The skin of my teeth

Well, we haven't broken free of the curse yet. At the walk-through yesterday there was yet another surprise overage that increased the house price by another percent. No amount of discussion with the builder has helped him understand our budget/planning process. Basically, it appears the entire construction industry is set up to screw the buyer at the last minute. And right now, with a building boom going on, they get away with it even more. We have considered cancelling the cruise. Actually, we have considered this several times, but I never really took it seriously until yesterday. There are still a lot of last-minute things that need to be done on the house, and I believe that our scheduled closing is in jeopardy. But the truth is, we don't really have any control over these last items, so staying will probably not make a difference. I have my suitcase 90% packed and am currently planning on flying out tomorrow. Who knows what may happen between now and 5am tomorrow?

Coming to a head

It is now less than 48 hours until we leave for our cruise. It is also a little less than 9 hours from our first walk-through with the builder at our house. I was hoping for this to be a "real" walk-through, but that isn't possible because we still don't have electricity, a drive-way, a deck, or many other small things. We have yet to figure out how to fit in another review before closing on Monday 11/7 after the cruise, but that hasn't been officially scheduled yet either. Anyway, I packed two more boxes last night and threw a couple of items into a suitcase. Not nearly enough for moving or cruising, but a start nonetheless. All I need now is to be laid off again and I'll have my stress quota filled for the next decade!

A moment of respect

Late last week the father of my sister's boyfriend passed away. Although I didn't know him personally, I know that this loss was pretty sudden and so the impact on everyone in that family will be great. My condolences go to all of them, especially Eric and Sandra. We are all wishing you the best during this difficult event. We will miss you on the cruise next week, but understand that you will need the time for healing. Know that you are in our hearts and minds.

As promised (though a little late as usual), here are a couple of pictures with color! We went with a strong green on all the walls -- it's not as dark as it appears in this poor photo. You can also see the tile is a light, marble-ish tan that covers the entire floor of the kitchen, dining room and hallways. 

In the great room, the fireplace tile is up, but not yet grouted. There will be carpet where that open spot on the floor is. 

A date has been set!

Closing is scheduled to happen on 11/7 -- right when we get back from our cruise. Back when we signed a contract last December, I joked that we'd be signing the papers for the house and then have to rush off to the airport to go on our vacation. Not quite as I predicted oh so long ago, but everything is coming together all at the same time. Oh well, at least the long saga will soon be over. Justin has ordered a POD that should be delivered as I am writing this. We will start to pack it up and then have it moved probably the day after closing. In what little free time I have now, I'll be helping him fill it up. It's going to be interesting since I can't take any additional time off from work. Also, I should be putting up some new pictures soon -- ones with color on the walls. Stay tuned.