Spring Hill

Leave a comment Posted on January 23, 2015January 24, 2015 new house, parenting, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: The Final Walk Through/Punch List On Our New House

4 years, 2 months.

Dear Jack,

I’ll be honest: I wasn’t looking forward to today, which was the final walk through of our new home, where Mommy and I went through the “punch list” with the builder and our real estate agent.

Turns out, the builder was really cool, and was very quick to place a piece of blue tape on blemish any of us saw. (We left you at school for this visit of our house.)

I was fearing we’d discover something major today. Something that would delay our closing date next week. Nada.

All of the blemishes we found can be easily mended by the builder and his men over the next 7 days, before we officially close on our house.

Which, by the way, think about this: We are scheduled to move in next weekend!

We found the head of a screw sticking out from our marble counter top. The ceiling porch light has a big crack in it. One of the fence posts is broken. The smoke alarm needs new batteries. Two of the bulbs in our kitchen light fixture need to be replaced. Some of the brown paint from our yard fence got on the wooden siding of our house.

We also noticed some final finishing touches today that weren’t complete last weekend when we visited. The front door is now painted and the inside appears to have a new coat of pain.

Today was also our first opportunity to truly survey our backyard. It’s bigger than Mommy and I realized. The fence being in place shows us we actually will own at least 3 or 4 wider of a plot then we knew about.

Oh, and here’s a funny story that happened in the midst of all this today…

Our next door neighboor’s house, which is being simultaneously built alongside ours, just got its front door and shutters painted.

The neighbors chose “periwinkle” for their accent color. Mommy arrived a few minutes before I did and warned me about it.

By the end of our walk through, about a 2 hour process, the builder had already received enough complaints from all our surrounding future neighbords about the color choice.

So now the color will have to be changed. All is well… our next door neighbors won’t be keeping purple doors and shutters that look they were designed by Twilight Sparkle from My Litte Ponies: Friendship is Magic.

As the building and buying process wraps up, here’s what lies ahead:

In a week, we’ll visit the house again, to make sure they fixed everything on our “punch list” today. From there, we’ll sign the final paperwork and officially close on the sale of our new house.

All Lord willing, of course.

Hopefully sometime soon, we’ll finally receive that reimbursement from the sale of our townhouse which occured a few months ago; which I’m aching to write about but I just don’t have closure with yet because I want to know how much money we made. It’s a form of closure for me.

And next weekend, Nana and Papa are coming up to help us make the big move!

We’ve still got a lot more hard work ahead of us…

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on January 21, 2015January 21, 2015 new house, parenting

Dear Jack: Saying Goodbye To KinderCare, Your Preschool Since July 2011

4 years, 2 months.

Dear Jack,

A week from this Friday, Lord willing, we will officially be moving into our new house. And for you, that means you will start going to a just-opened preschool, right around the corner from where we will be living.

Since before Thanksgiving, we have been renting out a bedroom from some friends. It’s a very nice place to stay; but obviously, it’s a bit like living in a “tiny house” since there are three of us living in the same bedroom.

Once we move, Mommy will be able to start working from home once a week.

Plus, she will start going in to work early (meaning I’ll be the one who will be getting you ready for school in the morning, which I am very happy about!) and therefore Mommy picking you up earlier than you’re used to.

I am also really excited about the extra quality time you will be able to spend with Mommy.

That’s why we’re moving you to this new school. KinderCare is great; there’s just not one where we’re moving.

Moving you to this new school near our new home is the best decision for our family, to have more quality time together now that’re moving 35 miles away from Nashville, to the “bedroom community” of Spring Hill.

We’ve had you enrolled at KinderCare since July 2011; since you were only 8 months old. As of today, you are 4 years, 2 months old.

That makes 3 and a half years of your life, more than 80%, in which your daylight hours of weekdays have been spent at KinderCare. That’s a lot of time!

So it’s a big deal that you will no longer be going to school there. Two weeks from today will be your last day there.

You’ll have to officially say goodbye to all the friends you’ve made over the years, along with your teachers.

It’s even a little bit sad for me as well, because I’ll no longer taking you on the hour and a half or more daily round trip commute to school and work with you.

Instead, I’ll drive you about 5 minutes to school each day. Then, Mommy will pick you up (earlier than you’re used to) and drive you back home the other 5 minutes.

Imagine that: Just 10 minutes in the car each day as compared to at least an hour and a half!

That’s good. Despite the quality time I’ll miss with you in the car each day, you won’t have to be in the car as much, plus you’ll be in school less than you’re used to, and you’ll get to spend more quality time with Mommy; which you definitely need more of.

It’s a bittersweet symphony, but I believe it’s definitely for the best. I’m looking forward to our family’s future.

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on January 18, 2015 new house, parenting, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: Our New Home’s Fence, Trees, And Shrubbery

4 years, 2 months.

Dear Jack,

In theory, two weeks from now we should already be sleeping in our new home; as the closing date is January 29th.

So obviously, our family is very excited about our upcoming move…

However, at the same time, I’m equally nervous about it. Because I’m not kidding myself on the potential logistical problems that can and may easily occur before or on our closing date.

