A Place For Grumpbumps

No one I know likes moving.  I've moved at least 12 times in my life and I've cried during a lot of them.  A new place is always exciting, even when you are moving for sad reasons (like breaking up with a boyfriend - four times).  But this move into our new house has been so satisfying.  It sounds conceited or perhaps like I am being a braggart but Mr. Grumpbump and I deserved this house.  With everything going so much in our favor, I feel like I'm tempting fate by talking about how happy I am over the turn of events.  Also, it does us no service to chalk this up to fate or karma.  The facts are that Mr. Grumpbump and I made this happen.  I don't think I've ever believed that line coming out of other people - but now I feel like it completely a legitimate explanation for why some things in life happen the way they do.  (I don't believe this across the board because lots of bad things happen to very good people through no fault of their own.)  I just think it cheapens how Mr. Grumpbump and I hung in there in order to close on this house.

The big move happened yesterday.  Because we were moving from such a small place, we were 95% packed and ready to go.  Mr. Grumpbump and his friend and said friend's grandson packed the U-Haul, drove to the new house, and unpacked all within 2 hours.  I came over early to the house with the two cats in tow.  Both Macy and Delilah were pretty miserable upon entry into the house.  Delilah  would not stop hissing and growling, while Macy just made whimpering noises and ran behind the washer and dryer.  Delilah ended up in the master bathroom, hissing at anyone who opened the door.  It was not until we set up our bed and Delilah was able to climb up and sleep that she calmed down (a bit).  Macy did not relax all day, with a lot of whimpering and whining and crying.

Day two has been better.  I've moved Macy's cat condo to the main living area so she is near us, which appears to be of major concern with her. Macy's not a very needy cat, but she has really been stressed about this move and is constantly sitting next to us, always touching us.  In fact, she's sleeping next to me now, with her feet pushed up on my thigh.  Delilah, on the other hand, has been sleeping all day.  Mr. Grumpbump convinced her to go outside and she's now exploring the pool area.

Delilah lounging by the pool

Macy relaxing (sort of) on the couch with me

Macy's new perch by the window facing the pool

Today, I explored the neighborhood and found our Publix and a Super Target.  There are a ton of shops around our house and I'm looking forward to getting to know the local stores (for example, there is a cute little bakery up the street that I'm anxious to try).

I will post pictures of the house once we've organized ourselves a little better (too many boxes all over).

Happiness Is Our Home

I can't believe I'm typing this but we actually bought our house!  Almost one year ago (Labor Day weekend of 2010) Mr. Grumpbump and I started looking for a home.  And now, we own a really cute 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom single-family home with a pool!

The house needs some TLC - fresh paint inside and a good cleaning.  But the remainder of the house is in really good condition.  The floors are entirely tile (even the baseboards), with an inside utility room.  The master bath is really nice.  I'll get pictures of all rooms and post pictures as I can.

And, of course, the pool:

Amazing Pool

Although this is definitely the "before" picture because the house has sat vacant for more than six months, so currently it looks like this:

Yuck! Florida is no friend to untended pools

We've got a pool guy coming over this week to get this pool back to the great shape seen in the "before" picture.

I plan to post a ton more pictures once we actually move in and get everything situated.

Ugly Business

We are supposed to close on our house in 9 days.  I am very pessimistic about this closing and I am sickened by how people in this business are treating me.  My realtor is basically a non-entity.  She didn't even find this house for us - Mr. Grumpbump is the one who found it on the internet.  The loan processor handling my loan is rude and bitchy and I don't know if the loan conditions are cleared.  And finally, the title company handling the transaction is, predictably, padding my side of the closing statement with junk fees.  I spent a lot of time on email and the phone yesterday arguing with the title company about these fees.  I can't believe that they are refusing to lower their fees in order to close the transaction.  Instead, they feel the need to argue with me about what they feel they deserve, even after I disclosed to them that I'm a very informed buyer and closing real estate transactions has been my job for the last seven years.

The end result is that I'm anxious, nervous, pissed off, and very insecure about this closing.  We are so close to owning this house that it feels very surreal.

No matter what happens we will be moving from our apartment by the end of the month.