So I know it has been an eternity since my last post. Well, it feels like an eternity since so much has gone on in that little span of time. As you may have guessed from the title of this post, we are FINALLY here in our house. But all did not go as smoothly as we had expected. You may recall from past posts that our original “closing” date was supposed to be in November of 2020. Well, then that got pushed to December 2020. Then it was middle of January 2021. That came and went by, and the date moved to first week in February, which once again was delayed to mid-February. Then Texas was hit by the winter storm from hell. We lost power in our apartment for three days. Temperature in the apartment got down to 46 degrees. We spent the daytime(s) driving around in Trace’s SUV with the cats in tow. It was our only way to stay warm. We couldn’t go to any of the shelters they set up because of the cats. At night we snuck into our house (which never did lose power) and hung out in one of the rooms to keep warm. Finally, on the third night we were able to get a hotel room which was great in that we were finally able to shower. Anyway, we survived but that again delayed our closing. By this time, we were paying for our apartment on a month-to-month basis which was getting costly when coupled with the storage fees we had to pay for our stuff in Denver. So we finally told our builder that enough was enough and we needed him to be done by the first of March. So, 01 March 2021 we made our final payment to our builder and got our “paid in full” receipt from him. Did I mention that our “punch list” from our final walk-thru was more like a “punch book”? And as of the date of this post, they still have not completed all the items, but they are slowly dwindling the list.
On still another note, Trace has finally retired from the VA effective 27 February 2021. They did a “virtual on-line going away” for him. I think it was pretty emotional for him. I felt bad that he couldn’t share this time with his coworkers in person. I remember how much I enjoyed my going away pizza party that we had at work before I retired. Those are the memories that stay with you forever. But unfortunately COVID has changed all of that.
Speaking of COVID, Trace and I have been fully vaccinated and are beginning to enjoy such simple pleasures as going out to eat every now and again. It’s nice that here in Texas everything is starting to get back to normal.
Will is out visiting us from NY for the month of April. Since he can work remotely, he can spend a longer time with us. As I mentioned in an earlier post, he is thinking of moving to Texas and is using this month to check things out. He wants to be in the Austin area as his company has an office there, so it would work out in that respect. And as you might expect, Trace and I are thrilled with the idea of having him closer than NY.
So now, what you all have been waiting for: pics of the new house. I had to wait until we unpacked all 270 boxes from Denver before I could take these pics. Believe it or not, we managed that feat in just under two weeks. So, enjoy the pics and let me know what you think!
