Well, we’ve become landless…first time in our married history we haven’t owned a house (or mortgaged one). Yesterday we paid off the mortgage, and bills and became independent livers in our new home. There’s something freeing about all this, but it’s not without cost.
Ev and I are exhausted, physically and mentally. This whole month’s adventure is not to be relived. Too many decisions, too much accumulated stuff, too many unknowns, but God has been faithful through it all.
This morning, (and it’s still dark out right now) it will be birthdays and Christmas and the delights they always are. Every box we open may not be wrapped in glittery tinsel paper and tied up with bows. Oh, no. We use a utility knife, unwrap tons of newsprint paper designed to keep things from breaking, and we oooh and aah over every treasure revealed–ah, no– it’s more like, “Where am I going to put this painting?”,or, “Why on earth did we keep yet another plastic storage container?” or “Where did the movers find fifty hangers with no clothes on them?”
We’ve had a couple of surprises. My new neighbor (we’re already fast friends) brought me a dishtowel from Vienna and a little angel figurine and a lovely welcome home card. Nancy brought us a plant and some small flags saying “Welcome” and “Home Sweet Home” and a lovely card.” But, I still have only one set of keys, and the dryer did not dry the load of clothes we did. Nancy took the laundry basket home to put our clothes in her dryer. We ate three meals out yesterday, not a usual occasion. Nancy took pictures of our empty house and the yard. Bless her heart. She battled raindrops just because we left, thinking the new owner was doing the final inspection at four o’clock on Tuesday. She literally took the pictures while we were no longer owners of the property; we were signing all the paperwork.
A word about Daisy. She’s acclimating. She has a favorite window to look out. She met a tiny squirrel yesterday, explored our porch, and decided this is a good place to be. She still doesn’t like the sound of the doorbell–it sends her quickly to hide under the bed, but for the most part, she’s liking our new digs. We are too.
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