Crash landing into Grown-up Land

After looking at several houses in our whirlwind week-of-stress, we found one that was head and shoulders above the rest. This place looks like it should be a model on the showroom floor. It's a two year old house, but the lady who owns it has kept it in immaculate condition. The basement floor was so clean you could eat off of it...I kid you not! It's a small, but very nice ranch house in Washington. Perfect for two people! It has both a front and back porch, master bedroom suite with attached bathroom, 2nd bathroom with a very deep tub :), kitchen with breakfast nook, double living room, additional bedrooms that could be used as offices for each of us or used as a guest room, full roomy walk-out basement with a partitioned workshop (a perfect place for Mark to tinker with the motorcycle), and attached 2-car garage. All the appliances and equipment are essentially brand new so we wouldn't have to do any maintenance...it's turn-key ready. Perfect for the crazy schedules we'll be keeping. The house is set back from the road, surrounded by trees so as to be very private, and it even has a front yard! Being in Washington, it's just about equidistant between Camden and Augusta. We couldn't find anything wrong with this house...it was just fantastic. What's more, Mark and I both, for once, agreed and absolutely fell in love with this place. So, we made an offer. And after a couple days of negotiation, she accepted it. Oh my god, we are going to be homeowners! When our broker called and gave us the news, I actually cried. I couldn't believe that this was really happening. Both sets of parents are excited for us, and my dad is strutting around, proud of the fact that he got to see it before the rest of the family did, as he went with us on a walk-through. Both my mom and Mark's mom have been looking at pictures of the house non-stop. In fact, my dad said he could blindfold my mom and she'd be able to find her way around the house! I'm glad that all of them are so happy and excited about it, and it will be nice to be so close to them all. Who would have thought we'd end up in Washington, ME...of all places. We've got a lot to do before we get there, however.
I've started packing up a bunch of stuff here in our apartment. It's amazing how much wall art and curtains can contribute to making a place feel homey. Our walls are bare and there are boxes piling up in the corners...this is all feeling very real, and happening very fast. We plan to close on the house on June 14th, and Mark starts work the 18th! Hopefully I'll have a job by then :) I'm also getting excited about all the "house stuff" we get to do. We want to screen in the back porch for the kitties, and I want to refinish an old bureau for the bedroom. We might need to buy a lawnmower and a rake for the yard! How grown-up! Truth be told, I actually like to rake leaves, and considering how many trees are around this place, I'm sure I'll get to do plenty of raking. The porch in front is wide enough to have a table and chairs...who knows, we might even get a grill and invite you all over to a barbecue! After all, Summer is fast approaching. Thank goodness for the end of all that rain!
The week we were trying to do all this housing stuff, it just poured. In fact, we were clearly able to see which houses had basement leaks, and which didn't. One place we couldn't even get into because they didn't have power. Roads were closed, power lines were down. My dad was out late every night (he works for the power company). The Union Fairgrounds were underwater, and Aire park in Union (which I probably have spelled incorrectly, oh well) was completely gone. The water was up so high, it almost washed out the road. Unreal! I went out the first day to check the damage around the house in Camden and decided to walk down to Laite Beach. The wind coming off the water was so intense that I could lean into it! Rain and spray was coming in horizontally and was stinging so much I had to stand behind a truck to protect myself. It was so cool! Mark thinks I should get a job as a weathergirl. Hmm, the idea has merit. :)
So, between now and June, we will be hustling and bustling...packing, cleaning, traveling to Maine to do an inspection on the new house, interviewing (fingers crossed),garage sale-ing, and signing lots of papers. Talk about growing-up...I can't believe we're going to have a house!!! Ahhh! :O Yeay!!! :)