August/September Wrap-Up, or, “Why Magpie’s Been Away for Three Weeks”

So, big news here in Magpie land. I’ve been pretty absent from the interwebs for the last few weeks, and I’ve teased on twitter a number of times that it’s because of some serious life changes happening in the background, but never really specified exactly what was going on.

Well, it’s finally time to specify: we bought a house.

So yea, kind of a big deal.

It’s an older house, and some of the floors are a little tilty, but other than that it’s in great shape (the previous owners took such amazing care of it) and we love it already.

To be honest, the journey to this point has been a long one. Homeownership was something that I had written off as impossible given my chosen vocation as an adjunct for such a long time, and so when Jim brought it up as something we should consider instead of renting together as we planned, my immediate reaction was to laugh. Me? Be able to buy a home, even as part of a couple? Impossible.

But actually? It wasn’t.

It was at times daunting, and frustrating, and emotional, and exhausting, and terrifying. It was also exciting, and fun, and thrilling and occasionally hilarious.

Becoming a homeowner was many things. At some point in the future I intend to write about some of the things it was, but ultimately, “impossible” turned out not to be one of them.

I will openly admit that the fact that Jim has a normal person job, with like, a normal salary and benefits was a big reason why this worked. Despite the fact that I clear roughly the same salary every year, my hodge-podge of paid-per-class-new-contract-every-time-several-different-institutions teaching work looks potentially unstable enough on paper to make any mortgage company run for the hills. I will also readily admit that if it wasn’t for the amazing guidance and advice from our realtor and loan officer, I’m not sure we ever would have made it through the process (If you’re ever looking to buy a home in NEPA, DM me or email me and I’ll give you their contact info – they were AMAZING). So admittedly the process was a difficult one at most steps, and I will be honest about that.

But difficult is not impossible. And now, we own a home.

So, yea. Kind of a big deal.

What have you been up to over the last month that I’ve missed?