark on full scale planting, but I’m adamant that his master plan include sections where I can start popping in plants SOON, because expecting me to wait a year to put in plants, when I have a new house and it’s high spring, is lunacy.

SQUUUUUUUUUEEEEEE!

Also, if anybody happens to have nifty doorknobs, switchplates, drawer pulls, handles, whatever lying around, and would like to trade for prints, send me an e-mail…