Eight Guys and a Truck

The marathon moving weekend began on Friday with the loading and unloading of a 26-foot U-Haul behemoth and concluded when Chad & I unloaded the last of the dining room furniture on a dreary, rainy Sunday afternoon. Along the way friends and family helped us moved appliances, boxes, beds, the whole nine yards including three refrigerators four different times. Engineers we were not, but bound and determined we certainly were as we disassembled two fridges after putting our heads together on how to get them in and out of houses. I also gained a new respect for people who drive massive trucks for a living. I ran over a post with the U-Haul causing a traffic jam at the dump. I have never been so stressed driving a vehicle in my life.

The move has been a long, draining process that has spanned four weeks. Yet we are very fortunate and appreciative of all the help we have received from both sets of parents and a host of our friends who have invested their time & energy into helping us make the move much easier. We are truly grateful. Now our life is essentially a plethora of boxes to sort through in the coming weeks. But at least those boxes are under one roof and we won't have to shuffle back and forth from house to house.

Here were some shots of the move and the aftermath. Cheers!


The boys immediately relished their new playroom as they now have room to push their trucks and tractors, spread out their books, and pounce on their stuffed monkey. Free at last.

Pappy entertains the boys with Cinnamon Life cereal -- a Rutledge boy favorite -- and silly stories.

The moving crew pauses in front of an empty U-Haul for some hops & barley celebratory refreshment. (Pappy, GJ, Chad, Claudia, and Amy not pictured despite all their efforts.)

Sadly enough, our house TV didn't survive the move. We didn't drop it in the process, but there are now fuzzy lines across it and the picture is blurry. Amy thinks it was just a ploy to upgrade to a new HDTV for the living room. I'm shocked and appalled at the implication. ;-) As the sage Chad Guthrie pointed out, "Think of the children, Amy. Do you want them to grow up with impaired vision because of a shoddy TV?" Such wisdom.

The Move

GJ and Pappy arrived in NC on Saturday and wasted no time getting to work. Their first night here we toured the new house and prepared for the move. When the boys finally crashed we all went to work painting, pulling up carpet and packing things in boxes. It is a lot of work, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Big move day is in three days on Friday. We're getting there....


Pappy knows no fear as he hoists himself atop an extension ladder for the hard-to-reach places that his son chickens away from.

Evidence of the flying squirrels on the blue carpet began to fade away as the crew pulled up carpet, padding and staples in preparation for the new carpet, which will remain free of flying rodents.

After eight gallons, a dozen rolls of tape, and a half dozen colors, Amy surprisingly still hasn't had her fill of painting as she shows her enthusiasm here. I quickly turned around after snapping this one for fear of where that paint roller might get shoved.


GJ takes a break from organizing, packing, watching boys & carpet duty for a quick bite to eat.


Gus works over his grandmother, pausing for a moment during play time to cuddle with his GJ. Couple cuddle time with the fact that he now points to his grandmother on command and occasionally offers up a "Gee-Juh," he has officially wrapped her around his finger. As it should be young man, as it should be.


Cheers!

Artists at Work

Amy and I have been two busy creatures since closing on our house. After the first 10 days we have over half the house painted, with some much appreciated help from Nana and Granddaddy who were in North Carolina last week. Realistically their trip wasn't a full pleasure visit for them to see us and the boys, but hopefully they got some R&R time in as well. The flooring guys are at the house starting today sanding & refinishing the floors where the floors had cupped over time. The carpet guys are scheduled to begin next Monday replacing the blue beastly carpet that was once home to flying squirrels. I wish I were kidding. ;-)

So if all goes well we should begin moving some things in next week. It will be a tremendously welcome change as the coming & going phase is taking its toll. Fortunately GJ and Pappy are coming to NC this weekend, and we welcome reinforcements with open arms.

A sincere thank you to Billy and Elaine for all their help last week. We really appreciate it!

Cheers!


The whole house from end to end was painted white. It was our blank canvas to make into what we wanted. Here Amy starts the prep work for the painting bonanza that was to come.

Nana and Granddaddy gear up for a week's worth of Michelangelo impersonations.




If we never see another roll of 3M blue painting tape, it will be too soon. ;-)



Being 6'5" is often an asset in painting, especially stretching to reach tall walls is required. However, being tall can have its disadvantages at times like when crouching into small crevices is what is needed to get hard-to-reach spaces.


