Month: December 2015

To sum it up, it was more than we expected. We hoped we would like everything, but we didn’t expect to love it so much. I’m so glad we chose Bristol over Johnson City, because it is a much better size community and has a more small town feel, while still being very big, compared to what we are used to.

We really like the banker that we are working with, now that we have met her. Same for the realtor that is in charge – not our agent, but the person that was actually recommended by Dave Ramsey. And we even met the seller of the house, quite by accident, and we really like her.  We were there in the morning, just taking exterior pictures, because the sun was shining on it so nice, and she just happened to show up, intending to check out the inside and make sure everything was ready for us to see it. But she offered to show us around and it was so nice to hear her tell about it, rather than just the realtor. So we got into the house twice – once with the owner and once with the realtor. Basically it is a lot nicer in person than it appeared in pictures. The floors are beautiful, the rooms are large. Yes, the appliances are older, but we could see that before. The whole feel of it is so right.

And we spent time in the community and liked what we saw. We even went to a dance recital at the Paramount Center for the performing arts – a very old, nicely restored theater in the downtown area. It was very well done and we totally enjoyed ourselves. Then we went over to the Blackbird Bakery, another restored building that is more like a cafe/bakery. They had a jazz duo playing and we had a chocolate cheesecake that was divine. Then we drove around enjoying the town at night a bit.

The only bad part was the church we decided to go to. We won’t be going there again, but we did get a nice Christmas goodie bag with apples and snacks we ate for lunch and on the trip home!

Pictures of the house and town. The last one is a view from the mountain not far from our house.  You don’t quite get the feel of it in a picture, but it is quite beautiful!

Now it looks like we won’t be able to close on the house this Friday. We’ll still be going down, since we have the tickets purchased. And we do need to see the house before we buy it. But we may have to just do it electronically later in the month, once the bank gets everything together. It all started to fall apart when they turned it over to a certain gal at the bank who does the paperwork. She never knows what she needs. And she said it was because of the appraisal not being done, but we paid for that (i.e. the money for it was drawn out of our bank account) over the Thanksgiving holiday. So why didn’t they get it done until last Thursday? And why, if they did indeed get it done last Thursday, have we not heard the results?

When we changed the closing date to December 18th, they seemed to indicate that would be plenty of time. We have been getting everything they asked for to them as quickly as possible. But they keep needing one more thing. And it never ends.

AHHHHGGGGHHH!

Maybe I should have known this, but after paying $800 and some for the tickets, I had to pay another $110 today for seats. Yes, our tickets on two of the flights did not come with seats. But at least I got to choose seats that will allow Dad to stretch out his bad knee, so he can (hopefully) be more comfortable. On another flight, we had inside seats, so I changed our seats so we could be on the aisle. I expected to have to pay extra for that, but not to have to pay extra just to have seats. Weird.

Busy time of the year! The Red Cedar Choir concert was this past Sunday. I didn’t have to play much, and none of it was very hard. The concert went well.  The middle school concert was Monday. It also was non-remarkable, and went well.

Today is the first day of practice for the Roselawn program next Monday. Some of that music is rather difficult, but I think I know it well enough to go in and practice with them today. Some work on my part still required before Monday, though.

Tonight is the second practice with the Chetek Methodist choir for their program this coming Sunday morning. Some of that music is also a tad bit challenging, but I think I have it learned pretty well. We also have a dress rehearsal Saturday morning.

Saturday is also our senior citizens Christmas party. I still have to buy gift cards for that.

Next Tuesday I’ll start going into to HS choir, because I’ll miss the Friday rehearsal and their concert is that next Tuesday. John gave me a couple pieces in advance, because they are a bit of a challenge. I have them learned, but still need to get the rest of the music from him.

Of course, stuck right in the middle of this is our trip to Bristol next Friday. I’m super excited about finally getting to see the house in person. We are working on getting our new air mattress folded so it will fit inside a carry on, so we can sleep at the house the two nights we are there! We’ll have to run to Goodwill or Walmart and buy some sheets and blankets, but it will be cheaper than staying in a motel. We’ll pack a couple bowls and cups and silverware and be able to buy some food and keep it in the fridge, so we won’t have to eat out every meal.  We got the last of the money yesterday from refinancing one of our New Auburn houses, so we have that part all done – just need it put into a cashier’s check before we go. And we have signed some of the advance paperwork electronically. So there really shouldn’t be much to do once we get there. The main thing, of course, is seeing the house, then making it OURS!!  Through this whole process, I’ve come to realize that I really prefer older houses. I’m much more excited about this house than the one we built ourselves. Houses I really fall in love with always tend to be old ones. I suspect Dad doesn’t have that same feeling, though.

Hope you are all enjoying the holiday season so far!