Getting up to date

It's been quite a while since I'm made an entry into this space. There have been quite a few things going on in my life -- some good and one bad -- and I just haven't had the time nor the energy to post.

Late in September, we moved into our brand new house in Elgin. It was really tough to leave our old house after living there for just over 13 years. It was tough on the family, especially Kevin who has not known any other home. He was excited about the move until it came to the moment when he said goodbye to his room for the last time. I was fighting tears myself as I watched him deal with this change. The night we actually moved, we were up until 4:00 a.m. packing everything. We ended up using three PODS, two rental trucks plus a number of trips between the old house and my in-laws to just move our stuff.It was completely exhausting.

On Friday, September 28, we closed on our new house and began the unpacking process. It took about 3+ weeks to move boxes and furniture from the garage and to have any semblance of a "home." Even now, six weeks after the move, I don't feel entirely comfortable in this house. It will come with time, but I don't feel that sense of "intimacy" (for a lack of a better word) with the house.

The real bad news happened the evening of October 9th. My little dog, Mozart, was captured and killed by a coyote while on his leash. To make a long story short, he was outside along with two other dogs, before they went to bed. While I was bringing one of the dogs in, a coyote sneaked up in the dark and grabbed him. Of course, I did not know this at the time. I stayed home from work the next day looking for him. Finally, around 3:00 p.m., I literally stumbled upon his remains. There was literally nothing left of him but blood, fur, bones and tissue. The fur did give me enough to identify him. The only good thing about this is that I have closure, but I am saddened beyond words about this. Even though we still have three other dogs, there is a discernible void in my life right now.

Mozart's legacy is the fence that has just been built. We had planned on building a fence, but held off because of the cost. After what happened to Mozart and hearing other coyote "incidents" in our new neighborhood, we decided to press forward with the fence. It's too late for him, but this will save our remaining dogs. Even with our other dogs, Mozart was my dog, my companion and my friend. For those who are interested, I created a Flickr set dedicated to him. He was a beautiful little dog and I miss him greatly.

Now with Thanksgiving and the holiday season approaching, things will hopefully slow down so we can settle happily into this house.

More on selling a home

I'm slowly getting used to the idea that my home is not really "my" home anymore. It's not "their" home either, but somewhere in between. In Illinois, home buyers have the right to request a home inspection. Our inspection took place yesterday.

When Lisa and I bought this home back in 1994, it was new construction so our "inspection" took place with a representative of the construction company and occurred within the guidelines of our home owners warranty. I have never bought an existing home in Illinois so was not familiar with the protocol.

Anyway, to my surprise, the buyer, his Realtor and the home inspector showed up at my door late yesterday afternoon. To say it was awkward would be an understatement. The buyer seemed like a nice guy, but meeting face-to-face on my turf was a bit strange. I thought I would be meeting solely with the inspector who would spend time around the house, asking questions and searching for defects. I felt like I had no representation and was/am irritated with our Realtor for not telling me what was going on.

The inspection took three hours and the inspector was very thorough.

Our Realtor called this morning with preliminary results. A few "minor" things were found in our 13-year old house and a written report is due by Monday. I told her I was upset that I was not informed about the participation of the buyer and his representation. My Realtor expressed surprise that I was not aware of Illinois law. A weak explanation from someone who is supposedly the top Realtor in Hoffman Estates!

I'm sure more surprises lurk!

Selling a house

After less than a week on the market, we sold our house last Friday. The whole home-selling experience has been very emotional...for me at least. I really love the place we're at (we built the house 13 years ago) and will miss it when it's time to move. On the other hand, I am excited about our new home which should be finished in September and will be larger.

We will close on our current house in August meaning that we will be in temporary quarters for no more than a month. I'm trying to decide if it's worth getting an Internet connection for so short a time. We both get access at work so going without a connection isn't a problem. Of course, I can't surf at work!