Nana was rewarded for all her hard work with a chorus of "Na-na"s from the boys. We hope it made all the work worthwhile.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Great philosophy and we tried to adhere to it by taking some time out to celebrate Granddaddy's 39th birthday. Birthday cake and ice cream has now supplanted corn on the cob as the boys' favorite food, as evidenced with Owen's "Mmmmmmm" every time he took a bite.

What a Day

Well, it's midnight on Friday and we have just completed one jam-packed flurry of a day. Running on three hours of sleep we tackled the house closing on our new home in Apex today. The close wasn't without its moments as these things are often complicated by something -- ours was a seeimingly simple $75 termite treatment reimbursement. But at the end of it all, we have our house and have already started painting. The sellers painted every wall in the house -- and I mean every single wall -- white. The house is a blank canvas. We should have some good before & after photos once this is all over.

Nana and Granddaddy were absolute troopers today, rounding up Owen and Gus to go to the park and looking after them while Amy & I concentrated completely on all things house. Owen has definitely latched on to his Granddaddy, crying whenever Billy leaves the room. And Gus has learned he has a captive audience in his Nana, showing off for her every chance he gets. We will take a painting break and get some pictures up soon.

Finally, today was Granddaddy's birthday and we celebrated with birthday cake and ice cream. Owen belted out continous "Mmmmmm"s every time he took a bite while Gus mastered the art of mashing and eating cake with a spoon. Happy birthday Granddaddy!

Catching Breaths

Houses, birthdays and boys have eaten up the hours over the past week. On the homefront, we have endured another house inspection on our current house. The report generated yet another list of repairs that we are currently sorting through. But the good news is that this report -- as opposed to the report generated by the infidels' inspectors -- listed repairs that should be much more manageable to address. Plus this house is ideal for our current buyers so the threat of cold feet should be minimal, and their real estate agent is much better to work with.

Amy & I both celebrated birthday #32 this week. Amy was glad when my birthday came and went so her annual two days of endless "cradle robber" jokes came to a close. (Amy is two days older than me.) ;-)

The boys are up and moving fast as ever. Owen is getting more confident on his feet. He's still four weeks behind Gus in walking, but he is catching up fast -- especially with his new kicks that Amy got the boys. We have been spending a great deal of time next door at the Guthries as they graciously offered their house while we went through the house showing process over the past month. Thanks to Chad for the good shots he snapped below.

We look forward to Nana and Granddaddy's visit as they fly into North Cackalackee tonight. It should be a great time for grandparents and grandsons to bond again, and Amy & I will gladly use the helping hands as we prepare for a weekend of painting & pulling up carpet at the new abode.

We'll check in soon. Cheers!


"Can MacKay come out and play? Pretty please???"

"Chad, Claudia, I'm not sure if you knew this but there is a turtle on your porch."


"Pass the chips and the remote please."


The Guthries house is a favorite play spot with rocks, sticks, steps, and dogs.

As Chad and Derek frequently take care of the boys, Claudia and Amy can frequently be seen socializing in the street. The only thing missing here is the bevvie in hand. ;-)

Ode to Bill Craft

There is a tremendous sense of relief at la casa de Kronos tonight. Our house is back under contract as a young couple from Raleigh made an offer last night which we negotiated and finalized this afternoon. For Amy and me, the sense of excitement that was trampled by dread three and a half weeks ago when the first contract fell apart has welcomed itself back into our house. We are very cautious not to let ourselves get too excited over this -- after all we still have to go through another inspection process. But we hope this time it will be a success. Amy & I have done a lot of work on the house since the infidels walked away from the first contract so we are hopeful that anything that comes up will be minor.

Our buyers are a young couple in a very similar situation to ours seven years ago when we moved out of our apartment into our first house. They really wanted the house, and it was obvious that they would take care of it and make the house a good home. Amy and I told each other when we set out to move that the target market for our place was a young couple without kids just like the ones that we met today.

There is a lucky part of this story as well. Earlier this week Amy and I were feeling dejected about not having any showings on the house for over a week. We made the decision to call the listing agent to drop the price on our house. That night however we had a message on our voicemail from a man named Bill Craft telling us that he would like to see our house. I called the agent back and told her to hold off dropping the price until we saw how the Bill Craft scenario would play out. When I finally reached Bill the next day, he told me he would get back to me about coming by to look at the house. We never heard back from the guy, but because of his phone call we held off on dropping the price long enough to make it to the weekend where our house finally had its prom date show up in the driveway.

