Our Xmas present: a new house

Well, it's done.

Jerry and I signed one house over to new buyers yesterday and then signed a LOT more papers that made us the proud new owners of a new, bigger, shinier one that will become home to us and Wilder on Dec. 29 and home to The Newb (baby-to-be's nickname for now) in another few weeks.

And, can I just say: halle-frickin'-lujah! What an interesting last three months it's been — and when I say interesting, I mean it's been filled with the kinds of demands, back-breaking labor, check writing and non-stop decision-making that can make a sane person crazy. Luckily, neither of us is too sane to begin with. Jerry probably made no fewer than 60 trips from house to POD in packing up half our house before putting on the market. We toured countless potential new homes with a 2-year-old in tow who found other people's stuff MUCH more interesting than his own and his parents. I mopped so much I got carpal tunnel. We've talked to housecleaning services, electricians, handymen, pool guys, inspectors, tree-service people, etc. etc. — all of whom were happy to offer us wildly differing opinions with their wildly differing estimates for repair work.

Good times, good times ... yeah. Not really.

Anyway, it's not as if it's exactly over. We've not packed a box if you don't count the half the house we already packed up and stored away. That early bit of work will help. Hopefully packing the other half will go smoothly and quickly. Hopefully my delusion will carry me through even if that's not the case.

The new house is great. It's got three bedrooms and a study. A living room, family room and wonderful sun room that looks out onto the pool, hot tub and gazebo. We have a kitchen we can cook in and a fireplace that makes Jerry's heart sing with happiness. It's got four toilets, a factor that seems to overwhelm me more than any of the rest of it. Since Jerry and I have known each other — almost 10 years now — we've never had more than one bathroom. It's a corner lot, which means we have a gigantic front yard for Wilder to run around in and The Newb to loll in.

Anyway, we'll be very happy there, I'm sure. Not because it's bigger and better, but because we'll be there together — me and my beautiful, fun and amazing three guys. What a lucky girl am I ... now THAT'S the real gift.