Little green houses for you and me

We have a purchase agreement! On Friday, we received word that the sellers accepted our third offer on the green two-story house. It was quite favorable to us, so we were excited! When we met with our agent the next day to sign the offer, we found out there was miscommunication between the sellers and their agent. The had not accepted our offer; they could only add 3 appliances to their last offer. It was not ideal for us, but we still viewed it as a good deal, so we signed an agreement. I was getting nervous when there was a delay in the sellers signing the agreement, apparently they were not in town. The next steps are moving ahead with the mortgage and inspection. The inspectors we wanted could not fit us in next week, but I was able to arrange another for next week. It seems like everything with this house takes a few tries before we get it right! I am worried about the inspection, as the house was built in 1900 and has likely not been inspected in 60 years. So, there could easily be a big surprise! The sellers have to remove the old oil tank from the ground and prove the soil oil-free, so hopefully that does not add time. We hope to close before Thanksgiving.
We have not had much excitement this week, except that we went "out" both nights this weekend. We had dinner out to celebrate the agreement, and then met new friends for dinner and a movie. I can recommend Away We Go, although I expected it to be more comedy than interpersonal (there were some very funny parts, though). I also thought it would fit us more, as we were moving and buying a house. However, it was more about parenting. It also seemed to equate making promises to each other while laying on a trampoline to wedding vows, implying that marriage is not necessary. Hmmm.
We had hoped to have one last outdoor day, hosting a BBQ on Sunday, but there was 100% chance of rain. It is cold and wet, we are deep in fall.
I have started my first dance class in 5 years, which is really fun. I have never tried Belly Dancing before, but have taken to it quickly.
Brian flew to Los Angeles Monday, were he was able to meet on of his goals: exploring the Reagan library. He will be in the area all week for work and I am glad that we are not often separated by 3 time zones.

Happy Fall!

Happy first day of fall! I am trying to re-organize the blog, so bear with us.
First, on the home-buyer front, we put in an offer on a colonial gambrel on Sunday. We are currently in negotiations. It is like playing a game, trying to guess the seller's strategy and make our moves. It is not always easy for Brian and I to agree on offers, since neither of us has experience in this area, but at least we agree on the houses! I am constantly entering home improvement sweepstakes, in my grandmother's line.
Our big adventure this week was the U2 concert on Monday night. We left home in the afternoon, hoping to arrive at the stadium by 6:30 for the 7 o'clock opening act, Snow Patrol. I guess we under-estimated Boston commuter traffic and concert traffic. I was famished, bone-dry, and really in need of a bathroom when we finally arrived; it took over 4 1/2 hours to get to the Patriot's stadium! We heard that exiting the parking lot had been a problem after the show the night before, but we were still surprised to see the private lots charging $50 for 'easy-out' parking. It was a reality check when we reached the stadium lot; it was $40 for gravel parking FAR from the stadium! As we navigated our way to our seats, I was overwhelmed by all the people. I guess I have gotten used to rural life, and 80,000 people seemed ridiculous. We missed Snow Patrol, but had plenty of time before U2 started. The stage was weird, a four-legged monster structure that was meant to be alien-like and give people a good view from all angles of the stadium. The show was good, but there were 5 songs in the middle that I didn't know and found a bit dull. Bono clearly loves to perform, but his age did seem to slow him down sometimes. They ended strong and Brian was able to hear some songs that had not been performed at the show he saw 4 years ago. We sat in the parking lot nearly 2 hours before getting on the road, and made it to my grandma's house at 2 pm, thirsty and tired.
From the show, we went straight to Dartmouth, where they installed a new president. We went for the music, speeches, and free good food!
For entertainment, I recommend Julie & Julia. I saw the movie this week but have not read the book. Julia Child's joi de vivre is contagious. The movie reminded me of last fall, when I had no jobs or local friends. I planned most of my days around meals and enjoyed serving Brian exciting meals. You can always fall back on good food.
It has been nice to have Brian home this week before he heads off to LA!

Come on Over

The last few weeks have been very busy. We enjoyed a lot of visitors, starting with the Knutsons. We had hoped for an end-of summer outdoor weekend, with hiking and enjoying the Long Trail Brewery deck, but the rain changed our outlook. We did have time for some tough Scrabble games, and Brian was able to use all 7 letters in one turn! We had great weather the next weekend, when the Shows came up from CT. I saw new parts of Dartmouth as we toured the campus, and we sat next to Dr. C. Everett Koop at brunch (the '80's Surgeon General that wrote the cigarette warning). When they left, I met up with my Aunt Rosie and collected my sister, Michelle. Michelle and I had fun with hikes, picnics, and a trip to the Ben & Jerry's factory where we tasted Orange & Cream.
We brought Michelle to Boston as we started our crazy trip to VA. We flew to Baltimore, met Brian's dad, and drove to Charlottesville. We explored the university campus and met up with a few of Brian's friends before the UVA vs TCU football game. While I went to visit my cousins, the rest of the group saw TCU win by a landslide. We headed back the next day, as Brian had only one day at home before he left for his first work trip of the fall. He is in Atlanta and Alabama this week.
Amongst all the visitors and travels, we have continued our quest to buy a house. We took Michelle on our second viewing of the top 3 houses and quickly ranked our choices. We are still learning the lingo and procedures. We put in our first offer as we left for Virginia, and had a little back and forth over the next 3 days. Another buyer put in an offer, and we had some anxious waiting time before finding that our top offer was out-bid. So, nearly a week later, we have to start planning our next offer. We will wait until Brian is home next week, as it has been hard to negotiate apart and while traveling!