Wherever you are Mr. Craft, we're glad you called.

Cheers!

Good Riddance...

....to this past week. With the disappointment over losing the contract on our current house this past week, we gladly ushered in the weekend. Even with the frustrating turn of events, we managed to end the week on a high note. Friday was a night like old times with Chad, Claudia and a bottle of wine on the deck discussing the ways of the world. It was a shot in the arm that Amy & I both needed. Saturday we got to take the boys to a pool party where they feasted on their first potato chips and ice cream sandwiches. And today the naps were abbreviated as we had an afternoon house showing. So we packed the boys up and invaded the house of our friends Brian, Kelly & Gracen Wise. It was a good catch-up visit and a relaxing way to conclude a good weekend.



Realizing that we have been going full force and have not stopped to post many pix and stories of the boys, here are a few updates.

Gus has entered the headbutt phase. He always gives a warning shot look before leaning in and going for the headbutt as shown here. Along with the little biting streak he is also on, we are wondering where he gets his action hero violent streak. (my bet is from Amy of course) ;-)


The workbench has been a popular addition to the play rotation at our house. Nails and screws, hammers and screwdrivers, the boys enjoy banging away at it. Talking on the workbench telephone is also an added bonus.


Owen is still content to crawl as his mode of transportation and refuses to walk solo. He is happy as he can be pushing his little trucks around the house. We thought seeing Gus walk around would make Owen want to let go and join the ranks of the upright and mobile. But to each his own -- he'll walk when he's good and ready we suppose.


Gus's latest fashion craze is the scarf. He drapes it around his neck and prances around the house looking for an audience. He is happy....

....until the front door closes and no audience to perform to. Tis tough on a young lad when the curtain closes and there are still songs to be sung.



Cheers!

GJ and Pappy

GJ and Pappy were a huge help to us when Amy and I were on our house-hunting expeditions. We would essentially wake up in the morning, make the coffee, kiss the grandparents on the head, and leave for the search. The grandparents were all too happy to oblige as they got lots of quality time to take care of and bond with the boys. Still, it is not an easy job to entertain the boys all day. GJ and Pappy were troopers.

Owen got over his shyness as he bonded with his grandfather. Even if C.E. would leave the room for a minute to go to the bathroom or take a shower, Owen followed him to the door, sat down and waited for his Pappy to come out. Gus on the other hand tried out all his tricks on his grandmother, showing her all the different smiles & gushes to see what worked on her. (Nice try little man, but GJ has been around children for a long time and read you like a book.) ;-)

We were very appreciative of the free time we were given so we could immerse ourselves in the housing market here. Now hopefully if we can get our current house back under contract in the next week or two we can keep the house we found while the grandparents were here. Cross your fingers.

Cheers!


Owen leads Pappy around the park.



Gus relaxes in the sandbox with his GJ close by.



Corn on the cob is a hit...



....for both the boys.



GJ and Pappy give the boys a last squeeze before hitting the road.



The boys pose with their grandparents and Sayla the wonder dog.

Murphy's Law

Murphy's law is a popular adage that states that "things will go wrong in any given situation, if you give them a chance," or more commonly, "whatever can go wrong, will go wrong."

It has been that sort of day for the Rutledge crew today. This morning we found out that the buyers on our house were backing out of the contract, exercising a clause in the contract that if the needed repairs exceed a certain dollar amount then they are entitled to walk. All this over a front porch step that we agreed we would fix. The buyer however hired a foundation repair company to come in and say that the whole porch needs to be jacked back up to the house at a cost of $5,100. Of course it does. Nevermind that this company is financially motivated to produce such an estimate even when a $300 repair would do (which is all that is really required here).

To twist the knife in a bit further, I called another realtor today who had a very interested buyer in our house right before we accepted the offer from the infidel minister and his wife. The realtor told us that her buyer had LOVED our house and had just agreed on an offer for another house last night. She was not going to be able to bring herself to tell her buyer what ended up happening. The one that got away....

So Amy & I are licking our wounds today. We have to figure out a way to get back on our horse. Punch/Counterpunch is our philosophy in life, and it is never more meaningful than the situation we are living through right now. Sorry for the soul-baring here, but emotions are on the sleeves, pantlegs, and all over the face at our house today.

