Coffee Talk #181: A New Place

It’s Tuesday! Grab your cup and let’s start chattin’. 

If we were having coffee together today, I’d say LOOK at this view! I can’t believe we’ve been here like a week. Last week seems like FOREVER ago, and so much has happened since then.

If we were having coffee together today, I’d tell you that buying a home during the quarantine has been interesting. We did a drive-thru settlement. Masks and gloves and clipboards handed through the windows and calling the lawyer on our speaker phone so we both could follow the instructions and sign a billion papers. The buyer of our previous home was in the car in front of us, and the seller of our new home was in the car behind us. What an experience.

If we were having coffee together today, I’d tell you a little more about our new home. We have a beautiful Cape Cod surrounded by trees. The lot is an acre, and we have a 100-year lease on 3 additional acres around our property. This lease was actually gifted to us by the previous owner, and it has 86 years remaining. How awesome is that?

If we were having coffee together today, I’d tell you that we’ve been hard at work since moving day, working to prep our spaces, making plans for projects, and more. A lot of the projects are ‘boring’ – like investigating certain trees to remove (a couple are close to the house and there are a few stumps that I’d love ground), building a fence in part of our yard so our dog doesn’t have to be on a leash for every. single. nature. call., working on insulation under the house, and buying new furniture.

We donated or sold most of our old furniture, thinking we’d want new items for the house, especially since the rooms are set-up differently. It’s a GREAT idea and we’re excited, but of course everything we purchased is on major backorder so we’re here without even a couch. It really hasn’t been that bad, considering that we spend all day working, or I’m teaching a fitness class, or we’re working on unpacking boxes and setting up spaces. We also have some new spaces to fill, like a huge front porch, a back deck, and a back patio.

If we were having coffee together today, I’d tell you that the process of prioritizing tasks at the new house is funny. We’ll go to work on something (right now, husband is working on the ‘bonus room’ which moving forward shall be known as the ‘FWA Fitness Studio’ (!!!).), and that project will create new projects. Oh! We need to run to Lowe’s. Oh! We need to find this or that tool — gotta straighten up the garage. Oh! It’s tough to maneuver in the hallway by the garage, so we have to unpack those boxes. Oh! Let’s move these cardboard boxes to the car. Oh! Let’s figure out how the outside light switches work…and so on until the initial project is forgotten. It’s comical. But it’s all a fun process!

If we were having coffee together today, I’d tell you that I’ve been focusing on my new closet. I’m elated that I can fit all of my clothes and shoes and bags in one place. Previously, I’ve been used to boxing up seasonal items and unboxing them at the right time. Now? Literally everything fits. EVERYTHING. I’m beside myself. The project is a little stalled, waiting for some organization items to be delivered (pretty sure my UPS driver and USPS mail carrier are my new best friends). I can’t wait to show you!

If we were having coffee together today, I’d tell you that I’m grateful to be at home right now during this process. The transition from work day to unpacking time has been seamless, with no commutes to worry about right now. I feel like we’re able to get so much more done because of it. I could do without all the delays in orders, and feeling like a criminal every time we go to Lowe’s for building project items (we’ve been doing the online order and curbside pick-up but still…). But I’m glad we are safe, well, and that we were still able to purchase our home and move on schedule.

I can’t wait to share more with you as we set up our spaces! Until then, lots of unpacking, painting, sprucing up, and waiting for deliveries.