homeowners at last

Well my friends, it has been a long and bumpy road, but Mattie and I are finally homeowners. As of June 3, 2009, we own a 3 bed/2 bath home on 1.34 acres in Statham, Georgia. Yay!

However, it's not quite what you'd call a move in ready home. Actually, it's not even in the same ballpark. There is quite a lot to be done, and as the owners, it's up to us to do it. Eeek. So after we closed yesterday, our next stop was Ikea (the closing was in Atlanta, so it was convenient). Time to purchase those laminate floors...and about a million other "necessary" things. It was quite a shopping trip...so much so that MINUTES after checking out (and I'm not exaggerating...we were seriously still standing in the "loading" area waiting for Matt's mom to pull around with the van) I got a call from the Wachovia fraud alert system detecting unusual activity on my debit card. How insulting...they think I don't spend thousands of dollars at furniture stores every day? Ha. Just kidding, but way to go Wachovia. Unfortunately, that purchase was valid. We made the long drive back to Statham and then spent a few frustrating hours sitting and waiting on a locksmith to come and change all the locks and deadbolts in the house. We finally made it back to our home and puppy around 10:30pm. I got pretty much NO sleep last night (mixture of nervous/excited...and then I started feeling sick).

So today I felt/feel like crap (sinus infection maybe?) but it was back to work for me, and I sleepwalked through the day. We did go over to the house tonight, though...to check on it and get a few things done. Our to-do list for the house is ENDLESS at this point, so we can't waste time checking things off.

On Mattie's to-do list: Fixing a toilet problem in the guest bath. He tackled it with a venegeance and 2 hours later, emerged successful. Go Mattie!

Lola handled the sitting, staring out windows/doors, and whining. She does her job with great dedication. (Note: that's this little patch of laminate floors that the previous owners left...the rest of the living room must have had carpet, which they tore up, but they left this little patch of laminate. Thanks a lot, now we have to tear it up.)

The dining room and our only current interior furniture. Swanky, huh?How I feel about the amount of work required (by me) to make this house live-able. Eeek. Overwhelmed.

What I accomplished today: taping off all the baseboards, windows, and doorframes in the living room. Still have to do the (really high) ceilings. But it's a start...and for a girl that feels like crap, it was a solid start.

We made it back home at a much more decent hour tonight, stopping by the Bojo (Bojangles) on our way back in for dinner. In case you've never met me...I have a burning passion for the Bojo and their chicken and biscuits (and everything else they serve). Moving out closer to the Bojo will NOT make me sad. It won't make me skinny, either. Oh well.

That's all I can update for now. My mug of hot chocolate is empty and my bed is calling my name. But if you happen to be in the Athens area (or you want to be) and you have a hankerin' for home improvement this weekend...just give me a call. I maybe could even sweeten the deal with a little Bojo run...no one can resist that!