We are bound and determined to sell this house and not lose out on the house that we just found last weekend. I don't know if we'll be able to make it happen, but we're going for it. It may take us a few days to pick ourselves back up, but we will get there. Punch/Counterpunch.

Cheers!

House Hunt Week

What an experience this past week has been for Amy and me. Knowing that our house was sold and that we needed to find another place to live by the end of September, we set out to find our new home this week. Over a span of 10 days, we looked at 40+ houses in person and dozens more online. Our days have run together as have so many of the houses we have seen. During our search we had one lady call 911 on us and another lady drag her reluctant teenagers out to the front porch while we toured their house. At the beginning of the week we were ready to make an offer on a house only to be talked out of it by our realtor because of potential structural problems. By Wednesday Amy and I had rebounded and found another house that we liked. After shaking it off and finding a second house we liked, we prepared to write up an offer. On Thursday morning just before we submitted the offer though we learned that the seller had just accepted an offer from another buyer. By Thursday evening we were back on our horse after finding house #3 that we were prepared to make an offer on. Unfortunately we were crushed again to learn that night that another offer was pending on the house.

Bound and determined, bumped and bruised, Amy and I piled into the car with our realtor and set off on Friday morning to look at 18 houses over the course of six hours. By Friday night we had decided we liked only two -- a four-bedroom house in Cary that was the first house we had seen that day and an unknown house in Apex that just showed up on the computer as we were returning home.

After walking through both houses on Saturday, Amy and I made the decision to go with a six-year old spacious house in a good neighborhood in Apex. It is a house that has really been neglected cosmetically -- all the rooms are painted white, the carpet is blue and worn, and the landscaping leaves much to be desired. Still, it is a house we undoubtedly feel we can grow into and one that will serve us and the boys well over the long haul. So we made the first offer this afternoon, played the counter game a few times this evening, and verbally agreed to a deal tonight. It will be a big commitment for us, just as all houses are for any of us to invest in. But what a relief -- to find something that your gut tells you is right after a long, long search is very gratifying.

So we have sold our house and have now agreed on a price for our new house. We still have some unfinished negotiation to take care of with our buyers and a little thing called moving. Nevertheless there is a feeling of relief in our house tonight.

During the whole process this week, we were truly fortunate to have GJ and Pappy here to take care of the boys while Amy & I jettisoned off to search for the new home. We owe the grandparents a debt of gratitude and then some for all their help this week. It is much easier to look at a crawl space and size up a floor plan of a house without juggling two 16-month olds in your arms. ;-) Amy and I owe our dear friends Chad & Claudia for all their support. We are definitely appreciative of all the calls from friends and family with offers to watch boys, suggestions of MLS listings to see, and simple pick-me-ups as we dealt with the highs and lows of this process.

You only buy a few houses in a lifetime. This was a big ordeal for us. We are glad to have cleared another big hurdle and thrilled to have a good house to raise the boys in. We look forward to having so many of the readers of this blog into our new house very soon.

Although we don't have a signed contract yet, 105 Chilcott Lane should be our next address. Cheers!

Mental Wrestling...

...is the only way I can describe what has been going on in our heads the past four days as we search for a new house. Amy & I have been in 12-15 houses over the past week, sizing up what is available, comparing them to each other and comparing them to our house we are about to leave.

We narrowed the search down to one house in a great neighborhood until we found out some potential problems with it over the weekend. Two buyers had rescinded offers on this house in the past eight months. There were questions about siding, moisture problems, the furnace, the air conditioner, the windows. The sellers claim all the problems have been fixed. Amy and I are reluctant to make the leap into a potential money pit unless everything can be verified that it was fixed.

In the meantime the other houses we looked at did not excite us at all. One house with the nicest deck I've ever seen had damp carpet in the bathroom and no storage space. Another house on a great private wooded lot had stray paint all over the siding from a shoddy touch-up job and wasted space upstairs. And on and on. Amy and I are being incredibly picky, but you have to when you're about to make the biggest financial decision of your life up to this point.

So that's where we are -- in a mental wresting match inside our own heads, playing the pro/con game over and over. It is like being in a Lincoln/Douglas debate when you were in the eighth grade, taking one side of a debate then turning around and having to take the other side immediately afterward. We go both ways on the house. On one hand, the house feels completely right, like a place we could live in for the next twenty years. The inside has been completely redone, the location is one of the best in the Triangle, and the property will continue to appreciate from an investment standpoint. On the other hand, it does not make sense to invest in a house that we know has had moisture problems and has A/C problems unless we are certain they have been or will be fixed.

