Well I can't even tell you how long I've been waiting to start writing here. Superstition kept me from doing it, because these deals have been known to fall apart, of course, but it's been a week and the papers are signed and no one has come to tell us it was all a joke so I feel safe enough now to say that we bought a house. It's a mid-century suburban rambler; it's on a creek; and it is fabulous. Or rather, it once was, and it will be again in five to ten years, give or take. We have some work to do.
If you had asked me at the beginning of our house search how I felt about the mid-century era, I would have told you "meh." I pictured us in something older, like one of those bungalows in south Minneapolis that all seem to have amazing built-ins. This changed for a couple reasons: 1) My husband, Eric, grew up in outer suburbia with a pretty sizable yard and he wanted the same for future... short people in our family. Fair enough, I said, as long as you're doing the brunt of the mowing. 2) Another Eric reason: as we started going to open houses, it became clear that his height was an issue in a lot of older homes. He's 6'2", which is not astronomically tall, but I guess taller than the average bear back in the day. He would make a little show of standing on his tiptoes and brushing his head against the ceiling in basements, and I eventually conceded that it is reasonable to want to fit, literally, into your house.
So we found ourselves at an open house in St. Louis Park, at a rambler that had been owned by the same couple for 40-some years. It was very dated... but also very, very cool. The layout made tons of sense. We both kind of loved it, and then a week later it was pending and we realized that duh, cool homes aren't lingering on the market these days. We got serious and listed our condo, and then, in the real estate miracle of our lives, it sold in one showing.
I'll probably get dopey a lot on this blog about how lucky I feel about everything, all the time, but the planets really did align for us. Not only did we get an almost instant offer for our condo, but when we actually found this house it was only because it was back on the market after an earlier deal had gone south. That earlier deal had come after multiple offers, and when we found it there was another offer on it AGAIN, so we made the best offer we could and then went to Don Pablos and ate our feelings and I had a giant margarita, possibly two. It took almost 24 hours to hear back, and when it happened I was at work and I screamed and all the ladies came a'runnin' to my office and I was pretty incoherent.
That was two months ago. We moved in last Tuesday. I will take some "before" pictures as soon as we locate the camera. Like I said, we have a lot of work to do, but even now things feel kind of amazing. I am sitting on the deck as I write this, looking out over the creek and it is pretty stinking idyllic. I hope that feeling will stay as we discover all the little maintenance Easter eggs in store. The truth is, I have very little knowledge about how to do this stuff. I am armed only with a power drill and a membership to Angie's List.
So let me see if I can type this with a straight face: I am Kate. I am the lady of the house.
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