Securing Our Mountain Home

Whew! Well, we THOUGHT the only reason why we were going back to the mountains this past week was to go to the Immaculata Open House for Leia's (eventual) new school and then to visit a few more possible home choices (that we weren't very wild about).

Not so.

While we were in the mountains, we suddenly got a call that someone was planning to make an offer on our house here in Chapel Hill the very next day. Not only did that happen, but they made a FULL-PRICE offer! Then, not only did we accept THAT offer, but we visited (yet again) and made our OWN offer on the house that we love on a little road in the mountains.  In the meantime, there was a big question about closing dates because we were mistakenly given the information (do to the seller's untrustworthy realtor) that the sellers wanted to sell within two weeks. Thinking that we needed to make the closing date Sept. 5 at the latest, we frantically contacted our own buyers to see if that was okay. It was. Then, come to find out, our sellers DIDN'T want to move that fast (and panicked about finding a home in Nashville), so they went back to requesting Sept. 30th. Now, most likely, we'll close on our Chapel Hill home before that time, rent our house back from the new owners, and then close on the home on September 30th. Sound confusing enough? At least it's comforting to know that we are now under contract for both transactions.

With all of the paper signing and back-and-forth between realtors, this past week was absolutely exhausting, . . . and not only for Mamma & Daddy. Little Annie has a fit whenever Mamma leaves, . . . and poor little Leia has regressed to wetting the bed and sucking her thumb (which we're sure is a call for normalcy) as she was told that "You'll be starting school at Artgarden, . . . No, you won't be starting at Artgarden, . . . oh wait, yes, you will still be starting at Artgarden." What a resilient child to have only that small issue with these big changes ahead. Meanwhile, we stayed back-and-forth at Grandma's and Grandpa's lake house and house in town to remain 1 1/2 to 2 hrs. away instead of 4 hours away.

And in the process the girls got to attend Mass at what will most likely be our new church (The Church of the Immaculate Conception), which is connected to Immaculata. The new church is wonderfully traditional, with the Tabernacle & Altar at the very center (as it should be), . . . HOWEVER, the entire church is made of wood. The floor is made of wood, the pews are made of wood, the walls are wood, and the ceiling is wood, . . . this makes for a HORRIBLE experience with a 1 1/2 year old in that EVERY SOUND IS MAGNIFIED. UH! I must have taken Annie out 5 times. : ( But at least while we were outside by the Baptismal Font we met a nice Catholic family who lives nearby with a little girl Annie's age named Claire. ; ) And I also met Brother Michael who is a member of the religious life, of what order I'm not sure which, but it's the one that wears the brown robe & rope around the waist. What a pleasant man, . . . and the teacher of religion in many classes at Immaculata, I hear.

We also got to visit Leia's school and go to the open house, meeting Leia's teacher and a few prospective friends, etc. I am VERY impressed with Mrs. Quirrels, Leia's main teacher. My original fear was that the 15 boys (as opposed to 10 girls) will make for a rowdy classroom. I've gotten over that by now. And finally, I was wondering how Leia Rose is going to do in a 100% teacher directed environment (with very little choices, . . . i.e. a truly traditional Catholic School) as opposed to a Montessori School. I'll be surprised if Leia Rose simply blends in. I'm expecting some transition issues. We'll see. (Um, especially revolving around the 50 min. "rest time" each day, for goodness sake.) Leia's favorite part of the open house? Picking out her "kitty mat" that will be used for rest time. ; )

The girls even got to take a look at our new house, complete with Leia Rose choosing her new room (which she has vowed to make into her "Purple Kitty Room") and swinging on the cool tree swing hung up in the front yard. How cool is it that we are going to live deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains?!? : )