Mommy and I are both taking off from work the day after our closing date to facilitate the move; for me, one of my assignments is to be there for the guy to install our Internet and also for another guy to move in the refrigerator.

And I’m anxious about the “final walk-through,” worried it won’t happen this week as it’s supposed to, and worried that for the things we do find that need to be fixed, that they won’t be fixed in time to move in on time.

From there, I fear that we will have to choose sacrificing moving in the day we are supposed to… over having some small issues taken care of, like some of the doors not closing as smoothly and the front porch light already having a crack in it.

Well, I guess we’ll find out pretty soon how that part of the story works out.

As for now, I’ll spotlight some of the finishing touches we noticed on our visit yesterday, after seeing Paddington.

They put in grass, shrubbery, and trees for our yard; they finished the construction of our fence, and they stained our shutters for us.

It’s pretty cool to be able to look out the windows of the back of the house and see ourbackyard.

Our backyard. We’re going to have a backyard. That is definitely a new concept; as constrasted to the townhouse we’ve lived in all these years.

We’re almost there. I’m really looking forward to us already being moved in though.

That’s why this whole thing doesn’t end once we do move; there will surely be much more to the story.

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on January 11, 2015 new house, parenting, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: The Carpet Is In; The Yard Is Started

4 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack,

Yesterday our family visited our new home for the final random time, as our next visit will the final walk-through!

So obviously, as we are scheduled to be moving in 3 weeks from right now, the carpet is finally in. Not that there is anything particularly glorious about carpet in general, I would have to say that having the carpet installed in our new home now makes things feel very real and official.

Mommy brought the tape measurer so we could measure for the TV in our bonus room.

We also took a good long walk around the living room downstairs as we are, in all seriousness, considering getting a pool table instead of a couch; when that time comes. (We’re not immediately furnishing our new home; just as it fits the budget.)

With Craig’s List, there’s a good chance we could get a pool table for free if we are willing to come pick it up from someone’s house. We’re not quite ready to make that decision now, but we are in the consideration stage.

I thought I was just joking when I mentioned it to Mommy, but to my surprise, she apparently thought it was a cool and relevant way to utilize our living room; since our TV will be upstairs anyway.

We also noticed that our yard is being filled in with dirt; meanwhile our fence’s construction has begun.

Next weekend we’re planning on going to see Paddington in the movie theatre, then just a few days later is our final walk-through.

The time is almost here. And I still haven’t taken the time to officially declare that our town house sold a couple of months ago…

Again, until I can know how much money we made off the deal, I just don’t feel closure with that story yet. We are still waiting on a refund to come in the mail on that.

We are so close to moving in. Our family is more than ready!

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on January 6, 2015 Uncategorized

Dear Jack: Our New Home’s Dark Hardwood Flooring And Black Appliances

4 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack,

With our closing date just 3 and a half weeks away (January 29^th), when we go to visit the progress on our house now, it’s not so much “oh look what they put in!” as much as it is “what else do they need to do before our closing date?”

At this rate, we’re mainly just lacking carpet, sod for the yard, and the fence!

So now our new home has the dark brown hardwood floors we chose (currently covered with cardboard for protection), shelves in the closets, the toilets, the microwave (which we’ll never use but we know would help the resale value should we ever move, though we never plan to), the dishwasher, and the oven.

As for the washer and dryer, those are our responsibilities, but as I recently mentioned, Mommy and I bought those during Christmas break.

And as a family, we bought our refrigerator at Lowe’s, using the 10% off coupon we received when we moved out of our town home.

(I’m still not ready to write to you about that because we’re still unclear how much money we made off the deal… I feel that story is yet unsettled.)

You talked Mommy and me into buying you a plastic candy cane on clearance for 50 cents, there at Lowe’s.

After we left Lowe’s, you had way too much fun with that thing when we stopped at Whole Foods to buy groceries.

You created a wagon by attaching the candy cane to a grocery basket. While Mommy did the shopping, I ushered you to emptier aisles so that you wouldn’t run into anyone.

For the record, the “emptier aisles” at Whole Foods were the soda/beverage one and the one with dog food.

I admit, there’s a certain amount of stress and anxiety in Mommy and me having to orchestrate the move and all the details that must come together the weekend of January 29^th.

Like, for example, I’m in the midst of asking around who I should get Internet through, in Spring Hill.

We used AT&T at our townhome in Nashville and we had no problems at all, but I do wonder if we could save some money there?

What we’re used to paying is $50 a month for just Internet, since we only watch Netflix on our TV.

While the big day approaching will be exciting for our family, I’ll be glad once we get all these loose ends tied and I can know for sure we actually get to move in the weekend of January 29^th; and our appliances are installed and working along with the Internet.

Love,

Daddy

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Spring Hill

Dear Jack: The Final Walk Through/Punch List On Our New House

Dear Jack: Saying Goodbye To KinderCare, Your Preschool Since July 2011

Dear Jack: Our New Home’s Fence, Trees, And Shrubbery

Dear Jack: The Carpet Is In; The Yard Is Started

Dear Jack: Our New Home’s Dark Hardwood Flooring And Black Appliances

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