Happiness Is . . .

a new house. Mrs. DocLarry and I signed a gazillion and one papers Wednesday morning, locking ourselves into 30 more years in Springfield. Yay. I'm happy about the house, yes. Nervous about the mortgage. And the fact that for the first time in my life, when something goes wrong with the place in which I live, I have to pay to have it fixed. Roof leaking? My problem. Furnace on the fritz? My problem. Plumbing not plumbing? My problem. Makes me feel "grown up." And I don't want to.

On the otherhand, I get to care for MY lawn. And I get to paint MY house. And I get to burn wood in MY fireplace. And I get to drink adult beverages on MY deck (see below). And best of all, I get to deduct MY interest payments from MY taxes! OK, second best of all. Best of all, I will OWN MY house. Little by little, but still.



Yes, this is a good thing. Yes, this is a happy time. Bonus: with all the rain we've had I am confident our house will not flood. The crawl space has some moisture, but no standing water. So we'll need to change the slope away from part of the house.

First order of business after signing all those papers was to hit Target for cleaning supplies, which promptly got soaking wet from a downpour as we left the store. Second order of business was to take Baxter to visit his new home for the first time. He doesn't quite understand what's going on, and is a bit nervous about all the packing being done. That and the storms. Doesn't like storms.

Our adventure in home ownership continued today with having the duct work cleaned. We get to paint next week. Woohoo!