closing time

As my loyal readers (and Facebook friends) may know, we have been embroiled in a bitter battle with Wells Fargo. I'm happy to report that we triumphed yesterday - approximately 24 days after our original closing date. We are now the proud owners of a house in the Brightwood neighborhood of D.C. on Quackenbos Street. We celebrated last night by taking some yummy food from Surfside, the bottle of champagne from Wells Fargo, and Ella over to the new homestead. Ella was pleased as punch, running in circles on the first floor, up the stairs and down again, and through every inch of the yard.

Sadly, though, the railroad apartment will be no more - in about a month - so until then, I'll need to savor all the things that still make it special.

1. The short walk to Whole Foods, Surfside, Breadsoda...

2. All of our neighbors-now-friends

3. Our little container garden, which we've cultivated with lots of love

4. Being on one floor. There's something to be said about not having to do stairs in the middle of the night to get some iced tea.

5. Stoddert Elementary School

6. Our cardboard fireplace

7. The fake windows in our bedroom

8. My bathtub - it's my favorite so far in the whole world!

9. Our walks through the woods

10. My super, super, super short commute (in car) or super, super short commute (on foot)

Watched Up In the Air and The Apartment. Watching Thirtysomething: Season One (ah-mazing!).

i'll huff and i'll puff

Our apartment is falling apart. Last night, due to the heat, we had to turn our air conditioner on. Since our bedroom is in the middle of our railroad apartment, this requires some finagling. We have to shut the door to the kitchen and seal the entrance to our doorway in order to capture the cool air. However, last night, our bedroom door refused to stay shut, probably because it has finally succumbed to the weight of the ironing board, which hangs on the back of the door. So, now, the ironing board is in the dining room along with boxes of junk, overstuffed Easter baskets, and wedding shower gifts. It's hard to navigate and to concentrate.

All of the chaos wouldn't bother me so much if there were an end in sight. In part, we've allowed ourselves to revel in this squalor because we thought we were closing on our new house... March 24th. But, we haven't yet closed, and we're still not sure there is an end in sight. First, we were told that our inspector's report - which we paid $460 for - was not good enough. The bank wanted us to get a structural engineer through - for another $350. Then, after we submitted that paperwork, the bank had additional concerns about the lead paint that might be lurking. This required not only hiring a lead-based paint specialist - for another $500 - but also having our contractor come out to the property, estimate how much the work would cost, and then submit that paperwork to the bank. Once this was done the bank wanted a copy of our termite report, which we had submitted weeks ago. Now, they wanted us to sign it and the seller to sign it.

Today, it appears as though everything is in, but I'm not holding my breath. One more puff from the bank, and I'm worried they'll blow our brick house down (even though that's not the way the story goes).

Watched Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Finished reading The Help.

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