CHI-Time vs IA-Time

IA-Time is vastly different that CHI-Time. We are trying to line up some work on the house-to-be. Work we want done before we move, which we want to happen before school starts, which is less than two months away, for pete's sake! After a week of phone calls we have no deadline. The buyers, our agent, my in-laws, all tell me that there's plenty of time. I'd take a deep breath, but the air here in Chicago is so muggy and heavy, it's not possible. I called a lawyer today to assist us in some closing stuff, not help us with the actual close, mind you, because that is handled by the realtor, unlike here in Chicago, where you need an entire staff of highly paid-professionals to sit with you during a closing. So, this lawyer know's D's parents. Lives up the street. He actually rented the house we will be living in for a couple years in the 70's. He lets me know that 3 weeks until close is pretty far out, but go ahead and call him the two days before when we're in town. He'll deal with our documents then. Do y'think they read faster in IA than they do in Chicago? 'Cause I'd expect a two-week lag time from a lawyer here.

Putting your home on the market

Realtors sure make putting your home on the market a little too easy. Like it's an everyday thing, which I guess it is for them! But, come on, this is my blood, sweat & tears, my money pit, the place I dreamed that my children would age (they would age, not me). Sign here and the awful sign will be in your yard tomorrow. And it is, both here and awful. Now, people stop to gawk at our house. I'm hoping we get a buyer early just so we don't have to endure "the sign" too much longer. I would actually like to click my heels and be moved too, but that's another story. BTW, we had our first interested buyer this week, forcing me to actually clean the house for real. And, after a couple days, I must say, it doesn't look too bad. Good enough to keep, actually! Just don't open the cupboards!!!

The Calendar (watch for updates)

January: Family decision to "consider" the move
February: Share "the decision" with family friends
March: C quits job, forces the issue on doing something sooner that later. D starts preliminary job-hunting; We spread the word about the idea beyond the close circle
April: Job hunt and vacation
May: Crunch time on jub hunt
June 13: D gets offer for "the perfect" job
June 16: Initial Offer is made on the 4-acre home outside of Mount Vernon on Museum Road (see photo)
June 22: The For Sales sign gets posted in front of our house. I cry. Z cheers.
June 27: D starts his job in Cedar Rapids
July 9: First Open House in Chicago (also the day we got engaged, hmmm. . . .)
July 13: Close Date for Museum Road
July 14-16: Mount Vernon Heritage Days (Lisbon Sauerkraut Days are in August!!) & MV High School 25-Year Reunion (3 of D's classmates have kids that completed MV Kindergarten this year; I guess our big boy will make #4!)
July 16: Second Open House
July 20: Trek to King Tut
July 28: Our last concert outing in Chicago
August 4: Baby Vig revealed via ultrasound!
August 9: Tentative Move date
August 15: Mount Vernon Public School Registration
August 23: School Starts
December 20: Baby Vig is due to arrive!

And here we go!

D received a job offer this week for what really does seem like a great job. I'm having some culture shock as to how a great Iowa job translates to a salary versus a great Chicago job. It's hard to believe that we need to give up $30K in salary to live in a quiet place. But, all things will work out, so we're putting the wheels in motion to make the move! I, of course, am having cold feet. I have to be careful not to turn this entry into a discourse on the wonders of this beautiful city I've lived in for 16 years. . .it will be very difficult to drive away from it for the last time. In an ideal world, we'd squander some money on a little condo downtown, but I'm having difficulty thinking about taxes and assessments that we'd have to pay, even on a small place. The next posts will likely provide the details of the process and hopefully, sooner that later, of getting settled into the heartland!