goodbye house

My other house closed (sold) last week. That means we no longer have two mortgages, which we had had for three months. We were getting to the point where that was going to be impossible for us to sustain much longer.

Buying the new house with Jon before selling my old house was a real gamble on our parts. It could have turned into a huge, terrible disaster, but somehow I naively had faith it would all work out. It took four months total to sell the other one and we didn't have much buyer interest in it while it was on the market. Now that the deal is closed, I realize how lucky we were. The market has been sluggish, and my house wasn't one that was going to sell overnight because as cute as it is, it's in an inner city neighborhood that is on its way "up," but still too scary for many people to consider. So I am feeling really grateful. MY REALTOR did a good job of keeping the deal moving forward when the buyer was concerned about some issues. She really brokered the deal well once it was underway.

As much as I love our new house -- it really feels like home and the kids LOVE it -- I am going to miss my little house on East Columbia. It was the first real home the kids and I had after several traumatic moves following my divorce. We really regrouped and pulled ourselves back together while living there. It had good house karma. Everyone who visited said so. By the end of our time there, H was REALLY wanting a bedroom separate from his 8 year old brother, and we seriously needed a second toilet in the house, but overall, we were very happpy there. I'll miss it.

In fact, when Jon and I decided to marry, we seriously considered adding onto and remodeling that house rather than buying a bigger house. I still think that could have been a good option, but I'm superhappy with where we landed. And going from just under 1500 sq feet with one bathroom to 3700 sq feet with 3 bathrooms has been great. I think it would have been hard for Jon to adjust to life with a new wife and three kids in a house that small with little privacy. This is better all the way around.

Speaking of Jon, he's doing some STEPFATHER BLOGGING these days.

Of course, I hate that whole "step" parent word, but whatever you want to call it, he's excelling at it. He amazes me every day. Yesterday E said, out of the blue, "Jon is the best stepfather in the whole world! I couldn't live without him."

I feel the same way.