Ok, so I have lots of other stuff along the way that I want to post about – but while it’s fresh, let’s fast forward to the past couple of weeks.  I’m updating from the new digs, amazeballs.

The Prep.

Two weeks ago, I figured it was time to start moving my money around, ensuring it all arrived in the right accounts at the right time.  Unfortunately, since I’m a totally spoiled Gen-Y’er, I expect all of this to happen immediately on-demand.  That’s not how banks work – transferring large sums of money between your accounts takes time, and things get put on hold because the banks go “listen, miss spends-money-in-ten-dollar-increments-usually… you can’t just go throwing that kinda coin around.”  Even though I did everything with plenty of time to spare, had everything lined up and timed out according to the way the banks work, it was nonetheless quite stressful.

Last week involved all the final arrangements for things – doing the final walk-through of the house, signing a billion documents with the lawyer, getting The Big Cheque at the bank, and then finally the keys and the move.

The Keys.

Getting the keys was very anticlimactic.  After all the work that goes into this whole process and decision, you get a phone call, show up at the lawyer’s office, and are handed a key.  That’s it.  Congratulations, best of luck in your new home, general niceties and whatnot, but it somehow doesn’t seem real that getting this tiny piece of metal means you now own a house (or co-own it with the bank, I guess).

What I will say, however, is this moment was a great example of “under promise and over deliver.”  I was prepared – by my realtor, by the bank, by my lawyer – for the key-moment to happen at the end of business or close-to then; I got my keys at 1:15 p.m.

The Chaos.

After getting the keys, I took a load of small stuff including cleaning supplies to the house, with the help of my folks.  We walked around, made sure everything looked good, and then cleaned up, then grabbed dinner and then I chaotically finished packing anything that wasn’t yet done.

The next morning, the movers arrived at 8:15 a.m. and were finished by 1:00 p.m.  Movers are the best, it is so worth it – they picked up all the furniture and boxes from two locations, did some additional moving in one of those locations, and then unpacked everything on an exceptionally hot day.  The only hiccups were a broken fixture (no biggie) and my box springs don’t fit up my staircase.  Alas – my first unexpected pain-in-the-ass expense as a homeowner will be for split box springs.

Since the movers finished, I’ve been going out and picking up things that I thought I had but don’t seem to, or that I never really needed before now – like a hose, and a step-stool.

All but two boxes of books are unpacked, and I’ve been purging away as much as I can.

So that’s what’s up!  Today’s adventures included the purchase of some storage binders for CD’s to try and save space on that, and actually using the stove for the first time even though I was super paranoid that despite cooking all the time somehow THIS time I’d set my house on fire… I was victorious, and dinner was delicious.