The Keys to the Condo

Alrighty then.....I indeed have the keys to the condo!

Wednesday morning, bright and early, I first went here for a cashiers check...

Before I go any further, I will tell you that Bill was amazed that we could use a cashiers check, something that we took for granted. He tells me they are mostly obsolete these days, instead people wire money. In fact, at the bank, he does it all of the time. What can I say...we are old fashioned in that way.

The good folks here were good with it.

In the continuing saga of how small Orlando is, the previous day David dropped off some of our paperwork here, and lo and behold, the receptionist is married to the brother of a boy the twins were friends with while growing up.  She and I had a little chat while I waited a few minutes before being escorted into this room,

which felt pretty funny because for the approximately twenty minutes the transaction took, it was just me and the seller's attorney who as it turns out was extremely nice. As were they all. Bruce had signed all of the paperwork electronically before David printed the documents for me to sign. It all felt super surreal without my honey sharing the experience.

The process was so quick, leaving me plenty of time to drive over to the condo to meet with a ceiling guy at 11. Mr. Peck has a thing about popcorn ceilings, so they are going away. While discussing the ceiling job with this fellow the previous week, he asked me if I had a painter? "Not yet", I replied. In a stroke of what I'm calling good fortune, he said they paint as well as repair drywall. Perfect!! Plus they take down wallpaper! Trifecta baby!

Before he arrived I went out back to the lake where there is a lovely staghorn fern someone previously attached to the tree directly behind our unit. As you may recall we are still thinking about moving ours. Bruce put $750 in the budget for that task!

The lake is slowly filling back up following the many inches of rain we've received in the last two weeks. I took this shot to show how big our "back yard" is.

By the time the fellow left it was raining once again, causing him to remark, "For five months it was like Arizona here, and now it is like Seattle!" Isn't that the truth?

Back I went to the house which is only a tad more than a mile away. While driving back over with some paints that I've used in this house, I was reminded of the many times I was back and forth on these same roads caring for our Mother who lived in the complex next door to this one. We'd tried to convince her to come live with us, however, she said she was so close anyway, and wanted to stay in her own place. And she did.

I wish I'd had my zoom lens with me because David came over after work with their dog Ginger, and while looking out the windows at the lake,

I was like, "oh my gosh Davy, do I see otters playing around?" Sure enough they were welcoming us to our new home. At least that's how I'm interpreting it. Super fun!

Did you realize that on the back of Sherwin Williams paint chips that there are at least three coordinating colors listed? No longer are there strips, but single cards which make it both harder and easier if that makes any sense. I picked up a bunch of potentials,

trying to come up with a whole house scheme at once. As well, I brought over the paint that I used in our living room to see what I thought about that. I love Sweet Caroline in this home, but I decided not as much in our new one.

Hard to tell actually, but Michelle and I decided it wouldn't work. So, back to Sherwin Williams for some actual samples which I tried out in various places. When Scott, our flooring guy came by yesterday for an estimate, he said, "wow, I've got to get some before and after pictures of this place to show how the wood flooring is going to change it drastically!" I've chosen a Walnut this time after Matt encouraged me to look at that wood. Bruce hasn't seen it in person, so I'm sure hoping he likes it!

Vanilla everywhere..

Herbert came by as well to talk about electrical outlets and the kitchen wall which everyone seems to have an opinion about. We'd talked about cutting it back to the fridge, however, Herbert talked about having to move the electrical, not to mention losing an all important cabinet.

I'm not sure what we will do, nor am I sure if that can be accomplished before the move to Vancouver. In order to give the place some drama, I'm thinking about this scheme for the dining area...

Although it looks super orange, it is not really, but with the gloomy skies...well, maybe it is super orange. The other color is a grayish green called Ancient Marble.

I'm thinking of using Convivial Yellow (great name!), in the kitchen, pictured where we hope to have the booth.

The painting guy is allowing me four colors, so both bedrooms will be the same; the paint I chose was hideous. Back to SW for me. The reason for the rush? They are starting Monday morning with the job taking all week long. In my entire life I've never had anyone paint the inside of our home so this will be quite the treat. Two coats on the walls, all trim, ceilings, and doors! Yipee!

After a crazy rainy day, this little ray of sunshine in the late evening was, oh so welcome.

If all this were not enough, I woke up yesterday morning to a new counter offer and an email from Bruce asking what I thought. Well, you know what I thought don't you? Let's do it! Once I saw the buyers name was William Lee P., I thought to myself, what are the chances of the buyer having two names that also belong to our sons? Plus, Lee was my dad's middle name! Lord willing, we will close on July 14, a day before our move across the country.

With the contract signed by all parties late yesterday afternoon, I didn't feel so bad about this:

Water in the sink and nearly burned tostados are a big no-no when showing the house. I reheated some new ones, and had a celebratory dinner on yet another no-no....my placemat!

All in all, a very big day for the Peck household. Better, of course, if Bruce were home.

This morning, unlike yesterday when the sky was dark and gloomy, the sky looked like this earlier making me so happy.

Sure enough, the sky is still blue, so I'm heading over to the condo to see what it looks like with sunshine!

yours truly,

Gail