Elizabeth & Brendan

We made it back after a 2-hour delay. Eli is the most excited dog in all of Medford. I take off tonight for Indianapolis and then we start packing the apartment this weekend.

Just after Brendan wrote the post below, we returned to the hotel to find out that flights have been cancelled from Iceland. They believe it will be back to normal tomorrow. So fingers crossed…

Quick greeting from Iceland. No more volcanic activity so far.

…here we come.

Eyjafjallajökull please stay quiet.

Boil water order lifted. Now we just have to flush out the systems. Not bad – less than 72 hours to get it fixed.

So a water pipe burst and we are now under a “boil water order”.  Basically a pipe burst in Weston and towns east have been affected.  As of this morning, the pipe has been fixed and pressure tested but now they need to purge the system of the non-treated water and test.  You need two consecutive “clean” tests before the order can be lifted.  It takes 24 hours to get a test result back which means we are looking at a best case of 24-48 hours until the order is lifted.

We will be leaving Medford for Somerville.

Some things about Somerville:

• It was an All-America City in 2009. About the All-America City competition: “The All America City Award is America’s original community recognition award, honoring communities of all sizes where community members, government, businesses and nonprofit organizations work together to address critical local issues. To win, communities must demonstrate close and effective collaboration among the public, private and nonprofit sectors to identify and advance the progress of key goals shared by the community. Other criteria include recognition and inclusion of the diverse segments of the population in community decision-making, creative use of community resources, and clear demonstration of project results and impacts, among many others.”
• Prospect Hill was the site of the raising of the first Grand Union Flag, under the orders of General George Washington, on January 1, 1776.
• Marshmallow fluff was started here.
• Barack Obama lived here when he was attending Harvard Law School.
• The Winter Hill Gang met up in the Winter Hill Bakery (in the Winter Hill section of Somerville).
• Most notably, we will be living there.

Finding a house is like riding a roller coaster – a lot of highs and lows.  So we decide to put in our first offer on a house in Somerville (about half a mile from where we live, I don’t like change).  We put in the offer and then take off for the Rhode Island baby shower for Baby Chase (this is one well feted baby).  But before we leave, we drive by the open house to see if there is anyone looking at the house.  We were close to sending in some spies but we held back.  So we go to Rhode Island, ooh and ahh over the baby girl clothes, and all the while Brendan is fielding calls from our agent.  Sellers had questions on our offer and such.

The next day (Monday) we learn that there are other offers on the house.  And if this goes to a bidding war, we are going to bow out gracefully because we can’t win.  By Wednesday we learn the house has gone to another buyer (a third one swooped in at the last minute).  Needless to say we are bummed.  But we move on and a week later visit a place in Cambridge that while small has the feel that it is larger.  We really like it and decide not to wait and see.  We call our agent to set up a showing so we can talk to her about it.  That is a Sunday.  On Monday we get an email from Alissa (our agent) who said they sellers accepted an offer but because they listed the open house in the paper, went ahead with it.  I guess they should tell you when you get to the open house that there is an accepted offer on the house but no, they didn’t.  So we are once again feeling like unless we won’t a complete gut renovation or to spend a ton, we are never going to find a house.

But then, Tuesday comes.  Brendan comes home and says that the original house was no longer listed as “Offer accepted” but “Active”.  We immediately call Alissa who calls the sellers’ agent.  And sure enough, it is back on the market.  The original buyers walked after the inspection (later intel would inform us that they had the inspection and then said “we don’t want it” and didn’t want to negotiate about anything.  Everyone believes they found another house they liked better).  So once again, we draft an offer and begin to negotiate.  After three days of back and forth (during this time I have reversed look up the address, know who the owners and where he works.  The internet is a scary place.), we drop off the “Earnest deposit” and then the chaos begins.

(Also during this time, my company was in the processing of being bought so I am hesitant to even look at places.  However, before we signed the offer letter I was notified that not only was the company bought but I was being brought into the new company.  Phew!)

The sellers accepted our offer on a Sunday and I was leaving for Europe (Germany and Switzerland for work of course) on Monday.  This meant that Brendan was left to handle the inspection and negotiations for the P&S (purchase and sale) without me.  Oh and in order to qualify for the tax credit, this all has to be done by Friday.  And I have to figure out a way to sign the P&S.  Stress!  Brendan spends 3 hours at the inspection and I wait up in Europe for him (I was 6 hours ahead).  Inspection brings up a couple of things so we are now going back and forth to get these items included in the P&S.  We win on some, we lose on others.  A P&S is drafted and accepted by all and I am picked up at Logan and taken home.  Alissa arrives shortly later and I sign my name and initial in A LOT of places.  My jet lag is horrible at this point and I feel like I am cross-eyed.  We hand over a large sum of money and we wait for closing.

Now we just have to tell our landlady (the nicest woman in the world!)

For those interested, some info on the house.

The wording from the ad:

“Attractive SF with huge landscaped yard. Near Davis Sq Bike Path, new Albion Park, and future Green Line T. First floor open living with hardwood floors, fireplace, & lots of light. 3+ bedrooms, incl. large master on second floor, 2 full baths, and bonus finished space in basement. 2 car, side-by-side parking. Ample storage inside and out. Recent updates include custom closets, sprinkler system, kitchen counters, circuit breakers, & cedar fence. Celebrate spring in your new home. Walk score=85″

Well the closing is not until the end of June so we will not be celebrate spring in our new home, but we will be celebrating every other season for the next million years.

And a picture of our new, humble abode:

And here is the yard (a big motivator of our interest):

Sorry for being gone – life got in the way of blogging.  I will pick up where we left off.

At the Jersey shower (there will be mention of a Rhode Island shower later on so let’s keep them straight), we ventured down into the basement which would have made Brendan drool.  Lego sets (perfectly constructed), ping pong and then the awesome air hockey.  Air hockey is one of the best games EVER!  I had to play.  Debbie was near by so she became my challenger.  After a few minutes of intense play, I was up a few goals to Debbie’s zero.  But we continued on.  Then Debbie was thinking of quitting and I was thinking I had actually hurt myself playing, so I switched from right to left hand and Debbie played.  Then I got sloppy and scored THREE goals on myself.  Debbie was getting back into the game.  All of a sudden it was tied 9-9 (10 wins it all) and Debbie hit the perfect shot in.  I found myself screaming in disbelief while Debbie fell to her knees in elation and laughter. I then thought I hurt myself again from laughing so hard.

Good game Debbie, good game.  Next time, I will win.