It has now been over a month since we spent two hours in a little room signing papers to become the official owners of a house! It’s amazing the things that have happened in that time. An incomplete list:

• We (read: Richie) knocked down a wall and put a beam up
• We (read: Richie) completely demo­-ed the first floor bathroom
• ­We painted the first floor ceilings (miserable)
• We went to Home Depot 37 times
• I spent a total 5+ hours at the paint store
• ­Our best friends got ENGAGED
• Our best friends closed on and moved into a house (yes, they are lapping us, it’s whatever)

This week the hardwood floors are getting refinished and I seriously cannot wait to post the before and after photos­ – they are gleaming! We are also getting cable and WiFi, which is truly a cause for celebration. Progress is happening, people!

Richie and I are both pretty tired at this point and getting a bit anxious to move in. Since we’re on that nine-to-five grind, our housework time is relegated to nights and weekends. We are at the house after work almost every evening. Richie can typically get there right around 5:00pm, but with my commute from Boston, I’m closer to 6:30 or 7:00pm. Sometimes we are there until almost 11:00pm, which is WAY past our bedtime.

Last night was a particularly rough patch for us. We were driving to the house together to continue painting the alarmingly baby blue basement (we can’t walk on the first floor right now). I lamented to Richie how every day it seems that the drive from North Reading to Andover takes longer and longer, despite the initial drive that made me exclaim, “OMG, it’s so close!” On top of the never-ending drive, we both didn’t feel well and both hate to paint. Of course, the cherry on top was that neither of us could get service at the house – hence, no Spotify. Music­less and miserable, we made it through the rest of the gallon of Valley Forge Tan we were on and called it early around 9:00pm. Still, when it’s all said and done, we wouldn’t have it any other way­ – we are together and taking care of business!

People keep asking us what our timeline is and, to be honest, as much as we talked about the need to set a timeline, we never truly did. We were so excited to get started that we did just that and haven’t come up for air yet! Demo of the kitchen/dining room wall started on Day 2 and we just kept rolling. In order to avoid sounding like lost puppies with no plan, we tell everyone “end of October” and have been roughly sticking to that. With our gorgeous couch set to be delivered on Halloween and our mattress also on the way, I think we could technically start sleeping at the house at least part-time by then.

Overall, things have been moving pretty swiftly. We have had so much help from Richie’s dad and brothers that I can’t imagine where we would be right now without them. More on those specifics in future posts. Personally, I can’t wait to get back into working out in the evenings, eating dinner at a normal time, and watching TV! I think Richie feels the same.

All for now.

xoMaura