Two weeks

It has been a very busy few weeks. The old house is officially sold. M and I had a two hour drive back to the old town for the closing. It was at the city bank, so we took the opportunity to close all of our accounts there. The closing only took about 20 minutes in total. It was rather anticlimactic, considering all of the emotions that we’d all felt up to that point.

At the end, we handed off our keys and garage door openers. And that was that.

We had decided not to go back for a last visit. Both M and I thought that it would just be too hard. Besides, I was there the previous weekend and had my tearful goodbye, then.

After the closing, we went to the other bank and deposited our big check. So right now we have a huge bank account and own no property. In Monopoly, this is not the position one wants to be in. How am I supposed to make any money from rent or build a hotel?

We ended up meeting some friends for dinner after the bank. It was good to catch up and hear how all of their school years have started. It was a bittersweet meeting, though. It will be many months, at the earliest, before we get to see any of them again.

But all is not lost. Things are chugging away on the new house. The floors got done last week. The three-day job ended up taking four, because the contractor missed a spot of flooring (which, for the record, was labeled on his diagram). It all looks great, and we are very pleased with how it all turned out. It is a little more on the gray side than we envisioned when we purchased it, but both flooring and carpeting match.

We took the boys with us when we went furniture shopping this past Saturday, and that was not an enjoyable experience. We went to five different stores in the area, and they were well-behaved at the first one. Their behavior only deteriorated as the day progressed. They were fighting and bickering and running around the stores. They were fine in the moments that they were separated, but were unable to stay away from one another for more than about fives minutes at a time. Best friends and worst enemies at the same time. Sigh.

We did end up buying new living room furniture, though. We got a matching sofa, loveseat, recliner combo which should look pretty great when it arrives on Saturday. (Update: it has since arrived and does indeed look great.) Hopefully it lasts for a good, long time, considering the money we spent on it.

Our purchase of the house is moving along we’re kind of just waiting on the mortgage underwriters, at the moment. The hoped-for closing date of October 1st didn’t happen, but hopefully it will all be done by the end of the month. There is seemingly always something more that they want or need from us, which is really beginning to feel cumbersome.

School has been going okay. I really hope that I can get some honors or AP courses next year. It is very boring being in front of classes all day where I am not mentally challenged at all. The kids are mostly all very nice and kind, but some days of teaching have been difficult because of the lack of engagement. I will ask a question and end up standing at the front of the classroom for a good two minutes without getting any response. I miss having kids who can’t wait to engage with me intellectually and genuinely want to be in school learning. Sometimes I think that I should finish my Masters and move into the world of higher education. Then I remember how both of my best friends did that and after a decade got out of it, due to not being able to ever find full time employment. No, public high school is definitely the safer bet, at least while the kids are still at home.

Goodness, I’ve been so busy. I first started typing this entry more than a week ago and am just now getting around to finishing it up and publishing it. I’m sorry that I’ve been a bad diarist lately (both reading and writing). Hopefully once all of this house-purchasing is finished, I’ll be able to devote more time to my writing.

Stay well, friends, and do something kind.