Luckily GJ and Pappy are in town entertaining the boys. Gus is prancing around the house like a little movie star with his shades and scarves (pictures coming soon). And Owen continues his progress toward walking as he pushes his little truck all over the house. So we are grateful that the grandparents have come to tend to the boys while Amy & I try our best to deal with the stress of finding the right home to raise the boys in.

We'll keep you posted. Cheers!

House Update II

Well, we did it. Amy & I sold our house on our own in six days. What a process that was (and will continue to be for the next six weeks I'm sure). We ended up selling the house to the first couple that placed an offer. But even though the house went to the first bidder Amy & I feel really good about the price we got.

So now we go onto the next set of hurdles -- house inspections, more negotiations, repairs, finding another place to move to by the end of September. Easy, stress-free stuff. ;-) But we are over the first big hurdle. We owe a lot of thank you's to people: Melanie for helping out with the boys while we got the house ready to go on the market, Chad & Claudia for loaning their house to us at a moment's notice, Darrin D for offering up his house for table storage. Not to mention all the phone calls to family & friends for frequent pick-me-up's and advice. We are very grateful, very excited, and a little nervous all at once. What a day!

Cheers!

House Update

A quick update on la situacion de la casa....

Our house went on the market last Thursday. We had one person look at it on Friday and then came back for a second showing on Saturday. We know from the buyer's realtor that the people are interested, but they want to have the side of the house checked for water damage on the hardboard siding before making an offer. Amy & I are hopeful that the discoloration on the siding is nothing more than a poor paint job and direct sunlight pounding away at it for years. We have two painters coming out tomorrow to give us their opinion.

Then this afternoon a man came by with his realtor for his first showing of the house. They called back tonight and wanted a second showing as well. We have yet to hear any feedback from the real estate agent on what that potential buyer thought.

So we have really only had two buyers be interested in the first five days that the house has been on the market. But the fact that both of them came back for second showings is a good sign.

Hats off to Amy for picking up the house, stashing toys, loading up two boys, and still having time to leave a pitcher of ice water for the prospective buyers all in 30 minutes to an hour's time. She is a trooper.

Here is the potential trouble spot. We are just hoping that this is a poor paint job or wax bleed coming through the paint and not water damage. Cross your fingers....

Make or Buy

There is not much sleep happening at the Casa de Rutledge this week. Owen & Gus both have colds again and have developed a deep cough that would make a chain smoker blush. The coughs are at their worst at night when the boys lie down to sleep as all the drainage heads down into their chests. So the boys have been waking themselves up frequently at night. And as you can imagine when the boys aren't sleeping, the parents aren't sleeping.

But there is more to our temporary insomnia than just the common cold that frequents our abode. Amy & I have decided to put our house up for sale next week and look for a house with more room. This decision to move did not come lightly as I imagine it doesn't come lightly to anyone who reaches this point. But with the two of us both being detail-oriented and conscientious sometimes to a flaw, let's just say there has been a tremendous amount of hand-wringing and deliberation on this decision.

There are so many variables that go into our decision, a big one being whether or not to finish our basement to give us the extra bedroom & space we need with the two boys. Just like the professors teach in Economics 101, at its core the decision is a simple make or buy decision. Is it cheaper for you to make something yourself or is it cheaper for you to pay someone else to make it for you? My employer IBM faced this decision for years before finally announcing it was selling off the part of the business that made PCs -- ultimately it was more cost effective to buy PCs from Lenovo than it was to continue making them internally. But a house is difficult to think of in purely economic terms. There are emotional connections with a house -- the blood, sweat and tears you put into making your house your home; the first time your kid takes a step; the fun times you have had with family and friends; and on and on. After weighing all the variables -- leaving our neighbors who are like family, resale value, cost of reinvesting in a new house, interest rates, being in a neighborhood with more kids -- we have decided to make the leap.

So next week our house goes on the market. We are taking the weekend to make one final push for some aesthetic improvements. The hard part for us has been holding off from going in to other houses we have found that we really like. The last thing we want is to find a house that we think is perfect and have to make yet another decision about whether to make an offer when we haven't sold our house yet. I don't want to imagine the insomnia that would be living at our house in that situation!

Have a good weekend. Cheers!