One Week To Go!

We have one week left in Durham. We've been so busy with making "changes of address" with everything, doing some packing/planning, and meeting with friends for final dinners. Will write more soon. Oh, and did anyone watch the Wimbledon final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal? Repeat of last year's final, but MUCH more competitive. Probably the best Wimbledon final ever. And Roger won. Yay! OK, here are some recent pictures and not so recent pictures I forgot to post. Possibly my next blog entry will be once we are moved and settled in Blue Ridge.

Movers

I am barely cracking the list of things that we have to accomplish before (or by the time) we move, which seems to be getting longer rather than shorter. Today's task was to do some research on moving companies and estimates of costs etc.. Some charge you by weight, while others by space (cubic feet), and yet others by room number (e.g. $1000/room) -- the latter of which I thought was perhaps not that clever since could you not just pile all your furniture into your living room or garage? I guess that's where their "fine print" covers them (which I almost NEVER read).

And so I think I've managed to find the best rate, though I am not certain the company who has offered the lowest price is necessarily the most reliable. How do you find this out? Apparently, like with most anything in sales, there are "brokers" who sell you the move (or the quote for your move), but then outsource or sell your business to a third party moving company or truck company or whatever, and so the folks who end up at your door waiting to load all your possessions into their trucks may not be the same as the person you spoke to on the phone! Pretty crazy, eh? This is similar to the idea of having a loan or mortgage with one bank or lender, and having it "sold" to another, and you end up paying your monthly payments to a different person each time. Of all things to sell, to sell money? Seemed paradoxical, though it became clear to me that this is precisely what banking is all about, and selling money is actually probably the biggest "business" there is.

I stray...

And so as I was saying, hopefully I have narrowed down my options for moving and will make a final decision by this week. It is a relief to know that our employer will be paying for our relocation, but I am still trying to find the best possible deal in the event that we actually have more "inventory" than we quoted and go over the cost estimate.

And of this "list" the many things still outstanding you ask?

(1) change of address - USPS
(2) end services with Durham utilities (electricity, water, cable/internet/phone, home security system...)
(3) begin services with Blue Ridge utilities (electricity/gas, water, cable/internet/phone, home security system...)
(4) change of address - credit cards, professional memberships, Baha'i/National...
(5) inspection/repairs/closing on our Durham house
(6) release of medical information for family (Kelly, Ethan, Max)
(7) find new pediatrician for Ethan/primary physician for Kelly/Max
(8) hire movers
(9) final garage sale for stuff we don't want to move
(10) close bank accounts - Durham (unless we can find the same bank in Blue Ridge)
(11) open bank accounts - Blue Ridge
(12) Georgia driver's license
(13) contact daycare for Ethan
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With approximately 4 weeks until we have to move, we've got our work cut out for us. However, with Kelly and Ethan by my side, I've not looked more forward to and been more excited about moving/relocating in my life.

"Under Contract"

Well dear friends and family, thank you so much for all your prayers, today we've accepted an offer and our house is officially "under contract". With two offers late yesterday, Kelly and I decided on action (2) (read previous blog entry) and asked both agents and their respective clients to better their initial offer since the two were very similar. Today, both parties increased their offers by the same amount, making our decision more or less a "toss up". We went with the slightly higher offer, as obvious as that may seem, though both Kelly and I feel the loss for our sentimental choice - our home would have been their first. But we rationalized that the market has been very difficult for us, and we have worked so terribly hard the past few months! Ethan can vouch :-P And with the market being a "buyer's market" I have no doubt at all that the young couple whose offer we did not select in the end will find a wonderful home very soon.

Closing date: July 16th 2007

Moving date: July 17th 2007

This & That

The past few days have been pretty routine. Nothing out of the ordinary, though E and I did drive out to Durham Regional Hospital to meet Kelly at work yesterday. Otherwise, just the usual hanging out at home, playing games, reading books, walking around the house and looking at our plants in our garden, and repeating all a few times over.

Ethan got his hair cut last week, and this time it was my turn. My hair was out of control - yeah, I know, thanks - and so Kelly had just about enough. Not having any time to get my hair cut outside, I asked Kelly if she could cut my hair for me, since she's such an expert at cutting Ethan's hair now. Well, it didn't work out as easily with my hair, which, compared to Noomz' is much more coarse and our dull scissors just did not cut it - quite literally if you know what I mean. Of course you know what I mean.

Moving on.

So here are a few before and after pics I took of myself. Long hair. Short hair. Really short hair.

And Kelly made her now infamous Devil's Food Cake Mix Cookies. Ok, so it's not her original recipe and she got it some place online I'm sure. But they are the BEST cookies EVER! I jokingly suggested she enter her cookies in a contest, though they taste and have the consistency of brownies, so not sure if they'd qualify. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm..... good! And for good measure I include some pics of E's bathy bath time. Now that he can sit up by himself, he loves splashing around in the water, and even plays with the toys we had bought MONTHS ago (as if he could have appreciated them then). Of course, everything first gets the mouth/taste test, and if the toy passes (i.e. doesn't taste too much like soap or synthetic plastic or stale bathy bath water) it gets the ol' nod of approval and Noomz plays with it. Surprisingly, or not, nothing ever tastes bad enough to not put in his mouth first.

So, today, we'll be in search of some boxes for packing our stuff. Duke usually has an abundance of good quality moving boxes we can scrounge up. Jessica has been so kind as to allow us to store some of our things in her house for a while until we move to Blue Ridge.

This afternoon, Adj (Adwoa) will be arriving at RDU and Angelica is picking her up and both are coming for a visit! Adwoa used to live in our community and has since moved with her fam to Tuscaloosa (Alabama). Common friends Chels and Zaf are moving back to New Zealand (Auckland area I believe) -- where Zaf is from -- and so Adj is up to bid these friend farewell, and we are going to their leaving party as well, hopefully. Never a sure thing with Noomz, you know?

And so Ethan's napping now. Will check Facebook.

For Sale By Owner

Countdown To July

With February coming round the corner, we have (in the vicinity of) 5 months to get ourselves packed and relocated. What with having to prepare our house for sale, house hunting in Georgia, Kelly wrapping up her residency at Duke (and all the paper work involved in getting licensed in Georgia) and visa matters, it will neither be easy nor enjoyable these next few months.

Moving is never fun, though the excitement of starting afresh and establishing a nest and building roots invigorates at times.

I have already begun to search for homes in the Georgia mountains, focusing my search on Blue Ridge and Ellijay. I have found some pretty nice places to live, from Buckhorn Estates in Ellijay to Scenic Heights in Blue Ridge to a really eco-friendly, Japanese-inspired "green" house called Fern Valley. (I would love to have a home that has a name, no?)

Well, it is early days still, but only just. Banks don't tend to secure loan rates for more than 90 days and so making offers now would be premature. Although, mortgage rates seem to be going up a bit, and I am hoping for rates to dip a little come Spring when the housing market is at its busiest. We'll see. So much to leave to the imagination right now, and God-willing things will come together nicely with all of this moving business.