Sunday, July 01, 2007

Summer in Full Swing

You readers who are still commenting on my blog are troopers, I tell ya! I am happy to see that I still have a few friends in blogland despite my poor showing.

Summer is here and this one is another doozy. We bought a house. We own 2 houses. Oh My God. I never thought I would see the day. And in the midst of a big real estate slump, too. It's all because of Karalyn. I wouldn't have been able to convince Karl to buy a bigger home. He wanted vacation property up in Tahoe, a dream we still have. Right now, though, we bought a bigger home just 1.5 miles away from our current house. It's 1000 sq. ft larger with a much bigger yard and a pool. Wait till you see.

Yes, we decided on the house with the amazing yard. How could we not? The beautiful bank repo home was practically brand new, larger and actually fit our budget and storage needs better...but it had zero yard. I have always wanted a pool and Karalyn already loves the water. It was very difficult to decide. At one point, our offers on both homes were accepted at the same time!! Eeek!

In the long run, though, we decided on the slightly smaller and older home. Although the floor plan isn't as good as the other house's, it had everything else going for it. It is gorgeous too with custom paint, tile floors, plantation shutters, granite countertops, a double oven, loft, 3-car garage with epoxy floors and custom cabinets, a walk-in pantry...and did I mention the amazing backyard?


I wish I could show you the whole yard because it's beautiful, but the pool view will have to do. I can't wait to sit on the back porch after work, sipping a glass of wine and looking at this.

The bummer is we can't move until August but in the scheme of things, that works out just fine. The sellers are building a new house in a very hoity-toity, exclusive neighborhood and they need until August to rent back from us. However, my parents are moving out to California and they are going to rent my current house. Talk about perfect timing. They just sold their house in North Carolina so they will spend the next month and a half packing up and moving, very much like Karl and I are doing.

It's been a terrific year so far, knock on wood. Despite some stressful times many things have worked out for us and those we care about. Knock on wood. I am so amazed at our good fortune.

My knitting has fallen off in the past few weeks. Right now I'm working on 2 projects, the Hedera Socks by CookieA in Knitty and the 2-color Brioche Scarf from Weeking Knitting by Melanie Falick.

Lace socks consume a bit of concentration so, um, these haven't progressed much past the cuff and about 3 inches of the leg. But the lace is pretty. The scarf is my mindless knitting. Brioche stitch is really easy but brioche is not one of those instantly gratifying stitches. I'm using Lamb's Pride worsted in a light pink and dark chocolate brown. Nice but slow.

Hey, I tried emailing all of you who responded to my last post but perhaps I have old addresses? because some of the emails bounced back. Just so you know (Jen, Lucy, Joan and AJ) I tried! Of course, I should just comment on your blogs, huh? I'm thinking about you guys too, OK?

Welcome to summer, everyone, hope you're having a good one!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on your new home! The pool is gorgeous and the house sounds it as well--I hope you have many years of building memories in it!

Anonymous said...

OMG THAT POOL IS GORGEOUS! congrats on the new home! Man..EVERYTHING has worked out great for you! and yay for your parents coming in and being nearby. That is something your little one is really going to be lucky with...having grandparents so close by. :)

Anonymous said...

Ditto what Jen said about the pool - that is one awesome shot. A perfect location for our next knitting get together! (just kidding, that was not a self-invitation of any kind) =) Congrats on the new home purchase!

Anonymous said...

If I had a swim suit I'd be waiting on your doorstep on moving day! Nice! I knew you'd go for the nice yard.

You two are land barons now. I'm glad it worked out so great!

Crazy Knitting Fool said...

I am so jealous of that pool! I would love sit out there and knit. Congrats on all the positive things in your life.

AJ said...

So, when are you sending a moving truck to pick up my stuff? Scout and I are ready to move in! Wowzers on the pool! Absolutely gorgeous view. I'm totally envious!

Glad to hear that all is well though! Congratulations!

And my email addy is blueyedpenny@yahoo.com. :)

Give the baby a big fat kiss!