Knock on wood

A quick update (please don't jinx me, update)

My angels were most certainly with me last night when I went to check out a duplex. My realtor never showed but magically, the owner did. I asked him some questions and he took a liking to me right away and I knew if I just put on the right amount of charm, we'd be able to work something out so he'd hold the place until June for Mike and I. (At first, he said no way; he couldn't go without money that long.)

(I'm jumping around to make this intensely long story short for those of you who are intimidated by text. Ahem.)

The house is in an actual neighborhood with lots of streets and kids playing hockey a few houses down and a park with trails and a river and people walking around. Five minutes down the larger road (a two lane long weaving road, by no means a highway) are multi million dollar homes. Amazinginly gorgeous. Past those houses the road turns into historic Haddonfield (the town I wanted to live in), coffee houses and boutiques and ice cream shops and candy stores and everything I love. All I kept picturing was having family & friends over and then taking them for a stroll through the town on a cool summer night.

So he showed me the place. Is it perfect? No. Is it perfect for what we'd pay for it and does it meet all our requirements but a dishwasher? Yes.

The kitchen is brand new with plastic still on the fridge, brand new granite countertops, a brand new stove (the flat stovetop; so easy to clean), and brand new cabinets in a very nice color.

We have an attic, heat and water is included (we only pay electric and cable). We're on the top floor and there is a nice deck right off our back kitchen door so we can dine al fresco. Stairs lead down to the garage there. We'll have a backyard and in it is a large rectangular fenced in area for a dog. The driveway is very long and goes up behind the house and the garage is 1.5 times wide so Mike can fit a car perfectly and storage and a workbench and tool chests on the side. The bottom floor has their own driveway on the other side of the house and their property is seperated by ours by another fence. Basically, they will never have a need to walk up our driveway or set foot near our stairs by our front door or our back door.

One more highlight: The highways Mike and I need to take to get to our jobs are a nine minute car ride away. The train station is eight minutes away. At one side of us but a good fifteen minute drive is Haddonfield and on the other side Collingswood. I'm dead center between the two towns I wanted to live in.

Ok ok, so I won't go through the dealmaking process here but I told the realtor when she finally called to say she was lost that I didn't like the house and Joe, the owner, is going to tell her he doesn't want to work with her anymore and Mike and I will makepayments on the security through April and May and we'll move in June 1st.

Mike and I are going to look at it together Thursday night and go over the details. Mike is so excited by the million things I told him last night and I really think he's gonna love it.

I am so petrified the shoe's gonna drop. Please do whatever it is you do when you hope for the best for someone.